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REPORT
OF THE
//, S,
JOINT COMMITTEE ON RECONSTRUCTION,
AT THE
FIRST SESSION THIRTY-NINTH CONGRESS.
WASHINGTON:
GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE.
1866.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
December 5, 1865.
A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. McPherson, its Clerk :
The House of Representatives has passed the following resolution, ill which it requests the
concurrence of the Senate :
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives in Congress assembled, That a joint
committee of fifteen members shall be appointed, nine of whom shall be members of the
House and six members of the Senate, who shall inquire into the condition of the States
which formed the so-called Confederate States of America, and report whether they, or any
of them, are entitled to be represented in either house of Congress, with leave to report at
any time, by bill or otherwise ; and until such report shall have been made, and finally acted
on by Congress, no member shall be received into either house from any of the said so-called
Confederate States ; and all papers relating to the representation of said States shall be re
ferred to the said committee without debate.
^
DECEMBER 12, 1865.
The Senate proceeded to consider the resolution of the House of Representatives for the
appointment of a joint committee of the two houses, to consist of fifteen members, to inquire
into the condition of the States which formed the so-called Confederate States of America ; and
The resolution was amended and agreed to, as follows :
Resolved by the House of Representatives, (the Senate concurring,) That a joint committee
of fifteen members shall be appointed, nine of whom shall be members of the House and six
members of the Senate, who shall inquire into the condition of the States which formed
the so-called Confederate States of America, and report whether they, or any of them, are
entitled to be represented in either house of Congress ; with leave to report at any time, by
bill or otherwise.
DECEMBER 13, 1865.
A message from the House of Representatives, by Mr. McPherson, its Clerk :
The House of Representatives has agreed to the amendments of the Senate to the resolu
tion of the House for the appointment of a joint committee to inquire into the condition of
the States which formed the so-called Confederate States.
Attest: J. W. FORNEY, Secretary.
Committee on the part of the Senate.
William P. Fessenden, Maine. Jacob M. Howard, Michigan.
James W. Grimes, Iowa. Reverdy Johnson, Maryland.
Ira Harris, New York. George H. Williams, Oregon.
Committee on the part of the House of Representatives,
Thaddeus Stevens, Pennsylvania. Roscoe Conkling, New York.
Ellihu B. Washburne, Illinois. George S. Boutwell, Massachusetts.
Justin S. Morrill, Vermont. Henry T. Blow, Missouri.
Henry Grider, Kentucky. Andrew J. Rogers, New Jersey.
John A. Bingham, Ohio.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
January 12, 1866.
Pesohed by the Senate, (the House of Representatives concurring,) That the joint com
mittee appointed to inquire into the condition of the States which formed the so-called Con
federate States be authorized to send for persons and papers.
Attest: J. W. FORNEY, Secretary,
By W. J. MCDONALD, Chief Clerk.
IV RECONSTRUCTION.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE UNITED STATES,
January 16, 186G,
Resolved, That the House concur in the foregoing resolution of the Senate.
Attest: EDWARD McPHERSON, Clerk.
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
December 14, 1865.
On motion of Mr. Wilson,
Resolved, That all papers which may be offered relative to the representation of the late
so-called Confederate States of America, or either of them, shall be referred to the joint com
mittee of fifteen without debate, and no members shall be admitted from either of said so-
called States until Congress shall believe such States, or either of them, entitled to repre
sentation.
Attest: EDWARD McPHERSON, Clerk.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES,
January 22, 1806.
Resolved, That, until otherwise ordered, all papers presented to the Senate relating to the
condition and title to representation of the so-called Confederate States shall be referred to
the joint committee upon that subject.
Attest: J. W. FORNEY, Secretary.
The following joint resolution and bills were reported to the Senate and House of Repre
sentatives April 30, 1866, viz :
JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, (two- thirds of both houses concurring,) That the following article be
proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, which, Avhen ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid as
part of the Constitution, namely :
ARTICLE — .
SECTION 1. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or
immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdic
tion the equal protection of the laws.
SECTION 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States which may be
included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, counting the whole num
ber of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But whenever in any State the
elective franchise shall be denied to any portion of its male citizens not less than twenty-one
years of age, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the
basis of representation in such State shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of
such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens not less than twenty- one
years of age.
SECTION 3. Until the fourth day of July, in the year one thousand eight hundred and
seventy, all persons who voluntarily adhered to the late insurrection, giving it aid and com
fort, shall be excluded from the right to vote for representatives in Congress and for electors
for President and Vice-President of the United States.
SECTION 4. Neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obli
gation already incurred, or which may hereafter be incurred, in a'id of insurrection or of war
against the United States, or any claim for compensation for loss of involuntary service or
labor.
SECTION 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the pro
visions of this article.
RESOLUTIONS, COMMITTEE, ETC. V
A BILL to provide for restoring to the States lately in insurrection their nil political rights.
Whereas it is expedient that the States lately in insurrection should, at the earliest day
consistent with the future peace and safety of the Union, be restored to full participation in
all political rights; and whereas the Congress did, by joint resolution, propose for ratification
to the legislatures of the several States, as an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, an article in the following words, to wit :
"ARTICLE — .
"SECTION 1. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges
or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of life,
liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor to deny to any person within its juris
diction the equal protection of the laws.
"SECTION 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States which may
be included within this Union, according to their respective numbers, counting the whole
number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But whenever, in any State,
the elective franchise shall be denied to any portion of its male citizens not less than twenty-
one years of age, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime,
the basis of representation in such States shall be reduced in the proportion which the num
ber of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens not less than twenty-
one years of age.
"SECTION 3. Until the fourth day of July, in the year one thousand eight hundred and
seventy, all persons who voluntarily adhered to the late insurrection, giving it aid and com
fort, shall be excluded from the right to vote for representatives in Congress and for electors
for President and Vice- President of the United States.
"SECTION 4. Neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or
obligation already incurred, or which may hereafter be incurred, in aid of insurrection or of
war against the United States, or any claim for compensation for loss of involuntary service
or labor.
"SECTIONS. The Congress shall have power to enforce by appropriate legislation the
provisions of this article:"
Now, therefore —
Be it enacted ly the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America
in Congress assembled, That whenever the above-recited amendment shall have become part
of the Constitution of the United States, and any State lately in insurrection shall have rati
fied the same, and shall have modified its constitution and laws in conformity therewith, the
senators and representatives from such State, if found duly elected and qualified, may, after
having taken the required oaths of office, be admitted into Congress as such.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That when any State lately in insurrection shall have
ratified the foregoing amendment to the Constitution, any part of the direct tax under the act
of August five, eighteen hundred and sixty-one, which may remain due and unpaid in such
State, may be assumed and paid by such State ; and the payment thereof, upon proper assu
rances from such State to be given to the Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, may
be postponed for a period not exceeding ten years from and after the passage of this act.
A BILL declaring certain persons ineligible to office under the government of the United
States.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in
Congress assembled, That no person shall be eligible to any office under the government of
the United States who is included in any of the following classes, namely:
First. The President and Vice-President of the Confederate States of America, so called,
and the heads of department thereof.
Second. Those wlio in other countries acted as agents of the Confederate States of America,
fo called.
Third. Heads of departments of the United States, officers of the army and navy of tho
United States, and all persons educated at the Military or Naval Academy of the United
States, judges of the courts of the United States, and members of either house of the thirty-
sixth Congress of the United States, who gave aid or comfort to the late rebellion.
Fourth. Those who acted as officers of the Confederate States of America, so called, above
the grade of colonel in the army or master in the navy ; and any one who, as governor of
either of the so-called Confederate States, gave aid or comfort to the late rebellion.
Fifth. Those who have treated officers or soldiers or sailors of the army or navy of the
United States, captured during the late war, otherwise than lawfully as prisoners of war.
VI RECONSTRUCTION.
The following is the joint resolution proposing an amendment to the Constitution of tho
United States, as passed finally June 13, 1866 :
JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Resohcd by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Con
gress assembled, (two-thirds of both houses concurring,) That the following article be pro
posed to the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, which, when ratified by three-fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid as
part of the Constitution, namely :
ARTICLE 14.
SECTION 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the juris
diction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citi
zens of the United States ; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property,
without due process of law, nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protec
tion of the laws.
SEC. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their
respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians
not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President
and Vice-President of the United States, representatives in Congress, the executive and
judicial officers of a State, or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the
male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United
States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime; the basis
of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such maid
citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such
State.
SEC. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector of President
and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under
any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer
of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial
officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in
insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.
But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.
SEC. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including
debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection
or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall as
sume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the
United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts,
obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
Sue. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provi
sions of this article.
KEPORT
OF THE
JOINT COMMITTEE ON RECOISTRUCTION.
The Joint Committee of the two houses of Congress appointed under the con*
current resolution of December 13, 1865, with direction ' to inquire into the
condition of the States which formed the so-called Confederate States of
America, and report whether they or any oftJicm are entitled to be represented
in either house of Congress, with leave to report by bill or otherwise" ask leave
to report :
That they Lave attended to the duty assigned them as assiduously as other
duties would permit, and now submit to Congress, as the result of their delibera
tions, a resolution proposing amendments to the Constitution, and two bills, of
which they recommend the adoption.
Before proceeding to set forth in detail their reasons for the conclusion to
which, after great deliberation, your committee have arrived, they beg leave to
advert, briefly, to the course of proceedings they found it necessary to adopt,
and to explain the reasons therefor.
The resolution under which your committee was appointed directed them to
inquire into the condition of the Confederate States, and report whether they
were entitled to representation in Congress. It is obvious that such an investi
gation, covering so large an extent of territory and involving so many important
considerations, must necessarily require no trifling labor, and consume a very
considerable amount of time. It must embrace the condition in which those
States were left at the close of the war ; the measures which have been taken
towards the reorganization of civil government, and the disposition of the people
towards the United States ; in a word, their fitness to take an active part in the
administration of national affairs.
As to their condition at the close of the rebellion, the evidence is open
to all and admits of no dispute. They were in a state of utter exhaustion.
Having protracted their struggle against federal authority until all hope
of successful resistance had ceased, and laid down their arms only because
there was no longer any power to use them, the people of those States were
left bankrupt in their public nuances, and shorn of the private wealth which
had before given them power and influence. They were also necessarily in
a state of complete anarchy, without governments and without the power to
frame governments except by the permission of those who had been successful
in the war. The President of the United States, in the proclamations under
which he appointed provisional governors, and in his various communications to
them, has, in exact terms, recognized the fact that the^people of those States
were, when the rebellion was crushed, " deprived of all civil government," and
must proceed to organize anew. In his conversation with Mr. Stearns, of Mas-
VIII RECONSTRUCTION.
saclmsetts, certified by himself, President Johnson said, "the State institutions
are prostrated, laid out on the ground, and they must be taken up and adapted
to the progress of events.'* Finding the southern States in this condition, and
Congress having failed to provide for the contingency, his duty was obvious.
As President of the United States, he had no power, except to execute the laws
of the land as Chief Magistrate. These laws gave him no authority over the
subject of reorganization, but by the Constitution he was commander-in-chief of
the army and navy of the United States. The Confederate States embraced
a portion of the people of the Union who had been in a state of revolt, but had
been reduced to obedience by force of arms. They were in an abnormal condi
tion, without civil government, without commercial connexions, without national
or international relations, and subject only to martial law. By withdrawing
their representatives in Congress, by renouncing the privilege of representation,
by organizing a separate government, and by levying war against the United
States, they destroyed their State constitutions in respect to the vital principle
which connected their respective States with the Union and secured their fed
eral relations ; and nothing of those constitutions was left of which the United
States were bound to take notice. For four years they had a de facto govern
ment, but it^vas usurped and illegal. They chose the tribunal of arms wherein
to decide whether or not it should be legalized, and they were defeated. At the
close of the rebellion, therefore, the people of the rebellious States were found,
as the President expresses it, " deprived of all civil government."
Uncfer this state of affairs it was plainly the duty of the President to enforce
existing national laws, and to establish, as far as he could, such a system of
government as might be provided for by existing national statutes. As Com
mander-in-chief of a victorious army, it was his duty, under the law of nations
and the army regulations, to restore order, to preserve property, and to protect
the people against violence from any quarter until provision should be made by
law for their government. He might, as President, assemble Congress ai:<l
submit the whole matter to the law-making power ; or he might continue military
supervision and control until Congress should assemble on its regular appointed
day. Selecting the latter alternative, he proceeded, by virtue of his power as
command er-in-chief, to appoint provisional governors over the revolted States.
These were regularly commissioned, and 4heir compensation was paid, as the
Secretary of War states, " from the appropriation for army contingencies, because
the duties performed by the parties were regarded as of a temporary character,
ancillary to the withdrawal of military force, the disbandment of armies, and
the reduction of military expenditure, by provisional organizations for the pro
tection of civil rights, the preservation of peace, and to take the place of
armed force in the respective States." It cannot, we think, be contended that
these governors possessed, or could exercise, any but military authority. They
had no power to organize civil governments, nor to exercise any authority
except that which inhered in their own persons under their commissions. Neither
had the President, as commander-in-chief, any other than military power.
But he was in exclusive possession of the military authority. It was for him
to decide how far he would exercise it, how far he would relax it, when and on
what terms he would withdraw it. He might properly permit the people to as
semble, and to initiate local governments, and to execute such local laws as they
might choose to frame not inconsistent with, nor in opposition to, the laws of
the United States. And, if satisfied that they might safely be left to them
selves, he might withdraw the military forces altogether, and leave the people
of any or all of these States to govern themselves without his interference. In
the language of the Secretary of State, in his telegram to the provisional gov
ernor of Georgia, dated October 28, 1865, he might " recognize the people of
any State as having resumed the relations of loyalty to the Union," and act in his
military capacity on this hypothesis. All this was within his own discretion, as
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. IX
military commander. But it was not for him to decide upon the nature or effect
of any system of government which the people of these States might see fit to adopt.
This power is lodged by the Constitution in the Congress of the United States
that branch of the government in which is vested the authority to fix the
political relations of the States to the Union, whose duty it is to guarantee to
each State a republican form of government, and to protect each and all of them
against foreign or domestic violence, and against each other. We cannot, there
fore, regard the various acts of the President in relation to the formation of
local governments in the insurrectionary States, and the conditions imposed by
him upon their action, in any other light than as intimations to the people that,
as commander-in-chief of the army, he would consent to withdraw military rule
just in proportion as they should, by their acts, manifest a disposition to pre
serve order among themselves, establish governments denoting loyalty to the
Union, and exhibit a settled determination to return to their allegiance, leaving
with the law-making power to fix the terms of their final restoration to all their
rights and privileges as States of the Union. That this was the view of his
power, taken by the President is evident from expressions to that effect in the
communications of the Secretary of State to the various provisional governors,
and the repeated declarations of the President himself. Any other supposition
inconsistent with this would impute to the President designs of encroachment
upon a co-ordinate branch of the government, which should not be lightly at
tributed to the Chief Magistrate of the nation.
When Congress assembled in December last the people of most of the States
lately in rebellion had, under the advice of the President, organized local govern
ments, and some of them had acceded to the terms proposed by him. In his
annual message he stated, in general terms, what had been done, but he did not
see fit to communicate the details for the information of Congress. While in
this and in a subsequent message the President urged the speedy restoration
of these States, and expressed the opinion that their condition was such as to
justify their restoration, yet it is quite obvious that Congress must either have
acted blindly on that opinion of the President, or proceeded to obtain the informa
tion requisite for intelligent action on the subject. The impropriety of pro
ceeding Avholly on the judgment of any one man, however exalted his station,
in a matter involving the welfare of the republic in all future time, or of adopt
ing any plan, coming from any source, without fully understanding all its bear
ings and comprehending its fill effect, was apparent. The first step, therefore,
was to obtain the required information. A call was accordingly made on the
President for the information in his possession as to what had been done, in
order that Congress might judge for itself as to the grounds of the belief ex
pressed by him in the fitness of States recently in rebellion to participate fully
in the conduct of national affairs. This information was not immediately com
municated. When the response was finally made, some six weeks after your
committee had been in actual session, it was found that the evidence upon which
the President seemed to have based his suggestions was incomplete and unsatis
factory. Authenticated copies of the new constitutions and ordinances adopted
by the conventions in three of the States had been submitted, extracts from
newspapers furnished scanty information as to the action of one other State, and
nothing appears to have been communicated as to the remainder. There was
no evidence of the loyalty of those who had participated in these conventions,
and in one State alone was any proposition made to submit the action of the con
ventions to the final judgment of the people.
Failing to obtain the desired information, and left to grope for light wherever
it might be found, your committee did not deem it either advisable or safe to
adopt, without further examination, the suggestions of the President, more
especially as he had not deemed it expedient to remove the military force,
to suspend martial law, or to restore the writ of habeas corpus, but still
X RECONSTRUCTION.
thought it necessary to exercise over the; people of the rebellious States
his military power and jurisdiction. This conclusion derived still greater
force from "She fact, undisputed, that in all these States, except Tennessee
and perhaps Arkansas, the elections which were held lor State officers and
members of Congress had resulted, almost universally, in the defeat, of candi
dates who had been true to the Union, and in the election of notorious and un-
pardoned rebels, men who could not take the prescribed oath of office, and who
made no secret of their hostility to the government and the people of the United
States. Under these circumstances, anything like hasty action would have been
as dangerous as it was obviously unwise. It appeared to your committee that
but one course remained, viz : to investigate carefully and thoroughly the state
of feeling and opinion existing among the people of these States ; to ascertain
how far their pretended loyalty could be relied upon, and thence to infer whether
it would be safe to admit them at once to a full participation in the government
they had fought for four years to destroy. It was an equally important inquiry
whether their restoration to their former relations with the United States should
only be granted upon certain conditions and guarantees which would effectually
secure the nation against a recurrence of evils so disastrous as those from which
it had escaped at so enormous a sacrifice.
To obtain the necessary information recourse could only be had to the exam
ination of witnesses whose position had given them the best means of forming
an accurate judgment, who could state facts from their own observation, and
whose character and standing afforded the best evidence of their truthfulness
and impartiality. A work like this, covering so large an extent of territory,
and embracing such complicated and extensive inquiries, necessarily required
much time and labor. To shorten the time as much as possible, the work was
divided and placed in the hands of four sub- committees, who have been dili
gently employed. in its accomplishment. The results of their labors have been
heretofore submitted, and the country will judge how far they sustain the Pres
dent's views, and how far they justify the conclusions to which your committee
have finally arrived.
A claim for the immediate admission of senators and representatives
so-called Confederate States has been urged, which seems to your committee not
to be founded either in reason or in law, and which cannot be passed without
comment. Stated -in a few words, it amounts to this : That inasmuch as the
lately insurgent States had no legal right to separate themselves from the Union,
they still retain their positions as States, and consequently the people thereof
have a right to immediate representation in Congress without the imposition of
any conditions whatever; and further, that until such admission Congress has
no right to tax them for the support of the government. It has even been con
tended that until such admission all legislation affecting their interests is, if not
unconstitutional, at least unjustifiable and oppressive.
It is believed by your committee t\iat all these propositions are not only
wholly untenable, but, if admitted, would tend to the destruction of the govern
ment.
It must not be forgotten that the people of these States, without justification
or excuse, rose in insurrection against the United States. They deliberately
abolished their State governments so far as the same connected them politically
with the Union as members thereof under the Constitution. They deliberately
renounced their allegiance to the federal government, and proceeded to establish
an independent government for themselves. In the prosecution of this enter
prise they seized the national forts, arsenals, dock-yards, and other public prop
erty within their borders, drove out from among them those who remained true
to the Union, and In-aped every imaginable insult and injury upon the United
States and its citizens. Finally, they opened hostilities, and levied war against
the government They continued this war for four years with the most deter-
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE XI
mined and malignant spirit, killing in battle, and otherwise, large numbers of
loyal people, destroying the property of loyal citizens on the sea and on the
land, and entailing on the government an enormous debt, incurred to sustain its
rightful authority. Whether legally and constitutionally or not, they did, in
fact, withdraw from the Union and made themselves subjects of another govern
ment of their own creation. And they only yielded when, after a long, bloody,
and wasting war, they were compelled by utter exhaustion to lay down their
arms ; and this they did, not willingly, but declaring that they yielded because
they could no longer resist, affording no evidence whatever of repentance for
their crime, and expressing no regret, except that they had no longer the power
to continue the desperate struggle.
It cannot, we think, be denied by any one, having a tolerable acquaintance
with public law, that the war thus waged was a civil war of the greatest
magnitude. The people waging it were necessarily subject to all the rules
which, by the law of nations, control a contest of that character, and to all the
legitimate consequences following it. One of those consequences was that,
within the limits prescribed by humanity, the conquered rebels were at the mercy
of the conquerors. That a government thus outraged had a most perfect right
to exact indemnity for the injuries done, and security against the recurrence of
such outrages in the future, would seem too clear for dispute. What the nature
of that security should be, what proof should be required of a return to allegi
ance, what time should elapse before a people thus demoralized should be re
stored in full to the enjoyment of political rights and privileges, are questions
for the law-making power to decide, and that decision must depend on grave
considerations of the public safety and the general welfare.
It is moreover contended, and with apparent gravity, that, from the peculiar
nature and character of our government, no such right on the part of the
conqueror can exist ; that from the moment when rebellion lays down its arms
and actual hostilities cease, all political rights of rebellious communities are at once
restored; that, because the people of a State of the Union were once an organ
ized community within the Union, they necessarily so remain, and their right to
be represented in Congress at any and all times, and to participate in the gov
ernment of the country under all circumstances, admits of neither question nor
dispute. If this is indeed true, then is the government of the United States
powerless for its own protection, and flagrant rebellion, carried to the ej&rcme
of civil war, is a pastime which any State may play at, not only certain that it
can lose nothing in any event, but may even be the gainer by defeat. If re
bellion succeeds, it accomplishes its purpose and destroys the government. If
it fails, the w^ar has been barren of results, and the battle may be still fought out
in the legislative halls of the country. Treason, defeated in the field, has only
to take possession of Congress and the cabinet.
Your committee do not deem it either necessary or proper to discuss the ques
tion whether the late Confederate States are still States of this Union, or can ever
be otherwise. Granting this profitless abstraction about which so many words have
been wasted, it by no means follows that the people of those States may not place
themselves in a condition to abrogate the powers and privileges incident to a State
of the Union, and deprive themselves of all pretence of right to exercise those pow
ers and enjoy those privileges. A State within the Union has obligations to dis
charge as a member of the Union. It must submit to federal laws and uphold fed
eral authority. It must have a government republican in form, under and by which
it is connected*with the general government, and through which it can discharge
its obligations. It is more than idle, it is a mockery, to contend that a people
who have thrown off their allegiance, destroyed the local government whicl^
bound their' States to the Union as members thereof, defied its authority, refu« d
to execute its laws, and abrogated every provision which gave them political
rights within the Union, still retain, through ail, the perfect and entire right to
XII RECONSTRUCTION.
•
resume, at their own' will and pleasure, all their privileges within the Union,
and especially to participate in its government, and to control the conduct of
its affairs. To admit such a principle for one moment would be to declare that
treason is always master and loyalty a blunder. Such a principle is void by its
very nature and essence, 'because inconsistent with the theory of government,
and fatal to its very existence.
On the contrary, we assert that no portion of the people of this country,
whether in State or Territory, have the right, while remaining on its soil, to
withdraw from or reject the authority of the United States. They must obey
its laws as paramount, and acknowledge its jurisdiction. They have no right
to' secede ; and while they can destroy their State governments, and place them
selves beyond the pale of the Union, so far as the exercise of State privileges
is concerned, they cannot escape the obligations imposed upon them by the
Constitution and the laws, nor impair the exercise of national authority. The
Constitution, it will be observed, does not act upon States, as such, but upon
the people ; while, therefore, the people cann6£ escape its authority, the States
may, through the act of their people, cease to exist in an organized form, and
thus dissolve their political relations with the United States.
That taxation should be only with the consent of the taxed, through their own
representatives, is a cardinal principle of all free governments ; but it is not
true that taxation and representation must go together under all circumstances,
and at every moment of time. The people of the District of Columbia and of
the Territories are taxed, although not represented in Congress. If it is true
that the people of the so-called Confederate States had no right to throw off the
authority of the United States, it is equally true that they are bound at all times
to share the burdens of government. They cannot, either legally or equitably,
refuse to bear their just proportion of these burdens by voluntarily abdicating
their rights and privileges as States of the Union, and refusing to be represented
in the councils of the nation, much less by rebellion against national authority
and levying war. To hold that by so doing they could escape* taxation would
lie to offer a premium for insurrection — to reward instead of punishing treason.
To hold that as soon as government is restored to its full authority it can be
allowed no time to secure itself against similar wrongs in the future, or else omit
the ordinary exercise of its constitutional power to compel equal contribution
from aall, towards the expenses of government, would be unreasonable in itself,
and unjust to the nation. It is sufficient to reply that the loss of representation
by the people of the insurrectionary States was their own voluntary choice.
They might abandon their privileges, but they could not escape their obligations;
and surely they have no right to complain if, before resuming those privileges,
and while the people of the United States are devising measures for the public
safety, rendered necessary by the act of those who thus disfranchised themselves,
they are compelled to contribute their just proportion of the general burden of
taxation incurred by their wickedness and folly.
Equally absurd is the pretence that the legislative authority of the nation
must be inoperative so far as they are concerned, while they, by their own act,
have lost the right to take part in it. Such a proposition carries its own refuta
tion on its face.
While thus exposing fallacies which, as your committee believe, are resorted
to for the purpose of misleading the people and distracting their attention from
the questions at issue, we freely admit that such a condition of things should be
brought, if possible, to a speedy termination. It is most desirable that the Union
of all the States should become perfect at the earliest moment consistent with
the peace and welfare of the nation; that all these States should become fully
represenled in the national councils, and take their share in the legislation of
the country. The possession and exercise of more than its just share of power
by any section is injurious, as well to that section as to all others. Its tendency
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XIII
is distracting and demoralizing, and such a state of affairs is only to bo tolerated
on the ground of a necessary regard to the public safety. As soon as that sat' "ty
is secured it should terminate.
Your committee came to the consideration of the subject referred to them with
the most anxious desire to ascertain what was the condition of the people of the
States recently in insurrection, and what, if anything, was necessary to be done
before restoring them to the full enjoyment of all their original privileges. It
was undeniable that the war into which they had plunged the country had
materially changed their relations to the people of the loyal States. Slavery
had been abolished by constitutional amendment. A large proportion of the
population had become, instead of mere chattels, free men and citizens. Through
all the past struggle these had remained true and loyal, and had, in large uum-
cers, fought on the side of the Union. It was impossible to abandon them, with
out securing them their rights as free men and citizens. The whole civilized
world would have cried out against such base ingratitude, and the bare idea is
offensive to all right-thinking men. Hence it became important to inquire what
could be done to secure their rights, civil and political. It was evident to your
committee that adequate security could only be found in appropriate constitu
tional provisions. By an original provision of the Constitution, repre
sentation is based on the whole number of free persons in each State, and
three-fifths of all other persons. When all become free, representation for
all necessarily follows. As a consequence the inevitable effect of the re
bellion would be to increase the political power of the insurrectionary States,
whenever they should be allowed to resume their positions as States of
the Union. As representation is by the Constitution based upon population,
your committee did not think it advisable to recommend a change of that basis.
The increase of representation necessarily resulting from the abolition qf slavery
was considered the most important element in the questions arising out of the
changed condition of affairs, and the necessity for some fundamental action in
this regard seemed imperative. It appeared to your committee that the rights
of these persons by whom the basis of representation had been thus increased
should be recognized by the general government. While slaves they were not
considered as having any rights, civil or political. It did not seem just or proper
that all the political advantages derived from their becoming free should be
confined to their former masters, who had fought against the Union, and with
held from themselves, who had always been loyal. Slavery, by building up a
ruling and dominant class, had produced a spirit of oligarchy adverse to repub
lican institutions, which finally inaugurated civil war. The tendency of con
tinuing the domination of such a class, by leaving it in the exclusive possession
of political power, would be to encourage the same spirit, and lead to a similar
result. Doubts were entertained whether Congress had power, even under the
amended Constitution, to prescribe the qualifications of voters in a State, or
could act directly on the subject. It was doubtful, in the opinion of your com
mittee, whether the States would consent to surrender a power they had always
exercised, and to which they were attached. As the best if not the only
method of surmounting the difficulty, and as eminently just and proper in it
self, your committee came to the conclusion that political power should be pos
sessed in all the States exactly in proportion as the right of suffrage should be
granted, without distinction of color or race. This it was thought would Jeave
the whole question with the people of each State, holding out to all the advan
tage of increased political power as an inducement to allow all to participate in
its exercise. Such a provision would be in its nature gentle and persuasive,
and would lead, it was hoped, at no dragint day, to an equal participation of all,
without distinction, in all the rights and privileges of citizenship, thus affording
a full and adequate protection to all classes of citizens, since all would have,
through the ballot-box, the power of self-protection.
XIV RECONSTRUCTION.
Holding these views, your committee prepared an amendment to the Consti
tution to cany out tins idea, and submitted the same to Congress. Unfortu
nately, as we think, it did not receive the necessary constitutional support in
the Senate, and therefore could not be proposed for adoption by the States.
The principle involved in that amendment is, however, believed to be sound,
and your committee have again proposed it in another form, hoping that it may
receive the approbation of Congress.
Your committee have been unable to find, in the evidence submitted to Con
gress by the President, under date of March 6, 1866, in compliance with the
resolutions of January 5 and February 27, 1866, any satisfactory proof that
either of the insurrectionary States, except, perhaps, the State of Tennessee,
has placed itself in a condition to resume its political relations to the Union.
The first step towards that end would necessarily be the establishment of a re
publican form of government by the people. It has been before remarked that
the provisional governors, appointed by the President in the exercise of his
military authority, could do nothing by virtue of the power thus conferred
towards the establishment of a State government. They were acting under
the War Department and paid out of its funds. They were simply bridging
over the chasm between rebellion and restoration. And yet we find them
calling conventions and convening legislatures. Not only this, but we find
the conventions and legislatures thus convened acting under executive di
rection as to the provisions required to be adopted in their constitutions and
ordinances as conditions precedent to their recognition by the President. The
inducement held out by the President for compliance with the conditions im
posed was, directly in one instance, and presumably, therefore, in others, the
immediate admission of senators and representatives to Congress. The char
acter of jjie conventions and legislatures thus assembled was not such as to in
spire confidence in the good faith of their members. Governor Perry, of South
Carolina, dissolved the convention assembled in that State before the sngges-
ti6n had reached Columbia from "Washington that the rebel war debt should be
repudiated, and gave as his reason that it was a " revolutionary body." There
is no evidence of the loyalty or disloyalty of the members of those conventions
and legislatures except the fact of pardons being asked for on their account.
Some of these States now claiming representation refused to adopt the condi
tions imposed. No reliable information is found in these papers as to the con
stitutional provisions of several of these States, while in not one of them is there
the slightest evidence to show that these " amended constitutions," as they are
called, have ever been submitted to the people for their adoption. In North
Carolina alone an ordinance was passed to that effect, but it does not appear to
have been acted on. Not one of them, therefore, has been ratified. Whether,
with President Johnson, we adopt the theory that the old constitutions were ab
rogated and destroyed, and the people " deprived of all civil government," or
whether we adopt the alternative doctrine that they were only suspended and
were revived by the suppression of the rebellion, the new provisions must be
considered as equally destitute of validity before adoption by the people. If
the conventions wrere called for the eole purpose of putting the State govern
ment into operation, they had no power either to adopt a new constitution or to
amend an old one without the consent of the people. Nor could either a con
vention or a legislature change the fundamental law without power previously
conferred. In the view of your committee, it follows, therefore, that the people
of a State where the constitution has been thus amended might feel themselves
justified in repudiating altogether all such unauthorized assumptions of power,
and might be expected to do so at plea%rc.
So far as the disposition of the people of the insurrectionary States, and the
probability of their adopting measures conforming to the changed condition ot
affairs, can be inferred from the papers submitted by the President as the basis
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XV
of his action, the prospects are far from encouraging. It appears quite clear that
the anti-slavery amendments, both to the State and federal constitutions, were*
adopted with reluctance by the bodies which did adopt them, while in some States
they have been either passed by in silence or rejected. The language of all the
provisions and ordinances of these States on the subject amounts to nothing
more than an unwilling admission of an unwelcome truth. As to the ordinance
of secession, it is, in some cases, declared " null and void," and in others simply
"repealed ;" and in no instance is a refutation of this deadly heresy considered
worthy of a place in the new constitution.
If, as the President assumes, these insurrectionary States were, at the close
of the war, wholly without State governments, it would seem that, before be
ing admitted to participation in the direction of public affairs, such govern
ments should be regularly organized. Long usage has established, and nu
merous statutes have pointed out, the mode in which this should be done. A
convention to frame a form of government should be assembled under competent
authority. Ordinarily, this authority emanates from Congress ; but, under the
peculiar circumstances, your committee is not disposed to criticise the Presi
dent's action in assuming the power exercised by him in this regard. The con
vention, when assembled, should frame a constitution of government, which
should be submitted to the people for adoption. If adopted, a legislature should
be convened to pass the laws necessary to carry it into effect. When a State,
thus organized, claims representation in Congress, the election of representa
tives should be provided for by law, in accordance with the laws of Congress
regulating representation, and the proof that the action taken has been in con
formity to law should be submitted to Congress.
In no case have these essential preliminary steps been taken. The conven
tions assembled seem to have assumed that the constitutions which ha'd been
repudiated and overthrown were still in existence, and operative to constitute
the States members of the Union, and to have contented themselves with such
amendments as they were informed were requisite in order to insure their return
to an immediate participation in the government of the United States. Not
waiting to ascertain whether the people they represented would adopt even the
proposed amendments, they at once ordered elections of representatives to
Congress, in nearly all instances before an executive had been chosen to issue
writs of election under the State laws, and such elections as were held were
ordered by the conventions. In one instance at least the writs of election were
signed by the provisional governor* Glaring irregularities, and unwarranted
assumptions of power, are manifest in several cases, particularly in South Caro
lina, where the convention, although disbanded by the provisional governor on
the ground that it was a revolutionary body, assumed to redistrict the State.
It is quite evident from all these facts, and indeed from the whole mass of
testimony submitted by the President to the Senate, that in no instance was re
gard paid to any other consideration than obtaining immediate admission to
Congress, under the barren form of an election in which no precautions were
taken to secure regularity of proceedings, or the assent of the people. No con
stitution has been legally adopted except, perhaps, in the State of Tennessee,
and such elections as have been held were without authority of law. Your
committee are accordingly forced to the conclusion that the States referred to
have not placed themselves in a condition to claim representation in Congress,
unless all the rules which have, since the foundation of the government, been
deemed essential in such cases, should be disregarded.
It woul'd undoubtedly be competent for Congress to waive all formalities and
to admit these Confederate States to representation at once, trusting that time
and experience would set all things right. Whether it would be advisable to
do so, however, must depend upon other considerations of which it remains to
treat. But it may well be observed, that the inducements to such a step should
XVI RECONSTRUCTION.
Jbe of the very highest character. It seems to your committee not unreasonable
to require satisfactory evidence that the ordinances and constitutional provisions
which the President deemed essential in the first instance will be permanently
adhered to by the people of the States seeking restoration, after being admitted
to fuH participation in the government, and will not be repudiated when that
object shall have been accomplished. And here the burden of proof rests upon
the late insurgents who are seeking restoration to the rights and privileges
which they willingly abandoned, and not upon the people of the United States
who have never undertaken, directly or indirectly, to deprive them thereof. It
, should appear affirmatively that they are prepared and disposed in good faith
to accept the results of the war, to abandon their hostility to the government,
and to live in peace and amity with the people of the loyal States, extending to
all classes of citizens equal rights and privileges, and conforming to the repub
lican idea of liberty and equality. They should exhibit in their acts something
more than an unwilling submission to an unavoidable necessity — a feeling, if
not cheerful, certainly not offensive and defiant. And they should evince an
entire repudiation of all hostility to the general government, by an acceptance
of such just and reasonable conditions as that government should think the
public safety demands. Has this been done ? Let us look at the facts shown
by the evidence taken by the committee.
Hardly is the war closed before the people of these insurrectionary States
come forward and haughtily claim, as a right, the privilege of participating at
once in that government which they had for four years been fighting to over
throw. Allowed and encouraged by the Executive to organize State govern
ments, they at once place in power leading rebels, unrepentant and unpardoned,
excluding with contempt those who had manifested an attachment to the Union,
and preferring, in many instances, those who had rendered themselves the most
obnoxious. In the face of the law requiring an oath which Avould necessarily
exclude all such men from federal offices, they elect, with very few exceptions,
as senators and representatives in Congress, men who had actively participated
in the rebellion, insultingly denouncing the law as unconstitutional. It is only
necessary to instance the election to the Senate of the late vice-president of the
confederacy, a man who, against his own declared convictions, had lent all the
weight of his acknowledged ability and of his influence as a most prominent
public man to the cause of the rebellion, and who, unpardoned rebel as he is,
with that oath staring- him in the face, had the assurance to lay his credentials
on the table of the Senate. Other rebels of scarcely less note or notoriety were
selected from other quarters. Professing no repentance, glorying apparently in
the crime they had committed, avowing still, as the uncontradicted testimony of
Mr. Stephens and many others proves, an adherence to the pernicious doctrine
of secession, and declaring that they yielded only to necessity, they insist, with
unanimous voice, upon their rights as States, and proclaim that they will sub
mit to n% conditions whatever as preliminary to their resumption of power
under that Constitution which they still claim the right to repudiate.
Examining the evidence taken by your committee still further, in connexion
with facts too notorious to be disputed, it appears that the southern press, with
few exceptions, and those mostly of newspapers recently established by northern
men, abounds with weekly and daily abuse of the institutions and people of the
loyal States; defends the men who led, and the principles which incited, the re
bellion ; denounces and reviles southern men who adhered to the Union ; and
strives, constantly and unscrupulously, by every means in its power, to keep
alive the fire of hate and discord between the sections; calling upon the Presi
dent to violate his oath of office, overturn the government by force of arms, and
drive the representatives of the people from their seats in Congress. The
national banner is openly insulted, and the national airs scoffed at, not only by
an ignorant populace, but at public meetings, and once, among other notable in-
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XVII
Ftanccs, at a dinner given in honor of a notorious rebel who had violated his oath
and abandoned his flag. The same individual is elected to an important office
in the leading city of his State, although an unpardoned rebel, and so offensive
that the President refuses to allow him to enter upon his official duties. In an
other State the leading general of the rebel armies is openly nominated for gov
ernor by the speaker of the house of delegates, and the nomination is hailejl by
the people with shouts of satisfaction, and openly indorsed by^ the press.
Looking still further at the evidence taken by your committee, it is found to
be clearly shown by witnesses of the highest character and having the best
means of observation, that the Freedmen's Bureau, instituted for the relief and
protection of freedmen and refugees, is almost universally opposed by the mass
of the population, and exists in an efficient condition only under military pro
tection, while the Union men of the south are earnest in its defence, declaring
with one voice that without its protection the colored people would not be per
mitted to labor at fair prices, and could hardly live in safety. They also testify
that without the protection of United States troops, Union men, whether of
northern or southern origin, would be obliged to abandon their homes. The
feeling in many portions of the country towards emancipated slaves, especially
among the uneducated and ignorant, is one of vindictive and malicious hatred.
This deep-seated prejudice against color is assiduously cultivated by the public
journals, and leads to acts of cruelty, oppression, and murder, whic.li the local
authorities are at no pains to prevent or punish. There is no general disposition
to place the colored race, constituting at least two-fifths of the population, upon
terms even of civil equality. While many instances may be found where large
planters and men of the better class accept the situation, and honestly strive to
bring about a better order of things, by employing the freedmen at fair wages
and treating them kindly, the general feeling and disposition among all classes
are yet totally averse to the toleration of any class of people friendly to the
Union, be they white or black; and this aversion is not unfreojuently manifested
in an insulting and offensive manner.
The witnesses examined as to the willingness of the people of the south to
contribute, uu^er existing laws, to the payment of the national debt, prove that
the taxes levied by the United States will be paid only on compulsion and with
great reluctance, while there prevails, to a considerable extent, an expectation
that compensation will be made for slaves emancipated and property destroyed
during the war. The testimony on this point comes from officers of the Union
army, officers of the late rebel army, Union men of the southern States, and
avowed secessionists, almost all of whom state that, in their opinion, the people
of the rebellious States would, if they should see a prospect of success, repu
diate the national debt.
While there is scarcely any hope or desire among leading men to renew the
attempt at secession at any future time, there is still, according to a large num
ber of witnesses, including A. II. Stephens, 'who may be regarded as good
authority on that point, a generally prevailing opinir'.i which defends the legal
right of secession, and upholds the doctrine that the first allegiance of the people
is due to the States, and not to the United States. This belief evidently pre
vails among leading *and prominent men as well as among the masses every
where, except in some of the northern counties of Alabama and the eastern
counties of Tennessee.
The evidence of an intense hostility to the federal Union, and an equally in
tense love of the la*e confederacy, nurtured by the war, is decisive. While it
appears that nearly all are willing to submit, at least for the time being, to the
federal authority, it is equally clear that the ruling motive is a desire to obtain the
advantages which will be derived from a representation in Congress. Officers
of the Union army on duty, and northern men who go south to engage in busi
ness, are generally detested and proscribed. Southern men who adhered to
XVIII RECONSTRUCTION.
the Union are bitterly hated and relentlessly persecuted. In some localities
prosecutions have been instituted in State courts against Union officers for acts
done in the line of official duty, and similar prosecutions are threatened else
where as soon as the United States troops are removed. All such demonstra
tions show a state of feeling against which it is unmistakably necessary to guard.
1 he testimony is conclusive that after the collapse of the confederacy the
feeling of the people of the rebellious States was that of abject submission.
Having appealed to the tribunal of arms, they had no hope except that by the
magnanimity of their 'conquerors their lives, and possibly their property, might
be preserved. Unfortunately, the general issue of pardons to persons who had
been prominent in the rebellion, and the feeling of kindliness and conciliation
manifested by the Executive, and very generally indicated through the north
ern press, had the effect to render whole communities forgetful of the crime they
had committed, defiant towards the federal government, and regardless of their
dutieg as citizens. The conciliatory measures of the government do not seem
to have been met even half way. The bitterness and defiance exhibited
toward the United States under such circumstances is without a parallel in the
history of the world. In return for our leniency we receive only an insulting
denial of our authority. In return for our kind desire for the resumption of
fraternal relations we receive only an insolent assumption of rights and privi
leges long since forfeited. The crime we have punished is paraded as a virtue,
and the principles of republican government which we have vindicated at so
terrible a cost are denounced as unjust and oppressive,
If we add to this evidence the fact that, although peace has been declared by
the President, he has not, to this day, deemed it safe to restore the writ of
ttabeas corpus, to relieve the insurrectionary States of martial law, nor to with
draw the troops from many localities, and that the commanding general deems
an increase of the army indispensable to the preservation of order and the
protection of loyal and well-disposed people in the south, the proof of a condition
of feeling hostile to the Union and dangerous to the government throughout the
insurrectionary States would seem to be overwhelming.
With such evidence before them, it is the opinion of your committee—
I. That the States lately in rebellion were, at the close of the war, disorgan
ized communities, without civil government, and without constitutions or other
forms, by virtue of which political relations could legally exist between them
and the federal government.
II. That Congress cannot be expected to recognize as valid the election of
representatives frojn disorganized communities, which, from the very nature of
the case, were unable to present their claim to representation under those estab
lished and recognized rules, the observance of which has been hitherto required.
II. That Congress would not be justified in admitting such communities to
a participation in the government of the country without first providing such
constitutional or other guarantees as will tend to secure the civil rights of all
citizens of the republic; a just equality of representation; protection against
claims founded in rebellion and crime; a temporary restoration of the ri^ht of
raflrage to those who have not actively participated in the efforts to destroy the
Union and overthrow the government, and the exclusion from positions of public
trust of, at least, a portion of those whose crimes have proved them to be enemies
to the Uiiion, and unworthy of public confidence.
Your committee will, perhaps, hardly be deemed excusable for extendin" this
report further ; but inasmuch as immediate and unconditional representation of
the States lately in rebellion is demanded as a matter of right, and delay and
even hesitation is denounced as grossly oppressive and unjust, as well as un
wise and impolitic, it may not be amiss again to call attention to a few undis
puted and notorious facts, and the principles of public law applicable thereto,
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XIX
in order that the propriety of that claim may be fully considered and well un
derstood.
The State of Tennessee occupies a position distinct from all the other insur
rectionary States, and has been the subject of a separate report which your
committee have not thought it expedient to disturb. Whether Congress shall
see tit to make that State the subject of separate action, or to include it in the
same category with all others, so far as concerns the imposition of preliminary
conditions, it is not within the province of this committee either to determine or
advise.
To ascertain whether any of the so-called Confederate States "are entitled to
be represented in either house of Congress," the essential inquiry is, whether
there is, in anyone of them, a constituency qualified to be represented in Congress.
The question how far persons claiming seats in either house possess the cre
dentials necessary to enable them to represent a duly qualified constituency is
one for the consideration of each house separately, after the preliminary ques
tion shall have been finally determined.
We now propose to re-state, as briefly as possible, the general facts and prin
ciples applicable to all the States recently in rebellion :
First/ The seats of the senators and representatives from the so-called Con
federate States became vacant in the year 1861, during the second session of
the thirty-sixth Congress, by the voluntary withdrawal of their incumbents,
with the sanction and by direction of the legislatures- or conventions of their
respective States. This was done as a hostile act against the Constitution and
go\»ernment of the United States, with a declared intent to overthrow the same
by forming a southern confederation. This act of declared hostility was speedily
followed by an organization of the same States into a confederacy, which levied
and waged war, by sea and land, against the United States. Thia war contin
ued more than four years, within which period the rebel armies besieged the
national capital, invaded the loyal States, burned their towns and cities, robbed
their citizens, destroyed more than 250,000 loyal soldiers, and imposed an in
creased national burden of not less than $3,500,000,000, of which seven or eight
hundred millions have already been met and paid. From the time these con
federated States thus withdrew their representation in Congress and levied
war against the United States, the great mass of their people became and were
insurgents, rebels, traitors, and all of them assumed and occupied the political,
legal, and practical relation of enemies of the United States. This position is
established by acts of Congress and judicial decisions, and is recognized repeat
edly by the President in public proclamations, documents, and speeches.
Second. The States thus confederated prosecuted their war against the United
States to final arbitrament, and did not cease until all their armies were cap
tured, their military power destroyed, their civil officers, State and confederate,
taken prisoners or put to flight, every vestige of State and confederate govern
ment obliterated, their territory overrun and occupied by the federal armies, and
their people reduced to the condition of enemies conquered in war, entitled only
by public law to such rights, privileges, and conditions as might be. vouchsafed
by the conqueror. This position is also established by judicial decisions, and
is recognized by the President in public proclamations, documents, and speeches.
Third. Having voluntarily deprived themselves of representation in Congress
for the criminal purpose of destroying the federal Union, and having reduced
themselves, by the act of levying war, to the condition of public enemies, th jy
have no right to complain of temporary exclusion from Congress ; but, on the
contrary, having voluntarily renounced the right to representation, and dis
qualified themselves by crime from participating in the,governmeiit, the burden
now rests upon them, before claiming to be reinstated in their former condition,
tq show that they are qualified to resume federal relations. In order to do this,
RECONSTRUCTION.
they must prove that they have established, with the consent of the people re
publican forms of government in harmony with the Constitution and laws of the
United States, that all hostile purposes have ceased, and should eive adequate
guarantees against future treason and rebellion— guarantees which shall prove
satisfactory to the government against which they rebelled, and by whose arms
they were subdued.
Fourth Having, by this treasonable withdrawal from Congress, and by
flMjrrant rebellion and war, forfeited all civil and political rights and privileges
under the federal Constitution, they can only be restored thereto by the per
mission and authority of that constitutional power against which they rebelled
and by which they were subdued.
Fifth. These rebellious enemies were conquered by the people of the United
States, acting through all the co-ordinate branches of the government, and not
by the executive department alone. The powers of conqueror are not so vested
in the 1 resident that he can fix and regulate the terms of settlement and con
fer congressional representation on conquered rebels and traitors Nor can he
m any way, qualify enemies of the government to exercise its law-makin- power'
Ihe authority to restore rebels to political power in the federal government can
be exercised only with the concurrence of all the departments in which political
power is vested; and hence the several proclamations of the President to the
people of the Confederate States cannot be considered as extending beyond the
purposes declared, and can only be regarded as provisional permission by the
commander-m-chief of the army to do certain acts, the effect and validity where
of is to be determined by the constitutional government, and not solely bv the
executive power. J *
Sixth. The question before Congress is,' then, whether conquered enemies
.have the right, and shall be permitted at their own pleasure and on their own
terms, to participate in making laws for their conquerors ; whether conquered
rebels may change their theatre of operations from the battle-field, where they
were defeated and overthrown, to the halls of Congress, and, through their rep
resentatives seize upon the government which they fought to destroy - whether
the national treasury, the army of the nation, its navy, its forts and arsenals,
its whole civil administration, its credit, its pensioners, the widows and orphans
of those who perished in the war, the public honor, peace and safety, shall all
3 turned over to the keeping of its recent enemies without delay, and without
imposing such conditions as, in the opinion of Congress, the security of the
country and its institutions may demand.
Seventh. The history of mankind exhibits no example of such madness and
I lie instinct of self-preservation protests against it. The surrender by
jrant to Lee, and by Sherman to Johnston, would have been disasters of less
magnitude, for new armies could have been raised, new battles fou-ht, and the
government saved The anti-coercive policy, which, under pretext of avoidin-
bloodshed, allowed the rebellion to take form and gather force, would be su£
passed in infamy by the matchless wickedness that would now surrender the
iiulfc of Congress to those so recently in rebellion until proper precautions
shall have been taken to secure the national faith and the national safety
Eighth. As lias been shown in this report, and in the evidence submitted, no
proof has been afforded to Congress of a constituency in any one of the so-
called Confederate States, unless we except the State of Tennessee, qualified
to elect senators and representatives in Congress. No State constitution or'
amendment to a State constitution, lias had the sanction of the people All the
so-called legislation of State conventions and legislatures has been had under
military dictation. If the President may, at his will, and under his own au
thority, whether as military commander or chief executive, qualify persons to
appoint senators and elect representatives, and empower others to appoint and
them, he thereby practically controls the organization of toe legislative
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. XXI
department. The constitutional form of government is thereby practically de
stroyed, and its powers absorbed in the Executive. And while your committee
do not for a moment impute to the President any such design, but cheerfully
concede to him the most patriotic motives, they cannot but look with alarm
upon a precedent so fraught with danger to the republic.
Ninth. The necessity of providing adequate safeguards for the future, before
restoring the insurrectionary States to a participation in the direction of public
affairs, is apparent from the bitter hostility to the government and people of the
United States yet existing throughout the conquered territory, as proved incon-
testably by the testimony of many witnesses and by undisputed facts.
Tenth. The conclusion of your committee therefore is, that the so-called Con
federate States are not, at present, entitled to representation in the Congress of
the United States ; that, before allowing such representation, adequate security
for future peace and safety should be required ; that this can only be found in
such changes of the organic law as shall determine the civil rights and privi
leges of all citizens in all parts of the republic, shall place representation on an
equitable basis, shall fix a stigma upon treason, and protect the loyal people
against future claims for the expenses incurred in support of rebellion and for
manumitted slaves, together with an express grant of power in Congress to en
force those provisions. To this end they offer a joint resolution for amending
the Constitution of the United States, and the two several bills designed to
carry the same into effect, before referred to.
Before closing this report, your committee beg leave to state that the specific
recommendations submitted by them are the result of mutual concession, after
a long and careful comparison of conflicting opinions. Upon a question of such
magnitude, infinitely important as it is to the future of the republic, it was not
to be expected that all should think alike. Sensible of the imperfections of the
scheme, your committee submit it to Congress as the best they could agree
upon, in the hope that its imperfections may be cured, and its deficiencies sup
plied, by legislative wisdom ; and that, when finally adopted, it may tend to
restore peace and harmony to the whole country, and to place our republican
institutions on a more stable foundation.
W. P. FESSENDEN.
JAMES W. GRIMES.
IRA HARRIS.
J. M. HOWARD.
GEORGE II. WILLIAMS.
THADDEUS STEVENS.
ELIHU B. WASHBURNE.
JUSTIN S. MORRILL.
JNO. A. BINGHAM.
ROSCOE CONKLING.
GEORGE S. BOUTWELL.
XXII RECONSTRUCTION.
JOINT RESOLUTION proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States.
Resolved by tJie Senate and House of Representatives of the 'United States of
America in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both houses concurring,) That
the following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States, as an
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by
three-fourths of said legislatures, shall be valid as part of the Constitution,
namely :
ARTICLE 14.
SECTION 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject
to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State
wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States ; nor shall any
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law*
nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
SEC. 2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States ac
cording to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in
each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any
election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United
States, representatives in Congress, the executive and judicial officers of a State,
or the members of the legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants
of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States,
or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion or other crime, the
basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the
number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens
twenty-one years of age in such State.
SEC. 3. No person shall be a senator or representative in Congress, or elector
of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the
United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath aa a
member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of
any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to sup
port the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection
or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof.
But Congress may, by a vote of two-thirds of each house, remove such disability.
SEC. 4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by
law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services
in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the
United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred
in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the
loss or .emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations, and claims
shall be held illegal and void.
SEC. 5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation,
the provisions of this article.
PART I.
TENNESSEE.
SUB-COMMITTEE.
Mr. JAMES W. GRIMES, (of Iowa,) United States Senate.
Mr. JOHN A. BINGHAM, (of Ohio,) House of Representatives.
Mr. HENRY GRIDER, (of Kentucky,) House of Representatives.
Mr. BINGHAM, from the Committee on Reconstruction, reported the following
joint resolution :
JOINT RESOLUTION concerning the State of Tennessee.
Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Con
gress assembled, That whereas the people of Tennessee have made known to the Congress of
the United States their desire that the constitutional relations heretofore existing between
them and the United States may be fully established, and did, on the twenty-second day of
February, eighteen hundred and sixty-five, by a large popular vote, adopt and ratify a con
stitution of government, republican in form and not inconsistent with the Constitution and
laws of the United States, and a State government has been organized under the provisions
thereof, which said provisions, and the laws passed in pursuance thereof, proclaim and denote
loyalty to the Union ; and whereas the people of Tennessee are found to be in a condition to
exercise the functions of a State within this Union, and can only exercise the same by the
consent of the law-making power of the United States : Therefore, the State of Tennessee is
hereby declared to be one of the United States of America, on an equal footing with the other
States, upon the express condition that the people of Tennessee will maintain and enforce, in
good faith, their existing constitution and laws, excluding those who have been engaged in
rebellion against the United States from the exercise of the elective franchise, for the respect
ive periods of time therein provided for, and shall exclude the same persons for the like re
spective periods of time from eligibility to office; and the State of Tennessee shall never as
sume or pay any debt or obligation contracted or incurred in aid of the late rebellion ; nor
shall said State ever in any manner claim from the United States or make any allowance of
compensation for slaves emancipated or liberated in any way whatever ; which conditions
shall be ratified by the legislature of Tennessee, or the people thereof, as the legislature may
direct, before this act shall take effect.
RECONSTRUCTION - TENNESSEE.
MEMORIAL
OF
CITIZENS OF TENNESSEE,
PRAYING
That the present State organization of Tennessee may be recognized and its
perpetuity guaranteed.
FEBRUARY 13, 1866. — Referred to the Joint Select Committee on Reconstruction.
MARCH 5, 1866. — Reported from the Select Committee on Reconstruction, ordered to be
printed, and recommitted to the Committee on Reconstruction.
To the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress
assembled :
The undersigned, citizens of the United States and of the State of Tennes
see, beg leave, respectfully, to represent that by the operations of the recent
rebellion the governing officers of their State abdicated their respective posts,
and left the government without agents to carry it on. In this attitude of
affairs one of our citizens, Andrew Johnson, was, on the 3d of March, 1862, by
the President of the United States, appointed military governor of the State,
which office he continued to hold until the 3d of March, 1865.
To remedy this state of things, the loyal people of the State, by their dele
gates, on the Sth of January, 1865, assembled in convention at the capitol, in
the city of Nashville, "to take such steps as wisdom might direct to restore the
the State of Tennessee to its once honored status in the great national Union."
Certain amendments were proposed to our admirable State constitution, made
necessary, in the opinion of. the convention, by the altered relations of slavery,
and by the action of persons engaged in the rebellion, who had temporarily
usurped the machinery of the State government, and by the vacancy of the
several State offices, for the" filling of which there was no present provision of
law. These amendments the convention submitted to the vote of their con
stituents on the 22d of February, 1865, and they were by them adopted.
While this proceeding met with the concurrence and co-operation of the mili
tary governor, it was the spontaneous action of the loyal people themselves.
Having thus provided for the reorganization of the government under her
pre-existing constitution so amended, the work was completed by the election
of a governor and legislature on the 4th of March following, who, on the 3d ot
April, entered upon the duties of their respective offices.
2 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
A copy of the several amendments, incorporated into the organic law of the
State, and the proceedings of the legislature at its first session, certified offi
cially by the secretary or State, and published by authority, is herewith ap
pended and adopted as a part of this statement.
The government so organized has had unresisted and uninterrupted jurisdic
tion of the State ever since.
The undersigned respectfully submit that the said government is republican
in form as well as in spirit, and they ask that the same be recognized and its
perpetuity guaranteed as the true and proper government of the State of Ten
nessee, entitled to the same immunities, functions, and prerogatives as the State
enjoyed by virtue of an act of Congress approved on the 1st day of June, 1796,
until her relations with the government were disturbed by the treason of a por
tion of her citizens.
EDW'D COOPER,
HORACE MAYNARD,
JNO. W. LEFTW1CH,
W. B. STOKES.
FEBRUARY 13, 1866.
ACTS OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, PASSED AT THE FIRST SESSION OF
THE THIRTY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY, FOR THE YEAR 1865.
[Published by authority.]
TABLE OP CONTENTS.
Introductory documents.
Appointment of Andrew Johnson as military governor of Tennessee by the President.
Call for H convention.
Proposed alteration and amendments to the constitution of Tennessee.
Governor's proclamation.
Official declaration of the ratification of the amendments to the constitution.
Governor's message.
CHAPTER I. — An act to regulate the county court of Shelby county.
CHAPTER II. — An act to increase the compensation of judges.
CHAPTER III. — An act to increase the pay of public printer.
CHAPTER IV. — An act to punish all armed prowlers, guerillas, brigands, and highway robbers, and for other
purposes.
CHAPTER V. — An act to amend the criminal laws of the State of Tennessee.
CHAPTER VI.— An act to repeal the 3d article of the 5th chapter, title 5, of the Code of Tennessee.
CHAPTER VII. — An act to establish the eighth chancery district of Tennessee.
CHAPTER VIII.— An act to amend the revenue laws of the State.
CHAPTER IX. — An act to more effectually manage the penitentiary, and for other purposes.
CHAPTER X. — An act to provide for the limitation of actions, and for other purposes.
CHAPTER XI. — An act to fix the fees to be paid by commissioners of deeds resident in other States.
CHAPTER XII. — An act for the relief of indigent families of soldiers.
CHAPTER XIII. — An act to amend the corporation of the city of Shelbyville, and for other purposes.
CHAPTER XIV.— An act to change the times of holding the chancery courts at Athens and Benton iu this
State.
CHAPTER XV. — An act to repeal an act passed on the 19th day of March, I860, to repeal section 4765 of the
Code, and to re-enact section 4766 of the Code.
CHAPTER XVI — An act to limit the elective franchise.
CHAPTER XVII. — An act to repeal an act incorporating a military department in Andrew College and the
MrmpliiK Arms Company, and for other purposes.
CHAPTER XVIII.— An act to amend section 117 of the Code, and for other purposes.
CHAPTER XIX. — An act to authorize the investment of trust funds, and for other purposes.
CHAPTER XX. — An act to establish a claim agency of Tennessee in the city of Washington.
CHAPTER XXI. — An act for the benefit of discharged Union soldiers.
CHAPTER XXII. — An act accepting, on the part of the State of Tennessee, a grant of land made by the United
States to the several States aud Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture and
the mechanic arts.
CHAPTER XXIII. — An act to provide for the payment of certain counsel fees.
CHAPTER XXIV.— An act for the protection of sheriffs and other civil officers of the State.
CHAPTER XXV. — An act to regulate the stock of the county of Simmer in the Nashville and Louisville rail
road, ami for other purposes.
CHAPTER XXVI.— Au act to accept the surrender of the charter of the Bank of Middle Tennessee, and for
other purposes.
CHAPTER XXVII. — An act to repeal the law apportioning money to division fairs aud county societies.
CHAPTER XXVIII.— An act to supply lost deeds and title papers.
CHAPTER XXIX. — An act to modify the oath prescribed for liquor dealers.
CHAPTER XXX. — An act to release the citizens from paying the State and county taxes for the years 1862,
J8C.3, and 1864.
^CHAPTER XXXI. — An act to amend an act to reform and regulate banking in Tennessee, passed February 6,
1862.
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 3
•
CHAPTKR XXXII.— An act to declare and make valid certain acts of certain officers of this State.
CHAPTER XXXIII. — An act to provide for the payment of the governor's staff.
CHAPTER XXXIV.— An act to apportion the representation in the Congress of the United States.
CHAPTER XXXV. — An act to secure the funds provided for public education.
CHAPTER XXXVI. — An act to pay the current expenses of this session of the general assembly, and for other
purposes.
CHAPTER XXXVII. — An act to change the eleventh, twelfth, and fourteenth judicial circuits of this State
and for other purposes.
PRIVATE ACTS.
CHAPTER I. — An act for the benefit of J. G. Frazer, clerk of the supreme court for the middle district of
Tennessee.
CHAPTER II. — An act to incorporate the East Tennessee Iron, Coal, and Petroleum Company.
CHAPTER III. — An act to incorporate the llaulston Oil and Salt Company.
CHAPTER IV. — An act to develope the various oil and mineral interests of the State of Tennessee, and for
other purposes.
CHAPTER V. — An act to incorporate the Bridgeman Oil and Salt Company.
CHAPTER VI. — An act to charter the Tennessee Express Company.
CHAPTER VII. — An act to incorporate the Memphis Ladies' Institute, of Memphis, Tennessee.
CHAPTER VIII. — An act to incorporate the Tennessee Colonial Company for the purpose of promoting emi
gration, to establish vineyards, develope the mineral and other resources of the State of Tennessee.
CHAPTER IX. — An act to incorporate the Cairo and New Orleans Pilot's Benevolent Association.
CHAPTER X. — An act incorporating the Great Southwestern Oil and Mining Company.
CHAPTER XI. — An act to change a railroad fund into a county fund for Blouut county.
CHAPTER XII. — An act to incorporate the Tennessee Fire and Marine Insurance Company.
CHAPTER XIII. — An act to incorporate a literary society of Nashville, known as the "Agnomen Club."
CHAPTER XIV.— An act to authorize and instruct the comptroller of the treasury to audit, and the treasurer
to pay the salary due the Hon. Samuel D. Frierson, chancellor.
CHAPTER XV. — An act to amend an act passed on the 26th of February, 1858, entitled "An act to charter the
Cleveland and Ducktown railroad.
CHAPTER XVI. — An act to incorporate the Nashville Barbei-s' Association.
CHAPTER XVII. — An act to incorporate the Tennessee Oil, Mining, and Manufacturing Company.
CHAPTER XVIII. — An act to incorporate the Memphis City Railroad Company.
CHAPTER XIX. — An act to incorporate the Tennessee and Kentucky Petroleum, Mining, and Manufacturing
Company, and for other purposes.
CHAPTER XX. — An act to amend an act authorizing John C. Haley to establish a turnpike road, passed
October 28, 1833.
CHAPTER XXI. — An act to incorporate the Memphis and Mound City Arkansas Steam Packet Company of
Memphis.
CHAPTER XXII. — An act to incorporate the Tennessee Motintain Petroleum and Mining Company.
CHAPTER XXIII. — An act to incorporate the East Tennessee Union Petroleum, Coal, Iron, and Salt Company.
CHAPTER XXIV. — An act to incorporate the Manchester and Barren Fork Mining and Manufacturing Company.
CHAPTER XXV. — An act to amend an act entitled "An act to incorporate the East Tennessee and Virginia
Railroad Company," passed the 27th day of January, 1848.
CHAPTER XXVI. — An act to incorporate the Tennessee Mining and Mannfacturirg Company.
CHAPTER XXVII. — An act to incorporate the Tennessee and Cumberland Oil and Mining Company.
CHAPTER XXVIII. — An act to charter the East Tennessee Female College.
CHAPTER XXIX. — An act to change the line between the counties of Anderson and Campbell.
CHAPTER XXX. — An act to incorporate the Cumberland Basin Petroleum and Mining Company.
CHAPTER XXXI. — An. act to incorporate the Cumberland Mining and Petroleum Company, and for other
purposes.
CHAPTER XXXII.— An act to incorporate the United Hebrew Brethren Benefit Society of Memphis.
CHAPTER XXXIII. — An act to encourage the planting, improvement, and other interests of the State of Ten
nessee, and for other purposes.
CHAPTER XXXIV.— An act to incorporate the New Fork and Tennessee Petroleum and Mining Company.
CHAPTER XXXV. — An act to recharter the Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Company.
RESOLUTIONS.
NUMBER I. — Joint resolution to compare the vote for governor.
NUMBER II. — A joint resolution of respect to the memory of Hon. Samuel K. McCammon.
NUMBER III. — Senate resolution to print rules for its government.
NUMBER IV. — Senate resolution fixing number of papers to be taken by members.
NUMBER V. — Senate resolution inviting General Thomas to,a seat in the senate.
NUMBER VI. — Senate resolution to open the senate with prayer.
NUMBER VII. — Joint resolution to notify the governor of his election.
NUMBER VIII. — Joint resolution to meet in convention to inaugurate the governor.
NUMBER IX. — Joint resolution adopting the amendments of the Constitution ef the United States abolishing
slavery.
NUMBER X. — A joint resolution tendering the thanks of the general assembly of the State of Tennessee to
General Thomas.
NUMBER XI. — Joint resolution tendering the thanks of the loyal people of Tennessee to the legislature of Ohio.
NUMBER XII. — Joint resolution directing the State treasurer to pay to members of the legislature the amount
due them.
NUMBER XIII. — Joint resolution to elect a secretary of state.
NUMBER XIV.— Joint resolution to raise a committee on the State library.
NUMBER XV. — Joint resolution to appoint a joint committee of the two houses to report joint rules and regu
lations for the government of both houses.
NUMBER XVI. — Joint resolution to raise a joint committee to redistrict the State.
NUMBER XVII. — Joint resolution to appoint a committee to investigate the past and present condition an*
management of the penitentiary.
NUMBER XVIII. — Joint resolution appointing a committee to report what action should be had with reference
to the death of President Abraham Lincoln.
NUMP.ER XIX. — Joint resolution expressing the sense of the general assembly on the death of President
Abraham Lincoln.
NUMBER XX. — Joint resolution to support the administration of President Johnson.
NUMBER XXL— Joint resolution requesting the governor of the State to communicate certain facts to the
President of the United States.
4 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
•
NUMBER XXII.— Joint resolution allowing mileage to Messrs. Grantham and Tighe.
NUMBKII XXIII. — Joint resolution to mei-t in convention to elect a comptroller.
NUMBER XXI V. — Joint resolution raisin"; :i joint committee on ways and means.
NUMBER XXV. — Joint resolution to meet in convention to elect registers of land offices.
NUMBER XXVI. — Joint resolution for the Ix-m-fit of V. Meyejs.
NUMBER XXVII.— Joint resolution to meet in convention to elect a secretary of state.
NUMBKR XX VIII.— Joint resolution to meet in convention to elect a treasurer and secretary of state.
NUMBER XXIX.— Joint resolution in regard to the State library.
NUMBKR XXX. — Joint resolution to meet in convention to elect senators to the United States Congress.
NUMBKR XXXI.— A joint resolution to declare the office of comptroller of the treasury of the State of Ten
nessee vacant.
NUMBER XXXII.— Joint resolution to meet in convention to elect a public printer.
NUMBKR XXXIII.— Joint resolution to meet in convention to elect a State librarian.
NUMBKR XXXIV.— Joint resolution offering a reward of five thousand dollars for the apprehension of Lsham
G. Harris.
NUMBKR XXXV. — A joint resolution to meet the house in convention to elect a State comptroller.
NUMBKR XXXVI.— Joint resolution to raise a joint committee to wait on the national banks of the State.
NUMBKR XXXVII. — Joint resolution to meet in convention to elect an entry-taker for the Ocoee district.
NUMBER XXXV11L— Joint resolution appointing commissioners to settle with the Louisville and Nashville
railroad.
NUMBER XXXIX. — Joint resolution applying to the President for troops.
NUMBER XL.— A joint resolution appointing a committee to memorialize Congress.
NUMBER XLI. — Resolution of inquiry in relation to the Hermitage property.
NUMBKR XL1I.— Joint resolution raising a joint committee on the elective franchise.
NI'MBKR XLIII. — Joint resolution requr sting the governor to lay before the legislature certain correspondence.
Nr.MBER XL1V.— A joint resolution declaring certain civil offices vacant, and providing for filling the same.
NUMBER XLV. — Joint resolution to raise a joint committee to examine into the condition of the Bank of Ten
nessee and branches.
NUMBER XL VI.— Joint resolution to authorize the secretary of state to take charge of the senate chamber and
the hall of the house of representatives.
NUMBER XL VI I. — Joint resoluton to meet in convention to elect a keeper of the penitentiary.
NUMBER XLVIII.— Joint resolution of thanks to Major General Stoneman.
NUMBER XLIX. — Joint resolution requesting information from the bondholders of Tennessee bonds.
NUMBER L. — Joint resolution directory to the attorney general of the state.
NUMBER LI.— Joint resolution taking charge of the assets of the Bank of Tennessee.
NUMBER LII. — A joint resolution providing for the number of acts and journals of the legislature of 18G5 to be
printed for distribution.
NUMBER LIII.— A joint resolution in relation to a certain class of Tennessee Union soldiers who lost their
lives in the army of the Union during the rebellion.
NUMBER LIV. — Joint resolution directory to the trustees of Tennessee Hospital for the Insane.
NUMBER LV. — Joint resolution appointing a committee to wait on the major general commanding the depart
ment and make inquiries in relation to certain assessments.
NUMBER LVI.— A joint resolution appointing a committee to settle with Hon. Joseph S. Fowler, late comp
troller and acting treasurer of the State.
NUMBER LVII. — Joint resolution directory to the secretary of state.
NUMBER LVI1L— Joint resolution requesting the governor to employ an attorney-at-law,
NUMBER L1X.— Joint resolution directory to the comptroller.
NUMBER LX. — Joint resolution directory to the keeper of the penitentiary.
NUMBER LXI. — Joint resolution postponing the business before the general assembly.
NUMBER LXII.— Joint resolution to have published in certain newspapers "An act to limit the elective
franchise."
NUMBER LXIII.— Joint resolution of thanks to Brevet Brigadier General J. L. Donaldson, chief quartermaster
department of the Cumberland, and Captain Hunter Brooke, provost marshal.
NUMBER LXIV.— Joint resolution congratulatory at the appointment of Major General Thomas to this military
division.
INTRODUCTORY DOCUMENTS.
The following papers embrace the commission of Hon. Andrew Johnson as
military governor of Tennessee, from the War Department at Washington;
his instructions from President Lincoln, in accordance with the 4th section of
the 4th article of the federal Constitution ; the call of the Executive Union
Committee of the State for a State convention, to meet December 19, 1864, at
the State capitol; and the call of the same committee for a postponed meeting
of the same convention, to meet January 8, 1865, said postponement being ren
dered necessary in consequence of the siege of Nashville by the rebel army ;
,'h-' alterations and amendments to the State constitution, proposed to the people
of Tennessee by that convention, with the accompanying resolutions of that
body ; the proclamation of Governor Johnson authorizing the opening of the
polls throughout the State for the ratification or rejection of said amendments
and alterations to the constitution; and the final proclamation of Governor
Johnson, declaring said amendments and alterations to be legally adopted as a
part of the constitution by formal ratification of the loyal voters of the State
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE 5
APPOINTMENT OF ANDREW JOH-NSON AS MILITARY GOVERNOR OF TENNESSEE
BY THE PRESIDENT.
WAR DEPARTMENT, March 3, 1862.
To the Hon. Andrew Johnson :
SIR : You are hereby appointed military governor of the State of Tennessee,
with authority to exercise and perform, within the limits of that State, all and
singular the powers, duties, and functions pertaining to the office of military
governor, including the power to establish all necessary offices, tribunals, &c.
EDWIN M. STANTON,
Secretary of War.
EXECUTIVE MANSION,
Washington, D. C., September 19, 1863.
You are hereby authorized to exercise such powers as may be necessary and
proper to enable the loyal people of Tennessee to present such a republican
form of State government as will entitle the State to the guarantee of the United
States therefor, and to be protected under such State government by the United
States against invasion and domestic violence. All according to the 4th section
of the 4th article of the Constitution of the United States.
ABRAHAM LINCOLN.
Hon. ANDREW JOHNSON,
Military Governor of Tennessee.
The following call was published by a committee of Union men in Middle
Tennessee. Similar calls were published by Union committees in East and
West Tennessee :
To the Union men of Middle Tennessee :
The executive committee of Middle Tennessee take this opportunity of
requesting the Union men of the middle division of the State to appoint delegates
to the convention at Nashville on the 19th of December. The people of East
and West Tennessee will be here; it is our duty to meet them. The people
meet to take such steps as wisdom may direct to restore the State of Tennessee
to its once honored status in the great national Union.
The dignity of men descended from a race of freemen and heroes, the
maintenance of your rights and the interests of your children, all call upon you to
act as brave and true men. Come forth in your strength to assert your rights
and to organize the loyal sentiment of Tennessee.
If you cannot meet in your counties, come upon your own personal respon
sibility. It is the assembling of Union men for the restoration of their own
Commonwealth to life and a career of success.
LEWIS TILLMAN,
WM. SPENCE,
M. M. BRIEN,
A. V. S. LINDSLEY,
JOS. S. FOWLER,
Executive Committee Middle Tennessee.
The presence of the rebel army around Nashville prevented the convention
from assembling, and the following call was made accordingly :
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
NASHVILLE, Decemlcr 19, 1864.
To the Union men of Tennessee •
The executive committee of Middle Tennessee have selected the 8th of Jan
nary, 1865, for the meeting of the State convention at Nashville
As the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans, the 8th day of January,
occurs on Sunday, the convention will nut assemble until the 9th.
The committees in East and West Tennessee are requested to make a simi
lar announcement in their respective districts,
M. M. BRIEN,
WM. SPENCE,
LEWIS TILLMAN,
A. V. S. LINDSLEY,
JOS. S. FOWLER,
Executive Committee Middle Tennessee,
DECEMBER 5, 1864.
The convention met and proposed the following alterations and amendmen
to the Stata constitution :
PROPOSED ALTERATIONS AND AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION.
Whereas the first article and the first section of the declaration of rights in
the constitution of the State of Tennessee declares " that all power is inherent
in the people, and all free governments are founded on their authority, and
instituted for their peace, safety, and happiness ; and for the advancement of
these ends they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter,
reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper,"
we, the people of the State of Tennessee and of the United States of America
in convention assembled, do propound the following alterations and amendments
to the constitution, which, when ratified by the sovereign loyal people, shall be
and constitute a part of the permanent constitution of the State of Tennessee.
ARTICLE I.
SECTION 1. That slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment
for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, are hereby forever
abolished and prohibited throughout the State.
SEC. 2 The legislature shall make no law recognizing the right of property in
man.
SCHEDULE.
SECTION 1. Section 31 of the second article of the constitution, which is as
follows, " The general assembly shall have no power to pass laws for the eman
cipation of slaves, without the consent of their owner or owners," is hereby
abrogated.
SEC. 2. " The declaration of independence and ordinance dissolving the
federal relations between the State of Tennessee and the United States of
America," passed and promulgated by the legislature of Tennessee on the 6th
day of May, 1861, by which the State was declared separated from the federal
Union, and all laws and ordinances by which Tennessee became a member of the
federal Union, annulled and abrogated, was in like manner an act of treason
and usurpation, unconstitutional, null and void.
SEC. 3. The convention, agreement, and military league entered into by the
commissioners of the State of Tennessee and the commissioners of the so-called
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 7
Confederate States of America, made May 7, 1861, and on the same day ratified
and confirmed by the legislature, was an act of treason and usurpation, uncon
stitutional, null and void.
SEC. 4. No statute of limitations shall be held to operate from and after the
6th day of May, 1861, until such time hereafter as the legislature may prescribe,
nor shall any writ of error be refused or abated in any cause or suit decided
since the 6th day of May, 1861, and prior to this time, by reason of any lapse
of time. And in all actions for torts brought, or which may hereafter be brought
in the courts in this State by attachment levied upon the property of the de
fendant, the court shall have power to proceed to judgment and collection of the
same, as upon contracts, without personal service of process upon the defendant,
until the legislature may see fit to change the law in such cases.
SEC. 5. All laws, ordinances, ami resolutions, as well as all acts done in pur
suance thereof, under the authority of the usurped State government after the
declared independence of the State of Tennessee, on or after the 6th day of
May, 1861, were unconstitutional, null and void from the beginning: Provided,
That this section shall not be construed as to affect any judicial decisions made
by the State courts held at times differing from those provided by law prior to
May 6, 1861 ; said judicial decisions being1 made pursuant to the laws of the
State of Tennessee enacted previous to said date, and between parties present
in court and litigating their rights.
SEC. 6. All laws, ordinances, and resolutions of the usurped State government,
passed on or after the 6th day of May, 1861, providing for the issuance of State
bonds, also all notes of the Bank of Tennessee, or any of its branches, issued
on or after the 6th day of May, 1861, and all debts created or contracted in the
name of the State by said authority, are unconstitutional, null and void; and no
legislature shall hereafter have power to pass any act authorizing the payment
of said bonds or debts, or providing for the redemption of said notes.
SEC. 7. All civil and military officers which have been or may hereafter be
appointed by the acting governor of the State, are hereby ratified and affirmed,
and they shall continue to hold and exercise the functions of their respective
offices until their successors shall be elected or appointed, and qualified as pre
scribed by the laws and Constitution of the State and United States.
SEC. 8. That the proposed amendments to the Constitution, and the schedule
thereto, be submitted to the people at the ballot-box, on the 22d day of Febru
ary next, and that upon the adoption thereof, by the people, an election shall be
held on the 4th day of March next, for governor and members of the legislature,
the latter to be voted for by general ticket, upon the basis prescribed in the act
apportioning representation in the State, passed on the 19th day of February,
1852, to assemble at the capitol on the 1st Monday in April next, said officers
to continue in office until their successors shall be elected and qualified, under
the regular biennial election of 1867.
Provided, That said apportionment be so modified as to give to the counties
of Johnson, Carter, Campbell, Anderson, Union, Sevier, Macon, and Hancock,
each one member, and the district composed of the counties of Fentress, Mor
gan, Scott, and Cumberland, one additional member in the House of Represen
tatives.
SEC. 9. The qualifications of voters and the limitation of the elective fran
chise may be determined by the general assembly, which shall first assemble
under the amended Constitution.
RESOLUTIONS.
Resolved, That at the election in February those in favor of the foregoing
amendments and schedule shall deposit a ballot on which shall be written
"Ratification," and those who are opposed shall deposit a ballot on which shall
be written "Rejection."
8 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
Resolved, That when the above amendments of the constitution of the State
of Tennessee shall be submitted to the people of the State for their ratification
or rejection, and at the first election held under said constitution as amended, if
ratified by the people, no person shall be permitted to vote unless he first take
the following o th at the polls; and the name of each voter shall be written
upon the back of his ticket, and it shall be the duty of the judges and clerks of
said election to preserve said tickets and file them with the clerks of the county
courts of their respective counties for future reference. Provided, That this
oath shall not be required of the citizens who are well known to the judges of
the election to have been unconditional Union men. Proridtd, also, That voters
otherwise qualified may vote within any county of the; State, and if in the mili
tary service, wherever they may be on the day of election ; and that the com
manding officer of each regiment, battalion, detachment, battery, or hospital, is
empowered to hold such elections.
Oath. — I solemnly swear that I will henceforth support the Constitution of
the United States, and defend it against the assaults of all its enemies; that I
am an active friend of the government of the United States, and the enemy of
the so-called Confederate States; that I ardently desire the suppression of the
present rebellion against the government of the United States; that I sincerely
rejoice in the triumph of the armies and navies of the United States, and in the
defeat and overthrow of the armies, navies, and of ;tll armed combinations in
the so-called Confederate States; that I will cordially oppose all armistices or
negotiations for peace with rebels in arms, until the Constitution of the United
States, and all laws -and proclamations made in pursuance thereof shall be estab
lished over all the people of every State and Territory embraced within the
national Union; and that I will heartily aid and assist the loyal people in what
ever measures may be adopted for the attainment of those ends ; and further,
that I take this oath freely and voluntarily and without mental reservation. So
help me God.
Resolved, That the returns of this election shall be made to the secretary of
State, and the result be declared by the proclamation of the acting governor.
Resolved, That the convention do nominate and offer to the people a candi
date for governor, and that the delegates from the several senatorial and repre
sentative districts be requested to nominate and present to the convention
candidates for their respective districts, to be placed upon the general legislative
ticket : Provided, If the Union people of any district shall desire to make another
selection, that they have opportunity to do so.
Eesolccd, That it shall be the duty of the executive committee to fill all
vacancies that may occur in the list of candidates and officers for holding elec
tions solicited by the convention.
Resolved, That the names of such as may be selected shall be forwarded to-
the chairman at Nashville, on or before the 10th day of February next, when
the chairman shall publish the complete list in the papers of the State.
GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, at a large and respectable convention of the free and loyal people
of the State of Tennessee, begun and held in the city of Nashville, on the 9th
day of January, 1SG5, certain articles amendatory of the constitution of the
State and the schedule thereto appended, were, with great unanimity, adopted
and propounded to the people for ratification or rejection on the 22d of Febru
ary, 1865 ; and whereas, the schedule provides that in the event of the ratifica
tion of said proposed constitutional amendments, the loyal people of the State
shall, on the 4th of March next thereafter, proceed by " general ticket," to elect a
governor arid members to the general assembly, to meet in the capitol in Nash-
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 9
ville, for tie transaction of public business, on the first Monday of April, 1865 ;
and whe/^as, the convention aforesaid, acting in the primary and sovereign
capacity of the people, prescribed certain rules and regulations under which the
should be conducted, and designated, in many of the counties, certain
Arsons to open and hold the same, and in others omitted to name any one,
which, to avoid confusion, I have, as far as practicable, caused to be supplied;
and in addition thereto, and for the purpose of more effectually carrying out the
objects of the convention and enabling the sovereign loyal people of the State
to express their judgment freely and fully on the grave question submitted to
their decision:
Therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, military governor of the State of Tennessee,
by virtue of the power and authority in me vested, do hereby declare that the
several persons in the proceedings of the convention named and appointed to
open and hold the elections therein provided for, are hereby empowered and
directed to open and hold said elections in person in their respective counties,
wherever practicable, and to appoint and qualify, if necessary, such judges and
inspectors of elections and other officers, as may be necessary to open the polls
and conduct the elections in such other parts of their respective counties as the
convenience of the people may require, and to make returns to the secretary of
the State, as provided by the third resolution of the convention, as nearly as
practicable in conformity to the act of assembly, in such cases made and provided.
And I do hereby further declare, and fully authorize and direct the executive
committee appointed in each grand division of the State, and referred to in the
fourth and fifth resolutions of the proceedings of said convention, to supply,
whenever practicable, the places of all such persons as, for any cause, may
become vacant in the list of persons hereinbefore qualified to hold said elections ;
and in such cases, when it is not convenient or practicable for vacancies to be
filled as above provided, any loyal citizen of the county is hereby authorized
and empowered to open and hold said elections, and make return thereof, which
shall be as valid as if done by any of the persons hereinbefore mentioned.
I do furthermore authorize and empower the commanding officer of each
regiment, battalion, detachment, battery, or hospital of Tennessee troops,
wherever they may be on the day of said elections, to open and hold elections
for their respective command^ or hospitals, and make due return thereof, under
the same rules and regulations above prescribed.
Here I might well close this proclamation, but I will be pardoned for adding
that the action of the convention is wisely submitted to the loyal people — the
true source of all political power — for approval; and I feel assured, as they
appreciate the restoration of good government, and the protection of their lives
and property, they will not hesitate to come forward, as one man, and with one
voice ratify and confirm the action of the convention. We have been, in Ten
nessee, torn asunder by civil war, and all our public and private interests broken
down, and the folly of the rebellion has surely been sufficiently demonstrated to
admonish all classes that they can no longer live in hostility to the national
government, and ought no longer t-.> remain without civil authority in the State.
Strike down at one blow, the institution of slavery — remove the disturbing
element from your midst, and by united action restore the State to its ancient
moorings again, and you 'may confidently expect the speedy return of peace,
happiness and prosperity.
In testimony whereof, I, Andrew Johnson, military governor of Tennessee,
do hereunto set my hand, and cause the great seal of the State to be affixed at the
executive office, in the city of Nashville, on this the 26th day of January, 1865.
ISEAL.I ANDREW JOHNSON.
1 0 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
OFFICIAL DECLARATION OF THE RATIFICATION OF THE AMENDMENTS TO THE
CONSTITUTION GOVERNOR'S PROCLAMATION.
Whereas, the convention that recently assembled in the city of Nashville
proposed certain alterations and amendments to the constitution of the State of
Tennessee, and the schedule thereto appended, which, by the direction of the
convention, were submitted to the people at the ballot-box on the 22d instant,
and by them ratified and confirmed; and whereas the convention further pro
vided, that in the event of the adoption of "the amendments to the constitution,
and ihe schedule thereto," an election for governor and members of the legisla
ture should be held on the 4th of March next following, to assemble at the
capitol in Nashville on the first Monday in April next thereafter; and whereas
the returns of the election for the ratification or rejection of the proposed amend
ments of the constitution were, by the 3d resolution adopted by the convention,
to be made to the secretary of State, and the result declared by proclamation of
the acting governor; and whereas complete returns have not been yet made
as provided by the foregoing resolution, but enough is already ascertained to
place the result of the election beyond all doubt, and fully to justify the an
nouncement that the following articles amendatory of the constitution of the
State and schedule thereto appended have been adopted by the people, viz :
"ARTICLE I.
"SECTION 1. Slavery and involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for
crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, are hereby forever
abolished and prohibited throughout the State.
"SEC. 2. The legislature shall make no law recognizing the right of property
in man.
"SCHEDULE.
"SECTION 1. Section 31 of the second article of the constitution, which is as
follows : ' The general assembly shall have no power to pass laws for the eman
cipation of slaves, without the consent of their owner or owners,' is hereby
abrogated.
"SEC. 2. < The declaration of independence an* ordinance dissolving the fed
eral relations between the State of Tennessee and the United States of America,'
passed and promulgated by the legislature of Tennessee on the 6th day of May,
1861, by which the State was declared separated from the federal Union, and
all laws and ordinances by which Tennessee became a member of the federal
Union annulled and abrogated, was in like manner an act of treason and usur
pation, unconstitutional, null, and void.
"SEC. 3. The convention, agreement, and military league, entered into by
the commissioners of the State of Tennessee and the commissioner of the so-
called Confederate States of America; made May 7, 1861, and on the same day
ratified and confirmed by the legislature, was an act of treason and usurpatiou,
unconstitutional, null, and void.
"SEC. 4. No statute of limitations shall be held to operate from and after the
6th day of May, 1861, until such time hereafter as the, legislature may prescribe,
nor shall any writ of error be refused or abate in any cause or suit decided
since the 6th day <>f .May, 1861, and prior to this time, by reason of any lapse
of time. And in all actions for torts brought, or which may hereafter be brought
in the courts of this State by attachment levied upon the property of the de
fendant, the courts shall have power to proceed to judgment and collection of
the same as upon contracts, without personal service of process upon the de
fendant, until the legislature may see fit to change the law in such cases.
"SEC. 5. All laws, ordinances* and resolutions, as well as all acts done in
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 1 1
pursuance thereof, under the authority of the usurped State government after
the declared independence of the State of Tennessee, on or after the iSth day of
May, 1861, were unconstitutional, null, and void, from the beginning : Provided,
That this section shall not be construed as to affect any judicial decisions made
by the State courts, held at times differing from those provided by law, prior to
May 6, 1861; said judicial decisions being made pursuant to the laws of the
State of Tennessee enacted previous to said date, and between parties present
in court and litigating their rights.
" SEC. 6. All laws, ordinances, and resolutions of the usurped State govern
ment, passed on or after the 6th day of May, 1861, providing for the issuance
of State bonds ; also all notes of the Bank of Tennessee, or any of its branches,
issued on or after the 6th day of May, 1861, and all debts created or contracted
in the name of the State by said authority, are unconstitutional, null, and void;
and no legislature shall hereafter have power to pass any act authorizing the
pr.yment of said bonds or debts, or providing for the redemption of said notes.
" SEC. 7. All civil and military officers who have been or may hereafter be
appointed by the acting governor of the State, are hereby ratified and affirmed,
and they shall continue to hold and exercise* the functions of their respective
offices until their successors shall be elected or appointed and qualified as pre
scribed by the laws and constitution of the State and United States.
" SEC. 8. The proposed amendments to the constitution, and the schedule
thereto, shall be submitted to the people at the ballot-box on the 22d day of
February next, and upon the adoption thereof by the people an election shall
be held on the 4th day of March next for governor and members of the legisla
ture, the latter to be voted for by general ticket, upon the basis prescribed in
the act apportioning representation in the State, passed on the 19th day of
February, 1852, to assemble at the capitol on the first Monday in April next,
said officers to continue in office until their successors shall be elected and quali
fied under the regular biennial election of 1867 : Provided, That said appor
tionment be so modified as to give to the counties of Johnson, Carter, Campbell,
Anderson, Union, Sevier, Macon, and Hancock each one member, and the dis
trict composed of the counties of Fentress, Morgan, Scott, and Cumberland one
additional member in the house of representatives.
" SEC. 9. The qualification of voters and the limitation of the elective fran
chise may be determined by the general assembly which shall first assemble
under the amended constitution."
And whereas the time at which it is provided the election for governor and
members of the general assembly shall be held is so near at hand that I deemed
it proper, in advance of full returns, to declare the result of the election adopting
the constitutional amendments :
Therefore, I, Andrew Johnson, military and acting governor of the State of
Tennessee, by virtue of the power and authority in me vested, do hereby de
clare that the foregoing alterations and amendments to the constitution of the
State of Tennessee, and the schedule thereto annexed, have been ratified and
confirmed by the vote of the people of the State, and that said articles now con
stitute a part of the permanent constitution and supreme law of the State of
Tennessee, and as such are hereafter to be so held and regarded by the people
thereof.
And I do hereby further declare and fully authorize and direct the several
persons in the proceedings of the late convention named and appointed to open
and hold the election for the ratification or rejection of the amendments to the
constitution, to open and hold an election for governor and members to the gen
eral assembly, as in the schedule prescribed, on the 4th of March next; and
they are hereby empowered and directed to open and hold said election, in per
son, in their respective counties, wherever practicable, and to appoint and
qualify, if necessary, such judges and inspectors of election, and other officers,
1 2 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
as may be necessary to open the polls and conduct the election in such other
parts of their respective counties as the convenience of the people may require;
and to make returns to the secretary of state as provided by the third resolu
tion of the convention, as nearly as practicable in conformity to the act of as
sembly in such cases made and provided.
And I do hereby further declare, and fully authorize and direct the executive
committee, appointed in each grand division of the State, and referred to in the
fifth resolution of the proceedings of said convention, to supply, whenever prac
ticable, the places of all such persons as may for any cause become vacant in
the list of persons hereinbefore declared qualified to hold said election ; and in
such cases, when it is not convenient or practicable for vacancies to be filled as
above provided, any loyal citizen of the county is hereby authorized and em
powered to open and hold said election, and make returns thereof, which shall
be as valid as if done by any of the persons hereinbefore mentioned.
I do further authorize and empower the commanding officer of each regiment,
battalion, detachment, battery, or hospital of Tennessee troops, wherever they
may be on the day of election, to open and hold an election for their respective
commands or hospitals, and make clue return thereof under the same rule and
regulations above prescribed.
In closing this proclamation, I sincerely congratulate the people of Tennessee
on the happy result of the election, and the opening prospects of a speedy and
permanent reorganization of the State government. For nearly three years, in
the midst of dangers and difficulties the most complicated and perplexing, I
have labored to restore the State to its former proud position in the Union.
My constant effort has been to save it — not to destroy it; but the rebellious
sentiments of the people often interposed obstacles which had to be overcome by
military power. The task was painful, but the duty has been performed, and
the result has passed into history. Time, I arn happy to say, has greatly calmed
the passions of the people, and experience restored them to reason. The folly
of destroying their government, and sacrificing their sons to gratify the mad
ambition of political leaders, needs no longer to be told to the laboring masses.
The wasted estates, ruined and dilapidated farms, vacant seats around the
hearthstone, prostrate business, insecurity of property, and even life itself, every
where proclaim it in language not to be misunderstood.
But all is not lost. A new era dawns upon the people of Tennessee. They
enter upon a career guided by reason, law, order, and reverence. The reign of
brnte force and personal violence has passed away forever. By their own
solemn act, at the ballot-box, the shackles have been formally stricken from the
limbs of more than 275,000 slaves in the State. The unjust distinctions in so
ciety, fostered by an arrogant aristocracy, based upon human bondage, have
been overthrown, and our whole social system reconstructed on the basis of
honest industry and personal worth. Labor shall now receive its merited re
ward, and honesty, energy, and enterprise their just appreciation. Capital here
tofore timid and distrustful of success may now confidently seek remunerative
and permanent investments in the State. Public schools and colleges begin
anew their work of instruction, upon a broader and inoje enduring basis. The
foundations of society, under the change in the constitution, are in harmony
with the principles of free government and the national Union ; and if the
people are true to themselves — true to the State — and loyal to the federal
government, they will rapidly overcome the calamities of the war, and raise the
State to a power and grandeur not heretofore even anticipated. Many of its
vast resources lie undiscovered, and it requires intelligent enterprise and free
labor alone to develop them, and clothe the State with a richness and beauty
surpassed by none of her sisters.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 1 3
In testimony whereof, I, Andrew Johnson, military and acting governor of
Tennessee, do hereunto set my hand and cause the great seal of the State to be
affixed, at the executive office, in Nashville, on this 25th day of February, A. D.
1865.
[SEAL.] ANDREW JOHNSON.
GOVERNOR'S MESSAGE.
. i
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT,
Nashville, April 6, 1865.
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives :
In accordance with long established custom, and in obedience to the require
ments of the constitution, it becomes my duty to communicate to the legislature
the condition of the State, and to recommend for their consideration such matters
as I may deem expedient.
When we contemplate the distracted condition of the country, the four dread
ful years of trial through which we have passed, and the manner in which it
has been preserved, our minds naturally turn to Him whose care has been over
us, who has protected and preserved us through scenes of blood and carnage
unprecedented in the history of wars. For the preservation of our lives and
certain remnants of our property ; for the care and protection of Providence
over those who have gone forth to battle, and are still risking their lives in de
fence of the principles upon which our happiness and property rest ; for life,
health, food and raiment ; for our safe conduct through untold changes, by a
kind Providence ; for the prospect of the restoration of law and order in our
distracted State ; for the gleam of light, looking to peace, now breaking through
the clouds that have enveloped us for the four years past ; for these and numer
ous other blessings of which we have been the recipients, let us, in all humility
and sincerity, render thanks to Almighty God, and let us earnestly implore a
continuance of his favor.
Secession is an abomination that I cannot too strongly condemn, and one that
you cannot legislate against with too much severity. What has it done for our
country in the space of four years! It has plunged our country into civil war,
paralyzed our commerce, destroyed our agricultural pursuits, suspended the
whole trade and business of our country, lessened the value of our property,
destroyed many of the pursuits of life, and has involved the South in irretriev
able bankruptcy and ruin.
What has it done for Tennessee ? It has formed odious and unconstitutional
military leagues, passed military bills, and inaugurated a system of oppressive
taxation, without consulting the people, and then, in mockery of a free election,
has required them by their votes to sanction its usurpation, at the point of the
bayonet, under the penalty of imprisonment and death. It has offered a pre
mium for crime, in ordering the discharge of culprits from prison, on condi
tion that they would enter the rebel army, and in recommending the judges to
hold no courts for the trial of offenders. It has stained our statute book with
the repudiation of honest northern debts, and has palpably violated the Con
stitution, by attempting, through its unlawful extensions, to do away with the
right of suffrage. It has passed laws making it treason to say or do anything
in favor of the government of the United States, or against the so-called Con
federate States. It has prostrated and overthrown the freedom of speech and
of the press ; it has involved the whole South in a war whose success is now
proven to be utterly hopeless, and which, ere another year roll round, must lead
to the ruin of the common people. Its bigoted, murderous, and intolerant spirit
14 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
has subjected the people of Tennessee to many grievances. Our people have
been arrested and imprisoned ; our houses have been rudely entered and shame
fully pillaged ; our families have been subjected to insults ; our women and
children have been tied up and scourged, or shot by a ruffian soldiery ; our
towns have been pillaged ; our citizens have been robbed of their horses, mules,
grain, and meat, and many of them assassinated and murdered.
Hundreds, yes, thousands of our young men, middle-aged and old men, have
been driven from our State, and compelled to enter the federal army, in strange
regiments, and their bones now lie bleaching upon the many battle-fields of the
south and west, and all this because our people were true to the traditions of
their fathers, and refused to worship rebel gods. And to the honor of the peo
ple be it known, that more regiments to-day swell the number of the armies of
the Union than there are living traitors in the ranks of the enemy.
In this once proud capital of the "Volunteer State," there have been thou
sands of Union refugees, men, women, and children, broken-hearted, naked and
starving; a great many are here still. They have fled from the wicked and
murderous guerillas, after being robbed of everything they possessed. They
have lived in camps or tents, by fires in the open woods, have dragged out a
miserable existence for a time, and died among strangers. Hundreds have suf
fered from actual want of necessary food, shelter, and clothing, while many res
idences in this rebellious city have been occupied by the families of those who
were fighting against their country, or, being citizen rebels, and home traitors,
have fled within the rebel lines. These families have remained here protected,
and have wielded an over-ruling social influence. Many of them are wealthy,
and live in ease and comfort. They have busied themselves in giving informa
tion to the enemy, in carrying delicacies to rebel prisoners who have been con
fined here for their crimes and treason. And it is stated upon undoubted au
thority, and the fact is notorious in this capital, that the disloyal families never
contributed in the slightest degree to the relief of the poor and distressed women
and children, or disabled soldiers thrown upon this population by the operations
of the war. I state these facts, which may have the appearance of a personal
and local character, that you may know how to shape your course when per
sonal and local legislation is called for.
I have the honor to submit to the general assembly of the State of Tennesee
a copy of a joint resolution of Congress, passed by a vote of two-thirds of each
house, entitled "A resolution submitting to the legislatures of the several States
a proposition to amend the Constitution of the United States," which is in the
following words :
"Resolved by the. Senate and House of Representatives of the United States
in Congress assembled, (two-thirds of both houses concurring therein,) That the
following article be proposed to the legislatures of the several States as an
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which, when ratified by the
legislatures of three-fourths of said States, shall be valid to all intents and pur
poses as a part of said Constitution, namely :
"ARTICLE XIII.
" SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punish
ment for crime, whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist
within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
"SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appro
priate legislation.
"Approved, February 1, 1SG3."
The slavery question here comes up in a form hitherto not discussed in our
politics. It is not a question as to the right of Congress to exclude slavery
irom the Territories, to legislate upon the matter themselves, nor does it involve
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 15
thedscussion of any doubtful powers, but is the simple proposition to amend the
Constitution of the United States in the manner prescribed by that sacred instru
ment, so as to strike down the monster institution which has embroiled the
government for half a century, and culminated in the most wicked, uncalled for
and bloody war known to the history of the civilized world.
Slavery, secured to the people of the south more permanently by the Consti
tution of the United States, and the laws enacted in pursuance thereof, than
any species of property claimed by them — not even excepting their lands — will
now perish by the war it brought about to enlarge its power and perpetuate
its existence. Let us do our part in this great work by ratifying the action of
Congress, and carrying out the wishes of our people. After the ratification by
the people of our State of our amended State constitution, embracing the same
proposition, and after your election to the general assembly on this platform, and
by the same people, I have not considered an elaborate argument in favor of the
proposition submitted by Congress at all necessary. I may be allowed to say,
however, that to prohibit slavery in a State requires a change in the State con
stitution. Pregnant as we find slavery to be of all sorts of politicial mischief, it
is not to be got rid of, under the constitution, in any- other than a constitutional
manner. And, while the sooner this can be done the better, it does not appear
in what part of the Constitution of the United States the power of regulating it
at all, in times of peace, is to be found. Fortunately for the future happiness
of the country, the Constitution has provided a way in which the people can
remedy the evil, without any questionable exercise of power, and that is by
.amending the Constitution, just as Congress has proposed.
Slavery was so far made the subject of constitutional cognizance, by the
people of the United States, when they adopled the articles of confederation,
that it found a place in the compromises of that instrument, both in fixing the
ratio of representation and the apportionment of direct taxes ; and also in requir
ing the people of a free State to surrender so much of this "sovereignty" as not
to have the right to protect the slave that sought refuge from bondage — it would
seem too late in the day to question the right of the people to adopt amendments
to that instrument, in regard to this or other subjects embraced in its provisions.
It becomes us, therefore, to approach this subject with an enlightened statesman
ship, and with a decree of moral courage that is not afraid to do right, appealing
to the ultimate judgment of mankind to vindicate our action.
It is in this way, and in no other, that a uniform rule can be provided, and
an end put thereby, in all time to come, to a possibility of reviving that which
has been the fatal cause of all the mischief in the country. To insist upon
excluding slavery from a State by amending her constitution, before recognizing
her again as within the pale of the Union, would look awkward, and frill below
the dignity of political sagacity. Our State has shown her hand, and placed
herself square upon the record ; and I flatter myself that her representatives
here assembled are ready for a measure which shall forever exclude slavery
from the United States.
Some legislation is necessary for the protection, government and control of
the emancipated slaves among us. When this war is over a portion of those
who fought to perpetuate slavery will show the emancipated slave no quarter,
and especially that class of slaves who have been rude and violent toward their
former owners. What the character of this legislation should be, I leave the
good-sense, prudence and reflection of the members of the general assembly to
determine.
It is certainly proper and right for the legislature of Tennessee to determine
to what extent this State shall be overrun with the emancipated slaves of other
States. If their presence in any State is a blessing they should be distributed ;
if an evil, it is but just that we should be taxed only with our own share of them.
I am, myself, the advocate of providing for them a separate and appropriate
16 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
amount of territory, and settle them down permanently, as a nation of freedmen.
In this case, as in most others, it will probably be well to guard against excep
tive legislation. The negro has had no agency himself ia bringing on our
troubles, and does not merit unkind treatment at our hands.
The attention of the legislature is earnestly called to the subject of the roving
bands of guerillas, and squads of robbers and murderers who frequent those
counties and portions of counties remote from our military forces. The depre
dations and murders committed by them are of such frequent occurrence as to
have created a general feeling of insecurity among our citizens, causing hun
dreds to sacrifice their property, and abandon their homes and the graves of
their parents and loved ones, seeking new homes, among strangers in the north
western States.
The criminal laws of Tennessee prior to the rebellion were equal to the de
mands of justice and the wants of society, but they are now inadequate in both
the cases. The corruptions of the rebellion have exhibited themselves in every
quarter, and the effects of the same have been to demoralize all classes of society,
more or less, calling for more stringent enactments, so as to meet the numerous
cases arising in our country. I advise that horse stealing, house breaking, and
highway robberies be punished with death. Let the proof in all such cases be
clear and unquestionable, and then let the offenders be hung, even for the first
offence. This character of a law will close out all these acts of perfidy which
now render life and property insecure, more or less in all counties of the State;
and, when the necessary reform is had, a future legislature can repeal or amend
the statute. Such a law may look to others like a bloody act, but it can never
affect injuriously an honest man or a law-abiding citizen. And you, gentlemen,
should feel no concern for the opposite class of men but to punish and reform
them.
The attention of the legislature is especially directed to the militia laws of
the State. The occurrences of the past four years have disclosed the fact that
our militia laws, as they now are, are very imperfect, and need further amend
ments to make them effective. The State arms were carried into the rebellion,
through the influence of the bad men in authority four years ago, and through
out the length and breadth of the State she has not arms enough to arm a cap
tain's company. This deficiency should be provided for at once. I have no
doubt that the federal government, upon a fair presentation of the case, would
come to our relief with a liberal hand.
If, in the wisdom of the legislature, an efficient military force, over and above
what is provided for in general terms, should be placed at the disposal of the
executive, I suggest an appropriation for military contingent expenses. In any
rate, the legislature would do well to pass an act providing for a military contin
gent fund, of a moderate character, confiding it under the control of the execu
tive, and making it his duty to report to the legislature at each session. Should
there be no use for the fund, the executive will, of course, make no drafts upon
it, and it will be his pleasure to report that the money belonging to the military
contingent fund remains in the State treasury unexpended.
I am aware that a proposition to increase the salaries of public officers in the
State will meet with opposition ; that it is not a popular measure, and that dem
agogues will use such a vote upon the stump against members voting for an in
crease. Acting alone from a sense of duty, and desiring to see justice done to
those patriotic men who are serving the State, I suggest an increase in the pay
of all civil officers whose compensation is fixed by law. Supreme judges should
be paid a salary of $5,000 ; chancellors and circuit judges should be allowed
$3,000, and the treasurer, comptroller, secretary of state, attorney general, and
other officers should be allowed a corresponding increase in their salaries. And
I respectfully, but frankly, suggest that the pay of members of the general as-
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 1 7
sembly be increased, and the more so as such increase could not take effect
during your term of office.
It is folly to think of a man in public office now supporting his family on the
salary he received four and five years ago. Boarding, clothing, meats, vegeta
bles — in fact, everything has increased to twice former prices. And yet the wages
of the public officers are down at the old prices. If any one of the incumbents
named is worthy of his office he is worthy of a support from that office. His
pay should be made equal to his necessary expenses. The State cannot reason
ably expect a man to devote his individual time and his whole energies and
talents to an office, when the salary of such office will not defray the necessary
expenses of his family. Gentlemen capable of filling such offices are capable
of supporting themselves in other vocations, and it is obvious that they will be
forced to turn their attention to other pursuits in order to gain a livelihood.
The increase of such salaries will add something to our taxes, but the amount
will be so small as scarcely to be felt by the people. I doubt not they will
cheerfully contribute in this way to aid in sustaining good and competent men
in important official positions. I recommend, therefore, that immediate action
be taken in this matter.
The financial condition of the State demands the early and prompt attention
of this general assembly. The reports of the comptroller and treasurer are to
October 1, 1861. From that time to the restoration of the capital to the national
authority, February following, and the flight of the State authorities, the infor
mation left us is imperfect and insufficient. The subsequent operations will ap
pear from the current report of the comptroller, whose high character for integ
rity and truth commend him to your confidence. The balance in the treasury
011 the 1st of October, 1861, according to the treasurer's report, was $185,496 69 ;
besides, warrants for payment remain in the treasury for $t30,401 04. War
rants for payment out of the treasury had been issued but not presented for
$145,417 12. How far the figures were modified by the operations of the
next four months and a half, to the middle of February, 1862, I have no infor-
ation. Except the military expenses, it is presumed that the balance was not
changed, judging from the uniformity apparent in the fiscal operations of the
preceding four years. Since that time Middle and West Tennessee have been
generally within the federal lines, and East Tennessee since September 1, 1863.
Governor Johnson has occupied the capitol, and exercised gubernatorial juris
diction over those portions of the State held by federal authority. Governor
Harris, who adhered to the rebel cause, is very generally understood to have
collected revenue in the counties within their military lines. The comptroller
will be found to have given in his report the financial history of Governor John
son's administration. This report is respectfully submitted for your careful
consideration, and the recommendations of that officer are approved by me.
What moneys were collected by Governor Harris and his subordinates I am
unable to state, nor am I prepared to say that it is important for you to inquire.
It will be a matter for your consideration whether the arrearage of taxes for the
past four years shall be collected in whole or in part. The principal, if not the
current, liabilities during that period are the interest on the State debt. The
usual payments to common schools and academies, and to several charitable in
stitutions cf the State, were not made. The consequences of the failure would
not be atoned for by reaching them now. The same is substantially true of
various other items of ordinary expenditures.
The State debt, as reported by the comptroller in October, 1861, is said to
be 86,896,606 66, and this demands your attention. This includes $3,000,000
of eight per cent, bonds for the "defence of the State," which has recently been
discarded by the people at the ballot-box. This unauthorized and most unjust
indebtedness repudiated, leaves the indebtedness of the State properly
$3,896,006 06, at an annual interest of $212,388 25. The interest is presumed
2 T
18 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
to have been paid on the 1st of January, 1861. It is not known how much has
since been paid, if any. The bonds will show, either by the indorsements or
the absence of the coupons. Besides this debt the State has bonds for internal
improvement purposes, and has indorsed the bonds of railroad companies to the
amount of $16,211,000. For these the State is ultimately liable upon the
failure of the companies. These bonds it is believed the State will have to
provide for to preserve its credit, making an aggregate indebtedness of
$20,005,606 66, and the annual interest $1,185,048 25. Of this debt proper
$66,666 66 matured in 1861, $61,250 in 1862, $177,750 in 1863, and $58,500
in 1864 — in all, $366,166 66, at once to be provided for. The comptroller
states that the bonds maturing in 1861 were "taken possession of and held by
the State, subject to adjustment at the end of the war." Besides these the
State held bonds, mostly her own, as follows: the Spencer T. Hunt fund, 6;
the railroad sinking fund, 161 ; deposited by the free banks, 341 ; deposited
by foreign insurance companies, 80 ; and in all, 588 bonds. These bonds, held
in trust, were carried away, it is believed, with the valuables of the State
treasury, by the State officers, who ingloriously fled on the approach of the*
national flag. Double payment can probably be avoided. Evidence must be
in existence by which they can be identified. The notorious condition of our
State affairs has been sufficient to put dealers upon their guard. So that if any
of the bonds have been fraudulently sold, payment to the present holders may
be justly stopped. Furthermore, it will be well to consider how far it is your
duty as agents of the State, not only not to pay the bonds held by those who
have been actively engaged in the rebellion to overthrow the government,
whether held by them or parties who may seek to conceal them for the benefit
of the rebels, as they will likely do, I advise that you adopt measures to prevent
their payment. The bonds can in no event compensate for the loss, the disloyal
holders have occasioned the State. The justice of holding them responsible in
this way it is believed cannot be successfully controverted. <.
The arrearage of interest, amounting to nearly twenty-five per cent, of tne
principal, is more than the people can easily pay at sight, with the other
burdens, public and private, thrown upon them by the war. It will be neces
sary, therefore, to anticipate the means, so as at the same time to preserve the
State credit by satisfying the creditors and to preserve the people from op
pressive taxation.
The recent amendment to the State constitution abolishing slavery will
require some changes in the revenue laws. The item of slaves will no longer
appear in the list of taxables. The census of I860 shows there were in the
State about 275,000. The assessors' returns show that 130,425 were reported
for taxation. Their average value had steadily increased from $413 72 in
1846 to $886 40. It is a significant fact that the next year, the first of
the war, the average fell to $769 36, taxes being at the low rate of seven cents
upon the one hundred dollars, to which our State taxation was reduced in 1860,
the slaves averaging a little the rise of sixty-two cents each, amounting to
$80,000 in the aggregate. The slaves held no property. Being emancipated,
they will now be subjected to a poll-tax. Many of them will soon acquire
taxable property far beyond their personal value as slaves.
As soon as this war ceases there is every reason to expect a large accession
to our population. Thousands of sensible and practical men have been here,
connectecl with the army, and have looked with astonishment and delight at
our productive soil, charming climate, and. great advantages of agriculture.
They have seen that a farm hand in a northern State is ordinarily worth from
thirty to fifty dollars a month — that is to say, he earns that much, or say §600
per aniiuin. In our State a good farm hand can make five bales of cotton of
five hundred pounds each, which- would make the profits of his labor worth
$2, 000 .per annum, against $600 in a northern State — a better and more certain
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 1 9
business than going to California or any of the gold regions. Therefore it ia
the value of land with us will be proportionately increased. If the tax of
seven cents on the one hundred dollars, to which our burdens had been reduced
in I860, shall be increased to a reasonable extent, it is believed sufficient revenue
will be realized in the next three years, over and above the ordinary expendi
tures, to meet the arrears of interest on the debt, to pay the sum now due, and
the further sum of $1,245,090, falling due in 1868.
It is further suggested that the list of taxable property might be increased
without being oppressive. By the returns of I860 it appears that all "other
property" subject to taxation, besides land, amounted in value to but
$24,362,151 — less than one-half the assessed value of the town lots. Before the
war our financial resources were so ample, compared with the limited demands
upon them, that it was necessary to tax but a few of the principle articles of
property. Our affairs are now quite changed, and every interest should be
made to bear its proper burdens.
The common school system will, in this connexion, demand your attention.
The fund appropriated for this purpose has been squandered by the bad men
and dishonest functionaries who tied on the approach of the old tiag. What
shall be done to replace this great loss ? At no period in the history of the
State has the young and rising generation appealed so affectingly for legislative
aid. Practically denied all scholastic advantages during the last four years,
and deprived as thousands have been of their natural protectors, if they are
not soon provided for, it will be too late for them. Indeed, not a few have
already passed beyond the age to attend school, hopelessly illiterate.
In this connexion your attention is called to an act of Congress providing
for the establishment of an agricultural college. Most of the States are in
advance of us in accepting the offer, and perhaps we might profit by examining
their legislation in regard to this subject.
The currency and the banks are nearly allied to finances, and are in such a
demoralized condition as to demand prompt action and most positive legislation.
The State owes it to herself to look into the condition of the three old bai.ks —
the Bank of Tennessee, the Union and the Planters' banks — each having its
parent bank in Nashville, with affiliated branches extending over the State; also
several stock banks and the free banks. "With, perhaps, one or two exceptions, it
is believed they are all hopelessly insolvent. All have, beyond doubt, violated
their charters, and may properly be closed up. Nay, where they have value
received for their notes and are worth it they should be made to redeem their
issues. The policy formed by these banks, even before the war, was to keep
their paper at lower quotations than that of any of the surrounding States.
Even at home it was at a discount, and in some of the neighboring States it was
uncurrent. This imposed upon our commerce the payment of large sums of
premiums upon all remittances beyond the State, which in the end came off the
people. Such a currency could only result from unsound financial principles;
for the balance of trade with most of the surrounding States was decidedly in
our favor. It is therefore recommended that all existing banks be wound up at
once, and that no more State banks be chartered. The several hundred thou
sand in real estate owned by the State bank should be cashed without delay.
The stock was owned by the State, and it held large deposits of currency and
securities. As the Union army advanced to the possession and occupation
of the towns where the branches were located the officeis fled with the assets
beyond the limits of the State, and they are now doubtless irretrievably gone.
In the outset of the rebellion this bank was used by the guilty conspirators, and
large issues were made to further their schemes of treason. It has beeu deter
mined by the people that these issues shall not be paid.
There are many notes outstanding of the bank issued after the date specified
in your amended constitution, and intended alone for the benefit of the
20 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
rebellion. Shall they be redeemed by a tax imposed upon the people? I
know of no legal or moral obligation to redeem those notes, even if they occupied
such an attitude that such an obligation could be enforced. It is known that
when bank notes become uncurrent they are sold by the small holders, who are
not in a condition to hold such paper, and bought up by speculators, generally
at their own figures. In this way they accumulate in the hands of a few, often
at prices almost nominal. The notes of the Bank of Tennessee, it is believed,
are held in this way and by this class of dealers. Having lost the princ:pal of
this banking capital, and having sold these issues in small quantities at a heavy
discount, shall our people be taxed to make these issues good in the hands of
speculators? I confess I can see no equity in it. Doubtless instances will
occur of individual hardship, and others will be pressed upon your attention,
not so much by the parties themselves as by others interested in the adoption of
a general policy based upon these existing cases. There remain to the bank
large assets, micollected debts, and the present liabilities of the faithless
officers. Suits are understood to be pending against many of these officers of
branches. The others should be held to their responsibilities. I content
myself with these general suggestions, trusting in your wisdom, if you deem
them practicable, to arrange the details.
The national banking system is believed on many accounts to be preferable.
This would give us a circulation current all over the country, and subject our
banking to more correct principles of finance. Other States are adopting the
national banking sytem, and I recommend the same to the legislature of Ten
nessee. Such an institution could be used profitably as the fiscal agent of the
State, and if you can secure the means, one in each of the other grand divisions
of the "State would work to advantage.
The qualification of voters, and other limitations of the elective franchise,
have been intrusted to you by the people. This delicate responsibility will de
volve upon you a heavy task, and merits your whole attention. That there
should be some additional limitations prescribed few will deny. Many persons
in the State, by every act of which they were capable have disfranchised them
selves. Probably they neither expected or desired the privilege of again voting,
and would not exercise it if granted them. Many others have committed acts
deserving disfranchisement, who nevertheless will resist it, and strive for every
civil right they enjoyed before the war, and before their treason had involved
the State in so much suffering. While I would not recommend you to give
•way to the impulse of vengeance any more than to the appeals of sympathy
and pity, I would urge you to guard the ballot-box faithfully and effectually
against the approach of treason, no matter in what character it may come. The
loyal people of the State who sent you here expect you to act decisively in the
matter, and have no child's play in determining the qualification ot voters.
The subject has been considered by several of our sister States, whose reform
was not any more loudly called for than with us. It is quite probable that this
action and its effects may assist you in deciding what to accept and what to
avoid.
As you are aware, upon the approach of the national forces and their occu
pation of our country, the government took possession of our railroads, in most
of which the State is a large stockholder. The State is deeply interested in
her internal improvements, as she has indorsed bonds at the rate of ten thou
sand dollars per mile, for nearly all the railroads in Tennessee. And as most
of these bonds are held by guardians for the benefit, in many instances, of
minors and widows, I think it nothing more than simple justice to pay them
the interest already due them.
The Nashville and Chattanooga railroad was taken possession of by the
federal authorities on the 7th of March, 1862, and has been held and used ever
since, and, regarded as a military necessity, it was proper and right. Presum-
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 21
ing the government to have kept the account strictly, she is now about ready to
make a settlement. My information is that certain officers of the company
visited Washington on two different occasions for the purpose of obtaining a
pettlement with the quartermaster general. They failed in their efforts, though
the President of the United States, who was present on both occasions, ex
pressed his views verbally as favoring the payment of the company for the use
of the road. You should now call upon the proper authorities at Washington
for payment to this and other companies, requiring the mon >y received to be
applied to the payment of interest on their bonds. The amount indorsed by
the State for the Nashville and Chattanooga Railroad Company is $1,535,000,
and the interest accrued thereon is now nearly $300,000. It is believed that-
upon a just settlement the government will owe the company largely over that
amount. This road cost the company $3,846,900, including its equipments and
depots.
The other roads in the State are similarly situated and demand your atten
tion. Those officers of roads and stockholders who fled south, carrying with
them the rolling stock and funds, should be held to a strict accountability, and
their property and stock should be made in part to atone for these losses to the
State and country. The case of the East Tennessee and Georgia railroad and
its faithless president requires our special attention.
It is believed the time has now come for the companies again to use their
roads — for the government, if need be, under even a military superintendent —
thereby effecting a vast saving to the government, asking only the same pay
for freights and passengers they are now paying to the Louisville and Nashville
Railroad Company. As this war is for the benefit of the whole nation, it is not
believed that the general government intends that Tennessee shall pay more
than her just proportion of the war debt.
Your attention is called to the fact that the Louisville and Nashville Railroad
Company is running a portion of that road in this State, say about sixty miles,
with another branch from Bowling Green to Clarksville, and for all that portion
of road in our State the government pays the Kentucky company as if the road
were in any other loyal State. The information I have is to the effect that the
Kentucky company treats with indifference the claims of Tennessee upon that
road. It is your duty to let that company know, in decided but respectful
terms, what your rights are, and that you dare assert and maintain them.
The duty devolves upon you at this session of electing two senators to the
Congress of the United States, and of re-districting the Stale, so as, without
delay, to provide for the election of eight representatives to the next Congress. It
is with profound regret that I have observed several republican journals, and
some leading politicians of ability and influence are opposed to the admission of
senators and representatives from Tennessee. They take the ground that the
State should be treated as a Territory and continued under military govern
ment, subject to the arbitrary orders of military rule. If their dangerous and
revolutionary doctrine is adhered to by any considerable portion of senators
and representatives in Congress I shall, for one, dread the consequences. My
confidence in the wisdom and patriotism of senators and representatives leads
me to believe they will discard, indignantly, any such proposition. The loyal
people of Tennessee have resolved through the ballott-box to rule themselves
under the federal flag ; taking the ground that the State has never been out of
the Union, and boldly denying that the unconstitutional and treasonable acts of
those in rebellion ever carried them out of the Union. Besides, the inaugura
tion of the Vice-President from this State, and the withdrawal of a military
governor to give place to civil authority, fix the status of Tennessee in the
estimation of the federal authorities proper. And to your good sense and un
yielding firmness I submit this grave question, not doubting that your action
will be correct.
22 RECONSTRUCTION— TENNESSEE.
Your attention is called to the condition of affairs in the State prison, full
and specific details of which are given in the report of the officer who is in
charge of that institution. I have every confidence that the legislature will
look into the wants of the institution, and do for it what, in the judgment of
members, may seem proper. Meanwhile, I suggest the establishment of branches
of the penitentiary in the western district and in East Tennessee. The cost of
building on a moderate scale would be saved to the State in fifteen or twenty
years in the single item of a cash market, in each end of the State, for pro
visions to sustain, and raw material to keep the convicts employed in manufac
turing — such as lumber, marble, iron, coal, leather, &c. The erection of build
ings would furnish employment and cash wages to a number of mechanics ;
and, as there are several salaried officers attached to such an institution, it
would distribute the patronage of the State in her three natural divisions. If
this be not done, an enlargement of the State prison will be required . The
demoralized condition of both our white and colored population will cause
scores to be sent to the penitentiary as our courts go into operation.
The Tennessee hospital for the insane, one of the charitable institutions of
the State, located in this vicinity, deserves your attention and your aid. The
prosperity and success of that noble State charity were all that its friends and
the friends of humanity could desire at the breaking out of this wicked rebel
lion ; but the institution has struggled hard to keep above the waves of oblivion
for four years past. It kept its deposits in the Bank of Tennessee, and my
information is, that when the faithless officers of the bank fled, on the approach
of the national flag, they carried with them some $30,000 belonging to the in
stitution. For the details in regard to its past operations and present necessi
ties I refer you to the report of the superintendent and chief surgeon, a faithful
and intelligent citizen.
The Tennessee blind school, a State institution in this city, has been utterly
destroyed by the federal forces, and the unfortunate pupils, some forty in num
ber, are distributed among their friends and the friends of humanity. It was
not a military necessity that called for the destruction of the institution, but it
was the work of. recklessness ; and if this general assembly will present the
subject to the government at Washington in this light, it is believed that proper
steps will be taken to restore this noble charity. The hopes of those pupils at
best are blasted and their cup of bitterness is full when we have done all that
lies in our power. We look out upon the world and we know it by its visible
beauty ; we know our wives by their affectionate looks, our children by their
smiles and features, our neighbors by their faces and manner of address; but
these, and all other earthly things, are to these blind people shrouded in dark
ness, and friends, children, and the world are lost to them forever.
The Tennessee deaf and dum school, located at Knoxville, merits your at
tention, as it is one of the charitable institutions of the State. The exciting
events which are daily transpiring in the country should not induce us to lose
sight of those whose misfortunes so strongly appeal to us for aid and comfort.
The buildings and grounds, erected and purchased at a heavy expense by the
State, are now used for hospital purposes by our army. Of the fourteen trus
tees, nine of them went into the rebellion, and most of them fled south. An
equal proportion of the oflicers and teachers of the school proved to be rebels.
An early organization of the institution upon a loyal basis is called for, and it
is hoped will attract your attention.
The East Tennessee university, located at Knoxville, is a time-honored insti
tution, and was chartered and endowed by the State in 1807. It has been al
most destroyed by the federal army. The library, furniture, and fixtures are
hopelessly destroyed. The main buildings are standing, and it is but just to
the educational interests of the most loyal portion of the State that the gov
ernment should place that institution on as good a footing as it found it. A
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 23
majority of the board of trustees turned out to be rebels, and their places should
be filled with loyal men.
There are doubtless other institutions in the State which deserve the atten
tion of this general assembly, but I am not informed as to their situations. The
members representing all the counties will be able to look after their interests,
and should feel that the duty devolves upon them.
Having thus fully placed before you the information requisite to enable you
to judge of the condition of the State, the evils which environ us, and the
measures of legislation needed for averting them and ridding ourselves of them,
it remains for me but to invoke your attention to the consideration of those means
by which, above all others, we may hope to restore order and prosperity to our
country. And if one be more prominent than another, it is the necessity for
earnest and cordial co-operation between the State and federal government. To
you especially, as senators and representatives, do the loyal people of Tennessee
look for encouragement and counsel. And to your action in the halls of legis
lation will all eyes be turned — not only in Tennessee, but in other States — for
examples of what is befitting loyal men. I feel full confidence that you will
prove yourselves equal to the emergency, and meet expectations both at home
and abroad. I feel assured that, being united in a common and holy cause, you
will rise above all selfish considerations, and, bowing submissively to the Divine
will, you will unite with all good men in reverently invoking the blessings of
our Heavenly Father upon all we say and do while in the service of the State.
It is, perhaps, proper for me to state that since writing this message important
facts have come to my knowledge, and upon unquestionable authority, relating
to the use of a portion of the funds of the Bank of Tennessee, that may require
me to send you, at no distant day, a special message. The interests of the
State, and the just rights of the people, should be sacredly and vigilantly
guarded, no matter who suffers ruin and disgrace.
WILLIAM G. BROWNLOW.
Pullic acts of the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, passed at the first session of the
thirty-fourth general assembly, which was begun and held at Nashville on Monday, the third
day of April, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-Jive.
CHAPTER I.
AN ACT to regulate the county court of Shelby county.
SECTION 1. Be it tnacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That in the county
of Shelby, in case of vacancy, removal, or when the county judge shall, from any cause
whatever, fail to hold his court, and a majority of the magistrates shall fail to appear and
elect a chairman, as is now provided by law, the clerk of said court shall give notice, in
writing, to any judge or chancellor of said county, who shall have full power to hold said
county court and discharge all the duties as the judge or chairman could do by law.
SEC. 2. This act to take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of h'cprestntatites.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS.
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed April 28, ]865.
CHAPTER II.
AN ACT to increase the compensation of judges.
SECTION I. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That section
4538 of the code of this State be so amended that each of the judges of the supreme court of
this State, hereafter appointed or elected, shall be entitled to a salary of three thousand
dollars per annum, payable quarterly out of the State treasury.
24 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That section 4539 of the code of this State be so amended
that each chancellor, circuit, and criminal judge of this State, except county judges and
judges of special courts, hereafter appointed or elected, shall be entitled to a salary of two
thousand dollars per annum.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HKISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL 11. KODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate."}]
Passed May 8, 1865.
CHAPTER III.
AN ACT to increase the pay of public printer.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the public
printer be paid an advance of fifty per cent, on the prices now allowed by law.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R, RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 10, 1865.
CHAPTER IV.
AN ACT to punish all armed prowlers, guerillas, brigands, and highway robbers, and for
other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That every man
or sqiicid of men, who may hereafter make inroads for plunder upon the peaceable inhabitants
of this State, and by force deprive them of their property, or endeavor so to deprive them,
by the alarm caused by their being armed, when in fact he or they were not at the time part
of any organized army and sharing continuously in its duties, but who sometimes return to
their homes, with the assumption of the semblance of peaceful pursuits, divesting him or
themselves of the appearance and character of soldiers, are hereby declared guerillas and
highway robbers and brigands, and upon his or their conviction shall suffer death by hanging.
SEC. 2. Be itfurlher enacted, That scouts or single soldiers, if disguised in the dress of the
coTintry, or clothed in the uniform of either army, who shall wilfully, maliciously and forcibly
take from the possession or person of the peaceful citizens of the State their property by
threats of violence, or the actual use of force and violence and under the terror of arms, shall,
upon conviction, suffer death by hanging.
SEC/3. Be it further enacted, That all armed prowlers, by whatever name they may be
called, who shall willfully, maliciously and forcibly make an attack upon any one of the
peaceable citizens of this State for the purpose of robbing him or her, or of stealing his or her
property, or ot killing him or her, shall, on conviction, suffer death by hanging.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That . all persons who shall knowingly, willingly, and
voluntarily feed any such person or persons as described in the previous sections of this act,
or furnish them information for the purpose of aiding and assisting them in their unlawful and
illegal objects, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be im
prisoned in the penitentiary for a period of not less than five years nor more than twenty-one
years.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL.
Speaker of the House of Rrpresc ntat ires.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 17, 1865.
CHAPTER V.
AN ACT to amend the criminal laws of the State of Tennessee.
SECTION 1. Be it enaoted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That whoever
shall feloniously take or steal any horse, mule, or ass, shall, on conviction thereof, suffer
death by hanging: Provided, The jury before whom the offence is tried shall, if they think
proper, commute the punishment to imprisonment in the penitentiary for the period of not less
than ten nor more than twenty -one years.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 25
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That whoever shall feloniously break open the house of
another for the purpose of committing' a larceny or robbery therein, shall, on conviction thereof,
suffer death by hanging: Provided, The jury before whom the offender is tried and convicted
may, if they think proper, commute the punishment for the offence to imprisonment in the
penitentiary for the period of not less than ten nor more than twenty-one ye"ars.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That whoever shall feloniously rob another, or steal from his
person, shall, on conviction thereof, suffer death by hanging: Provided, The jury before
whom the offender is tried and convicted may, if they think proper, commute the punishment
to imprisonment in the penitentiary for a period of not less than ten nor more than twenty -one
years.
SEC. 4. Be if further enacted, That any person duly convicted of house or bridge burning,
shall suffer death by hanging: Provided, The jury, if they think proper, may commute the
punishment to imprisonment in the penitentiary for a period of not less than ten nor more
than twenty-one years : And provided, further, That nothing in this act shall be so construed
as repealing the laws now in force for the punishing of the offences mentioned in this act ; but
all persons who have heretofore committed any of the offences mentioned in this act shall be
tried under the existing laws, and, if convicted, shall be punished as now prescribed by law.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 17, 1865.
CHAPTER VI.
AN ACT to repeal the 3d article of the 5th chapter, title 5, of the Code of Tennessee.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the 3d
article of the 5th chapter, title 5, 2d part of the Code of Tennessee, be and is hereby repealed.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 18, 1865.
CHAPTER VII.
AN ACT to establish the eighth chancery district of Tennessee.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That an eighth
chancery district be, and is hereby, established in the State of Tennessee, to be composed of
the counties of 3evier, Blount, Monroe, Roane, Knox, Anderson, and McMinn.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the chancellor elected, pursuant to the provisions of this
act, shall hold the courts in the several counties composing said district at the times and
places in said counties now designated by law, and said chancellor shall have all the powers
and emoluments given to other chancelloi's of this State ; and until a chancellor shall be
appointed or elected for said district, it shall be the duty of the present chancellor to hold
the courts in said counties as heretofore.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 22, 1865.
CHAPTER VIII.
AN ACT to amend the revenue laws of the State.
SECTION 1 . Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That section
553 of the Code of Tennessee be, and the same is hereby, amended, so that the following
rate of taxation shall be levied and collected, as now provided for by law : on every taxable
poll, one dollar; on every hundred dollar's worth of taxable property, twenty-five cents ; on
sales of land, one cent per acre; on sales of town lots, or parts of town lots, tor each lot,
or part, five dollars ; on sales of merchandise by merchants, two cents on the dollar on it*
26 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
invoice cost^at the place where purchased, unless the tax on the same has once hefore been
paid to the State, in which event no additional tax will be paid; on sales of merchandise by
a peddler, for each county in which he travels, if on foot, twenty dollars; if on horseback,
fifty dollars; if in a vehicle, fifty dollars; and for each vehicle, if he uses more than one,
fifty dollars ; on the regular business of selling at auction any article, the selling of which
is not taxable, fifty dollars; in all other cases the same rate which is imposed on sales of
merchandise on commission, on the regular business of selling goods, wares, and merchan
dise on commission, on the gross amount of sales, public and private, when the amount
does not exceed ten thousand dollars, thirty -five dollars; between ten and twenty thousand
dollars, sixty dollars; between twenty and thirty thousand dollars, eighty five, dollars; be
tween thirty and forty thousand dollars, one hundred and ten dollars; and in like ratio: on
the regular or general business of brokers, one thousand dollars ; on granting policies of
insurance, by other than companies chartered by the State, twelve hundred and fifty dollars ;
on the business of banking, by companies operating under the law to authorize and regulate
the business of banking, thirty-five cents on each hundred dollars of the capital of each
bank ; on the business of banking by banks, or associations of persons of other States of
the Union, three-fourths of one per cent, on the capital stated in the affidavit filed for the
license as intended to be used in the succeeding twelve months; on discounting securities for
money, shaving notes, two cents on every dollar employed, but in no case less than ten dollars ;
on theatrical exhibitions, if the theatre or place of 'exhibition be in a city, five hundred
dollars; if in other places, fifty dollars; on exhibiting for profit a circus, or circus and
animal show, feats of activity or strength, if in a city, one hundred dollars for each day and
night exhibition ; if in any other .places than aforesaid, fifty dollars , on keeping a confer
tiouery, ice-cream saloon, and other places of refreshment, seven and a half per cent, on the
capital employed, and the keeper shall take out a license as merchants by law are now
required, and shall, in addition to said per centum, pay ten dollars for each privilege ; on
each petition filed in any court of record for the division and distribution of estates, five
dollars ; on each appeal, writ of error, or certiorari from the circuit or chancery court to the
supreme court, five dollars ; on each appeal or certiorari, from before a justice of the peace,
three dollars and fifty cents ; on each presentment or indictment, three dollars and fifty cents ;
on each original suit in any of the courts of law or equity in this State, five dollars.
SEC. '2. Be it further enacted, That the owners of steam, saw, and grist mills, erected upon
the lands of another, shall pay an annual tax to the State of one hundred dollars ; that all
persons who set themselves up as lawyers, and propose to practice law in any of the courts
of the State, or held within the State, or before any military commission, shall pay an an
nual tax to the State of twenty-five dollars; that all persons who propose so to practice
shall take out a license from the county court clerk of some county, certifying that the tax
has been paid. Any person proposing to, and practicing as aforesaid, failing, or refusing to
take out said license, shall pay a double tax, to be recovered before any circuit court of the
State where motion is made by the attorney general of any district, upon ten days' notice
to said delinquent, either by publication in some newspaper in the State, or in writing.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That all persons who set themselves up as doctors of medi
cine or surgeons (the term doctor, to include all persons who, for pay, propose to cure dis
eases, public or private, and the term surgeon shall be taken in the general application of
the term, and shall include dentists,) shall pay an annual tax to the State of twenty -five
dollars ; license to be obtained, payment made, and recovery had, as provided for in the
second section of this act, governing lawyers.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That all persons known as photographers, and dealing in
photographic and ambrotype apparatus aud material, shall take out a license, and pay the
same tax to the State as merchants now pay ; and all persons Avho are or may hereafter set
themselves up as artists, for the purpose of taking photographs, ambrotypes, or daguerrean
likenesses, if in a city, for each gallery opened, one hundred dollars ; at any other place,
excepting in the country, twenty-five dollars ;.if in the country, five dollars ; (the term gal
lery to mean any place where the artist takes pictures;) said tax to be paid to the clerk of
the county where the gallery is opened. Any person opening a gallery as aforesaid, without
paying the tax, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, on conviction, shall be fined not less
than one hundred nor more than five hundred dollars.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That sub-section two of section 691 of the code cf the State
be, and is hereby, amended, by striking out the words "twenty-five dollars" and inserting
the words "fifty dollars," and by striking out the word "ten" and inserting the word
" twenty."
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the foregoing tax shall be assessed and collected as is
now provided by law ; that any county which refuses or fails to make the assessment and
appoint a tax collector to collect the taxes due the State within the year 1805, unless the
governor of the State shall be satisfied that the people of the county made honest efforts so
to do, and it was impossible for them to comply with this act, shall pay a double tax ; and
the governor shall send an assessor of his own appointing to said county, with a sufficient
posse to levy and collect said double tax ; that the collector so appointed shall seize a sufii-
ciency of the delinquent's personal property to satisfy the taxes and charges, and sell the
same' in any county of the State where he can get bidders, after giving the notice now re-
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 27
quired by la\v. If the delinquent have no personal property of which to make the taxes,
thru the collector shall levy on sufficient real estate to pa}' the same, and shall return the facts
to the nearest county having resumed civil functions ; and upon return of a written state
ment of the facts, the circuit court shall, at the second term of the court, condemn the real
astate of the delinquent, or so much thereof as will be of value sufficient to satisfy the
taxes and costs. And the collector shall, after giving forty days' notice in writing, posted
on the court-house door of the county where the land was condemned, as well as in the
county where the land is situated, if practicable, sell the same at public outcry to the highest
bidder, in the same manner, and with the same conditions, and upon the same terms, as
now provided bv law ; but this section shall not apply to soldiers belonging to the United
States army, or "soldiers that have served in the same and have been honorably discharged,
or their widows or minor children.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the 553d section of the Code of Tennessee be so
amended as to read as follows: "On keeping a tract for turf-racing, two hundred dollars ;
for half-mile tracts, one hundred dollars; for quarter-mile tracts, fifty dollars."
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That any person of undoubted loyalty residing in a county
where the tax has been collected, as provided in this act, shall have the privilege of paying
his tax at any time before or at the time the collector comes into the county to collect the
double tax provided by this act.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That all express companies doing business in the State of
Tennessee shall take out a license from the comptroller, and pay over to him one thousand
dollars for the privilege of doing business ; and, in addition, give bond to the comptroller of
five thousand dollars, to account and pay over one-half of one per cent, on their income from
their business done in this State.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That the tax assessed on lawyers, by this act, shall be col
lected by the clerk of the county court of the county where the lawyer resides. Said clerk
shall issue license.
SEC. 1 1. Be it further enacted, That all persons who are engaged in tanning leather as an
occupation, shall pay into the treasury of the State twenty-five dollars as a privilege tax.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That, after paying the interest on the State debt proper and
current expenses of the State, the sum of eight hundred thousand dollars be applied to com
mon school purposes, in addition to what is now allowed by law for said purposes. That all
the laws of the State upon the subject of taxes, except as altered or repealed by this act, are
still in full force and effect. That the county courts of this State shall have the power to em
brace in the catalogue of subjects of taxation for county purposes all subjects mentioned ia
this act. This act shall take effect from and after the date of its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
• Passed May 24, 1865.
CHAPTER IX.
AN ACT to more effectually manage the penitentiary, and for other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted l>y the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the salary
of the keeper of the penitentiary of the State shall be two thousand dollars a year, and no
more : and that section 5442 of the code be, and the same is hereby, repealed, so far as it
gives to the keeper one hundred dollars a year for the board of each assistant keeper.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacled, That all of the assistants, clerks, guards, and other employds,
shall be boarded at the expense of the penitentiary, without any compensation being paid to
the keeper ; and it is hereby made the duty of the keeper to have the food properly prepared
without any additional expense to the penitentiary.
SEC. 3. Ba it further enacted, That the keeper of the penitentiary shall hereafter be elected
by the joint vote of the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, in convention assem
bled.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the penitentiary shall be enlarged; and for this pur
pose the inspectors and keeper of the penitentiary are hereby instructed and required to direct
the labor of the convicts to that end and object, so as to enclose the ground belonging to the
penitentiary now open, or so much thereof as, in their opinion, the necessities of the iustitu-
tioji may require.
SEC. 5. tic it further enacted, That the attorney general of the State be, and is hereby, in
structed and commanded to examine into the item of the account showing that there is due
to the penitentiary the sum of fifty thousand one hundred and thirty-two dollars and eighteen
cents, by note and account; and "if said indebtedness has been created since the year 1858, to
institute legal proceedings against the keepers and their securities, who have created said in-
28 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
debtedness in violation of law ; and for this purpose he may procure competent counsel to
represent the interests of the State, who shall be paid as the general assembly may hereafter
direct.
SKC. 6. Be it further enacted. That the office of auditing clerk in the penitentiary be, and
the same is hereby, repealed.
WILLIAM HEISKELL.
Speaker of the House of Hfpnarntativet.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of tht Senate.
Passed May 24, 1865.
CHAPTER X.
AN ACT to provide for the limitation of actions, and for other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the genera! assembly of the State of Tennessee, That no statute
of limitations shall be held to operate from and after the 6th day of May, 1861, to the 1st day
of January, 1867, and from the latter date the statutes of limitations shall commence their
operation according to existing laws, and the time between the 6th day of May, 1861, and
the 1st day of January, 1867, shall not be computed, nor shall any writ of error be refused or
barred in any suit decided since the 6th day of May, 1861, or within one year immediately
prior to that date by reason of lapse of time.
SEC. 2. Be it enacted, That the statutes of limitations prescribed in chapter 2, article 3,
section 2784 of the Code of Tennessee, shall not be held to operate, or the time be computed
from the 6th of May, 1861, to the 1st of January, 1867, and from and after the 1st day of
January, '1867, said statutes of limitation shall commence its operations according to existing
laws.
SEC. 3. Be it enacted, That if at any time any cause of action shall accrue against any
person who shall be out of this State, the action may be commenced within the time limited
therefor, after such persons shall come into the State, and after any cause of action shall have
accrued, the person against whom it has accrued shall be absent from, or reside out of the
State, the time of his abence or residence out of State shall not be taken as any part of the
time limited for the commencement of the action.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That in all cases where real estate is subject to redemption,
as prescribed in chapter 5, section 2124 to 2137, inclusive, of the Code of Tennessee, the time
between the 6th day of May, 1861, and the 1st day of January, 1867, shall not be held to
operate, or be computed, and all persons entitled to redeem such real estate shall have six
months from and after the 1st day of January, 1867, to redeem the same according to existiug
laws.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 30, 1865.
CHAPTER XL
AN ACT to fix the fees to be paid by commissioners of deeds resident in other States.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the secre
tary of state shall be allowed a fee of five dollars for affixing the great seal of the State to the
commission of each commissioner of deeds for this State.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage,
9 WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Keprcsrntatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 31, 1865.
CHAPTER XII.
AN ACT for the relief of indigent families of soldiers.
SECTION 1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the county
courts of this State shall have power, at any quarterly term, a majority of the justice-; <>f the
peace of the county being present, to levy a tax on property privileges and polls, to raise a
fund for the relief of indigent families of soldiers in the United States army; said fund to be
collected and paid to the trustee, as now provided for by law: Provided, That the widowed
RECONSTRUCTION —TENNESSEE. 29
mothers, wives, and minor children of soldiers who have died in the federal service shall have
the benefit of this act in common with the families of those still living.
SEC. 'J. Be it further enacted, That the fund raised under the provisions of the first section
of this act shall be under the control of the county court of the county where raised, and shall
be used only for the purpose for which it was raised, unless the necessity for which it was
intended ceases, then it shall become a part of the general fund of the county.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. ROGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 3 1,1865.
CHAPTER XIII.
AN ACT to amend the corporation of the city of Shelbyville, and for other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the sheriff
of Bedford county shall open and hold, upon ten days' notice, an election for mayor and alder
men, and other officers of the town of Shelbyville, according to existing laws, who, when
elected, shall have all the powers, until their successors are elected at the next regular elec
tion and qualified as required bylaw, that are conferred by law on said mayor and aldermen,
and other officers of the corporation of said town of Shelbyville.
SEC. 2. Be, it further enacted, That the sheriff of each county in the State shall open and
Id, upon ten days' notice, an election for mayor and aldermen, and other officers in any
incorporated town, village, or city, according to existing laws ; who, when elected, shall have
all the powers conferred on them by their respective charters of incorporation, and until their
successors are elected and qualified, as required by la'w.
SEC. 3. Be itfurthar enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 31. 1865.
. CHAPTER XIV.
AN ACT to change the times of holding the chancery courts at Athens and Benton, in this State.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the chancery
court at Athens, McMinn county, Tennessee, shall hereafter be holden on the fourth Mondays
of May and November in each year, instead of third Mondays of February and August, as
now provided by law. The first court after the passage of this act shall be holden on the
third Monday of February next, as heretofore, but forever thereafter the chancery courts at
Athens shall be holden, commencing on the fourth Mondays of May and November, as above
provided.
SEC. "2. Be it further enacted, That hereafter the chancery courts at Benton, in Polk county,
Tennessee, shall be holden on the third Mondays of June and December in each year, instead
of the first Mondays of February and August, as now provided by law; and the first court
after the passage of this act shall be holden on the third Monday of June, 1865.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the chancery courts for the eighth chancery division of
this State shall be held at the following times and places each and every year: fourth Mon
days of May and November at Athens, McMinn county, Tennessee; first Mondays of June
and December at Madisonville, Monroe county, Tennessee; fourth Mondays of June and
December at Maryville, Blount county, Tennessee ; Thursday after the third Mondays of April
and October at Kingston, Roane county, Tennessee; first Mondays of April and October at
Kuoxville, Kuox county, Tennessee; second Mondays of April and October at Seveirville,
Seveir county, Tennessee; first Mondays of May and November at Clinton, Anderson county,
Tennessee.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That hereafter all process issued from any of said chancery
courts, in the eighth chancery division of this State, shall be made returnable to the times
and places mentioned in this act, and that the next chancery court at Maryville, Blount
county, Tennessee, shall be holden on the fourth Monday of December, 1865, instead of the
time heretofore provided for by law.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the chancellor of the eighth chancery division of this
State, shall have full power and authority to hold the circuit courts of the counties composing
said chancery division, whether by interchange with a circuit judge or not: and such circuit
courts as he may hold, and such causes as he may try and determine in such circuit, shall be
30 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
good and valid, to all intents and purposes, and he shall have and exercise all the powers of
circuit judges.
SEC. 6. lie it further enacted, That the chancery court at Taylorsville, for Johnson county
shall be held on the third Mondays of April and October.
SEC. 7. lie it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Iteprewntutitcs.
SAMUEL R. RODGEKS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 2, 1865.
CHAPTER XV.
AN ACT to repeal an act passed on the 19th day of March, 1860, to repeal section 4766 of
the code, and to re-enact section 4766 of the code.
SECTION I. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That whoever shall
be guilty of uttering seditious words or speeches, spreading abroad false news, writing or dis
persing scurrilous libels against the State or general government, disturbing or obstructing
any lawful officer in executing his office, or of instigating others to cabal and meet together
to contrive, invent, suggest, or incite rebellious conspiracies, riots, or any manner of un
lawful feud or differences thereby to stir people up maliciously to contrive the ruin and
destruction of the peace, safety, and order of the government, or shall knowingly conceal
such evil practice, shall be punished by line and imprisonment at the discretion of the court
and jury trying the case, and may be compelled to give good and sufficient sureties for his
or her good behavior during the court's pleasure, and shall be incapable of bearing any oflice
of houoi, trust, or profit in the State government for the space of three years.
SEC. '2. Be it further enacted, That it shall 1 e the duty of the judges to give this act in
charge to the grand jury, and no prosecutor shall be required to an indictment under this act.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGEKS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 3, 1865.
CHAPTER XVI. ,
AN ACT to limit the elective franchise.
Whereas the first article and the first section of the declaration of rights in the constitution
of the State of Tennessee declares: "That all power is inherent in the people, and all free
governments are founded on their authority and instituted for their peace, safety, and happi
ness; for the advancement of these ends they have at all times an inalienable and iixli-u-usible
right to alter, reform, or abolish the government in such manner as they may think proper;
and whereas a large and respectable convention of the free and loyal people of the State, of
Tennessee met in the city of Nashville, on the 9th day of January, lc'65, and proposed certain
alterations and amendments fo the constitution of the State of Tennessee, for rejection or rati
fication by the loyal people on the 2^d of February following; and whereas said amendments
and schedule were solemnly ratified with great unanimity by the authoritative voice of the
people ; and whereas the 8th section of said schedule provided for the election of a governor
arid members of the legislature on the 4th day of March, 1865, and who, in accordance there
with, v.-eie elected by the ballots of the loyal people ; and whereas the same authoritative
Y( )!(•>-, in section 9th of the schedule, delegated to the general assembly meeting first under
this amended constitution, the right to fix the qualification of voters and the limitation of the
elective franchise; theiefore, acting faithfully under and in accordance with this delegation
of supreme power —
SECTION J. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the follow
ing persons, to wit :
1. Every white man twenty-one years of age, a citizen of the United States and a citizen
of the county wherein he may offer his vote six months next preceding the day of election,
and publicly known to have entertained unconditional Union sentiments from the outbreak
of the rebellion until the present time; and
SJ. Every white man, a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the county wherein
be may offer his vote six months next preceding the day of election, having arrived at lin
age of twenty-one years since March 4, 1865: Provided, That he has not been engaged in
armed rebellion against the authority of the United States voluntarily; and
3. Every white man of lawful age coming from another State, and being a citizen of the
United States, on proof of lo\alty to the United States, and being a citizen of the county
wherein he may offer his vote six months next preceding the day of election ; and
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 31
4. Every white man, a citizen of tlie United States and a citizen of this State, who has
served as a soldier in the army of the United Status, and has been or may be hereafter honor
ably discharged therefrom ; arid
5. Every white man of lawful age, a citizen of the United States and a citizen of the
county wherein he may offer his vote six months next preceding the day of election, who
was conscripted by force into the so-called confederate army, and was known to be a Union
man, on proof of loyalty to the United States, established by the testimony of two voters
under the previous clauses of this section; and
6. Every white man who voted in this State at the presidential election in November,
18(54, or voted on the 2'2d of February, 1865, or voted on the 4th of March, 1865, in this
State, and all others who had taken the "oath of allegiance" to the United States, and may
be known by the judges of election to have been true friends to the government of the United
States, and would have voted in said previously mentioned elections if the same had been
hokk-n within their reach, shall be entitled to the privileges of the elective franchise.
SEC. '2. Be it further enacted, That all persons who are or shall have been civil or diplo
matic officers or agents of the so-called Confederate States of America, or who have left
judicial stations under the United States or the State of Tennessee to aid, in any way, the
existing or recent rebellion against the authority of the United States, or who are or shall
have been military or naval officers of the so-called Confederate States, above the rank of
captain in the army or lieutenant in the navy ; or who have left seats in the United States
Congress or seats in the legislature of the State of Tennessee to aid said rebellion, or have
resigned commissions in the army or navy of the United States, and afterwards have volun
tarily given aid to said rebellion; or persons who have engaged in treating otherwise than
lawfully, as prisoners of war, persons found in the United States service as officers, soldiers,
seamen, or in any other capacities ; or persons who have been or are absentees from the
United States for the purpose of aiding the rebellion ; or persons who held pretended offices
under the government of States in insurrection against the United States ; or persons who
left their homes within the jurisdiction and protection of the United States, or fled before the
approach of the national forces and passed beyond the federal military lines into the so-called
Confederate States, for the purpose of aiding the rebellion, shall be denied and refused the
privilege of the elective franchise in this State for the term of fifteen years from and after the
passage of this act.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That all other persons, except those mentioned in section 1
of this act, are hereby and henceforth excluded and denied the exercise of the privilege of the
elective franchise in this State for the term of five years from and after the passage of this act.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That all persons embraced in section 3 of this act, after the
expiration of said five years, may be readmitted to the privilege of the elective franchise by
petition to the circuit or chancery court, on proof of loyalty to the United States, in open
court, upon the testimony of two or more loyal citizens of the United States.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That so long as any of the white citizens of the State of
Tennessee, who by this act are entitled to exercise the elective franchise, shall be connected
with the army of the United States, or with the military force of this State in actual service,
the governor shall issue writs of election to the commanding officers of such brigades, regi
ments, or detachments of Tennessee soldiers, wherever located, who shall open and hold the
election, and receive the votes of their respective commands, and return the same to the
secretary of state, and which shall be counted in the same way and manner as if said votes
hud been cast in any of the counties of the State to which the soldiers belonged.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That it shall 'be the duty Sf the county court clerk, in each
county, to open and keep a registration of voters, and before whom proof, under oath, that
the voter falls within the provisions of article 1 of this act, shall be made: Provided, No
man of publicly known Union sentiments shall be required to make oath in doing the same;
and said clerk shall receive such compensation as the county court in each county may deem
proper ; and also said clerk shall issue to all such persons a certificate of registration, and no
one shall be permitted by the judges of election to vote unless so registered.
' SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That any voter may be challenged by an admitted voter of
section 1 of this act, on offering his vote; and thereupon the judges of election shall per
emptorily administer to the person so challenged, before permitting him to vote, the follow
ing oath, said oath also to be taken by all judges of election and candidates for office:
"OATH
" I solemnly swear that I will henceforth support the Constitution of the United States
and defend it against the assaults of all its enemies; that I am an active friend of the gov
ernment of the United States ; that I will heartily aid and assist the loyal pnjpii' in whatever
nieasiiies
and
the
faithfully and most heartily support and defend the constitution
and the amendments and schedule thereunto appended and adopted by the people on the 'J'Jd
day of February, 1865 ; and also all acts of the general assembly assembled in accordance
rument of the United States ; that I will heartily aid and assist the loyal people in whatever
leasuies may be adopted under the Constitution of the United States, and under all laws
nd proclamations made in pursuance thereof, to establish the national authority over a.l
10 people of every State and Territory embraced in the national Union; and that I will
iithf'ullv find most bojirtilv surmort and defend the constitution of the State ot Tennessee,
32 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
therewith ; and that I take this oath freely, voluntarily, and without mental reservation: So
help me (»od."
SEC. s. UK it further enacted, That any person taking this oath falsely shall be guilty of
perjury, jind shall sutler the pains and penftltiei attached to that crime.
Sr.r. (,i. Hi- itfitrthi-r enacted, Tluit tin- power is reserved to alter, amend, or change the
provisions of this act, at any time when, in the opinion of this general assembly of the State,
it is right and proper to do so.
SEC. JO. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its pas
sage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGER8,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 3865.
CHAPTER XVII.
AN ACT to repeal an act incorporating a military department in Andrew College, and the
Memphis Arms Company, and for other purposes.
„ , , authorizing the mayor
ot the city of Memphis and the sheriff of Shelby county to call out the 154th regiment to
suppress insurrection, riot, or invasion, at the expense of the city and county, belaud tlie
same is hereby, repealed.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That an act to incorporate the Memphis Light Dragoon
Company, which was passed January 3], 186], be, ami is hereby, repealed.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 1865.
CHAPTER XVIII.
AN ACT to amend section 117 of the code, and for other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the crimi
nal court of the county of Montgomery be, and the same is hereby, abolished; and that the
jurisdiction of said court be, and the same is hereby, conferred upon the circuit court of
Montgomery county as fully and completely as can by law be done.
SEC. 2. Be il further enacted, That all of the causes in the criminal court of Montgomery
county shall be transferred to the circuit court of Montgomery county, and all bonds taken
for the appearance of defendants be returnable to the first Tuesday after the second Monday
in September, 18(55, before said circuit court.
SEC. 3- #« it further enacted, That the circuit judge of the tenth judicial circuit of the
State of Tennessee shall have full power to try all such criminal causes as may be thus
transferred to it, or that may hereafter arise in the county of Montgomery; and that he is
lierehy clothed with fulj power to iix a day at each term of his court when all such business
shall he. iaUeil up.
Sr.r. 1. lie it further enacted, That there shall be regularly empanelled a grand jury for
the county of Davidson, which shall be elected, sworn, and empanelled bv the circuit
court of Davidson county, and shall have its sittings during the regular session of said court,
and with full power of all other grand juries in the State; and that the bills and present
mcnts so made by the grand jury thus empanelled and returned, shall be regularly trats-
fcned to the criminal court of Davidson county for process to issue, and trial to be 'had, as
in other criminal cases.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the circuit court of Montgomery county shall have full
power, with all ether criminal courts of the State, to organize and empanel a o-rand jurv as
now provided tor by law.
Sue. (5. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage
\\ ILLIAM HKISKKLL,"
Speaker of the House of Rt presentntircs
SAMUEL R. Rolx.KKS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Pa sod June 5, 1865.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 3 3
CHAPTER XIX
AN ACT to authorize the investment, of trust funds, and for other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the courts
of law and equity in this State be, and they are hereby, authorized to have the money and
funds in the hands of clerks and receivers, or trustees, in litigation, or under the control of
said courts, invested in the public stocks or bonds of the United States, under such rules
and orders in each case as may be legal and just.
SEC. 2. That guardians, executors, administrators, and trustees shall also be authorized
and empowered to invest money and funds in their hands in the public stocks or bonds of
the United States, and make report thereof to the county court of the county where such
guardian, executor, administrator, or trustee resides, unless another mode of investment is
required by will or deed of the testator or other person who has established the funds.
SEC. 3. This act to be in force from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 6, 1865.
CHAPTER XX.
AN ACT to establish a claim agency of Tennessee in the city of Washington.
SECTION 1 . Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the governor,
by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, be, and he is hereby, directed to appoint
an agent for the State of Tennessee, learned in the law and faithful in business, who shall
keep his office in the city of Washington, whose duty it shall be, whenever requested by the
party or parties interested, to prosecute before the Court of Claims at Washington, or before
a-ny of the departments at Washington, any claim or demand growing out of the existing
war which the State of Tennessee, or any citizen or soldier thereof, has against the govern
ment of the United States: Provided, That the person appointed under this act shall hold no
other office or appointment under the United States or the State of Tennessee.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said agent to answer all com
munications addressed to him by any Tennessee soldier or citizen, or any officer of the State
government, in regard to any matter of business in any of the departments at Washington.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That said agent shall perform such other duties as may from
time to time be required of him by the governor, and may be removed by the governor when
ever, in his opinion, the interest of the people of Tennessee require it.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the agent appointed under this act shall not, directly
or indirectly, receive or charge any fee for services rendered under this act to Tennessee
soldiers, their widows, heirs, and legal representatives ; nor shall he purchase, trade, or deal
in any claim against the United States, whether the same is or is not in his hands for collec
tion.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That any violation by said agent of the provisions of thc-
preceding section shall be a misdemeanor in office, and punishable by fine or imprisonment,
or both, at the discretion of the jury. He may be indicted in the circuit court of the county
where the claimant or soldier resides, or in the circuit court of the county in which the agent
resides.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That, before entering on the discharge of the duties of his
office, he shall take the oath that other officers of this State are required, under the Consti
tution, to take, and shall execute a bond with sufficient security, to be approved of by the
governor, conditioned that he will faithfully and diligently discharge the duties of his office ;
make full, fair, and complete returns of all claims and funds which may conic into his hands
or may be intrusted to him, and pay over to the claimant all money, vouchers, and ertV'rts
which he may receive for any claimant ; and that he will not, directly or indirectly, purchase,
trade, or deal in any claim whatever against the United States; which bond shall be tiled
and preserved in the office of the secretary of state, and upon which any one aggrieved may
maintain a suit for any breach thereof, and any recovery on the same shall not bar any other
suit upon the same for any other and distinct cause of action.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the agent shall receive, as compensation for his services
under this act, a salary of fifteen hundred dollars, payable out of the State treasury.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That for prosecuting" the claims of the State, or the claims
of soldiers, their widows, heirs, and legal representatives, said agent shall receive no other
compensation than the salary herein allowed, but for prosecuting and collecting the claims
of other persons, citizens of Tennessee, he is allowed to charge any fee agreed upon between
him and the claimant not exceeding live per centum on the amount of the claim allowed,
where such allowance is one hundred dollars or less ; if over one hundred and not exceeding*
3 T
34 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
one thousand dollars, five dollars on the first hundred dollars and three per centum on the
residue may be charged, and if more than one thousand dollars, then two and a half per
centum oii the excess pyer one thousand dollars collected: Provided, The agent shall not
attend to the prosecution of the claims of any other State, and for a violation of this section
he shall be dismissed from his office by the governor, and on indictmert in the circuit court
of the county where the claimant resides, fined in a sum not exceeding five times the auiount
of fees charged.
Set;. 9. Be it further enacted, That the agent shall hold his office for a period not exceeding
two years from the first day of October, 1865; and in the event of his death, resignation, or
removal from office, the governor may appoint a successor for the unexpired term, who shall
receive the office, books, papers, and claims of his predecessor, and be governed by the pro
visions of the foregoing sections of this act.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage,
and shall continue in force until the first day of October, eighteen hundred and sixty -seven.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the Houae of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 1865.
CHAPTER XXI.
AN ACT for the benefit of discharged Union soldiers.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the Stale of Tennessee, That all dis
charged Union soldiers, who have served either as State or Federal soldiers, and have been
honorably discharged the service, and all citizens who have always been loyal, shall be per
mitted to carry any and all necessary side-arms, being their own private property, for their
personal protection and common defence.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of licpresentat ivcs.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 6, 1865.
CHAPTER XXII.
AN ACT accepting on the part of the State of Tennessee a grant of lands made by the United
States to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of
agriculture and the mechanic arts.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That an act of
Congress of the United States, approved July 5, J86'2, entitled an act donating public lands
to the several States and Territories which may provide colleges for the benefit of agriculture
and the mechanic arts, and the grant of land and land scrip thereby made be, and the same
is hereby, accepted on the part of the State of Tennessee.
SEC. 2. And be it enacted, That the said grant of land and land scrip is hereby accepted
for tli-e purposes and upon the conditions in said act of Congress specified, and the assent of
the .State of Tennessee to the several conditions and provisions in said act contained is hereby
signified and expressed.
SBC. 3. And be it enacted, That the governor of this State, and such person as he shall
appoint for that purpose, are hereby appointed commissioners for the State to receive from
the Secretary of the Interior, or other officer of the United States, the laud scrip to which the
State of Tennessee is or may be entitled under the act of Congress aforesaid; said scrip to
lie held by said commissioners for the State until provision is made by law for the sale thereof
and investment of the proceeds in accordance with the provisions of said act of Congress.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 6, 1865.
CHAPTER XXIII.
AN ACT to provide for the payment of certain counsel fees.
SECTION 1 . Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That in all
•crises where suits have been brought, or may hereafter be brought, against any persons
tluvt have been connected as president, cashier, directors, debtors, or in any way liable to the
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 35
Bank of Tennessee or branches, by attorneys, instructed by the attorney general of the St;ito
to bring said suits, said attorneys shall be paid such compensation for their services us (he
governor, secretary of the State, and the attorney general of the State may deem just ;' the same
to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, upon the certifiriite
said officers certifying the amount to the comptroller.
, SEC. "2. Be it further enacted, That in all cases where the interest of the State requires
Mn the judgment of the governor and attorney general of the State) additional counsel to
*he attorney general of the State or district attorney, the governor shall employ such counsel,
who shall be paid as provided in the first section of this act. This act to take effect from and
after its passage.
WILLIAM HETSKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 7, 1865.
CHAPTER XXIV.
AN ACT for the protection of sheriffs and other civil officers of the State.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the
sheriffs of -the sevl counties in this State are hereby authorized to raise a posse of rnen,
not to exceed twenty -five in number, as a' county patrol, and to aid the sheriff and all other
civil officers of the county in enforcing civil law and order ; and, further, the sheriffs of the
different counties in this State shall, in all cases of emergency, have discretionary power to
summon, in addition to the posse granted by this act, as many more men as will, in his
judgment, be sufficient to either capture or disperse all opposing forces.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the above county guards shall consist of the citizens of
the county, and none shall be eligible to Serve but such as have a good moral character and
unquestionably loyal to the United States and State of Tennessee.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the expense of raising and keeping in said service the
above force shall be paid by the county in which it is raised, and the clerk of said county
shall keep a current account of all such expenses, and report the same to the comptroller of
the State, and that the county court shall have power to disband the same when in their
opinion the causes for which they were raised shall have passed away.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEI^KELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R, RODGERS, *
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 7, 1865.
CHAPTER XXV.
AN ACT " to regulate the stock of the county of Sumner in the Nashville and Louisville
railroad, and for other purposes."
Whereas, under the authority of an act of the general assembly of the State of Tennessee,
the citizens of Sumuer county voted to subscribe $300,000 stock in the Louisville and Nash
ville railroad ; and whereas, by a subsequent act of the legislature, said subscription was
paid by the issuance of the bonds of the county, payable in twenty years, with six per
cent, interest, payable semi-annually in the city of New York, $100,000 of which are dated
the ]st of June, 1854, $100,000 of which are dated 1st of June, 1855, and the remaining
$1(JO,000 the 1st of June, 1856 ; all of which were delivered to the president of the Louisville
and Nashville railroad, and for which the county received a certificate of stock in said railroad
to the amount of $300,000 ; and whereas there has been no provision made for the redemp
tion of the bonds of the county, issued as afoiesaid to pay off the interest that has accrued
since the 1st clay of January, 1861 :
Now, therefore, in order to enable the people of said county to free themselves from sa
indebtedness, t
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the county
judge of Sumner county shall have the power, and it is hereby made his duty, to advertise in
some one of the papers published in the city of Nashville and Louisville, requesting the
holders of the bonds of Sumner county to file in his office their amount, date, and ruimber,
and to open a negotiation with said holders for the payment of said bonds in the stock of said
county' in the Louisville and Nashville railroad, at par ; and in all cases where the holders oi
any of said bonds shall agree to take said stock, or a regular transfer thereof, dollar for
dollar, then the said county judge shall make said exchange, and by power of atto. i « y
acknowledged before the clerk of the county court, or in person, transfer, said stock upon the
36 KECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
books of the company to such holder, or his, her, or their order, and receive in lieu of said
stock such bond or bonds so paid ; and he shall report to the next term of the county court
all of the bonds so taken up. As he shall so receive a bond, he shall write in legible letters
across its face cancelled, with the date and his official signature ; and it shall be his duty, in
the presence of the clerk thereof and such justices of the peace as may be present, to cancel
said bonds, and record shall be made upon the minutes of said court of said cancellation.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That, to meet any interest due on said bonds, the county
judge of Sumrier county is authori/cd and required to ascertain from said company what
is the amount of dividends due the county on said stock ; and after giving three months'
notice to holders of coupons in the papers ai'oresaid, he will pro rata the same among said
holders who shall present the same as notified, and give such parties delivering up their
coupons authority to draw their portion of said dividends, and as coupons shall be thus taken
up, they shall be cancelled in like manner provided for the cancellation of the bonds : Provided,
however, That in case any holder of a bond with interest due thereon from the 1st of January,
1861, shall be willing to exchange his bond and interest for the like amount of stock and
such dividends as may be due, then said county judge shall make said exchange and deliver
the necessary transfers ; all of which shall be reported as aforesaid.
SEC. 3. lie it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate
Passed June 7, 1865.
CHAPTER XXVI.
AN ACT to accept the surrender of the charter of the Bank of Middle Tennessee, and for
other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the sur
render of the charter of the Bank of Middle -Tennessee, at Lebanon, be accepted, and that
the stockholders in said bank have three years to settle or litpiidate the business ; and that
all persons holding the notes of said bank shall present them to said bank for payment within
three years, or afterwards they will be barred ; that said stockholders shall have all the privi
leges conferred by their charter which are necessary to the collecting the debts and liquidating
said bank, and that said bank be exempted from the tax imposed by its charter during the
three years granted by this act.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That no bank in this State shall be employed to act as a
fiscal agent of the State Avhose president and cashier and directors have not been since the
beginning of the rebellion, and are now, unconditional Union men.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That all stock banks in this State shall be allowed to sur
render their charters upon the same terms, "and have the same time allowed them in which to
wind up their business as is allowed by this act to the Bank of Middle Tennessee : Provided,
That each application shall be accompanied by a special exhibit of the bank, showing its
ability to meet all its liabilities.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House, of Representatives,
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed JuneS, 1865.
CHAPTER XXVII.
AN ACT to repeal the law apportioning money to division fairs and county societies!
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That section 284
of article 3, chapter 4, title 3, of the code be, and is hereby, repealed.
SEC;. •>. Be itfurthtr enacted, That section 290 of article 4, chapter 4, title 3, of the code
be, and is hereby, repealed. ,
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That no Vuoney shall he paid out of the treasury for aiiy an
nual appropriation to division fairs and county societies that may be due them, or which they
may claim for any past year or years; and that this act.shall take etfect from and after its
passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Sneaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8 1865
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 37
CHAPTER XXVIII.
AN ACT to supply lost deeds and title papers.
Whereas, under the casualties of war, many of the records belonging to the several offices
•»f the registers of the different counties in the State have been lost and destroyed, and it is
necessary to preserve, as far as possible, the muniments of title to land: Therefore,
Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the present or any sub
sequent owner oi land in this State may, for the purpose of perpetuating the evidence of his
title to his land, carry to any of the registers of the counties in this State where his laud or
lands are situated the original conveyances which may be in his possession, or the possession
of any one else, and have the same recorded by said register in the register's books, together
with the certificate attached to said original conveyances showing that it had been previously
duly registered ; and if the owner of the land should be informed of the existence of any original
conveyance in the possession of any third party who will not voluntarily produce it for regis
tration, then the register, on the application of the owner of the land in writing, may cause a
subpoena duces tecum to issue to compel the holder to produce said deed or conveyance, so that
it'may be registered for the security of the title of the claimant or owner. The register shall
receive the same fees as now fixed by law for similar services, to be paid by the applicant.
And this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of tfte House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
CHAPTER XXIX.
AN ACT to modify the oath prescribed for liquor dealers.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted ly the, general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the oath
prescribed in article 6, section 691, of the code be, and is hereby, so amended as to read as
follows, to wit:
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will not, under the license which I am about to
obtain, knowingly permit or connive at any gaming for money, or any other valuable con
sideration, in the house in which I may retail spirits, or in any other place of which I may
have control, either directly or indirectly; and if any person should game or bet to my
knowledge, (and I will exercise due diligence to know,) I will give information thereof to
the grand jury of my county at the next term of the court: So help me God."
SEC. 2. Beit further enacted, That all persons now holding license under said section (691)
may return the same to the clerk of their respective county courts, and demand in lieu there
of (on payment of the usual clerk's fee for a new license) a license for their unexpired time,
in conformity with this act.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That so much of said section as is in conflict with this act be,
and the same is hereby, repealed.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Passed May 8, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
CHAPTER XXX.
AN ACT to release the citizens from paying the State and county taxes for the years 1862,
1863, and 1864. f
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the people
of the State of Tennessee be, and are hereby, released from the payment of the State tax for
the years 1862, 1863, and 1864 : Provided, That nothing in this act shall be soconstrued as to
refund to the people any taxes already collected for said years.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the county courts of the respective counties in this State
may release the people of their counties from the payment of the county taxes for the years
specified in the first section of this act: Provided, Nothing in this section shall be so construed
as to refund any county taxes already collected.
SBC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate
Passed June 8, 1865.
38 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER XXXI.
AN ACT to amend "An act to reform and regulate banking in Tennessee," passed February
<•>, I860.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the 32d
section of said act he so amended as that the .surrender of charters of banks therein provided
for niiiy be. made to the governor of the State of Tennessee, at any time when the legislature
of said State is not in session, and that such surrender shall be, to all intents and purposes,
as good and valid as if made to the legislature.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the same privileges mentioned in the first section of
this act are conferred upon all stock banks in the State, and each and every bank in the State
is hereby authorized and empowered to make an assignment of the effects of said bank or
banks, t'o any trustee or trustees, receiver or otherwise: Provided, That said assignment is
made so as to give the preference to the bill-holders thereof, over all other creditors of such
biiuk or association: And provided, The assets so transferred and assigned are made secure
in the hands of the trustee, receiver, or agent.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXII. /
AN ACT to declare and make valid certain acts of certain officers of this State.
SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the, State of Tennessee, That all process,
original, inesne or final, issued since the first day of September, 1863, by clerks de facto, act
ing in good faith, of the county, circuit, or chancery courts, Imlden under the true and lawful
government of the State, or under authority of the United States, be, and is hereby declared,
good and valid in law.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That all process issued from said courts, since said period of
time, served or executed by any sheriff, coroner, or constable de facto, and acting in good
faith, be, and is hereby, declared to be legally served and executed in law, and shall be held
good and valid in law : Provided, No execution of any order, judgment or decree, or sale
thereunder, shall be deemed or taken to be good or valid in law, unless said court had juris
diction thereof, and said order, judgment or decree, or sale thereunder, was valid and
binding in law.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the governor of the State be, and is hereby, authorized
to commission all officers elected in the county of Carroll, under the proclamation of Andrew
Johnson, military governor of the State of Tennessee, on the first Saturday in March, 1864,
and that the county and circuit courts of said county take all proper bonds of th said
officers, and qualify them according to law.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
AN ACT to provide for the payment of the governor's staff.
Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the comptroller of the
State shall keep an account with the officers composing th? governor's staff, and shall settle
with them every two months, and shall issue his warrant upon the treasurer for the amount
due them from time to time ; and that this act shall take effect from and after the date of its
passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of tin House of Reprtstnfatvott.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 9, 1865.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 39
CHAPTER XXIV.
AN ACT to apportion the representation in the Congress of the United States.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the coun
ties of -Johnson, Carter, Sullivan, Washington, Hawkins, Hancock, Green, Cocke, Jeffer- ,_
son, Granger, and Sevier shall compose the first congressional district of this State.
The counties of Claiborne, Union, Knox, Campbell, Scott, Morgan, Anderson, Blount,
Monroe, Polk, McMiun, Bradley, and Roane shall compose the second congressional district
of this State.
The counties of Meigs, Rhea, Hamilton, Marion, Grundy, Bledsoe, Van Buren, Sequatchie,
Warren, White, Smith, Cumberland, Putnam, Jackson, Macon, Overton, DeKalb, and Fen-
tress shall compose the third congressional district of this State.
The counties of Rutherford, Cannon, Coffee, Franklin, Lincoln, Bedford, Marshall, and
Giles shall compose the fourth congressional district of this State.
The counties of Williamson, Davidson, Wilson, Sumner, Robertson, and Cheatham shall
compose the fifth congressional district of this State.
The counties of Lawrence, Wayne, Hard in, Decatur, Perry, Lewis, Maury, Hickman,
Humphreys, Dickson, Montgomery, and Stewart shall compose the sixth congressional dis
trict of this State. •
The counties of Benton, Henry, Weakley, Obion, Dyer, Gibson, Lauderdale, Henderson,
and Carroll shall compose the seventh congressional district of this State.
The counties of McNairy, Hardeman, Fayette, Shelby, Tipton, Madison, and Haywood
shall compose the eighth congressional district of this State.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That sections two, three, and four of an act of the general
assembly of this State, passed the '20th day of February, 1852, entitled "An act to appor
tion the representation in the Congress of the United States," be, and the same is hereby,
revived, and the same shall govern and control all persons therein named.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 9, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXV.
AN ACT to secure the funds provided for public education.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the pres
ent funds in coin belonging to the Bank of Tennessee be invested by the governor, secre
tary of State, and comptroller, in United States or Tennessee bonds, and be subject to future
legislative control.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the governor, secretary of state, and comptroller ot
the State be authorized to employ such agencies as they may deem necessary for the pur
pose to investigate into the assets of the Bank of Tennessee, and to ascertain and schedule
the amount and value thereof, and that the sum of ($1,500) fifteen hundred dollars, if so
much be necessary, be, and it is hereby, appropriated, out of the treasury of the State, to
meet the services provided for by this section.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 9, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXVI.
AN ACT to pay the current expenses of this session of the general assembly, and for other
purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the comp
troller of the treasury issue his warrant to each member of the senate and house of repre
sentatives for the sum stated to be due to each in the annexed report of the committee on
finance. .
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller issue his warrant to the officers ot
senate and house of representatives, viz: To E. P. Cone, principal clerk, senate, 71 days,
$426; H. G. Flagg, engrossing clerk, senate, 71 days, $426; G. O. Cate, doorkeeper, srn.-ttt-,
71 days, $284 ; H. W. Barr, messenger, senate, $64 ; James T. Shelley, principal clerk,
40 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
house of representatives, 38 days, $223; E. A. James, principal clerk, house of representa
tives, :>>'•'> days, sl'.H: Joseph P. Galbraith, assistant clerk, house of representative-;, 71 days,
$42(>; G. W. Blackburn, engrossing clerk, house of repreaentatirea, 71 days, $426; A. Hill,
doorkeeper, house of representatives, 71 days, §W4 ; J. L. Martin, assistant doorkeeper,
house of representatives, 71 days, s^S4.
. SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller of the treasury issue his warrants to
the following persons for stationery, &c., &«-.: To John Wallace & Co., ninety-one dollar*-
to Thomas Wells, three hundred and fifty-five dollars and fifty cents; to William T. Berry
& Co., four hundred and fifty-one dollars and sixty -five cents.
Si.c. 4. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller issue his warrant to Samuel R. Rod-
gers, speaker of the senate, for the hem-tit of Abraham Smith, a free man of color, for at
tending to the water-closet during (he session, for the sum of two dollars per day.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted. That the comptroller of the treasury issue his warrant to
Samuel R. Rodgers, speaker of the senate, for two hundred and eighty-four dollars for the
services of David Skaggs, for attending in the senate as porter and messenger, seventy-one
days.
SEC. C. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller of the treasury issue his warrant to
William Heiflkell, speaker of the house of representatives, for the sum of one hundred and
forty-two dollars ; and two hundred and thirteen dollars for the services of Bryce B. Rouls-
ton and Buck Lewis, for attending upon the house of representatives.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the principal clerk of the senate shall remain a suffi
cient time after the adjournment to file the papers of the senate in the office of the secretary
of State, and close his business, for which he shall be allowed his per diem; and that the
said clerk be allowed thirty cents per page for copying the unfinished journal, and that the
comptroller issue his warrant for the same.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That E. A. James, principal clerk of the house of represent
atives, shall remain a sufficient time after the adjournment to file the papers of the house of
representatives in the office of the secretary of State and close his business, for which he
shall be allowed his per diem , and that the said clerk be allowed thirty cents per pao-e for
copying the unfinished journal, and that the comptroller issue his warrant for the same.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted. That the comptroller issue his warrant and pay the several
publishers of the city papers for the papers actually furnished the general assembly and laid
upon the tables of each member every day of the session, at the current subscription price of
the same : Provided, Said payment shall be in accordance with a resolution passed by the
present session of the general assembly regulating the number of papers each member shall
receive at the expense of the State.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller of the treasury issue his warrant to
cover the cost and expenses of sundry articles furnished for the use of the capitol, ordered
by his predecessor.
SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That the secretary of state cause one copy of the acts and
journals of the present general assembly to be bound for each member of both the houses and
the officers of the same, and distribute with the other acts and journals.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller issue his warrant to E. P. Cone, prin
cipal clerk of the senate, and E. A. James, principal clerk of the house of representatives,
for fifty dollars for preparing an index to senate journal, and fifty dollars for preparing an
index to house journal of the present session of the legislature.
Sr.c. 13. Be it further enacted, That the governor and comptroller of the treasury examine
the account! of job printing executed for the general assembly, and pay the same according
to the rate specified by law, out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated"
Sr.r. 14. Be it further enacted, That the sum of one thousand dollars be allowed the treas
urer tor the purpose of procuring necessary office furniture for the preservation of the records
01 his office) and that the comptroller issue his warrant for the same.
SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller of the treasury issue his warrant to
E. A. .James for two hundred and fifty dollars for extra clerk-hire.
Sue. 1C., lie it further enacted, That the comptroller issue his warrant to the treasurer for
the sum of one hundred dollars per annum, as compensation for preserving the furniture of
the senate chamber and the house of representatives.
Sr.c. 17. llr, it further enacted, That the comptroller of the treasury issue his warrant to
William Heiskell, for the use of the family of Samuel M. McCammon, elected as a member
ot the house of lepresentatives, who came to Nashville to take his seat from Kuoxville. but
died without doing so, for eighty-three dollars and fifty cents, for his mileage from Knox-
ville, a distance of live hundred and twenty-two miles.
Si:c. is. lif it. fitrt hr r < uncled, That the comptroller issue his warrant to the Nashville Gas
light Company for any amount due them for gas furnished at the capitol.
Sr.c. IS). Be it further enacted, That the sum of ten thousand dollars be, and the same is
hereby, appropriated for the purpose of purchasing material for the prisoners in the peniten
tiary, so as to enable the keeper and inspectors to put them to work, and for the payment of
the necessary expenses of said penitentiary, and that they report to the general assembly as
to how the money has been expended, and the treasurer pay the amount so appropriated out
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 41
of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated, and that the inspectors receive five
dollars per day tor each and every day when engaged in the performance of their duties.
SEC. 20. Be it further enacted, That the further sum of twenty thousand dollars be, and
the same is hereby, appropriated for the expenses and support of the Tennessee hospital for
the insane for the current year, in addition to the sums received from pay patients of that
institution.
SEC. 21. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller, under the supervision of the gov
ernor of the State, take and state an account of the receipts and disbursements of the super
intendent of the blind school, and on the exhibition of vouchers of a properly authenticated
character, and upon being entirely satisfied that a balance is due said superintendent, the
comptroller issue a warrant upon the treasurer for the same, not, however, to exceed the
sum of eleven hundred dollars.
SEC. 22. Be it further enacted, That the sum of five thousand dollars is hereby appropri
ated for the repairing and putting into operation the deaf and dumb school at -Knoxville, said
appropriation to be under the direction of the governor and the loyal trustees of said institu
tion ; and the comptroller shall issue his warrant upon the treasurer, from time to time, for
such sums as the governor and said trustees may direct.
SEC. 23. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller examine the accounts of Sampson &.
Go., for coal furnishedthe general assembly, and, under the supervision of the governor, issue
his warrants for any amounts due them.
SEC. 24. Be it further enacted, That the secretary of state be, and is hereby, authorized
to employ a porter to the capitol, at the rate of two dollars per day, to hold his office at the
pleasure of the said secretary; that the comptroller issue his warrant to said employe, from
time to time, for the amounts due him, upon the certificate of the secretary of state.
SEC. 25. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller issue his warrant to A. J. Adams for
one hundred and forty dollars, for his services as assistant engrossing clerk, for thirty-five
days, at four dollars per day.
SEC. 26. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller issue his warrant to George O. Cate,
doorkeeper of the senate, for one hundred dollars, for performing the duties of messenger of
the senate.
SEC. 27. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller of the treasury issue his warrant to
Cone & Turmoil, for thirteen hundred and two dollars and forty -six cents, for stationery fur
nished the two houses of this general assembly.
SEC. 28. Be it further enacted, That the secretary of state be, and is hereby, authorized
to furnish the adjutant general and quartermaster's offices with necessary stationery to carry
on the business of said offices; and the comptroller shall issue his warrant, from time to
time, to the treasurer of the State, for the necessary amounts to pay for said stationery.
SEC. 29. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller issue his warrant to Stokely, a colored
man, for services in waiting on the senate, for the sum of seventy-four dollars.
SEC. 30. Be it further enacted, TFiat the comptroller issue his warrant for the sum of six
teen hundred and twenty-three dollars and eight cents, for repairs and other expenses.
SEC. 31. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller issue his warrant to A. J. Fletcher,
secretary of state, for ninety dollars, for clerk hire.
SEC. 32. Be it further enacted, That the board of trustees of the Tennessee hospital for
the insane shall audit and examine the accounts outstanding against said institution,
counted from the J4th day of March, 1862, up to the time W. P. Jones was made and ap
pointed superintendent; and the accounts, when so ascertained, shall, upon the order of the
chairman of the board of trustees, be paid ; and the comptroller shall issue Lis warrant for
the same, to be paid out of any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated.
SKC. 33. Be it further enacted. That section twelve of an act passed January 19, 1838,
entitled "An act to establish a State bank to raise a fund for internal improvements and to
aid in the establishment of a system of common schools," be, and the same is hereby, re
pealed.
SEC. 34. Be it further enacted, That section 2807 of the code is hereby repealed.
SEC. 35. Be it further enacted, That Willis Grantham be allowed the sum of one hundred
and forty-one dollars and sixty cents, being his mileage and per diem, as contestant for a
seat in the house, up to the 12th April, 1865, and that the comptroller issue his warrant, and
the treasurer pay the same.
SEC. 36. Be it further enacted, That the comptroller be ordered to issue his warrant for the
sum of two hundred dollars, for mileage and per diem to the 13th April, 1865, to Samuel
Tigh of Shelby county, while contesting his seat in this body.
42
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
Report of the Committee on Finance, showing the mileage and per diem allow
ance of the members of the Senate and House of Representatives at the first
session of the 34th general assembly, and the aggregate amount of each.
Names of senators and representatives.
No. of
days.
Per
diem.
Miles trav
elled.
Mileage. jTotal am't.
. SENATORS.
Bnfler, R. R
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
$284
2M
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
560
85
100
342
800
700
50
106
1,000
900
£20
120
660
412
424
|80 00
27 20
16 00
54 72
128 00
• 112 00
8 00
16 96
160 00
144 00
99 20
19 20
105 60
65 92
67 24
$373 60
311 20
300 00
338 72
412 00
:;'.»,; i,u
202 00
3IK) %
444 00
428 00
383 20
303 20
389 60
349 92
351 24
FJoHson, William
Bowen, Juliu AY
Gate, A. M
Cypert, Thomas J
Case, Almon
Frazer, Z. W
Frierson, J. B
] hirst, Fielding
Hall, W. K
Keith, G. W
Lasater, Robert E . . .
McKinney, C. J
MvKUvee, Thomas B
Muse, Thomas A
Nun, David A*
Peart, B. R
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
130
570
576
60
' 1,000
20 80
91 20
95 36
9 60
160 00
304 80
375 20
379 36
293 60
444 00
— t .MI
304 16
Randolph, J. H
Senter, D. W C.
Spence, William
Smith, J. W
Trimble, John
Wisener, W.H
126
20 16
Rodovrs, S. R., speaker
Vincent, Myers
620
200
100
88
99 20
32 00
16 00
14 08
99 20
316 00
3<!0 oo
298 08
REPRESENTATIVES.
Anderson, G. W
71
71
71
284
284
284
Arnell, S. M
Barton, William
]J«md, William P* .
Brittle, Gilbert
71
71
71
284
284
284
90
560
126
14 40
87 60
20 16
298 40
373 60
304 16
Co\vnrt, R. 11
Conner, Ed
Crutdifirid, Thomas*
Copeland, W. J
71
71
33
71
71
30
71
71
71
71
71
71
15
71
71
71
71
71
71
71
284
284
132
284
284
120
284
284
284
284
284
284
60
284
284
284
284
284
284
284
390 52 40
336 40
2M CO
22S 00
380 00
348 00
171 20
373 <;D
293 60
3(i3 20
308 00
3ii <;o
379 36
(111 (10
312 80
303 20
355 36
322 40
399 20
298 40
•I'-W QO
Carter, S. J
Dillen, Joseph R
600
600
400
320
560
60
120
150
360
596
96 00
96 00
64 00
51 20
89 60
9 60
r.i -jo
24 00
57 60
95 36
Duggan, Wilson
Donaldson, .1.11
l)o\\<|v, Rufus •
1 >oiio||tv, .James A
Elliott, \Y. Y
Fnson, John A
Faulkner, Asa
Gaut, .Jesse II
Grove, (i. II
Gillem, A. C
Garner, W. A
180
120
446
240
720
90
2f)9
•J- -,.
19 20
71 36
38 40
115 20
14 40
J-; •:•>
Gilmer, .Jeremiah
Gaines, G. W
Ganvtt, A. K
Griffith, Samuel H
Griminrtt, YV. A
Hood, James R..
Did 11 ot take his seat.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
Report of the Committee on Finance — Continued.
43
Names of senators arid representatives.
No. of
days.
Per
diem.
Miles trav
elled.
Mileage.
Total am't.
ITenderson, J. M
71
$284
$418
66 88
$350 88
Herman5! Theodore
71
284
108
17 28
301 28
Hudson, Joseph
Inman, Charles .. -. .. ....
71
17
284
68
50
600
8 00
96 00
292 00
164 00
Jones Turuey
35
140
624
99 84
239 84
Jones, James
71
284
' 672
107 52
3(J1 52
Jcirvis, L. M . . .
71
284
650
104 00
388 00
Fercheval T A
71
284
180
28 00
312 80
Maxwell Thomas
71
284
800
128 80
412 00
McNair, J E
71
284
800
128 00
412 00
INliimis J U
71
284
572
91 52
275 52
Mason, Thomas G
71
284
472
75 52
359 52
Mulloy J. S
71
284
90
14 40
298 40
Mullunix AVilliam
43
172
744
119 04
191 04
Moss, A. W
71
284
36
5 76
289 76
Melton James M
71
284
600
96 00
380 00
Mullins, James
71
284
126
20 16
304 16
Norman, John
71
284
500
80 00
364 00
Nicks A. D
71
284
11 20
295 20
Puckett, I. N
71
284
110
17 60
301 60
Porter John
71
284
800
128 00
412 00
Pearson *
Rogers, Reuben
71
284
606
96 36
380 36
Raulston, R. S
71
284
252
40 32
324 32
Ryder M T
71
284
1 000
160 00
444 00
Richards, P. S
71
284
1 , 000
160 00
444 00
Shultz, J. R
71
284
640
102 40
386 40
Simmons \V
71
284
164
26 24
310 24
Smith, W. J
71
284
1,100
176 00
460 00
Smith, F. A.
71
284
550
88 00
372 00
Steele Abner A
71
284
130
20 80
304 80
Snodderly, A. A
71
284
580
92 80
376 80
Simmerly, E ...... .... ......
71
284
760
121 60
405 60
Stcagald John
71
284
744
159 04
403 04
Scales, William
71
284
300
48 00
:>>:;•,> i,t)
Thornburgh D. G -
71
284
572
91 52
:;7:> :,-.»
Tic'hc Samuel
40
i, ooo
160 00
200 00
Thomas, J. F
71
284
140
22 40
306 40
Thomas, Dorsey 13.
71
284
134
21 44
305 44
Underwood C
71
284
500
80 00
364 00
Williams, Pleas
71
284
774
123 84
407 84
AY ill is, W. W
71
284
660
105 60
389 60
AViunier Joseph
71
284
822
131 52
415 52
Waters, Wallace
71
284
1,196
191 36
475 36
Warren, S. L
71
284
240
38 40
322 40
"Waters \Viison L
71
284
90
14 40
298 40
AViues, William
71
284
130
20 80
304 80
Woodcock, W. M
71
284
150
24 00
308 00
Wright William
71
284
52
8 32
292 32
"Woods James
Walker, John P
71
284
370
59 20
343 20
Woods, W. W
Did not take his seat.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Passed June 10,1865.
Speaker of the< House of Rrprcsetitutint.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
44 RECONSTRUCTION— TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER XXXVII.
AN ACT to change the eleventh, twelfth, and fourteenth judicial circuits of this State, and
for other purposes.
SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the, general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the counties of
AVaviie, Hickmau, Perry, Decatur, Henderson, McNairy, and Hardin shall compose the
twelfth judicial circuits; that the counties of Lawrence, Giles, Maury, Lewis, and Marshall
shall compose the eleventh judicial circuit; arid that the circuit courts in the county of Law
rence shall hereafterbe held on the fourth Mondays in February, June, and October, and
that the counties of J lay wood, and Madison shall be attached to the fifteenth circuit; and
the fourteenth judicial circuit is hereby abolished. \
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That hereafter the circuit courts for the twelfth circuit shall
be holden as follows: In Henderson county, first Mondays in March, June, and September;
McNairy, second Mondays in March, June, and September; Hardiu, third Mondays in
March, June, and September; Wayne, fourth Mondays in March, June, and September;
Hickmsn, fourth Mondays in April, July, and October; Decatur, first Mondays in May,
August, and November.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from the date of its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. ROGERS,
• Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 10, 1865.
' Private acts.
CHAPTER I.
AN ACT for the benefit of J. G. Frazier, clerk of the supreme court for the middle district
of Tennessee.
Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the treasurer of the
State of Tennessee pay to J. G. Frazier the sum of two hundred dollars, out of any money in
the treasury not otherwise appropriated. This act to take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 1, 1865.
CHAPTER IL
AN ACT to incorporate the East Tennessee Iron, Coal, and Petroleum Company.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That John Cald
well, John Baxter, W. R. Patterson, L. S. Trowbridge, and R. H. Armstrong, and their
associates, successors, and assigns, be, and they are hereby, constituted a body politic and
cm porn h«, by the name and style of the East Tennessee Iron, Coa), and Petroleum Company,
and by that name shall have succession for ninety-nine years, and shall be competent to sue
and be sued in any court of equity or law whatever: to have and use a common seal, and M
alter the same at pleasure: to establish and change any by-laws for the government of said
company ; to purchase, hold, and dispose of such real estate, leases, mines, minerals, iron,
coal oil, and personal property, as may be necessary for the legitimate transaction of their
business; to mine, forge, roll, smelt, work, manufacture, refine and vend said minerals, coal,
iron, oil, and products thereof, and issue such numbers of shares of the stock of said com
pany, at the representative par value thereof, as may be ordered by a vote of said company,
to determine the par value of shares, and have the right to pay in shares of stock of the cor
poration for such mining interest or interests in all real estate, as may be necessary to pur
chase or lease for the operation of the works of the company; and generally to have, enjoy,
and exercise all rights and privileges incident to corporations, except the right to issue notes
or engage in banking.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That whenever said company shall become possessed or
mines or minerals, lands or leases, iron, coal or petroleum, or leases, situated in this State, or
elsewhere, a separate and distinct interest of each mine, bed, field, vein, or deposit, or lease,
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 45
may be created under some name to distinguish the same, and in like manner may organize
under and enjoy, as a distinct branch interest, all the rights and privileges named in the first
section of this act.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of flcpresentiit ives.
• SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 12, 3865.
CHAPTER III.
AN ACT to incorporate the Raulstou Oil and Salt Company.
SECTION 1. Beit enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Hugh L. W.
Raulston, George F. Smith, D. H. Throup, J. M Judson, Samuel Canby, D. T. Cockrill
S. H. Judson, Charles 13. Ingles, and R. S.JJaulston, and their associates, successors and
assigns, be, and they are hereby, constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name and
style of the "Raulston Coal, Iron, Oil and Salt Company," and by that name and style
shall have succession, with power to contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued in
that name in all courts and places ; to have a common seal; to engage in mining and boring
for petroleum or rock oil, salt water, and other valuable minerals ; and with manufacturing,
refining, and selling oil, salt, and other products of said business, and of the lands owned,
or which may hereafter be owned by them, in this State; to hold their meetings, and trans
port and self their oil, salt, and other products, within or without the State, and to have all
other powers needful and proper for the successful prosecution of the business, and for the
execution of the power herein granted.
SEC. 2. Beit further enacted, That said corporation may organize said company by the •
appointment of a president, and such other officers and managers as they may deem neces
sary, at such times and places as they may designate by notice previously given, and when
thus organized, the said company shall have power to mak^e such by-laws, rules and regula
tions as they may deem necessary from time to time for the government and prosecution of
the business of said corporation, not inconsistent with (he Constitution and laws of the
United States and of this State.
SKC. o. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be two hun
dred and fifty thousand dollars, and that said company shall have power to increase the same,
from time to time, not exceeding one million dollars.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, Tha't said company may buy, lease, or rent, any suitable
lands, mines, oil, or salt rights and privileges, rights of way, and other property necessary
for tbeir business, and may dispose of the same, or any portion of it, by sale or otherwise.
They may receive real estate, households, mining, and boring rights, and rights of way, in
payment of such part of subscription as they may deem advisable. Said company may erect
and build on any of the lands such buildings, engines, machinery, and fixtures, as may be
deemed convenient and proper for carrying on arid conducting the business of said corpora
tion.
SEC. 5. jBe it further enacted, That this charter shall expire or cease at the expiration of
ninety-nine years after its passage, and the right to repeal, alter, or amend this charter, is
reserved to the general assembly.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That this corporation shall be subject to such taxes as may
be imposed upon similar corporations in this State.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted. That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representative*,
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 25, 1865.
CHAPTER IV.
AN ACT to develop the various oil and mineral interests of the State of Tennessee, and
for other purposes.
SEC. 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennescc, That D. C. Trewhitt,
James R. Hood, Thomas W. Yarley, P. M. Ferringtou, John A. Spooner, A. A. Pearson,
Edward S. Jones, William E. Merrill, George D. Emerson, and Freeniorton^Young, who
now constitute a voluntary association under the name and style of "The East Tennes
see Petroleum Company," and their successors, be, and are hereby, incorporated a body
politic, under the name and style of "The East Tennessee Petroleum Company," under and
46 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
by which name said body politic shall transact its business, and by which name said corpo
ration shall be known, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and shall have a common
seal.
SEC. 2. Beit further enacted, That said corporation, as such, is hereby freely authorized
and empowered to acquire by lease or purchase any and all such lands and mineral interests
for the purpose of raising, producing, and manufacturing' petroleum, coal, iron, salt, silver,
copper, and any and every other valuable mineral within the State of Tennessee and such
other places as said company may deeui to their interest: and do and perform any and all
such other acts and things as may be necessary and expedient to prosecute successfully the
business of said corporation.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That said company shall also have power, for the government
of said company and its business, to elect one president and such other officers as said com
pany may desire and deem expedient, and prescribe their qualification and term of office.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the principal office of said company shall be at Chatta
nooga, with power vested in the company to establish such branches at "such other places as
they may direct, and also to change the principal office of the company at such time and to
such other place as the directors or th« company may desire.
St:c. 5. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be one million
dollars, divided into one hundred thousand shares of ten dollars each. This company shall
have and is hereby invested with power to make such by-laws, rules, and regulations, con
sistent with the charter, as they may see proper for the government and control of the com
pany. The company has power to reopen books for subscription and sale of stock, and
other purposes, at such times, places, and manner as the directors may direct, and may make
such sales and transfers of stock as the directors of the company may direct.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That this company shall have power to increase the capital
stock of the company to any amount, and at any time the company may desire to do so, to
the extent of five million dollars.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That this corporation franchise and privilege shall continue,
be, and exist for the period of ninety-nine years to the persons above named as incorporated
and their successors. •
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That the property and effects and vested rights of the several
parties herein incorporated as they exist under said voluntary association are hereby trans
ferred to and secured to this corporation.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That the stockholders are, jointly and severally, individually
liable, at all times, for all moneys due and owing to their laborers, employes, and appren
tices, for services performed for such corporation.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That this corporation shall be subject to such taxes as may
be imposed on similar corporations.
SEC. 11. This act to take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Erprtsentat ires.
SAMUEL II. RQDGEB8,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 30, 1865.
CHAPTER V.
AN ACT to incorporate the Bridgeman Oil and Salt Company.
SECTION 1 . Be it enacted by the. general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Benjamin F.
Bridgem&n, David Clege. and their associates, successors and assigns, be, and they are
hereby, constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of " Bridgeman Coal
Oil and Salt Company," and by that name and style shall have succession for ninety-nine
y< ftra, \vith power to contract and be contracted with ; sue and be sued in that name in all
(.•units and places ; to have a common seal ; to eno-age in mining and boring for petroleum or
rock oil, salt water, and other valuable minerals, and in the manufacturing, refining, pre-
paiing fur market, transporting and selling oil and salt, and other products of said biu
niid of the lands now owned or which may hereafter be owned by them in this State ; to hold
their meetings and transport and sell their oil, salt and other products within or without the
State ; and to have all other powers needful and proper for the successful prosecution of their
business and for the execution of the powers Jieiein granted.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That said corporation may organize said company by the ap
pointment of a President and such other officers and managers as they may deem necessary
at such time and place as they may designate by notice previously given ; and when ilia's
orpmi/ed, the said company shall have power to make such by-laws, rules, and regulations
as thev may deem necessary from time to time for the government and prosecution of the
business oi said corporation, not inconsistent with the Constitution and laws of the United
States and of this State.
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 47
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, and said company shall have power to increase the same from time
to time, uot exceeding one million of dollars.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said company may buy, lease, or rent any suitable
lands, mines, oil and salt rights and privileges, rights of way, and other property necessary
for their business, and may dispose of the same, or any portion of it, by sale or otherwise.
They may receive real estate, leaseholds, mining and boring rights, and rights of way, in pay
ment of such part of subscriptions as they may deem advisable. Said company may erect
and build on any of their lands such buildings, engines, machinery, and fixtures as may be
deemed convenient and proper for carrying on and conducting the business of said corporation.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That this charter shall expire at the expiration of ninety-nine
years from its passage, and that the right to repeal, alter, or amend this charter is reserved to
the general assembly.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
£ SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed May 30, 1865.
CHAPTER VI.
AN ACT to charter the Tennessee Express Company.
SEC. 1 . Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That A. Blizard, M. L.
Phillips, G. W. Ross and their associates, are hereby incorporated as a body politic and in
corporate, under the name and style of the "Tennessee Express Company," for the pur
pose of carrying and shipping goods, wares, and merchandise, letters and private matter,
money, or anything else which may be desired of said company to carry, ship, or transport
on any railroad or railroads in the State of Tennessee or elseAvhere.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be ten thousand
dollars, more or less, as may be necessary to carry out the object of said company, and one
hundred dollars shall constitute one share of stock in said company ; and so soon as said
sum of ten thousand dollars shall have been subscribed, the company may meet at such time
and place as they may deem proper, for the purpose of electing a president, secretary, and
treasurer, who shall forever thereafter hold their offices for one year and until their successors
are elected and qualified ; and by that name shall be capable in law and equity of purchasing,
holding, selling, leasing, and conveying estate, real, persona,!, and mixed, so far as the same
may be necessary for the purposes of said corporation to carry on and conduct the business
of said company to the advantage of the stockholders ; and by "that name may sue and be
sued and plead and be impleaded, and shall exercise all the powers, rights, privileges, and
immunities which other corporate bodies may lawfully do for the purposes mentioned in this
act.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the officers mentioned in the second section of this act
shall be elected by the stockholders of the company, and each stockholder shall be entitled
to cast one vote in person or by proxy for each share of stock owned by him ; and the presi
dent, secretary, and treasurer shall be stockholders of said company ; and the company shall
have power to make such by-laws and rules as they may deem proper for the government of
the company and the business thereof, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of this
State or of the United States, and shall also have power to use a common seal, aud»to alter
or change the same at pleasure.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said company to keep all such
books as may be necessary for the transaction of its business ; and all transfers of stock by
any stockholder shall be made upon the books of said company, for the inspection of 'all the
stockholders, and a majority of all the stockholders, including the president, at any meeting,
shall be 'competent to act and transact the business of the company.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That said company shall be deemed and held liable for any
loss or damage caused by the negligence, carlessuess, or wilful misconduct of the same, or
any of its officers, agents, or employes, to be recovered by any person aggrieved thereby.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said company to carry and con
vey all goods, wares, «aud merchandise and packages received by them for shipment, in the
turn in which the same was received by them, and in default thereof, and loss or damage is
sustained by the owner of the same, said company shall be held liable for such injury : Pro
vided, Such delay or irregular shipment was not caused by the request of the owner of said
goods or packages or his agent. And said company or agents shall receipt the owner for all
goods or packages whatever when received.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to give
banking privileges to said company.
48 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
SEC. 8. Be itfurther enacted, That the right to alter, change, or repeal this act is hereby
reserved to any subsequent legislature.
SEC. 9. lie it further enacted, That this act take effect from and -after its passage.
WILLIAM IIEISKELL,
Speaker of tfie House of Representatives.
. SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 3, 1865.
CHAPTER VII.
AN ACT to incorporate the Memphis Ladies' Institute, of Memphis, Tennessee.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That J. D.
Williams, Mrs. F. P. McGehee, and Mrs. M. P. Southworth be, and they are hereby,
constituted a body corporate and politic, under the name and style of "The Memphis
Ladies' Institute, of Memphis, Tennessee," and shall have succWsion for a period of ninety-
nine vears, unless said corporation is sooner dissolved'; and shall have all the powers and in-
subject to all the obligations and restrictions incident to private corporations, as provided in
article 4, chapter 2, and title 9, of the code of laws of the State of Tennessee.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That said corporation is hereby .authorized to confer such
literary honors and degrees as are usually conferred by the colleges and universities of the
United States, and in testimony thereof to grant diplomas under the seal of said corporation :
I'rnridcd, This power and authority shall be under legislative control.
SEC. :^. Be. it further enacted, That in said institution, and in all literary societies con
nected therewith, the Bible shall be the standard of morals, and no officer or teacher shall
use his or her influence for sectarian or party ends or purposes.
SEC. 4. Be itfurther enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM IIEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 18C5.
CHAPTER VIII.
AN ACT to incorporate the Tennessee Colonial Company, for the purpose of promoting
emigration, to establish vineyards, develop the mineral and other resources of the State
of Tennessee.
SECTION ] . Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That George M.
Mow bray, of Titusville, Pennsylvania; George Wade, of the city of New York; Henry
Wise, of New Jersey; A. B. Shanklin, and Dr. Hudson of the city of Nashville, Tennessee,
and their associates and successors, be, and they are hereby, created a body politic and cor
porate, by the name and style of the "Tennessee Colonial, Agricultural, Mining, and Man
ufacturing Company ;" and by that name shall have succession for ninety-nine years, sue
and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and generally to do every act and thing necessary and
proper to carry out the provisions of this act, and promote the objects and designs of this
corporation,
!<i:r. 2. Be itfurther enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be two hundred
thousand dollars, with the privilege of increasing the same to five hundred thousand dollars,
to be divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and the persons above named shall open books
tor the subscription of stock, and when fifty thousand dollars shall have been subscribed the
stockholders may meet and elect five directors, and said directors shall elect one of their
number president, and also a secretary.
Sr.c. a. Be it further enacted, That the officers of said company shall be managed by a
board of directors, consisting of not less than five stockholders, and such agents and officers
as they may appoint. The president and secretary shall be elected annually by the directors,
and laws of the State of Tennessee.
SEC. 4. J{< it Jnrtlur niact.d, That the s>iid company shall have full power to purchase,
hold, and dispose of real estate, lease lands, and do all that is necessary for the welfare and
promotion ot the Tennessee Colonial, Agricultural, Mining, and Manufacturing Company,
viz: That said company may raise vineyards and do a general mining, boring, and man
ufacturing business on lauds owned and leased by said company, to mine, bore, forge, roll,
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 49
smelt, manufacture, transport, and vend in wines, minerals, coal, iron, salt, oil, &c. The
land to be held by the company shall form a common stock, and shall be divided into
shares of fifty dollars each, and apportioned by the said company among the owners and
subscribers of said stock according to their respective interests.
SEC. 5. B! it further enacted, That the officers and stockholders of said company and
those emigrating on their lands shall enjoy all the rights, privileges, and protection guaran
teed by the State of Tennessee under the Constitution of the United States.
WILLIAM J1KISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 18G5.
CHAPTER IX.
AN ACT to incorporate the Cairo and New Orleans Pilots' Benevolent Association.
Whereas a number of steamboat pilots, engaged in the navigation of the Mississippi
river, have formed an association for the laudable purpose of increasing the skill and inform
ation, improving the character and habits, and promoting the interests of all those pilots
intrusted with the control and safety of steamers and other vessels ; and
Whereas the immense and increasing commerce and navigation of the said river demands
that suitable legislative encouragement should be given by this general assembly to intelli
gent and judicious efforts to lessen the dangers of the transportation of persons and property
upon the said river ; and
Whereas the intrusting of the vessels used in said navigation only to the care of sober,
attentive, skilful, and experienced pilots, who have had a regular and thorough training
in the business, would greatly tend to enhance the security of life and property constantly
at risk on the steamboats and other vessels plying upon the western rivers : Therefore, in
order to further the objects and encourage the efforts of an institution so useful and praise
worthy as the above-named association, and to give efficiency, perpetuity, and dignity to the
same —
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Harrison
Blasdel, J. W. Pittman, James D. Perry, Green S. Snow, F. B. Montany, James W.
Sayers, William Huston, W. C. Page, Garrison Wasson, James C. Rhoads, W. A. Wilds,
W. A. Ffale, and their associates and successors, are hereby created a body corporate and
politic, by the name and style of the "Cairo and New Orleans Pilots' Benevolent Associa
tion ;" and by that name shall have succession for a period of twenty years, and shall be
capable of sueing and being sued, both at law and in equity, in all courts and places what
soever; and that they and their successors may have a common seal, and may alter, change,
or destroy the same at will ; and shall also be capable of acquiring, holding, conveying,
and pledging property, real, personal, and mixed, as may be required for the purpose of the
association.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That said corporation shall have power to make a consti
tution and by-laws, and to alter, change, or annul the same at pleasure, in whole or in part :
Provided, That nothing therein contained shall be repugnant to the constitution and laws
of this State or of the United States.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That said corporation shall have power to erect a hall and
buildings suitable for its uses ; to purchase, own, and enjoy a good library, philosophical,
chemical, and other apparatus, and such things as may be calculated to advance the objects
contemplated by this charter, which shall be exempt from taxation ; to procure the delivery
of lectures; to found and maintain a school; to grant diplomas, and to withdraw and annul
the same; to impose fines upon its members for the breach of any of the provisions of the
constitution or by-laws of this association ; to levy contributions upon members ; to create
a fund to be applied to the relief of indigent or distressed members, or their families, and to
the other objects named in this section ; to censure, suspend, fine, or expel a member, for
any good cause, calculated to bring discredit upon said association ; and generally to do all
such other good things as may be necessary to carry out the objects of this association.
WILLIAM HE1SKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 1865.
4 T
50 RECONSTRUCTION - TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER X.
AX ACT incorporating the Great Southwestern Oil and Mining Company.
SECTION 1 . Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That James
W. Milroy, William Glenny, Shela Waters, James G. Pratt, Benjamin Gonzales, and their
associates, successors, and assigns, be, and they are hereby, constituted a body politic and
corporate, by the name and style of the "Great Southwestern Oil and Mining Company,"
and by that name and style shall have succession for ninety-nine years, and shall be compe
tent to sue and be sued in any court of law or equity whatever ; to have and use a seal, and
alter the same at will: to make and change any by-laws necessary for the government of the
company ; to purchase, hold, and dispose of such real estate, leases, mines, minerals, iron,
coal, oil, and personal property as may be necessary for the legitimate transaction of their
business ; to mine, forge, roll, smelt, work, manufacture, refine, and sell said minerals, coal,
iron, oil, or other products thereof, in or out of this State, and issue such number of shares
of stock of said company at the representative par value thereof, as may be ordered by a vote
of said company ; to determine the par value of shares, and have the right to pay in shares
of stock of the corporation for such mining interests in real estate or machinery for manufac
turing as may be necessary to purchase or lease for the successful management of the business
of said company ; and generally to have, enjoy, and exercise all rights and privileges inci
dent to corporations, except the right to issue notes or engage in banking.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That whenever said company shall become possessed of
mines, minerals, lands, or leases, situated in this State or elsewhere, a separate and distinct
interest of each mine, lead, field, lien, deposit, or lease, may be created under such name as
may be adopted, to distinguish the same, and in like manner may organize under, and enjoy as
a distinct branch interest, all the rights and privileges named in the first section of this act.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its paoMge.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL E. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 1865.
CHAPTER XL
AN ACT to change a railroad fund into a county fund, for Blount county.
Whereas an act was passed by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, on the
27th of January, 1854, to authorize the county court of Blount county, through their chair
man, to subscribe stock to the Kuoxville and Charleston Railroad Company, and levy a tax
on said county to pay the same on certain conditions ; and
Whereas the county court of said county, in good faith, did subscribe said stock, and
levy said tax, and proceed to collect the same, to the amount of eight or ten thousand dollars,
in the years 1855, 1856, 1857, and 1858, and the same was cpllected and paid over to the
countfy treasurer, as provided by said act ; and
Whereas the railroad company failed to cany out the provisions of said act, as specified
therein, the courts of said county did then proceed to loan said fund, which was done, taking
notes with approved security ; and
Whereas said fund is still lying in said condition, and likely to be lost, or a portion ot it :
Therefore —
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the Kind
as set forth in the foregoing preamble, collected under the act as set forth, may be changed
from the railroad fund into a county fund, for the use and benefit of Blount county, and to be
under the control and management of the county court of Blount county as a general county
fund.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of the county court of Blount county,
at the first quarterly term after the passage of this act— and a certified copy of the same being
present— to appoint or elect a suitable person to collect said fund, in the name of the chair
bor
man of said county court, according to the face of the notes, as executed by the parties
wing said fund, which notes are now in the hands of the trustee of said county.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said county court to require suc
row
h
person so appointed or elected to give bond and approved security for his faithful perform
ance in the collection and paying over said fund into the county treasury, as other county
!SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the county court of said county allow said collector a
reasonable allowance for his services, not to exceed six per cent, on the amount collected.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That it shall be the duty of said court to require the trustee
of said county to give bond and approved security for the faithful keeping and paying over
said fund, according to the order of said court.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 51
SEC. G. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be construed so as to interfere
with the original act passed on the 27th day of January, 1854. This act is only intended to
change that part of the fund collected under the said act and paid into the treasury of Blount
county in the years of 1855-'6-'7-'8, and no further.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Kepre.scntatitcs.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 18G5.
CHAPTER XII.
AN ACT to incorporate the Tennessee Fire and Marine Insurance Company.
SECTION]. Beit enacted ly the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That B. W.
Sharp, Rual Hough, James E. Murryman, John W. Lefhvick, Calvin Kelsey, L. Helman,
and Frank Taff, of the city of Memphis, together with those who may hereafter become
stockholders, as hereinafter provided for, arc hereby created a corporation and body politic,
by the name and style of the president and directors of the " Tennessee Fire and Marine
Insiirance Company," and shall continue from the first day of May, 1865 ; and by that name
are hereby made capable and able at law to have, purchase, receive, possess, and enjoy, re
tain, and control, to them and their successors, lands, tenements, rents, goods, chattels, and
effects, to an amount not exceeding two hundred thousand dollars, and the same to sell, con
vey, and dispose of; to sue and be sued, to plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered,
defend and be defended, in all courts and places in this State or elsewhere ; may make and
use a common seal, and the same to break, alter, or_ renew at will ; to ordain, establish, and put
into execution such by-laws, ordinances, and regulations as shall be deemed necessary and
convenient for the government of said corporation, not contrary to the laws of this State, and
generally to do all acts and things that a corporation may lawfully do.
SEC. 2. That the persons named in the first section of this act, or a majority of them,
shall open books of subscription for the stock in said company, which stock shall consist of
two thousand shares of one hundred dollars each, payable in the lawful currency of the
United States, and at the time of subscribing they shall have the right to demand and receive
twenty dollars on each share subscribed for, and have secured the residue to the satisfaction
of the corporation, payable in six and twelve months, which obligations may be renewed
from time to time, either in whole or in part, or for such portion thereof as the president and
directors of the company shall determine ; and it shall be the duty of the president and
directors to give at least thirty days' notice of .any call which they may make for the pay
ment of the capital stock so subscribed ; and if any stockholder shall fail to meet said call,
or to secure the payment of the remainder as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the president
and directors to sell such delinquent's shares, and transfer the same to the purchaser, or
declare the same forfeited to the company, together with all previous payments thereon.
No transfer of stock shall be deemed valid arid complete so long as the person transferring
the same shall be indebted to the said company, until the amount tor which he is indebted
to the said company is secured to the satisfaction of the president and directors thereof, and
the stock of every stockholder shall be held as collateral security for the payment of
whatever sum he may be indebted by notes or otherwise to said company.
SEC. 3. That the share or stockholders shall meet at the place of opening the books for the
subscription of stock in said company on the first day of August, 18G5, and at the office of
the company on the first Monday of August in each succeeding year thereafter, and elect a
president, vice-president, and seven directors, who shall continue in office until the first
Monday in August of each ensuing year, and until their successors shall have been elected,
of which said election previous notice shall be given in a newspaper printed in the city of
Memphis for at least two weeks previous to said election. Any vacancy that may occur in
the board of directors shall be filled by the president and directors until the next annual
election. No person shall be a director who is not the owner of at least ten shares of the
capital stock.
SEC. 4. That in all elections by the stockholders each share to the number of five shall be
entitled to one vote, and every ten shares in addition shall entitle the holder to one addi
tional vote ; that no person who is not a resident of the State of Tennessee shall have the
right to vote at any election for president and directors unless he shall have been the holder
or owner of stock at least six months previous to such election by a regular transfer upon
the books of the company ; but shares may be voted upon by the executors or adminis
trators of a deceased owner and by proxy.
SEC. 5. That the president and directors for the time being may and shall have power to
appoint such officers and agents under them at such places as shall be necessary for
executing the business of said company, and to allow such compensation therefor as may be
agreed upon, and to require and take bond and security for the faithful performance and
52 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
discharge of their respective duties and trust ; and the said president and directors shall
have power to make by-laws and ordinances to govern the corporation, and may repeal,
alter, and amend the same. The president and three directors shall constitute a quorum to
do business, or five directors in the absence oi the president, one of whom shall be vice-
president, may do and nerfonn all such acts as might be done and performed by the presi
dent and the quorum aforesaid.
SEC. 6. That the president and directors for the time being shall have power and
authority in the name of the company to make insurance at such rate of insurance premium
or interest as may be agreed upon by the parties, npon buildings, machinery, manufac
turing establishments, goods, wares, and merchandise ot every description, of all classes and
qualities of property transported by land or water in the United States ; also to make
insurance on steamboats and other water-craft used for transportation of gopds, wares, and
merchandise therein contained and to be transported or shipped, and to make all such
proper contracts for the insurance of other valuable property as may be embraced within the
name of personal property, and all such contracts shall be in writing or printed, and shall
be made by the authority of the company, by and through their proper and legally
constituted officers and agents appointed for that purpose.
SKC. 7. It shall be the duty of the president and directors on the first Monday of August
and March in each year to make a dividend of so much of the profits of said corporation as
to them or a majority of them shall Appear advisable ; and in any case of loss or losses, whereby
the capital stock of the corporation shall be impaired or lessened, no subsequent dividend
shall be made until a sum equal to such diminution, arising from the profits of said corpora
tion, shall have been added to the capital stock of said corporation.
SEC. 8. Said corporation shall not commence business to the making or issuing of any
policies of insurance until two hundred shares are subscribed and paid for, or secured to be
paid, as provided for in the second section.
SEC. 9. That whenever said company shall be notified of any loss sustained which may
be covered by any policy of insurance granted or issued by the same, it shall be the duty of
said corporation to pay the amount so lost or insured in such policy within sixty days after
being so notified : Provided, There shall have been no violation of the condition of the
policy on the part of the insured.
SEC. 10. Said corporation shall be subject to such tax as may be imposed on similar cor
porations.
SEC. 11. Be it enacted, That John Wilson, Anson Nelson, John Lumsden, and David C.
Love, and their associates, shall be and are hereby declared a body politic and corporate by
the name and style of the State Insurance Company of Nashville, and by that name shall be
intrusted with all the powers, rights, privileges, and emoluments conferred upon the Ten
nessee Marino and Fire Insurance Company of Memphis.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Represcntaticcs.
SAMUEL R. RODGJ
GERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 5, 1S65.
CHAPTER XIII.
AN ACT to incorporate a literary society of Nashville, known as the "Agnomen Club."
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a society
of young men of the city of Nashville, organized in March, 1865, and known as the "Agno
men Club," having for its object the general promotion of the arts, literature, science, and
the amateur drama, as well as the moral improvement of its members, be incorporated under
the name of the "Agnomen Club."
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That said club shall make such rules and by-laws for the
regulation of its business and the conduct of its members as it may see fit, not conflicting
with the laws of the State or the city of Nashville.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That said club shall be empowered to give such amateur
dramatic entertainments, open to the public at such times and places as may be designated
by its members, not inconsistent with the laws of the State or city of Nashville.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to give to
the club so incorporated the privilege of public exhibition for money, unless they shall first
pay the tax, as now provided by law, for exhibitions of a similar character.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June C, 18G5.
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER XIV
AN ACT to authorize and instruct the comptroller of he treasury to audit, and tho treasurer
to pay, the salary due the lion. Samuel D. Frierson, chancellor.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the comp
troller of the treasury shall audit, and the treasurer of the State shall pay, the quarterly
salary due on the 4th March, 1862, and on the 4th day of June, 1862, to the Hon. Samuel
D. Frierson, chancellor of the fourth chancery division of the State, because of the same
never having been paid, and because of his well-established loyalty to the government of the
United States and to the State of Tennessee.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatitcs.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 6, 1865.
CHAPTER XV.
AN ACT to amend an act passed on the 26th of February, 1858, entitled "An act to charter
the Cleveland and Ducktown railroad."
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the charter
granted to the Cleveland and Ducktown Railroad Company, by an act of the legislature of
the State of Tennessee, passed on the 26th day of February, 1858, be so amended that the
following named persons be appointed commissioners of said company, instead of those per
sons therein mentioned, to wit : Thomas H. Galloway, William M. Biggs, Samuel Parks,
N. L. Foute, James Gamble, W. H. Craigmiles, John F. Hayes, Julius E. Raht, Simeon
E. Browder, William P. Copeland, Pleasant M. Craigmiles, D. C. McMillen, John B. Cate,
Ake. Henry, Y. J. Esterbrook, A. P. McClay, L. McLeod, and G. Greer, and they are
hereby constituted and appointed a board of commissioners, seven of whom shall be au
thorized and competent to act and transact business, and said commissioners and company
are clothed with the same rights, powers and privileges, and immunities, which are granted
in said charter, of which this is an amendment, and said commissioners shall appoint a time
for the stockholders to meet, at such place as they may designate, for the purpose of electing
a president and ten directors to manage the affairs of said company.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of jhe House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 6, 1865.
CHAPTER XVI.
An act to incorporate the Nashvil.e Barbers' Association.
Whereas the barbers of Nashville have formed an association for the aid of its members
in case of sickness, and for the improvement of its members in virtue and knowledge :
Therefore —
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Frank
Parrish, Nelson Walker, D. S. Lapsley, E. Woods, and their associates, be, and are hereby,
incorporated under the name of "The Nashville Barbers' Association," for the benevolent
purposes aforesaid, and have a seal, right to sue and be sued, and such powers as may be
necessary and proper to carry into effect the end for which this charter is granted, for the
term of ten years, subject to amendment or repeal by any future legislature.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 6, 1865.
54 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER XVJI.
AN ACT to incorporate the Tennessee Oil, Mining, and Manufacturing Company, and for
other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That John D.
Thomas, Joseph S. Fowler, Wilson L. Waters, William L. White, and their associates, suc
cessors, and assigns, be, and they are hereby, constituted a body politic and corporate, by
the name and style of the " Tennessee Oil, Mining, and Manufacturing Company," and by
that name and style shall have succession for ninety-nine years, and shall be competent to
sue and be sued 'in any court of law or equity whatever; to have and use a seal, and alter
the same at will ; to make and change any by-laws for the government of the company ;
to purchase, hold, and dispose of such real estate, lease, mines, minerals, iron, coal, oil, and
personal property, as may be necessary for the legitimate transaction of their business;
to mine, forge, roll, smelt, work, manufacture, refine, and sell said minerals, coal, iron, oil,
or other products thereof, in or out of the State, and issue such number of shares of the
stock of said company, at the representative par value thereof, as may be ordered by a vote
of said company ; to determine the par value of shares, and have the right to pay in shares
of stock of the corporation for such mining interest in real estate or machinery lor manufac
turing purposes as may be necessary ; to purchase or lease for the successful operation of
business engaged in ; and generally to have, enjoy, and exercise all rights and privileges
incident to corporations, except the right to issue notes or engage in banking.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That whenever said company shall become possessed of
mines, minerals, lauds, or leases, situated in this State or elsewhere, a separate and distinct
interest of each mine, lead, field, lien, deposit, or lease, may be created under such name as
may bo adopted to distinguish the same, and in like manner may organize under, and enjoy
as a distinct branch interest, all the rights and privileges named in the first section of this
act.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That Alexander J. Mackay, Jonathan D. Hall, and John G.
Parkhurst, and their associates, successors, and assigns, be, and they are hereby, constituted
a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of the "Eagle Oil, Mining, and Manu
facturing Company," with all the rights and privileges granted by the provisions of this act
to the "Tennessee Oil, Mining, and Manufacturing Company."
^SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That John P. Cook, Philo Wilson, William B. Wilson, Ed
win A. Howard, and Ed. S. Wheat, and their associates, successors, and assigns, be, and
Company.'
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 6, 18G5.
CHAPTER XVIII.
AN ACT to incorporate the Memphis City Railroad Company.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That William
R. Moore, J. M. Hill, S. B. Beaumont, R. Hough, William M. Farrington, Frank Taft, G.
P. Ware, S. R. W^ood, Fielding Hurst, P. E. Bland, Joseph Bruce, Abner Taylor, Thomas
R. Smith, H. B, Wells, Joseph W. Eystra, William C. Bryan, W. P. Hepburn, and Frank
Brooks, and their associates, be, and they are hereby, constituted a body politic and corpo
rate, under the name and style of the "Memphis City Railroad Company," and by that
name may have succession for the term of thirty years, may sue and be sued, plead and be
impleadcd with, may have and use a common seal, may purchase and hold such personal
and real estate as in the opinion of the directors may be necessary for carrying on the busi
ness of the corporation, and the same to sell and dispose of at pleasure ; may make all need
ful by-laws for their government not inconsistent or in conflict with the laws of the State of
Tennessee and the United States.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be three hun
dred thousand dollars, with the right and privilege on the part of said company to make it
five hundred thousand dollars, which shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and
the same may be subscribed to and made subject to such calls and terms of payment as said
directors, hereinafter provided for, shall designate.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the persons above named shall, within one year after
this act, meet and elect five of their number by ballot, to act as directors of said company,
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 55
and thereupon said directors shall choose one of their number to act as president, and may elect
such other officers as they may think necessary, and iix the salary of the same — said officers
to remain in office one year, and until their successors shall be duly elected; and at the end
of one year after the election of such directors, and annually thereafter, after thirty days'
notice, to be given by the president and secretary, or either of them, in a newspaper pub
lished in the city of Memphis, of the time and place of such election, the stockholders shall
meet and elect rive directors for the ensuing year— each stockholder to have one vote for
eacli share of stock held by him or her. Said directors shall thereupon proceed to organize,
as above provided for the organization of said first board of directors, and so on annually,
during the existence of this charter. Said stockholders may vote in person or by proxy.
Three of said directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That said 'company, by their said directors and officers,
shall have power to make, complete, and execute all contracts and agreements entered into
with the city of Memphis, or other parties, for any purpose whatever, connected either di
rectly or indirectly with the construction, maintaining, or operating said railway, and may
alter or enlarge the term of the same with said parties, and may construct, maintain, use,
and operate street railways by animal power, on all or any of the streets in the city of Mem
phis, in .the State of Tennessee, for that purpose using all necessary machinery and equip
ments ; said company to use neatly constructed, commodious, and safe cars, to be well
adapted to such use and purpose ; may enter into all necessary contracts for the building
and operating of said railway, and declare dividends on the capital stock of the same.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That this act shall be so construed as to authorize said
grar
State or the loan of any bonds.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That each stockholder shall be individually liable to the
creditors of said company to an amount equal to the amount unpaid on the stock held by
him, for all the debts and liabilities of said company, until the whole amount of the capital
stock so held by him shall have been paid to the company, and all the stockholders of said
company shall be jointly liable for all the debts due or owing to any of its laborers and ser
vants, for services performed for said corporation, but shall not be liable to an action therefor
before any execution shall be returned unsatisfied, in whole or in part, against the said cor
poration, and then the amount due on such execution shall be the amount recoverable, with
cost, against such stockholders.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That said railroad shall be constructed on the most ap
proved plan for the construction of city railroads, and shall be ran as often as the conveni
ence of passengers may require, and shall be subject to such reasonable rules and regula
tions, in respect thereto, as the common council of the city of Memphis may, from time to
time, by ordinance prescribe, and to the payment to the city of such license annually, for
each car run thereon, as they may, by ordinance, prescribe ; and the persons and their as
signs are hereby authorized to charge at the rate of five cents for the conveyance of passen
gers for the whole or any part of the route from the depot to the terminus of said railroad.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That whenever the said tracks shall be placed on the roads,
the same shall be laid with such rails and in such manner as shall not obstruct carriage
travel, and said company shall cause said tracks to conform to' the grade of the roads as they
now are, or as it may be by them, and at their expense, changed or altered, and said com
pany shall keep the surface of such roads inside the rails, and for two feet outside on each
side thereof, in good order and repair.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That the act entitled "An act to incorporate the People's
Passenger Railroad Company of the city of Memphis," passed February, 1860, be, and the
same is hereby, repealed, together with all acts and parts of acts inconsistent with this act.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from the date of its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 7, 1865.
CHAPTER XIX.
AN ACT to incorporate the Tennessee and Kentucky Petroleum, Mining, and Manufactur
ing Company, and for other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That C. H.
Smith, Dr. Joshua Coff, George L. Lewis, George Hillman, W. J. McCor, W. J. Costner,
and their associates, be, and are hereby, created a body politic and corporate, by the name of
the "Tennessee and Kentucky Petroleum, Mining, and Manufacturing Company," and shall
have succession for ninety-nine years. At any time after organization within twelve
56 KECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
months, the directors of said company may, if desired, change the name of said company to
any other name ; and by having a declaration of the same, signed and acknowledged by
their president, and recorded, as a deed for land, in the county where the business meeting
is held, said new name shall become the corporate name of said body.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That said company, in their corporate name, may sue and
be sued, plead and be impleaded, in any court of law or equity; may adopt and use a com
mon seal, changeable at their pleasure ; may contract and be contracted with, and have and
enjoy all the privileges and rights incident to corporations.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That said company may acquire and hold, by purchase or
lease, any real or personal property necessary or proper to cany on their business ; may sell,
convey, exchange, rent, or lease the same, or any part thereof, at any time or times during
the continuance of this charter ; and shall have and enjoy all the rights, privileges, and im
munities granted by this legislature to any petroleum, or mining, or manufacturing com
pany.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That said corporation shall have power to explore any of
the land acquired or held by them by digging, tunnelling, boring, mining, or otherwise, for
petroleum, salt, coal, iron, lead, copper, or other material or product, and to prepare, by
manufacturing or otherwise, any material or product so found for market ; to use or vend
the same, either crude or manufactured ; to erect such houses and machinery as they may
deem requisite to carry on any part of said business. Said company may make, or have
executed to them, mortgages or deeds of trust on real or personal property, when necessary
in their business, or in order to secure debts due or to become due by or to said corporation.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That this company may ordain and establish, from time to
time, alter or amend, such by-laws, rales, and regulations for the government of their affairs
as they may deem proper, and which shall not contravene this charter and the laws of the
land.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of this corporation shall not be less
than one hundred thousand dollars, nor more than five hundred thousand dollars, consisting
of shares estimated at twenty dollars each.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That any five of said corporators may open books for sub
scriptions of stock in said company at such times and places as they may choose. When
the sum of ten thousand dollars has been subscribed, then said company may organize and
elect officers.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That the officers of said association shall consist of a presi
dent, a secretary, and seven directors, who shall serve for one year, and until their succes
sors are qualified and inducted into office. The elections shall be at such time and place,
and on such notice, as the by-laws may prescribe.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That the officers shall be elected annually as aforesaid, by
a majority of the votes cast at such election ; and in elections, each share shall entitle the
owner thereof to one vote.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That, for cause deemed by them sufficient, the directors
may dismiss any officer or agent, and appoint a successor to act until the next regular elec
tion, or for a shorter term, as they may determine.
SEC. 11. Beit further enacted, That each subscriber for stock in said corporation shall be
individually liable only for the amount subscribed for by such person, and only until the
same is paid in.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to give
banking privileges to said company ; and that the right to alter, change, or repeal this act is
hereby reserved to any subsequent legislature.
SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That Sol. Hesse, N. Hoffeiner, Adolph Loeb, H. T. Tom-
linson, J. Nathan, J. S. Menkin, Henry Sussel, and their associates, are hereby incorporated
a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of the "Memphis Club," in the city
of Memphis, county of Shelby, and State of Tennessee, with full powers in their said
corporate capacity to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, purchase and hold real
and personal property, stock, and incorporate hereditaments, and may dispose of the same in
such manner as said association may deem most expedient.
SEC. 14. Beit further enacted, That the said " Memphis Club" may use a common seal,
acts for their benefit not inconsistent with the privileges herein granted.
SEC. 15. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its
passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of llcprcsentatitcs.
SAMUEL R. HODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
J'asscdJunc 7,1865.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 57
CHAPTER XX.
AN ACT to amend an act authorizing John C. Haley to establish a turnpike road, passed
October 28, 1833.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That F. A.
Henager, Jas. R. Rigsby, George W. Rider, and Abel A. Pearson be, and they are hereby,
authorized to open, establish, and keep in repair a turnpike road across what is known as the
Quails Trace of Walden's Ridge, beginning at or near where J. L. Hutchison formerly lived,
in Rhea county, and from thence to Benjamin F. Bridgeman'smill, at the foot of the moun
tain, in Bledsoe county ; and that the said proprietors have the charter for said road for the
same length of time, and upon the same terms and conditions in all respects that a charter
for a turnpike road was given to John C. Haley, by an act passed October 26, 1833, and that
John Lee, of Bledsoe county, and John P. Walker, of Rhea county, be appointed commis
sioners on said road, who shall take the same oath, and perform the same duties, and be en
titled to the game privileges and emoluments that are enjoined upon and extended to the
commissioners of said John C. Haley's turnpike road by the act aforesaid ; the charter here
by granted to be void unless the road be opened and completed within four years from the
passage of this act.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 7, 1865.
CHAPTER XXI.
AN ACT to incorporate the Memphis and Mound City Arkansas Steam Packet Company,
of Memphis.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That G. P.
Ware, C. C. Burk,Wm. M. Farrington, Wm. R. Moore, John D. Ware, and their associates,
shall be, and they are hereby, constituted a body politic and corporate under the name and
style of the People's Passenger and Freight Steam Packet Company of Memphis and Mound
City ; and by that name may have succession for the term of thirty years ; may sue and be
sued, plead and be empleaded ; may have and use a common seal ; may purchase and hold
such personal and real estate as may be necessary for carrying on the business of the corpora
tion ; and the same to sell or dispose of at pleasure ; may make all needful by-laws for their
government not inconsistent or in conflict with the laws of the United States, the State of
Tennessee, or the city of Memphis and county of Shelby.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be three hun
dred thousand dollars, which shall be divided into shares of fifty dollars each, and the same
may be subscribed to and made subject to such calls and terms of payment as the directors
hereinafter provided for shall designate.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the persons above named shall open books for the sub
scription of stock, and when one hundred shares are subscribed, and ten dollars on each share
paid in, the stockholders may then meet and elect five of their number directors of said com
pany, and thereupon said directors shall choose one of their number to act as president, and
may elect such other officers as they may think necessary, and fix the salaries of the same,
said officers to remain in office one year, or until their successors are duly elected and installed
into office, at which time, after three weeks' notice in one newspaper published in the county
of Shelby, State aforesaid, the stockholders of said company shall meet and elect the direc
tors aforesaid, each stockholder having one vote for each share of stock held by him or her.
Said directors shall thereupon elect their said president and other officers, and said election
shall take place annually. Said stockholders may vote in person or by proxy. Three of
said directors shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That said company, by their directors and officers, shall
have power to complete and execute all contracts or agreements entered into with the city of
Memphis, or other parties, for the use of a landing or wharf of said city, and may alter or
enlarge the terms of same. Said parties may enter into all necessary contracts for the build
ing and operating said steam packet company, and declare dividends on the capital stock of
the same, provided that the capital stock is not diminished thereby.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That said company, in establishing a tariff of freight and
passage to and from Memphis and Mound City, will submit the same to the county court of
Shelby county, state aforesaid, for the approval of the same before any of its provisions can
be enforced : Provided, this act shall not be so construed as to grant either the indorsement
of the State or the loan of any bonds.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the stockholders of said company shall be individually
liable for the amount of their stock subscribed until the same is paid.
58 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That this corporation shall be subject to such taxes as may
be imposed on similar corporations of this State.
SEC. 8. DC it further enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to
authorize the corporation of the city of Memphis or the county court of Shelby county to
grant any privilege or make any contract with said company that will in any way interfere
with the vested rights of any party or parties whatever as now fixed by law.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That this act take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
CHAPTER XXII.
AN ACT to incorporate Tennessee Mountain Petroleum and Mining Company.
SECTION I. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Dr. T. A.
Atchison, Capt. W. H. H. Ayres. Capt. L. H. Thrikston, S. H. Tar, J. W. Plummer, capt.
and provost marshal district Middle Tennessee, H. \V. Hart, and their associates, succes
sors and assigns, be, and they are hereby, constituted a body corporate and politic by the
name and style of " Tennessee Mountain Petroleum and Mining Company;" and by that
name and style shall have succession for ninety-nine years, with power to contract and be
contracted with, sue and be sued, in that name in all courts and places ; to have a common
seal ; to engage in mining, manufacturing and boring for petroleum, salt, and other valuable
minerals, and in the manufacturing, refining, and preparing for market, transporting and
selling the same, and other products of said business, and of the land now owned or which
may hereafter be owned by them in the State ; to hold their meetings, and transport and sell
their oil or other minerals or other products, within or without the state, and to have all
other powers needful and proper for the successful prosecution of their business and for the
execution of the powers herein granted.
SEC. 2. That said corporation may organize said company by the appointment of a presi
dent and such other officers and managers as they may deem necessary at such times and
places as they may designate by notice previously given ; and when thus organized, the said
company shall have power to make such by-laws, rules and regulations as they may deem
necessary from time to time for the government and prosecution of the business of said cor
poration, not inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the United States and of the
State of Tennessee.
SEC. 3. The capital stock of said company shall be five hundred thousand dollars, and
said company shall have power to increase the same from time to time, not exceeding one
million dollars.
SEC. 4. The company may buy, lease, or rent any suitable lands, mines, oil and salt rights
and privileges, rights of way, and other property necessary for their business, and may dis
pose of the same, or any portion of it, by sale or otherwise. They may receive real estate,
leasehold, mining and boring rights and fights of way, in payment of such part of subscrip
tion as thoy may deem advisable. Said company may erect and build on any of their lands
such buildings, engines, machinery, and fixtures as may be deemed convenient and proper for
carrying on and conducting the business of said corporation.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That this corporation shall be subject to such taxes as may
be imposed on similar corporations in this State.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That a violation of this charter shall authorize the legisla
ture to alter or repeal «the same, and that nothing therein contained shall be so construed as
to allow any banking privileges to said company.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the. House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1SC5.
CHAPTER XXIII.
AN ACT to incorporate the East Tennessee Union Petroleum, Coal, Iron, and Salt Company
SECTION ]. Be it cnartnl by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That O. P.
Temple, Green Adams, R. R. Butler, John 1J. Brownlow, J>:»vid K. Young, L. C. Houk.
and their associates, successors, and assigns, be, and are hereby, constituted a body corpo,
rate, by the name and style of the "East Tennessee Union Petroleum, Coal, Iron, and S 1
EECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 59
Company," and by that name shall have succession for ninety-nine years ; and shall be com
petent to" sue and be sued in any court of law or equity ; to have and use a common seal,
and to alter the same at pleasure; to establish, ordain, and change any by-laws, not incon
sistent with the constitution and laws of Tennessee, that may be necessary for the govern
ment of the company ; to purchase, hold, and dispose of such real estate, leases, mines, min
erals, iron, coal, oil, salt, and personal property, as they may desire, or that may be neces
sary for the legitimate transaction of their business ; to mine, bore, forge, sell, smelt, trans
port, work, manufacture, refine and vend the same ; to issue such number of shares of the
stock of said company, at the representative par value thereof, as may be indorsed by a vote
of said company ; to determine the par value of shares, and have the right to pay in of stock
of the corporation for such running interest or interests, in real estate, as may be necessary ;
to purchase or lease for the operation of the works of the company; to lay and conduct pipes
and construct railroads from their wells to navigable rivers,* or railroads now constructed or
to be constructed, and to make connexions and turnouts for their purposes, &c. ; that the
capital stock of said company be one million dollars, to be divided in such shares as the com
pany may determine, which may be increased or diminished, as the company may determine;
that the president and directors shall regulate the proportion of stock which may be issued
to each member on application ; the company to have, enjoy, and exercise all the rights and
privileges belonging and incident to corporations, except the right to issue notes, or engage
in the business of banking.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That whenever said company shall become possessed of
mines or minerals, lands or leases, iron, coal, or petroleum leases, situated in this State or
elsewhere, a separate and distinct interest of each mine, bed, field vein, deposit or lease may
be created under some name to distinguish the same, and in like manner may organize under,
and enjoy as a distinct branch, all the rights and privileges named in the first section of this act.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That Horace Maynard, Win. F. Ray, Thomas J. Vanguilder,
James B. Howard, Francis S. Price, James N. Clark, Isaac C. Price, John C. Flanders,
Wm. McKey, Joseph L. Cooper, Charles W. Cohen, and S. R. Rodgers be, and they are
hereby, constituted a body corporate and politic, by the name and style of the "Kuoxville
Oil Mining Company," and in that name they may sue and be sued, &c.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That said company or body corporate shall have all the
rights, powers, and privileges granted to the " Cumberland Basin Petroleum and Mining
Company," and subject to like limitations and restrictions.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That James H. Vaughn, J. M. Robb, John H. Ligon, H.
F. Banks, and H. S. Craine, their associates and successors, are hereby constituted a body-
politic and corporate, for a period of ninety-nine years, by the name of the "Tennessee Oil
and Mineral Company," for the purpose of exploring for oil, copper, gold, lead, silver, iron,
zinc, coal, and other ores, metals arid minerals, and for the purpose of developing, mining
working, refining, smelting, purchasing, and vending the same, with the capital, and clothed
with all the powers, rights, and privileges granted in the foregoing charter incorporating the
"East Tennessee Union Petroleum, Coal, Iron, and Salt Company." Said corporators and
their associates shall organize by the election of six directors of their number, who shall elect
a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, who shall perform such duties and ex
ercise such powers as may be prescribed by the by-laws.
SEC. C. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 3865.
CHAPTER XXIV.
AN ACT to incorporate the Manchester and Barren Fork Mining and Manufacturing
Company.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted -by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That W. T.
Garrett, J. C. McCrory, and D. P. Kathbone, and their associates and successors, be, and
they are hereby, created a body politic and corporate, by the name and style of "The Man
chester and Barren Fork Mining and Manufacturing Company," and by that name shall
have succession for ninety -nine years, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded with, and
generally to do every act and thing necessary and proper to carry out the provisions ot this
act, and to promote the object and designs of this corporation.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be two hundred
thousand dollars, with the privilege of increasing the same to five hundred thousand dollars,
to be divided into shares of one hundred dollars each: and the persons above named shall
open books for the subscription of stock, and when fifty thousand dollars shall have been
subscribed the stockholders may meet and elect five directors, and said directors shall elect
one of their number president, and also elect a secretary.
60 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the affairs of said company shall be managed by a
board of directors, consisting Of not less than five, and such agents and officers as they may
appoint. The secretary and president shall be elected every year by the directors, and all
vacancies happening in said board, or in any of said offices, may be filled by the acting
directors for the remainder of the term for which they were elected or appointed. The
board shall have power to establish by-iaws for the government of said company, and to
alter the same whenever it may be deemed proper for them to do so. The directors shall
have power to require security for the payment of all stock subscribed and not paid in.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said company shall have full power and authority
to purchase and lease lands or real estate, and to dispose of the same, and to do a general
mining and manufacturing business on lands owned and leased by said company ; to mine,
forge, roll, smelt, manufacture, transport, and to vend minerals, iron, coal, petroleum oil,
salt, and to hold property of every species necessary for the carrying on of the business of
said company, and said company shall have power to make contracts under the corporate
seal, signed by the president and attested and signed by the secretary or other officer who
may be appointed by the directors for that purpose.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That, should the said company at any time fail to meet its
engagements, each person holding stock at the time of such failure shall be individually
liable for the debts of the company to the amount of the balance of the unpaid stock of such
stockholder.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That this corporation shall be subject to such taxes as may
be imposed on similar corporations of this State.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted by the general assembly of (he State of Tennessee, That E. C.
Schultze, L. C. Platt, C. M. Northrup, Charles Kocliler, Joseph W. Currier, Lewis Benton,
and John A. Smith, shall be, and are hereby, constituted a body politic and corporate, for
the purpose of purchasing, selling, mining, improving, and settling with loyal owners, land
in the State of Tennessee, known by the name and style of "The New York and Tennessee
Mining and Farmland Company," and by that name may have succession for ninety-nine
years; may sue and be sued ; may contract and be contracted with; may have a .common
seal and power to change the same at will ; may purchase and hold such personal and real
estate as they shall deem necessary for carrying out the objects of the corporation, and may
sell or dispose of the same at pleasure, and receive pay, security, or mortgages therefor ; may
mine, work, or otherwise develop the mineral resources, and may construct such machinery and
improvements on the land of the corporation as they shall think proper, and have power to
sell, lease, or otherwise dispose of the same ; and may make all necessary by-laws for their
government^uot inconsistent with the laws of the United States or of the State of Tennessee.
SEC. 8. The capital stock of said company shall consist of five thousand shares of the
par value of one hundred dollars each, with the privilege of increasing, if necessary, to
forty thousand shares, and the trustees shall designate and determine what portion of said
stock shall be paid in land and its value, and what portion in cash, which stock shall be
deemed personal estate, and transferable in such manner as the by-laws of the company
shall direct.
SEC. 9. That the affairs of said company shall be managed by a board of trustees chosen
by the stockholders, who shall hold their office for one year, and until their successors are
elected. Every member of said board of trustees shall be a stockholder. In every election,
and at every meeting of stockholders, each share of stock on which no call or assessment is
due, past, and unpaid, shall entitle the holder thereof to one vote, either in person or by
proxy. The board of trustees may choose a president, vice-president, secretary and treas
urer, and such other officers and agents as may be necessary, and fix their salaries. A failure
to hold any election on the day designated shall not work a dissolution of the corporation,
but such election may be held at a subsequent time, to be designated by the board of trus
tees.
SEC. 10. If any sur/scriber for stock shall fail to pay the amount subscribed in such man
ner as may be prescribed by the by-laws, the same may be recovered by action of debt in any
court having jurisdiction, or such stock may be sold, and declared forfeited by the company,
on such terms us the board of trustees shall determine and prescribe.
St:c. 11. That the aforesaid persons, or any number of them, or any other person duly
authorized by the board of trustees, may, at any time or place, open books for the subscrip
tion of stock.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That James Mullens, William H. Wisner, Philemon Gos
ling, and John C. Coldwell, jr., be, and are hereby, created a body politic and corporate,
with succession for ninety-nine years, to be known and designated as "The Cascade Mining
and Manufacturing IVtroU-um Company," with all the powen and privileges of this act, as
conferred upon the previous corporations in this act.
SEC. K?. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect and be in full fcrce from
and after its passage.
WILLIAM 1IEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatlces.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Passed June 8, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 61
CHAPTER XXV.
AN ACT to amend An act entitled An act to incorporate the East Tennessee and Virginia
Railroad Company, passed the 27th day of January, 1848.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of t lie State of Tennessee, That the 7th sec
tion of said act be so amended that the affairs of said company shall be managed by a board
of directors, to consist of nine instead of fifteen, as now required by law.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the seventeenth section be so amended that a stock
holder, in his own right, of ten shares, shall be eligible to the office of president or director
of said company, with all the rights and privileges that they are now allowed by law : Pro
vided, he be a loyal citizen of the United States government.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Reprcsentalites.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
CHAPTER XXVI.
AN ACT to incorporate the Tennessee Mining and Manufacturing Company.
Whereas it has been represented to this general assembly that the property known as the
Washington County Iron Works, in Washington county, of this State, upon which there now
are a furnace, forges, rolling mill, and other improvements, is capable, by the application of
the requisite capital, of much further development :
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Charles J.
McKinney, of Hawkins county ; Calvin Hoss, of Washington county ; and such other persons
as they may associate with them, as owners of the shares hereinafter authorized to be issued,
be, and the same are hereby, made a body politic and corporate, under the name and style of
the Tennessee Mining and Manufacturing Company, and as such, in that name, may have
continued succession, and may purchase, have, hold, use, and acquire, by any lawful means,
any estate, real and personal, in as full and ample manner as any individual may or might
do; and the same may use, lease, let, mortgage, sell, and convey, or otherwise dispose of;
and may sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, contract and be contracted with, and have
and use a common seal, and the same may change, at pleasure ; and make by-laws, not incon
sistent with the constitution and laws of Tennessee, and regulations for the management of
their affairs; and may have and use all the rights, powers, and privileges which are or may
be necessary for them to have as an incorporated company.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of the said company shall consist of
shares of ten dollars each, of which the said property, known as Washington County Iron
Works, shall constitute a part, at a price to be agreed upon by and between the parties inter
ested, and when two hundred thousand dollars shall have been subscribed, the shareholders
may proceed to organize the company by the election of five or more directors ; and the directors
for the time being may have, exercise, and enjoy, in the name and behalf of the company, all
the rights, powers, and privileges which are given or intended to be given herein, and may,
from time to time, increase their resources by borrowing money on a pledge of their property,
or without such pledge, or by new subscriptions ; and the subscribers shall be bound, each
for himself or herself, to pay the sums by them respectively subscribed ; and when the sums
due, or to become due, thereon shall have been paid, such shareholder shall not be liable for
any further payment on account thereof.
SEC. 3. Be. it further enacted, That the by-laws may prescribe the number of and the man
ner in which the officers and agents of the company shall be appointed, their terms of service,
powers, and duties, and may require that they shall take an oath faithfully to dischargo^their
respective duties And inasmuch as the Nolachucky river is not navigable above the site of
the said iron works, and the water power, for manufacturing purposes, may be greatly in
creased by erecting one or more dams across the said river above the site aforesaid, the com
pany may, and they are hereby authorized to, erect one or more dams across the said river,
'if the same, in their opinion, bo necessary and proper to aid in the establishment of manufac
tures of iron, or other articles or commodities; subject, nevertheless, to the payment of any
damages which may be assessed by a jury empanelled by a court having competent jurisdic
tion ; and provided that the erection of said dam or dams shall i.ot interfere with the naviga
tion of said river.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act shall be in force for thirty years from and after
its passage, and until the same be modified and repealed ; and all acts and parts of acts con
flicting with this act shall be and are hereby repealed: Provided, That nothing in this act
shall be so construed as to erive, jrraut, or allow to said company banking privileges.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 18G5.
62 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
CHAPTER XXVII.
AN ACT incorporating the Tennessee and Cumberland Oil and Mining Company.
SECTION L Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That A. G.
Wells, C. L. Hequembough, Wni. C. Bunts, Win. li. Campbell, Win. II. Gordon, Delaino
F. Smitb, Edward Donohoe, George; Richardson, F. II. Cotton, their associates, successors,
and assigns, be and arc hereby created, constituted and declared a body politic and corporate,
under the name and style of the "Tennessee and Cumberland Oil and Mining Company,"
with full privileges and powers to and for the purpose of prospecting, boring, exploring for,
raising, mining, digging, transporting and selling oil, petroleum, kerosene, asphaltum, naph
tha, salt, coal, iron, and all other minerals in this State or elsewhere, on any lands they may
acquire by purchase, lease or gift ; and to manufacture dyes and colors, refine and convert it
to such other uses by distillation, refining and manufacturing, as science, chemistry and
philosophy has or may hereafter make known and discover ; also the privilege and power to
manufacture iron from the ore into pig metal, and rolled iron in all its qualities and forms ; to
erect all necessary machinery, buildings, furnaces, warehouses, docks and levees as shall or
may be conducive to the successful operation of their said business in all of its various depart
ments and ramifications ; also to lay and conduct pipes, and construct railroads, turnpikes and
canals from their lands and works to any navigable river or railroad now constructed or here
after constructed, and to make the necessary switches and connexions for the purpose of trans
porting said articles, mined and manufactured, and importing such articles and materials as
said company may require for the conducting of their said business : Provided, however, That
in constructing said roads, canals, &c., they do not interfere with any vested rights ; and by
said name and style are hereby made a body capable in law, as individual citizens, to con
tract and 'be contracted with, sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be
answered unto, and prosecute to final judgment, in the State and elsewhere, in all courts of
lawtand equity; to make, have and use a common seal, and change the same at will ; with full
power and authority to purchase, lease, and receive in donation, and enjoy and possess estate,
real, personal and mixed, and to lease, rent, sell, alienate, convey, and otherwise dispose of
the same ; with all rights, powers and privileges necessary and proper for them as an incor
porate company ; and by such name and style shall have succession for the full term of ninety-
nine years : Provided, That nothing in this act shall interfere with the vested rights of auv
other company under the laws of the State of Tennessee.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the incorporators, in person or by proxy, shall, as soon
after the passage of this act as convenient, meet and organize by the election of a board of
directors of not less than seven nor more than ten in number, who shall have the management
and control of the affairs of the company, a majority of whom shall constitute a quorum for
the transaction of business, and each being a stockholder to the amount of twenty-five shares
at least, who, as well as their successors, shall hold their office for the term of one year, and
until their successors are elected. Said directors shall annually thereafter, by public notice
for thirty days, in one or more newspapers published in the city of Nashville, next preceding
the first Monday of June, to the stockholders to meet at the office of the company, in Nash
ville, in person or by proxy, to elect directors for the next ensuing year, at which elections
three of the stockholders, appointed by those present, shall be the judges. If the director-;
shall fail or neglect to give notice as aforesaid, any two of the stockholders may give said
notice, and elect directors in like manner as if the directors had given notice as prescribed by
this act. The persons receiving a majority of the votes cast at said elections shall be declined
duly elected; and in case of a tie vote a majority of the directors elect shall determine and
give one vote, which shall be the casting vote. Each stockholder shall have one vote for each
and every share he or she may own; and any shareholder, not present at any such electit.ji,
may vote by proxy, said proxy being a shareholder and attending such election, and present
ing from his principal authority in writing, signed and sealed by said principal and attested
by two witnesses.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That if it should happen that an election of directors should
not be made on the day designated in the notice, the said corporation shall not for that cause
1 •(• deemed dissolved ; but it shall and may be lawful to make and hold an election for direr
on some other designated day, of which notice may be given.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That the said directors snail elect annually from their number
a president, vice-president, secretary, and treasurer, and other such officers, agents, clerks,
and employes, from among the stockholders or from other sources, as the interest of the
company may require: and may take of each of them such bond or bonds, with security,
conditioned lor the faithful performance of the duties assigned them: allow such compen
sation us they may think proper, and may remove and dismiss them, or any of them, at
pleasure; and shall fill all vacancies in their number caused by death, resignation, or other-
Avise, by such persons from among the stockholders as they may elect. And the said directors,
or a majority of them, may, from time to time, make, ordain, and establish such by-laws and
regulations for the government of said corporation in its proceedings, and for the manage
ment of its stock and property, as may by them be deemed necessary and convenient :
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 63
Provided, hoiccter, the same be not repugnant to and inconsistent with the constitution and
laws of this State and of the United States.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted. That the meetings of the board of directors shall be at such
times and places as they may themselves determine; and special meetings thereof may be
called by the president or a majority of the directors, and at all meetings thereof a majority
shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of business.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That sYiid directors shall keep, or cause to be kept, proper
books of stock and accounts of the business and affairs of said company, which shall be
subject at all times to the inspection of the stockholders, and they shall annually, at the
expiration of their term of office, make a full and correct report to the stockholders of the
transactions of the year, showing the amounts of property and means received, arid whence
received, the amount disbursed, and for what purpose disbursed, the amount on hand, together
with such other information as may be required by the stockholders or deemed important to
the interests of the company.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of the company shall be two million
dollars, divided into one hundred thousand shares of twenty dollars each, which capital stock
may be increased or diminished as the directors may determine ; and the president and
1 directors shall regulate the proportion of stock which may be issued to each member on
application.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That the stock and property of said company and corporation,
of whatever nature, shall be assignable and transferable on the books of said corporation in
such manner as the regulations and by-laws thereof may prescribe.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That the dividends of the profits of said corporation shall be
made at such times among the stockholders as the dividends may determine.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That the board of directors shall have no power to bind the
corporation by any contract or agreement to a greater amount than the capital stock sub
scribed ; and in case of their attempting to do so, the directors so participating in such an
attempt shall be responsible in their private property to the parties injured.
SEC. 11. Be it further enacted ', That said corporation may receive real estate, leasehold,
mining and boring interests and rights, and right of way, in payment of such part of sub
scription to stock as may be by the directors deemed advisable.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That said corporation shall not be dissolved, unless by a
vote of two-thirds of the whole capital stock.
SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That the right to alter, change, or repeal this act is hereby
reserved to any subsequent legislature ; and nothing shall be so construed as to grant said
company banking privileges.
SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
AN ACT to charter the East Tennessee Female College.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted 'by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a female
institution be, and the same "is hereby, chartered and incorporated, by the name of "The
East Tennessee Female College." to be located at Cleveland, Tennessee.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the following persons be appointed trustees of said
institution: G. B. Thompson, M. D., Rev. Wm. C. Daily, Robert N. Fleming, M. D., Rev.
Hiram Douglass, William. Hunt, M. D., Rev. Robert Sneed, J. H. Brown, M. D., J. H.
Gaut, esq., P. M. Craigmills, M. D., L. P. Gaut, esq., J. H. Craigmills, D. P. O'Neil,
Thomas H. Colloway, H. B. Davis, William Cate, James M. Henderson, Thomas L. Cate,
Joseph H. Davis, Jonathan C. Tipton, and Isaac Lowe, and they and their successors, as
hereafter provided, shall constitute a corporation for ninety-nine years.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That said corporation shall be able and liable, in law and
equity, to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, to answer and be answered, and to de-
feud and be defended in all courts and places, as any other legally and regularly constituted
corporation ; may have a common seal, may alter or change the same at pleasure, and also
shall be able to take by purchase, grant or devise, or in any other names, and to hold any
real, personal, or mixed estate whatever: Provided always, The clear yearly value of the real
estate shall not exceed the sum of fifty thousand dollars: And provided also, That the prin
cipal and interest of the whole fund be used and applied for the use and promotion of educa
tion at said college, and to no other purpose.
64 RECONSTRUCTION— TENNESSEE.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That said trustees and their successors in office shall have
lull power and authority to collect and receive all funds that have in any way been contribu
ted or pledged for the establishment enlargement,, maintenance, or benefit of said institution,
or for any of its purposes, and apply the same ; and give, grant, bargain, sell, or dispose of
all, or any, of said real, personal, or mixed estate, as to them may seem best for the interest
of said institution.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the number of trustees shall at no time exceed twenty ;
seven of whom shall constitute a quorum, with power to transact all the business of the
institution, except to sell real estate, in which case a majority of the board must act.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That the trustees and their successors in office shall have
full power and authority to direct, manage, and control the funds of the institution, for the
benefit of the same, to prescribe the course of study and the discipline to be observed in the
institution.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the trustees and their successors in office shall have
power to select and elect, whenever a majority of them may think proper, a president of the
institution, and such professor or professors, tutor or tutors, as they may consider necessary
for the institution, and these, when elected, shall constitute a faculty for the education and^
government of the students, under the restrictions hereinbefore and hereafter enacted.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That the faculty elected, as provided in the seventh section
of this act, shall hold office during the pleasure of the trustees : Provided, That no member
of the faculty shall be dismissed by the trustees without just cause, previously stated to him
in writing, and a full opportunity for defence allowed him before at least ten (10) of the
trustees : Provided, That if complaint shall be made to said trustees, or any of them, or they
or any of them have knowledge of misconduct on the part of any member of the faculty, it
shall be the duty of the trustees to immediately call a meeting of their body to investigate
the charges, and if they think proper, by a majority vote of the members present, if five or
more, suspend said officer until he be notified and tried, as herein provided.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That no member of the faculty shall be eligible to the office
of trustee except the president, who shall, by virtue of his office, be a member of the board
trustees.
SEC. 1U. Be it further enacted, That said trustees shall, under the regulations provided in
this act, have power, upon the death, resignation, or the removal of one of its members, to
supply the vacancy by the election of some other person. They shall also have power to
make vacant the seat of any member of the board who shall fail to attend its meetings for
the term of twelve months, or for bad or any want of good character.
SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That said trustees shall have power to meet from time to
time upon their own adjournment, and as often as they shall be summoned by the chairman
or president, or in his absence by the secretary.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That the president of the board of trustees, as well as any
other officer that may be necessary for the proper organization of ^such body, may be elected
once in every year, at such time as the board shall fix by a majority vote; and the officer
elected must be a member of the board of trustees.
SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That the trustees, and their successors in office, have power,
and authority to grant and confer all such literary degrees and honors as are usual in any
similar institution in the Union, and to give suitable diplomas, under the signatures of the
faculty and five of the board of trustees, which diploma shall entitle the possessor to the
same immunities and privileges allowed by usage and statute to the possessors of diplomas
from any similar institution: Provided, That this section be subject to legislative control.
SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That said trustees, and thoir successors in office, have power
and authority to make all ordinances and by-laws for the government of their institution
which they may deem expedient for carrying the design of the institution into effect: Pro
vided, That none of the by-laws shall be inconsistent with the constitution and laws of the
State or of the United States.
SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That at a meeting of the board, a quorum being present,
said board may, in the absence of the president, name one of its members chairman, whose
acts shall be as valid as the acts of the president, and all acts of the board, under such cir
cumstances, shall be as regular and effectual as if the president had been present and presided
over (lie meeting.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That all the property belonging to said institution, or which
may hereafter belong to it, be, and is hereby, exempt from taxation.
SEC. 17. Be it furtlnr enacted, That this act shall take effect from its passage.
\\ILLIAM IIEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of ffcvrettfttaftM*.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 65
CHAPTER XXIX.
AN ACT to change the line between the counties of Anderson and Campbell.
SECTION I. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the county
line between the counties of Anderson and Campbell be so changed as to include the present
residence and farm of Silas L. Arthur in the county of Anderson.
SEC. 2. Be it furtfier enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGE.KS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
CHAPTER XXX.
AN ACT to incorporate the Cumberland Basin Petroleum and Mining Company.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That John T.
Wilder, W. O. Osgood, W. Hunt, William E. Prall, J. H. Fessenden, S. A. Crittenden,
James W. Clark, P. C. Leary, William McMustry, and Samuel Sawyer, and their associates,
successors, and assigns, be, and they are hereby, constituted a body corporate, by the name
and style of "The Cumberland Basin Petroleum and Minirfg Company," and by that name
shall have ninety-nine years succession, and shall be competent to sue and be sued in any
court of equity or law whatever ; to have and use a common seal, and to alter the same at
pleasure ; to establish and change any by-laws for the government of said company not
inconsistent with the constitution and laws of Tennessee : to purchase, hold, and dispose of
such real estate, leases, mines, minerals, iron, coal, oil, salt, and personal property as may
be necessary for the legitimate transaction of their business ; to mine, forge, roll, smelt,
transport, work, .manufacture, refine, and vend said minerals, coal, iron, oil, salt, and pro
ducts thereof, and issue such number of shares of the stock of said company, at the repre
sentative par value thereof, as may be ordered by a vote of said company ; to determine the
par value of shares, and have the right to pay in shares of stock of the corporation for such
mining interest, or interest in real estate, as may be necessary to purchase or lease for the
operation of the works of the company, and generally to have, enjoy, and exercise all rights
and privileges incident to corporations, except the right to issue notes or engage in banking.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That whenever said company shall become possessed of
mines or minerals, lands or leases, iron, coal, pretroleum, or leases, situate in this State or
elsewhere, a separate and distinct interest of each mine, bed, field, vein, or deposit, or lease,
may be created under some name to distinguish the same, and in like manner may organize
under and enjoy, as a distinct branch interest, all the rights and privileges named in the first
section of this act.
• SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this corporation shall be subject to such taxes as may
be imposed on Similar corporations in this State.
SEC. 4. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passao-e.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 8, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXL
AN ACT to incorporate the Cumberland Mining and Petroleum Company and for other
purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Barnard
F. Mullins, Edward W. Metcalf, Julius C. Hart, Hugh Barns, Alexander J. Mullins, and
their associates and successors be, and they are hereby, created a body politic aiid corporate
by the name and style of "The Cumberland Mining and Petroleum Company," and by that
name shall have succession for ninety-nine years, and shall be capable in law and equity to
sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, in all suits and proceedings whatever, in any of
the courts of this State, and for the purpose of boring for oil and salt, and mining for iron,
eoal, copper, and other mineral or fossil substances in this State, and vending and selling
the same, and for erecting buildings and fixtures, and other improvements, in order to carry
on said mining operations, and said company may acquire and hold all needful machinery
and apparatus, and may have a common seal, and the same may alter or change at pleas
ure; may take, hold, manage, convey or transfer any real or personal estate or property
5 T
6 6 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
necessary for their business, or lease the same ; and may make by-laws for the government
of the company.
SEC. '2. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall be five hundred
thousand dollars, ($500,000, ) in shares of one hundred dollars each, and the corporators
named in the first section of this act may act as directors in organizing1 the company, and
act as such until the stockholders have a general meeting, when they shall elect a board of
five directors, and thereafter they shall elect directors annually at the place they may desig
nate for business, but a failure to elect annually shall not work a forfeiture of this charter,
but the then existing directors shall act until others are elected. The directors shall elect one
of their members president, and may appoint a secretary and treasurer, and such other officers,
operatives, and agents as they may think proper, and fix their compensation and wages.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the company may sue any delinquent stockholder for
default to pay in his stock, or any of it, according to the terms of the subscription or regu
lations of the company, or may, if they choose, declare forfeiture of such stock, and may
make such by-laws and rules in relation thereto as are not inconsistent with the constitution
and laws of this State or of the United States.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to allow
said company any banking privileges whatever, and a violation of this charter shall author
ize the legislature to alter or repeal it.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That section 1 of an act to incorporate "The Raulston Oil and
Slate Company," passed May 25, 1865, be so amended as to read thus: " That Albert G.
Ransom, H. D. McKinney, R. S. Raulston, Hugh L. W. Raulston, W. W. Totten, and
Charles Wescott, and their associates, successors, and assigns be, and they are hereby, con
stituted a body corporate and politic by the name and style of ' The Raulston Coal, Iron,
Oil, and Salt Company,' and by that name and style shall have succession for ninety-nine
years, with power to contract and be contracted with, sue and be sued, plead and be iin-
pleaded, answer and be answered unto, in all courts of law and equity in this State or else
where ; to have and to use a common seal and change the same at will ; also, to buy, lease,
sell, grant, and convey lands in this State or elsewhere ; to explore and drill for, mine, pump,
and raise coal, iron, salt, oil, petroleum, naptha, asphaltum, and all other minerals of every
description, with the right to manufacture and refine said oils and minerals, and benzoin,
burning fluids, dyes, and colors, and to such other purposes and uses as are now known or
as science and chemistry may hereafter make known and discover ; also, the right to erect
in this State or elsewhere on any lands they may acquire by purchase, gift, or lease, such
furnaces, rolling mills, machinery, and fixtures as they may think proper ; to manufacture
pig metal, rolled iron, and all other kinds of manufactured iron or other metals, as they may
determine. Also the right to transport, sell, and dispose of all such oil, coal, iron, salt, and
other minerals, together with all such manufactured articles, to vend at such places in this
State, or elsewhere, as they may deem most profitable, and to have all other powers proper
and needful for the successful prosecution of their business, and for the execution of the
powers herein granted."
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That J. A. Stevens, F. Linck, and J. M. Wambough be,
and they are hereby, constituted a body corporate and politic, under the name and style of
"The Jackson Mining and Petroleum Company," and shall have the same perpetuation*
powers, and privileges granted in the foregoing sections of this act, with the same succes
sion, rights, and franchises ; and, among other rights, to sue and be sued, to have and use a
common seal, and to make such by-laws as shall not be inconsistent with this charter and
the constitution and laws of the United States, or of the State of Tennessee ; and with
powers to issue and sell stock in shares of one hundred dollars each, and the capital stock
of said company shall be two hundred thousand dollars, with the privilege of increasing it
to five hundred thousand dollars.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That so much of an act passed March the 19th, 1800, as
refers to the South Nashville Street Railroad Company, and that so much of said act passed
February 29, I860, as refers to the McGavock and Mount Vernon Horse Railroad Company
be, and the same are hereby, respectively revived and amended as hereinafter provided.
SEC;. 8. Be it further enacted, That the said South Nashville Street Railroad Company
shall have the exclusive right of way, excepting as hereinafter provided; and by and with
the consent of the mayor and aldermen and council, or the city authorities of 'Nashville,
through Cherry and College streets in the city of Nashville, from the public square in said
city, to any point or points two miles south of the southern and eastern boundary lines of
said corporation, over which to constnict two lines of street railroads; also, through and
over Cedar, Union, and Church streets, from College to Cherry .streets, and through Franklin
street, or such other location as may In- agreed upon, in the southern part uf .said city, from
Cherry street to Maple street, and through Maple street to its southern terminus.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That said company may make a branch street railroad from
their main stem or trunk to and through Carroll street eastuanlly to the Lebanon turnpike
road, and to extend the same at will southeastwardly along said turnpike road, not exceed
ing two miles from the corporation line.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That E. H. East, M. Burns, E. R. Ghtsscock, Robert
Thompson, and G. H. Wessel be added to the other commissioners originally named in the
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE 6 7
McGavock and Mount Vernon Horse Railroad Company, and that they, their associates and
successors, are hereby constituted said body politic arid corporate, for the uses and purposes
set forth in said original charter.
SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That said McGavock and Mount Vernon Horse Railroad
Company and the South Nashville Street Railroad Company shall have the right of way in com
mon over the railroad tracks in and along the public square in the city of Nashville, and over
the tracks of said roads, or either of them, from said square through Cedar street to Cherry,
through Cherry street to Church street, through Church street to College street, through Col
lege street from Church street to the public square, and along the south side of the public
square to the suspension bridge piers, and along the west side to Cedar street, and to use,
build, and occupy said railroad tracks in common, and upon such terms and conditions as
may be fair and equitable.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That said two street railroad companies may hereafter, by
and with the consent of the common council, mayor, and aldermen of the city of Nashville,
build other branches to their respective roads over and through such other streets as may
hereafter be selected, and that said companies may contract with other private companies for
the right of way over their property, and lay down one or more tracks as arms or branches
to said railroads to such point or points as may be agreed upon.
SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That said McGa^vock and Mount Vernon Horse Railroad
Company shall have the exclusive right of way for a street railroad over such streets as maybe
selected by said company for their main lines and branches, excepting as hereinbefore de
clared in common for said two street railroads.
SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That said charters, hereby revived and amended, shall run
for fifty years from and after its passage, and that all acts or parts of acts heretofore passed
coming in conflict with this amended act be, and the same are hereby, repealed.
SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That Samuel Watkins, Wm. R. Elliston, Joseph T. Ellis-
ton, John O. Evving, Charles Bosley, John H. Williams, Benjamin Litton, Wm. H. Gordon,
R. H. McEwen, and W. R. Cornelius, their associates and successors, are hereby constituted
a body politic and corporate, under the name of the West Nashville Street Railroad Company,
and by that name may have succession for the term of fifty years, may sue and be sued,
plead and be impleaded, may have and use a common seal, may receive, purchase, and hold
such personal and real estate or property as may be necessary for carrying on the business
of said corporation, and the same to sell and dispose of at pleasure ; may make all needful
by-laws for the government of their said company, not inconsistent with the laws of the
United States or of this State.
SEC. 16. Be it further enacted, That said company is incorporated for the purpose of con
structing and using a street railroad in the city of Nashville, westwardly, not exceeding two
miles from the corporation boundary, over any two of Gay, Cedar, Church, and Broad
streets, together with such streets running at right angles and between such two streets as
may be selected : Provided, The same shall in no way interfere with the rights and privi
leges hereinbefore granted to other companies, and that this charter is granted with the same
rights, privileges, conditions, and restriclions as are granted and imposed, in every particular,
u,pon the McGavock and Mount Vernon Horse Railroad Company, passed February '29, 1860.
SEC. 17. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Represcnttttttt*
SAMUEL R. RQDGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 9, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXII.
AN ACT to incorporate the United Hebrew Brethren Bern fit Society of Memphis.
SECTION 1. Be it further enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That
J. M. Gnus, M. Skaller, M. Bren, L. Lyons, J. Heiligers, S. Goldbaum, S. Marks, and
others, and all who shall hereafter become members and officers of the benevolent association
known by the name and style of the "United Hebrew Brethren Benefit Society of Memphis,"
in the city of Memphis, in the county of Shelby, and State of Tennessee, be, and they are
hereby, constituted a body politic and corporate, under the name and style aforesaid, witx
full powers in their said corporate capacity to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, and
hold personal and real property, stock, and incorporated hereditaments, and may dispose of
tin- same in such manner as the said association may deem most expedient.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the said United Hebrew Brethren Benefit Society may
use a common seal, and change the same at pleasure; and enact, from time to time, such
by-laws and regulations as may be required for the good order and government of said
society, not inconsistent with the Constitution of the United States or the Stare of Tennessee ;
and do and perform all other acts for their benefit not inconsistent with the privileges herein
granted.
6 8 EECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the old German order of the Farugari, known as
Jackson Lodge No. 11], he, and the same is herehy, incorporated, with the same powers
and privileges as conferred by the other sections of this act, and not inconsistent with the
laws of the State.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Hr.firt srntatires.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 10, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXIII.
AN ACT to encourage the planting, improvement, and other interests of the State of Ten
nessee, and for other purposes.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted ly the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Edward
Yardly, Thomas B. McElwee, Peter D. Luther, Wm. D. Whipple, T. W. Yardly, J. W.
Barker, and John A. Spooner, be, and are hereby, incorporated into a body politic and cor
porate, and their successors, under the corporate name and style of the " Tennessee Manu
facturing and Improvement Company."
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That' the capital stock of this company shall be two hundred
and fifty thousand dollars, divided into twenty -five thousand shares often dollars each, with
the privilege of increasing the capital stock to an amount not exceeding five million dollars.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That this company shall have a common seal, and by its
corporate name and style shall have power to transact all its business in its corporate name,
purchase and lease lands, raise and manufacture cotton, also oil from cotton seed, together
with the mining and dealing in coal, iron, marble, and any or all other valuable minerals :
Provided, This company shall not engage in the business of banking.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That this company shall have full power and authority to
open and make roads, by rail or otherwise, necessary for ingress and egress in its operations
in shipping their products to market ; said company being at its own expense in the same,
and rendering to owners of lands — provided said owners are willing to dispose of the lauds —
just compensation for the right of way and land so appropriated.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That this company shall have power to elect its own officers,
and establish by-laws, rules, and regulations for the government of the same in such man
ner as the company may think best ; the same not being repugnant to this act.
SKC. 6. Be it further enacted, That this corporation shall be subject to such taxes as may
be imposed on similar institutions in this State.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That, with a view to the relief of the travelling community
generally, and the incorporated turnpike companies of the State, permission is granted said
turnpike companies to collect tolls at their several gates; the proceeds of the same, after,
paying the expense of collection, shall be appropriated to the repair of said roads till the
same are made equal to the requirements of the original charter, when this section shall
cease to have any further effect.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That, to enable the Lebanon and Nashville Turnpike Com
pany to rebuild the bridges burned by General Forrest's command across Mill creek and
Stone's river, said company shall be allowed to charge double tolls so soon as'oue or both of
said bridges are completed, and so continue until the gross amount of the extra toll hereby
allowed shall create a fund sufficient to discharge the debts incurred in rebuilding said
bridges, and no longer, when the provisions of this section shall cease.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of />Y/>/v>v nt/rtives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker oftiie Senate.
Passed June 9, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
AN ACT to incorporate the New York and Tennessee Petroleum and Mining Company.
SECTION 1.* Be it enacted % the general aaaewhly of the State of Tennessee, That E. A.
Stillmnn, L. B. Ostrander, IVtcr Dick, Joseph S. Rains, M. L. Parkhurst, T. 8. Briscoe,
Edgar Hyke, Patrick Lavelle, Joseph Cochnnn, and C. J. Hall, (of whom the first five shall
constitute the directors for the first year,) be, and they are, together with their associates,
successors, and assigns, hereby constituted a body politic and corporate, by the name of
"The New York and Tennessee Petroleum and Mining Company," for the purpose of ex-
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 69
ploring for petroleum, rock oil, coal oil, salt, volatile substances, and all ores, minerals, and
metals, and for mining, pumping, or obtaining by any other process, refining and vending
the same, and for such purposes may have and hold in fee simple, or for a term of years, real
or personal estate ; may mortgage, transfer, or convey the same ; may purchase, construct,
or erect all necessary buildings, apparatus, roads, &c., for conducting their operations; may
have a common seal, and alter or renew the same at pleasure ; enjoy all the privileges and
immunities of similar corporations, and by that name may sue and be sued, plead and be
impleaded, appeal, prosecute, and defend in suits and actions, in any court of law or equity
in this or any other State ; may make such by-laws, rules, and regulations for accomplishing
the objects of the corporation as may be deemed best from time tcrtiine by a majority of the
board of directors : Provided, Such by-laws, rules, and regulations do not conflict with the
spirit and letter of this charter, the Constitution and laws of the United States, or of the
State of Tennessee.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That at any time within five years from the passage of this
act a majority of the above named persons may meet in the city of Nashville, and after
accepting this charter may proceed to open books for the subscription of stock.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of said company shall consist of not
less than fifty nor more than five hundred thousand dollars, to be divided into such number
of shares as the board of directors may determine.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That when twenty per cent, of the stock shall be subscribed
for, and as much as ten per cent, in cash, or real or personal estate in fee or leasehold (the
value of the same to be determined and agreed upon by the board of directors) shall be paid
into the treasury of the company, or be in its legal possession, the board shall proceed to
elect a president, secretary, treasurer, and such other officers as they may see fit.
SEC. ;">. Be it further enacted, That the directors shall require books to be kept containing
the names of the stockholders, the amount of their subscription, payments, transfers of stock,
and every fact relating to the stock, which, at all reasonable times, shall be subject to the
inspection of any and every stockholder.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That each stockholder shall be entitled to a certificate, or
certificates, of the stock he or she may own, which certificate shall be signed by the presi
dent and secretary of the company, and stamped with its seal.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That no transfers of stock shall be valid, until such transfer
is registered onthe books of the company by the prescribed officer or regular transferring agent.
SEC. 8. Be it further enacted, That the chief office of the company shall be at Nashville,
but the directors may establish a branch office at the field of operations, and elsewhere, if
the interests of the company are deemed to require it.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That the directors of the company shall not be less than five
in number, and after the first year shall be chosen by the stockholders.
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That nothing in this act shall be so construed as to allow
banking privileges under this corporation.
SEC. 11. Be itfuither enacted, That for any violation of this charter the legislature may
alter, change, or repeal this act.
SEC. 1& Be it further enacted, That C. Hamburgh, Thomas Hays, Sol. Barber, Jack Huff
man, James Killeben, Moses Oldburn, and M. D. Davin, of the county of Montgomery, be,
and they are hereby constituted, a body politic and corporate, by the name of "The
Montgomery and Cumberland River Coal and Oil Company," with all the rights, powers,
and privileges that are hereby granted to "The New York and Tennessee Petroleum and
Mining Company."
SEC. 13. Be itjurther enacted, That this act shall take effect from the date of its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Eepresentatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Passed June 10, 1865.
CHAPTER XXXV.
AN ACT to re-charter the Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Company.
SECTION 1. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Joseph
Vaulx, \Vm. T. Berry, Samuel J. Carter, Joseph B. Knowles, Samuel Watkins, John M. Hill,
James A. McAllister, or any three of them, be, and are hereby, authorized to open subscrib-
tions in Nashville, for the capital stock of said company, on Monday, the 25th day of June
next, and keep them open every day between the hours of 10 a. m. and 4 p. m., until Saturday,
4 o'clock p. m., the 30th day of the same mouth : Provided, The present stockholders in said
company shall have the right to subscribe for stock not exceeding the amount now held by
them in said company ; and the subscribers to the stock of the company, and their success
ors, shall be, and they are hereby declared to be, a body politic and incorporate, by the name
and style of the "Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Company," and by that name shall
70 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
so continue until the first day of January, eighteen hundred and ninety-five, and be capable
in law to sue and be sued, plead and be impleaded, answer and be answered, defend and be
defended, in all courts of law and equity, or elsewhere; and to make and use a common seal,
and the same to alter or renew at their pleasure; and generally to do and perform all things
relative to the. objects of this institution which now is or shall be lawful for any individual or
body politic or corporate to do.
SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That the capital stock of this company shall be one hundred
thousand dollars, to be increased at the pleasure of the stockholders, not to exceed three hun
dred thousand dollars, divided into shares of fifty dollars each: fifteen dollars on each share
shall be paid at the time ofsubscribiug, arid ten dollars on each share shall at the same time be
secured by negotiable notes with security, to be approved by the president and directors,
payable in one of the banks of Nashville, in ninety days from the date, to the president,
directors and company of said "Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Company:" the
balance of said stock shall be secured by notes not having more' than six months to run, with
personal security, to be approved by the president and directors.
SEC. 3. Be it further enacted, That so soon as five hundred shares are subscribed for and
paid, or secured to be paid, the company shall be competent to transact all kinds of business
for which it is established ; and it shall be lawful for the stockholders to meet as hereafter
directed and choose their directors.
SEC. 4. Be it further enacted, That said corporation is hereby authorized and empowered
to hold, possess, and acquire, and the same to sell and convey, all such real estate as may be
necessary for the transaction of its business, or which may be conveyed to said company for
the security of any debt which may become due or owing, or in satisfaction of any judgment
or decree rendered in favor of said company, and may make such regulations as may be
necessary and proper for the good government of said company.
SEC. 5. Be it further enacted, That the said Tennessee Marine and Fire Insurance Com
pany shall have full power and authority to make insurances on ships and other sea vessels,
and upon steamboats, flat-boats, and other river boats ; upon freight, seamen's wages, wares,
and merchandise, and gold and silver, bullion, or money, against all maritime risks of the
rivers, seas, or lakes ; and upon houses, stores, and other buildings, goods, wares, merchan
dise, furniture, and other articles against fire, and upon bottomry and respondentia, and fix
a premium thereon. And the said company shall have power — first, to take insurance on
lives ; second, to receive and hold land under grants, with general or special covenants,
so far as the same may be necessary for the transaction of their business ; or when the
same may be taken 'in payment of debts due the company, or purchased upon sale made
under any law of this State, so far as the same may be necessary to protect the rights of said
company, and the same again to sell, convey, and dispose of; and generally to do and per
form all other things necessary to promote these objects.
SEC. 6. Be it further enacted, That it shall be lawful for said company to invest any part
of its capital stock, money, fund, or other property, 'in any public stock or funded debt,
created or to be created, by or under any laws of the United Stales or this (or any other)
State, or in the stocks of any chartered bank in this State or of the United States, and the
same to sell or transfer at pleasure ; and again, to invest the same whenever and so often as
the exigencies of said company or a due regard for the safety of its funds shall require; or
they may loan the same, or any part thereof^ to individuals or public corporations, on real or
personal security, for such periods of time as the directors for the time being shall deem pru
dent and best for the interests of said company.
SEC. 7. Be it further enacted, That the real and personal estate, business, property, and
fund of said company, and the administration of its affairs, shall be under the direction,
management, and control of a board of eleven directors, each of whom shall be owners in
their own names of not less than ten shares of the capital stock of said company, citizens of
the United States and of this State.
SEC. 8. Be, it further enacted, That an election shall be held after the first election, for the
board of directors for said company, at the office of said company in Nashville, on the first
Monday in October in each year and every succeeding year, of which ten days' notice shall
be given in at least two of the newspapers printed in Nashville, each shareholder giving one
vote for each share of which he or she may be the owner, but no shareholder shall be entitled
to more than thirty-five votes ; and the persons so elected shall serve as directors for the next
succeeding twelve mouths ; and if at any time an election shall not be held as herein pro
vided, the said company shall not be dissolved ; but the hoard of directors for the time being
shall serve until another election takes place, which mav bo at anytime thereafter, the board
for the time being giving at least ten days' notice thereof in two of the newspapers printed at
Nashville; and the said directors are hereby authorized to fill any vacancy that may happen
through death, resignation, or otherwise.
SEC. 9. Be it further enacted, That the directors so elected shall elect one of their body
president of said company, who shall serve until the next annual election; and in case of his
death, resignation, or removal, the board shall appoint.a president pro tenipore ; they shall fill
all vacancies which mny occur in their own body, and shall appoint a secretary, and all sub
ordinate officers, clerks, agents, and servants of said company; fix their compensation, define
their powers, and prescribe their duties ; who shall hold their offices during the pleasure of
the board.
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 71
SEC. 10. Be it further enacted, That the president and four directors, or five directors in the
absence of the president, shall constitute a quorum to transact business for said company.
The board of directors shall have full power and authority to establish agencies in this State,
and any other State or States, appoint agents and other assistants fortonducting the business
of the same, and prescribe the mode and amount of their compensation ; to appoint from
their own body, risk and other committees, and establish by-laws and other regulations
deemed necessary for the proper management of the business of said company.
SEC. 11. Be it further enacted, That the stock of said company shall be held and considered
personal property, and it shall not be assigned or transferred, except on the books of the
company, and with the assent of two-thirds of the directors, and in the manner and forms
which shall be prescribed by the board of directors ; yet such stock to be liable for the satis
faction of debts, as prescribed by law.
SEC. 12. Be it further enacted, That on the first Mondays of October and April of each year
half-yearly statements shall be made exhibiting a true statement of the condition of the com
pany, which shall be laid before the stockholders, and such dividends may be made as the
president and directors may deem advisable, but they shall in no case diminish the capital stock.
SEC. 13. Be it further enacted, That if at any time a stockholder shall fail to pay such
instalments on his stock as may be called for at the time and in the manner prescribed, the
board of -directors, for the time being, shall have full power to declare such stock forfeited,
and shall, after giving ten days' notice thereof, offer the same for sale, at public auction, to
the highest bidder, for cash, and the number of shares so sold shall be transferred by the
president of the board of directors to the highest bidder, who shall, by virtue of such transfer,
become a member of said company, and if the sum bid be not equal to the amount paid and
the call for which it is sold, the company may proceed to collect the residue from the original
stockholder by suit in any court or tribunal of this State having jurisdiction thereof.
SEC. 14. Be it further enacted, That the board of directors shall have the power at any
time, when, in their opinion, the interest of the company requires it, to demand of any stock
holder additional security for such part of his stock as may remain unpaid, and if such stock
holder fail or refuse to give such additional security to the satisfaction of the board of directors,
they may declare such stock forfeited, and sell the same as provided for in the preceding section.
SEC. 15. Be it further enacted, That so soon as the amount of stock mentioned in the third
section of this act is subscribed for, and after five days' notice in two. of the newspapers
published in Nashville, signed by any three members of the company, the stockholders shall
meet at such time and place as may be appointed within the city of Nashville, and elect, by
ballot, the first board of directors — a plurality of votes given shall elect — and the persons so
elected shall, at their first meeting, elect one of themselves president of the board, who, with
said directors, shall serve until the first Monday in October, 1866, and until another board of
directors is elected.
SEC. 16. Be it further enacted, That no stockholder or member of this company shall be
answerable in his person or individual property for any contract or agreement of said com
pany, or for any losses, deficiencies, or failures of the capital stock of this company, but the
whole of said capital stock, together with all property, rights, and credits belonging thereto,
and nothing more, shall, at any time, be answerable for the demands against said company :
Provided, That any director, or directors, who shall sanction or aid in the continuance of
said company after it shall become insolvent and unable to meet its liabilities, and said fact
known to the directors, shall be held personally responsible for all deposits thereafter made,
or liabilities thereafter incurred, by said company.
SEC. 17. Be it further enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to
give the company hereby created the power of issuing bills of credit or exercising banking
privileges.
SEC. 18. Be it further enacted, That nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to
prevent the legislature from granting similar powers and privileges to similar associations.
SEC. 19. Be it further enacted, That the company hereby created shall have all the rights
and privileges that belong by existing laws or that may hereafter be granted to other insur
ance companies of this State.
SEC. 20. Be it further enacted, That should the requisite amount of stock not be subscribed
by the time specified in section one, those appointed to open .subscriptions, or any three of
them may, from time to time, re-open books for the subscription of stock in this company,
until the proper amount be taken : Provided, The time allowed for said subscriptions shall
terminate on the first day of December next.
SEC. 21. Be it further enacted, That a bonus to the State of half of one per centum upon
their capital be paid for the use of common schools in the State of Tennessee.
SEC. 22. Be it further enacted, That the law requiring the Union Insurance Company and
the Life Insurance Company, called "The East Tennessee Mutual and Trust Company,"
to deposit with the comptroller of the State twenty thousand dollars of six per cent, bonds of
the State be, and is herebv, repealed.
SEC. 23. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its passage.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Passed June 10, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
72 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
Resolutions.
NUMBER I.
JOINT RESOLUTION to compare the vote for governor.
Resolvedly the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the two houses meet in the
representatives' hall, on luesday the 4th instant, for the purpose of comparing the vote cast
m the election for governor, held on the 4th day of March, M>5, in the State of Tennessee
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted April 4, 18G5. 8ptalur °f the Senate'
NUMBER II.
A JOINT RESOLUTION of respect to the memory of Hon. Samuel K. McCammon.
1. Resolved by the general assernUy of the State of Tennessee, That we deeply regret the
death ot lion. Samuel McCammon, joint representative from the counties of Knox and Sevier •
that m his death this body has lost an experienced and useful member, the State a <rood
citizen, the government a firm and ardent supporter.
2. Resolved, That we sympathize with his bereaved wife and children, and as a token of
respect for his memory, that we wear the usual badge of mourning for thirty days
3. Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to his widow, and the same be
spread on the journal of this house.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives
SAMUEL R. RODGERS
Adopted April 4, 1865. ^er °f ** Senate'
NUMBER III.
SENATE RESOLUTION to print rules for its government.
Resolved, That one hundred copies of the rules of 1859 and 1860, adopted on yesterday
be published for the use of the senate. y
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted April 4, 1865. Speak*r °f th° Senate'
NUMBER IV.
SENATE RESOLUTION fixing number of papers to be taken by members.
Resolved, That the members of the senate select each three of the daily papers of this
city and no more, and that the same be paid for out of the State treasury.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted April 4, 1865. Speaker °fthe Senate'
NUMBER V.
SENATE RESOLUTION inviting General Thomas to a seat in the senate.
Resolved, That Major General George H. Thomas be invited to visit the senate and that
committee of three be appointed to notify him of this invitation.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
A , Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 4, 1865.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 73
NUMBER VI.
SENATE RESOLUTION to open the senate with prayer.
Resolved, That the daily proceedings of the senate shall be opened by prayer, and to this
end the speaker be authorized to invite the loyal clergymen present in the city to officiate.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 4, 1865.
NUMBER VII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to notify the governor of his election.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a committee of two be ap
pointed on the part of the senate, and such committee as the house of representatives may
appoint, to notify his excellency, Governor William G. Brownlow, of his election as gover
nor of the State of Tennessee, and request him to designate what time will suit him to be
inaugurated.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 4, 1865.
NUMBER VIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to inaugurate the governor.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate will meet the
house of representatives in the hall of the latter at 11 o'clock a. m.f on to-morrow, to parti
cipate in the inauguration ceremonies.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of tlie Senate.
Adopted April 5, 1865. •
NUMBER IX.
JOINT RESOLUTION adopting the amendments of the Constitution of the United States
abolishing slavery.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the amendments of the
Constitution of the United States proposed by the Congress of the United States on the first
day of February, 1865, in the words and figures following, to wit:
" Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States in Congress as
sembled, (two-thirds of both houses concurring,) That the following article be proposed to
the legislatures of the several States as an amendment to the Constitution of the United
States, which, when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of said States, shall be valid,
to all intents and purposes as a part of the Constitution, namely:
"ARTICLE VIII.
"SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime,
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States or
any place subject to their jurisdiction.
"SEC. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
" A. LINCOLN.
"Approved February ], 1865."
Be, and the same is hereby, ratified as a part of the Constitution of the United States of
America.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 5, 1865.
74 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
NUMBER X.
A JOINT RESOLUTION tendering the thanks of the general assembly of the State of
Tennessee to Gen. Thomas.
WHEREAS, The major general commanding the department of the Cumberland has directed
Brevet Brigadier General Donaldson, chief quartermaster, to give free transportation on
United States military railroads to senators and representatives of the State, and the quarter
master has requested, in writing, that the information be furnished to him : therefore,
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the thanks of the general
assembly of the State of Tennessee are hereby tendered to Major General Thomas, com
manding, for his kindness and liberality ; and that the clerk of the senate furnish to Brevet
Brigadier General Donaldson a list of the names of the senators, and that the clerk of the
house furnish a list of the names of the members of the house and their officers and reporters,
in compliance with his request.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 10, 1865.
NUMBER XI.
JOINT RESOLUTION tendering the thanks of the loyal people of Tennessee to the legis
lature of Ohio.
Whereas the legislature of Ohio did, on the 31st day of March, 1864, pass a joint reso
lution instructing their senators and requesting their representatives in Congress to use their
influence to have enacted proper laws to feed, clothe, and furnish transportation to the desti
tute people of East Tennessee, who by the ravages of war were compelled to leave their
homes and seek homes in a strange land amongst strangers ; and whereas said resolution
was, in the opinion of the people, of East Tennessee, one of the legitimate offsprings of the
patriotism and love of country of the gallant and self-sacrificing people ,,f Ohio, and strength
ened the bonds of friendship and brotherly love existing between the loyal people of Ten
nessee and Ohio : Therefore,
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the thanks of the
loyal people of the State of Tennessee are hereby tendered to the legislature of Ohio for this
manifestation of their confidence and esteem, and for this Christian and patriotic offer to
relieve the destitute of our State.
Resolved, That the secretary of State be, and he is hereby, instructed to transmit imme
diately a copy of this preamble and resolutions to the secretary of state of Ohio, with a
request that he lay the same before the legislature of said State now in session.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 11, 1865.
NUMBER XII.
JOINT RESOLUTION directing the State treasurer to pay' to members of the legislature
the amount due them.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the acting treasurer of the
State pay to each member of the senate and house of representatives, and the officers thereof,
the amount that may be due them when they apply for the same, and take a receipt for the
same, which shall be good at the close of the session in the settlement of their accounts.
WILLIAM 1 1 Kl SKULL,
Speaker of tin- llomn- of /.Y/m,w iitatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 11, 1865.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 75
NUMBER XIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to elect a secretary of state.
Whereas a vacancy has occurred in the office of secretary of state : Therefore,
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tenncsste, That the senate and house of
representatives meet in convention in the representative hall, on Monday, the 17th day of
April, at 2 o'clock, p. m., to fill said vacancy.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 12, 1865.
NUMBER XIV.
JOINT RESOLUTION to raise a committee on the State library.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a joint committee be ap
pointed on the State library, two on behalf of the senate and three on behalf of the house of
representatives.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 12, 1865.
NUMBER XV.
JOINT RESOLUTION to appoint a joint committee of the two houses to report joint rules
and regulations for the government of both houses.
Resolved ly the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the speaker of the senate
appoint a committee of three, to act in conjunction with such committee as may be appointed
on the part of the house of representatives, to report joint rules and regulations for the govern
ment of the two houses.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 12, 1865.
NUMBER XVI.
JOINT RESOLUTION to raise a joint committee to redistrict the State.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a committee of five on the
part of the senate, and such number as the house of representatives may appoint, shall con
stitute a joint committee, who shall report a bill redistricting the State for members of Con
gress, and senators and representatives to the State legislature, as required by law.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 12, 1865.
NUMBER XVII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to appoint a committee to investigate the past and present condition
and management of the penitentiary.
Resolved ly the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the committee on the peni
tentiary be, and they are hereby, constituted a joint committee to investigate the past and
present condition and management of the penitentiary, and that they be authorized to send
for persons and papers.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted April 14, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
76 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
NUMBER XVIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION appointing a committee to report what action should be had with
reference to the death of President Abraham Lincoln.
Whereas the members of the general assembly have learned with sadness and sorrow of
the melancholy death, by assassination, of Abraham Lincoln, late President of the United
States, therefore be it —
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That there be a joint committee,
of five in the senate and five in the house of representatives, to be appointed by the re
spective speakers, to take into consideration and report what action should be taken by the
legislature on the mournful and sorrowful occasion.
WILLIAM HELSKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 17, 1865.
NUMBER XIX.
JOINT RESOLUTION expressing the sense of the general assembly on the death of Presi
dent Abraham Lincoln.
Whereas the death of Abraham Lincoln, President of the United States, in the full vigor
of his physical and mental faculties, by the hand of an assassin, is a bereavement that ex
tends to all parts of the nation ; and particularly does it affect the people of those States
who have for years been suffering from the weight of military rule, made necessary by the
rebellion, and who were endeavoring to restore their political relationship to the government
of the United States ;
Whereas, in his death, the nation mourns the loss of one of her most gifted and worthy
sons — the "highest officer, the President, and slain because he was the President of the
United States, it is right and proper that the general assembly of the State of Tennessee
should express, as such, in an appropriate manner, its sorrow at his death ; its condemna
tion of the assassin who committed it, and the men who plotted the hellish deed ; its appre
ciation of the high intellectual, moral, and social qualities which ever characterized his pri
vate life ; and its approval of the large-hearted patriotism which marked his administration,
showing that his course of action was impelled by humanity, rather than calculation ;
Whereas the laborious duties of the executive office during the trying times of the great
rebellion gave ample scope to a heart full of sympathy and warm affections. As President,
Le had a wide field for manly action. There was displayed his love of the right and his
scorn for the wrong. Here his large-heartedness was made conspicuous, and his generosity
and charity bore fruit. He was, as President, a model. The honors he coveted were hon
orable. With a wise and lofty patriotism, unsurpassed by any, he applied the powers of his
great mind to work out the true principles upon which the union of the States could be pre
served. The measures proposed were as nothing, unless they were calculated to accomplish
the end so earnestly desired. His recommendations were always directed towards its main
tenance, and were uniformly enforced with a facility and aptness of illustration which seemed
inexhaustible ;
Whereas Abraham Lincoln's originality of manner, his humor, wit, sarcasm, and wondrous
powers of ridicule, were weapons particularly his own, which no one else could imitate. Add
to these qualities courage, will, and indomitable persistency of purpose, which never flagged
or faltered, and he was a power felt and acknowledged by the nation. Take him all in all,
it will be long ere we look upon his like again ;
Whereas he is dead ; but the days of his pilgrimage, although in troublesome times, were
full of honor, love, and troops of friends. The nation mourns. Peace be with him. There
fore,
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That, in the death of Abra
ham Lincoln, President of the United States, we wo urn in heart-felt sorrow the loss of the
nation.
Resolved, That in token of his memory we wear the usual badge of mourning, and that
our respective halls be draped in the habiliments of woe.
Resolved, That we cannot find language strong enough to express our condemnation of
the assassin who performed, ami the conspirators who plotted, the deed, and heartily de
sire that they meet a speedy and deserved punishment.
Resolved, That we deeply condole with the family of the deceased in this the hour of
their great bereavement, and fully sympathize with them in their terrible affliction and over
whelming grief.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 7 7
Resolved. That a copy of these resolutions be forwarded to the family of the deceased by
the secretary of state.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker uf the, Senate.
Adopted April 17, 1865.
NUMBER XX.
JOINT RESOLUTION to support the administration of President Johnson.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That confiding- in the patriotism
and integrity of Andrew Johnson, we 'will give his administration of the government the same
cordial support accorded by the loyal people of the nation to his predecessor.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 17, 1865.
NUMBER XXI.
JOINT RESOLUTION requesting the governor of the State to communicate certain facts
to the President of the United States.
Believing that the time has arrived in the political status of the State of Tennessee when
the loyal people of said State are anxious and desirous that civil law and order should be re
stored and prevail throughout the borders of the whole State, and that they should once more
be permitted to resume their political and social relations with the government of the United
States of America — to accomplish this end, therefore, be it
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That his excellency, the governor
of the State of Tennessee, is hereby requested to make known to the President of the United
States the actions and proceedings of the late State convention, begun and held in Nashville
on the 9th day of January, 1865, with regard to the amendments to the constitution of the
State of Tennessee ; also of the ratification of said amendments by the loyal people of said
State, at the ballot-box, on the 2'2d day of February last.
Resolved, further, That his excellency, the governor, also make known to the President of
the United States the action of the present legislature of the State of Tennessee upon the
adoption of the amendment to the constitution of the United States ; and that he respectfully
request the President of the United States to make known to the loyal citizens of the State
of Tennessee, by proclamation or otherwise, that the State of Tennessee be no longer con
sidered in a state of insurrection, and that the loyal people of said State be granted all the
rights and privileges that are granted or allowed to the loyal citizens of any of the sister
States that are not considered in a state of rebellion against the government of the United
States.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 21, 1865.
L J. ^
NUMBER XXII.
JOINT RESOLUTION allowing mileage to Messrs. Grantham and Tighe.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That Willis Grantham, the appli
cant for the seat of Furney Jones, from the county of Claiborne, and Samuel T italic, the
contestant for the seat of M. T. Ryder, from the county of Shelby, be allowed their mileage
and per diem up to this day, and that the amount so appropriated be included in the general
appropriation bill; it appearing to the satisfaction of the legislature that their claims were
meritorious, if not legal.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 22, 1865.
78 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
NUMBER XXIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect a comptroller.
Whereas a vacancy has occurred in the office of the comptroller of the treasury ; There
fore, be it
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate and house of
representatives meet in convention on Tuesday, the 25th day of April, at 10 o'clock a. mv
to nil said vacancy.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 22, 1865.
NUMBER XXIV.
JOINT RESOLUTION raising1 a joint committee on ways and means.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the committee on finance
and ways and means of the senate, and the committee on ways and means of the house of
representatives, shall constitute a joint committee on ways and means.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the, House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 24, 1865.
NUMBER XXV.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect registers of land offices.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate will meet the
house of representatives in the hall of the latter on the 29th instant, at 11 o'clock a. m., to
elect registers of the land offices for the districts of Eastern, Middle, Western, and the moun
tain district of Tennessee.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 24, 1865.
NUMBER XXVI.
JOINT RESOLUTION for the benefit of V. Myers.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the comptroller of the
treasury of the State pay V. Myers, contestant for the seat in the 4th senatorial district, the
mileage and per diem that would have been due him if he had been admitted t»> his seat.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 24, 1865.
NUMBER XXVII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect secretary of state.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate meet the house
of representatives in joint convention in the hall of the latter on Thursday, the 2?th instant,
at 1U o'clock, for the purpose of electing a secretary of state.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Rrprt.^ntftives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 23, 1865.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 79
NUMBER XXVIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect a treasurer and secretary of state.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate meet the house
of representatives in the hall of the latter on the 27th instant, at ]0 o'clock, to elect a State
treasurer at the same time of the election of secretary of state.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
AGopted April 25, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
NUMBER XXIX.
JOINT RESOLUTION in regard to the State library.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the State library be
opened during the meeting of the general assembly, from 8 o'clock a. m., until 5 o'clock p.
in., continuously.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted April 27, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
NUMBER XXX.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect Senators to the United States Con
gress.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate meet the house
of representatives in the hall of the latter on Thursday, 4th of May next, at 10 o'clock, for
the purpose of electing two Senators to the next Congress of the United States.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted April 24, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
NUMBER XXXI.
A JOINT RESOLUTION to declare the office of comptroller of the treasury of the State of
Tennessee vacant.
Whereas the two houses met in convention in the representative hall on the 25th of April
and voted for a comptroller ; and whereas a majority of the votes cast in said election was
for Hon. J. R. Dillon for said office ; and whereas part of the tenth section of the second
article of the constitution of the State of Tennessee is as follows, viz : "No senator or rep
resentative shall, during the time for which he was elected, be eligible to any office or place
of trust, the appointment of which is vested in the executive or the general assembly, except
to the office of trustee to a literary institution;" and whereas it appears from the above
recited clause of the State constitution that Mr. Dillon was not eligible to said office on ac
count of his holding a seat in this legislature : Therefore,
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That we now declare the
office of comptroller of the treasury of the State of Tennessee now vacant and should be
filled by the election of some competent and eligible person to fill said vacancy.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 29, 1865.
DUMBER XXXII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect a public printer.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the members of the senate
and the house of representatives meet in the hall of the house on Tuesday, the 2d day of
May, for the purpose of electing a public printer.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 29, 1865.
80 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
NUMBER XXXIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect a State librarian.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the two houses meet in
convention in the hall of the house of representatives on Tuesday, the second day of May,
at 10 o'clock a. m., for the purpose of electing a State librarian.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted April 29, 1865.
NUMBER XXXIV.
JOINT RESOLUTION offering a reward of five thousand dollars for the apprehension of
Isham G. Harris.
Whereas treason is the highest crime known to the laws of the land, and no one is pre
sumed to understand the true meaning of the term better than governors of States, and cer
tainly no one should be held to a more strict account for their treason ; and
Whereas the State of Tennessee, before the rebellion, enjoyed a high social, moral, and
political position, and had the well-earned reputation of the Volunteer State ; and
WThereas by the treason of one Isham G. Harris, ex-governor of Tennessee, the State has
lost millions of dollars, and thousands of the young men of the State have been killed in
battle and died of disease, and thousands of the middle-aged and old men have been murdered
and imprisoned, and defenceless women and children driven from the State, heart-broken and
penniless; and
Whereas the voters of Tennessee did, in the month of February, 1861, by a majority of
sixty thousand, repudiate treason and rebellion, but the aforesaid Isham G. Harris, well
knowing the true sentiments of the State upon treason and rebellion, and wholly disregard
ing the overwhelming expression of popular sentiment, did use his position as governor as
aforesaid, to put the State in rebellion and hostility to the government of the United States,
and is guilty of treason, perjury, and theft, and is responsible to a great extent for the war,
misery and death of thousands of the citizens of the State, and for the desolation of the
same from east to west and from north to south ; the cries of the wounded and dying, the
wail of the widow, the weeping of the orphan, come to us upon every breeze, imploring us
to punish the instigators of the rebellion : Therefore, for the reasons aforesaid, be it
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the governor of the State
is hereby authorized and instructed to offer a reward of five thousand dollars for the appre
hension and delivery to the civil authorities of the State the aforesaid Isham G. Hams; and
he shall fully describe said fugitive from justice, and shall make publication for three months,
or longer if he may think proper, in one newspaper in each of the grand divisions of the
State, and a paper published in Richmond, Virginia ; Raleigh, North Carolina; Savannah,
Georgia ; Little Rock, Arkansas ; New Orleans, Louisiana ; and shall publish the preamble
with his proclamation.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 1, 1865.
NUMBER XXXV.
A JOINT RESOLUTION to meet the house in convention to elect a State comptroller.
Resolved by the trc.nrrul nxscmlly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate meet the house
of representatives in joint convention on Thursday, the second day of May, at ten o'clock,
to elect a State comptroller.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 1, 1865.
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 8 1
NUMBER XXXVI.
JOINT RESOLUTION to raise a joint committee to wait on the national banks of the State.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a committee of three on the
part of the senate, and such committee as the house of representatives may appoint, shall con
stitute a joint, committee to ascertain what, if any, arrangements can be made with the
national banks in each division of the State to receive the public funds of the State and dis
burse the same, as is now provided by law for the Bank of Tennessee and branches.
Resolved, That said committee report as early as possible.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 2, 1865.
NUMBER XXXVII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect an entry- taker for the Ocoee district.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate and house of
representatives meet in the hall of the latter on Tuesday, the second day of May next, for the
purpose of electing a register and entry-taker for the Ocoee district,in the State of Tennessee.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 2, 1865.
NUMBER XXXVIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION appointing commissioners to settle with the Louisville and Nash
ville railroad.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the comptroller, secretary
of state, attorney general of the State, and commissioner of public roads of the State of Ten
nessee, be, and are hereby, constituted commissioners, on behalf of the State of Tennessee,
to meet and make a settlement with the Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, and
make a report thereof to this session of the general assembly, if practicable ; if not, to the
next session of the same.
Be it further resolved, That if such settlement cannot be made by said commissioners with
said Louisville and Nashville railroad as shall be satisfactory to them, the fact shall be made
known to the governor of the State, and he may direct the attorney general of the State to
institute such legal proceedings against said company as may be necessary to protect the in
terests of the State.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 5, 1865.
NUMBER XXXIX.
JOINT RESOLUTION applying to the President for troops.
Whereas the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitution of the United States
provides that the United States shall guarantee to every State of this Union a republican form
of government, and shall protect each of them against invasion, and on application of the
legislature, or of the executive when the legislature cannot be convened, against domestic
violence ; and
Whereas the State of Tennessee is one of the States of this Union, and is constantly *i-
vadcd by armed bands of guerillas from the so-called Confederate States, and subject at all
times to violence by domestic traitors, murdering and robbing the loyal citizens, stealing and
carrying off their property, and hindering, delaying, and preventing the execution of the civil
laws of the State ; and
Whereas the greater portion of the young and middle-aged loyal men are in the United
States army, and the old men have neither arms nor ammunition, consequently defence-
6T
82 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
less, and the financial condition of the State is such that it is impossible to create a fond to
clothe, arm, feed, and pay troops for State defence, to meet the usual expenditure of the State,
and provide for the payment of the interest accrued on the bonds of the State, together with
Tennessee's portion of the twenty million apportioned amongst the States by an act of Con
gress of August, 186 J, will be all, if not more than the people can possibly meet: Therefore,
be it
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the legislature of the State
aforesaid, by virtue of the authority of the fourth section of the fourth article of the Constitu
tion of the United States aforesaid, do make this application to his excellency Andrew John
son, President of the United States, and commander-in-chief of the army of the same, to place
umder the direction and control of the proper military authority, in pursuance of the Consti
tution and laws of the United States, and under the control and direction of such authority
as in his opinion may be right and proper, a sufficient number of Tennessee troops now in
the United States service to repel invasion, and drive the invader from the State, and sup
press any and all violence by armed domestic traitors, to protect loyal citizens, and aid and
assist the civil officers in executing the civil laws of the State.
Resolved, That the secretary of state shall, immediately after the passage of this resolution,
transmit a copy of the same, together with the preamble, under the great seal of the State, to
the President of the United States, asking him to notify the legislature now in session, at as
early a day as convenient, what action he will take in the premises.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 9, 1865.
NUMBER XL.
A JOINT RESOLUTION appointing a committee to memorialize Congress.
Whereas, by the presence of the federal troops in the State of Tennessee, rendered neces
sary by the armed resistance to the laws of the United States of a portion of its citizens,
many military supplies have been taken from the loyal citizens of the State in an irregular
manner, and much damage has been done to the property of unconditionally loyal citizens ; and
Whereas, by article five of the amendments to the Constitution of the United States, it is de
clared that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation ; and
Whereas the loyal citizens of Tennessee are entitled to the same consideration and protec
tion as are the loyal citizens of any other State in the Union : Therefore, be it
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a committee of two on the
part of the senate, and five on the part of the house, be appointed to prepare a memorial to
the Congress of the United States, setting forth the obligations of the government of the
United States to pay the loyal citizens of Tennessee for property taken from them by officers
and soldiers of the United States, and paying that some legislation be had by Congress,
making provisions to enable those loyal citizens who may have sustained losses in the man
ner already described to prove such losses, and that an appropriation be made by Congress
to pay such loyal claimants.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of tlie Senate.
Adopted May 10, 1865.
NUMBER XLI.
RESOLUTION of inquiry in relation to the Hermitage property.
Resolved, That his excellency the governor be, and he is hereby, requested" to communi
cate to the senate all the information in his possession in reference to the present status of
the Hermitage property, including an account of its purchase by the State, the amount paid
for it, and all subsequent legislation in regard to it, and what acts of ownership have been
exercised over it by the State, and all other information he may deem proper, as well as any
recommendation he may have to offer regarding its future management.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 12, 1864.
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 83
NUMBER XLIL f
JOINT RESOLUTION raising a joint committee on the elective franchise.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the judiciary committee of
the senate and the judiciary committee of the house of representatives compose a joiut com
mittee on the subject of the elective franchise, and be instructed to bring in a bill on that sub
ject to-morrow lor action on that day.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R RODGERS,
Speaker of the. Senate.
Adopted May 16, 1885,
NUMBER XLIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION requesting the governor to lay before the legislature certain cor
respondence.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the governor be, and is
hereby, requested to lay before the legislature all correspondence, if any, he may have had
with James T. Dunlap, late comptroller of the treasury, relative to a return of the archives
©f the State ; also with Vernon K, Stevenson, president of the Nashville and Chattanooga
Railroad Company, relative to said road ; also, with Graiiville C. Torbett, late president of
the Bank of Tennessee, relative to a return of the assets of said bank, if, in the opinion of
his excellency, the said information will not be detrimental to the public welfare.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGfERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 19, 1865.
NUMBER XLIV.
A JOINT RESOLUTION declaring certain civil offices vacant, and providing for filling of tho
same.
Whereas a waar has existed in the State of Tennessee for four years, and during the
greater part of that time all civil tribunals luive been closed, and most of the officers holding
offices have wilfully abandoned their offices, and neglected or refused to perform the duties
incumbent upon them by the laws of the land, and in pursuance of the Constitution of the
United States and of the State of Tennessee ; and whereas many of the civil offices thus
abandoned and vacated have been filled by appointments made by the acting governor of
the State since the 7th day of March, 1862, which should be ratified and confirmed : There
fore,
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That all civil offices of the
State of Tennessee, to which their respective incumbents were elected and qualified previous
to the 6th day of May, 1861 , and who, after such election arid qualification, have voluntarily
abandoned their offices and AVI 1 fully neglected and refused to perform the duties required of
them by law, are hereby declared vacant.
Resolved further, That all of the offices in the State of Tennessee that have been filled by
appointment and election under the authority of the usurped State government, after the
declared independence of the State of Tennessee, and after the 6th day of May, 1861, are
hereby declared vacant.
Resolved further, That all civil officers who have beea appointed since the 7th day of May,
1862, by his excellency Andrew Johnson, acting governor of the State, or who have been
elected ana qualified under his various proclamations, are hereby ratified and confirmed,
and they shall continue to hold and exercise the functions of their respective offices until suc
cessors shall be elected and qualified as prescribed by the laws and constitution of the Stato
of Tennessee and of the United States.
Resolved further, That his excellency William G. Brownlow, governor of the State, be,
and he i.s hereby, requested, as soon as in his opinion he deems it advisable, to issue his
proclamation ordering elections to be held in the respective counties of the State where such
vacancies have occurred, requiring the people of the State to fill such vacancies in pursuance
of the laws of the State ; and in the mean time, until such elections are held, that he proceed
and fill the vacancies by the appointment of suitable and proper persons until their successors
84 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
shall be elected and qualified ; and the governor is clothed with'full power to appoint special
officers to hold sa^d elections for each county, with full power to appoint deputies to perform
all the duties as now required by law, where no regular officers are performing civil duties.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Approved May 20, 1865.
NUMBER XLV.
JOINT RESOLUTION to raise a joint committee to examine into the condition of the
Bank of Tennessee and branches.
Resohcd ly the general isscmbly of the State of Tennessee, That a joint committee of one
from the senate and two from the house be appointed to examine the condition of the Bank
of Tennessee and branches — a committee to the principal bank and one to each branch, with
liberty to send for persons and papers, and that they report to the regular session in October.
Committee on the part of the senate appointed under the above resolution. — Rogersville,
Senator McKinney ; Athens, Senator McElwee ; Sparta. Senator Bosson ; Columbia, Senator
Fiierson ; Knoxville, Senator Rodgers; Trenton, Senator Hall; Memphis, Senator Smith ;
Clarksville, Senator. Peart ; Shelby villc, Senator Spence; Suminerville, Senator Hurst.
Committee of the house. — Principal bank at Nashville, Messrs. Cooper and Lewis; branch
at Rogersville, Messrs. Willis and Minuis ; branch at Knoxville, Messrs. Heiskell and Don
aldson ; branch at Athens, Messrs. Henderson and Hood ; brancn at Sparta, Messrs. Ander
son and Faulkner ; branch at Columbia, Messrs. Arnell and Gilmer ; branch at Shelbyville,
Messrs. Mullens and Steele ; branch at Trenton, Messrs. McNair and Norman; branch at
Memphis, Messrs. Richards and Rider ; branch at Somerville, Messrs. Smith and Warren ;
branch at Clarksville, Messrs. Wines and Mulloy.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 20, 1865.
NUMBER XLVI.
JOINT RESOLUTION to authorize the secretary of state to take charge of the senate
chamber and hall of the house of representatives.
Resolved ly the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the secretary of state, at
the close of this session, shall have charge of the senate chamber, representative hall, and
committee rooms, and cause all stationery, furniture, and other articles belonging to said
halls, to be carefully preserved for the use of the next general assembly, and shall be allowed
by the comptroller all necessary expenses incurred in preserving the same, and a reasonable
compensation for his services.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 22, 1865.
NUMBER XLVII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to meet in convention to elect a keeper of the penitentiary.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the senate meet the house
of representatives on Monday, iiUtii instant, at 11 o'clock a. in., for the purpose of electing a
keeper of the penitentiary. '
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of 7«Y present atives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 22, 1865.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 85
NUMBER XLVIII. «
JOINT RESOLUTION of thanks to Major General Stoneman.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the thanks of the loyal
people of the State are due to Major General George Stoneman for the great skill and energy
with which he conducted his two great raids into Virginia and North Carolina, by which he
destroyed millions of dollars' worth of the enemy's means of warfare, capturing many of their
forces, and effectually crippling them in their operations, and that he has our thanks for tho
ability and success with which he has conducted military operations in East Tennessee, and
that he be furnished with a copy of this resolution, officially signed.
WILLIAM HELSKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 22, 1865,
NUMBER XLIX.
JOINT RESOLUTION requesting information from the bondholders of Tennessee bonds.
Whereas, in order to provide for the payment of the State debt when due and payable, and
for the interest on the same now due, it is desired to know the amounts of State bonds out
standing, the numbers, dates, and names of holders :
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the comptroller give public
notice in one of the public prints of the cities of Nashville, Tennessee; Cincinnati, Ohio;
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; New York, and Boston Massachusetts, requesting each bond
holder of the State bonds of the State of Tennessee to transmit to said comptroller, at his
office at Nashville, a statement of his name, residence, the date and number of each bond,
and the amount and character of said bond ; and that he make report thereof to this general
assembly at its next session.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate .
Adopted May 22, 1865.
NUMBER L.
JOINT RESOLUTION directory to the attorney general of the State.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the attorney general of the
State of Tennessee be, and he hereby is, directed to institute inquiry into aud investigate
the title to the property situated in the city of Nashville, fronting on College and Cherry
streets in South Nashville, known as the Gun Factory, and recently used as hospital No. 1 ;
and if the title is in the State of Tennessee, the said attorney general defend, on behalf of the
State, the suit now pending in the United States court to libel and confiscate said property,
and secure, if the same may be done, said property for the State.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of t!t£ Senate.
Adopted May 22, 1865.
NUMBER LI.
JOINT RESOLUTION taking charge of the assets of the Bank of Tennessee.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the governor, the secre
tary of state, and comptroller be, and they are, directed to take charge of the assets of tho
Bank of Tennessee, and the archives of the State, and receipt for the same.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 29, 1865.
86
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
NUMBER LIT.
A JOINT RESOLUTION providing for the number of acts and journals of the legislature
of 1865 to be printed for distribution.
SECTION 1. Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee^ That there
shall be printed of the acts of the present session of the legislature, for distribution among
the several counties in the State, as follows : For every justice of the peace, one eopy ; for
each sheriff, one copy ; for each circuit court clerk, one copy ; for each county court clerk,
one copy ; for each chancery court clerk, one copy ; for each county trustee, county register,
coroner, ranger, entry-taker, surveyor, and poor-house commissioner, one copy; for the use
of the trustees of academies in each county, one copy of the acts and journals ; for each of
the clerks and doorkeepers of the house and senate, one copy.
SEC. 2. Be it further resolved, That there shall also be printed, for distribution as afore
said, one copy of the journals of each branch of the legislature for each civil district in each
county in this State, to wit :
Counties.
*
§
<4H
O
*
^
CO
t*H
O
o
te
>-j
tt
C*H
O
6
fr
Counties.
to
1
CM
O
1
No. of S. J.
I-S
B
*S
1
Anderson
34
19
19
Macon
35
19
12
Bledsoe ... . ......
39
14
14
McNairy
43
16
16
Blount
45
17
17
Madison --
47
18
18
Bradley
37
13
13
Overton
41
14
14
Bedford
50
19
19
Obion .
37
13
13
31
10
10
Polk
31
10
10
Campbell
39
14
14
Putnam
43
16
16
Carter
33
11
11
Perry
33
11
IT
35
T>
12
Rhea
39
10
10
Cocke
35
19
12
Roane .
46
16
16
Cannon
35
12
12
Robertson
45
17
17
Cumberland
30
10
10
Rutherford .
61
9,5
".-
Cheatham.
35
19
12
Stewart ...... . ......
35
19,
19,
Coffee
38
13
13
Suinner
50
19
19
Carroll
51
19
19
Sevier
35
19
19,
Davidson
68
94
24
Scott
35
19
19,
DeKalb
43
16
16
Sullivan
47
18
18
Dver .
39
14
14
Sequatchie. .
97
8
8
Decatur
33
11
11
Smith
55
99
99.
Dickson
35
1f>
12
Shelby
40
14
14
Hancock
39
14
14
Tipton
37
13
13
Hawkins
46
17
17
Union
30
12
1*>
Hamilton
49
18
18
Van Buren _
31
10
10
Hardin
39
14
14
Wilson .
65
25
9%
Hickman
44
15
15
"\Varren
43
1C.
16
Humphreys .
35
19
12 1
Wayne
47
17
17
Hardcman
45
17
17
White
37
13
13
Henderson
54
91
91
Williamson
59
94
94
Henry
51
90
20
Washington
47
18
1R
Hay wood
45
17
17
Weakley . ...
48
18
18
Jefferson
45
16
16
Franklin
41
1(5
16
Johnson
31
10
10 1
Fentress
35
12
19
Jackson
48
18
18
Favetto .. .... .... ...
43
15
15
Knox ...... ........
5*>
19
19
Grainier .. ......
43
16
16
McMinn . .
4(3
17
17
Green
63
25
95
.Meiers
07
Q
g
31
10
10
37
13
13
56
21
°1
Moproe ..... ..............
51
90
20
Giles
55
20
90
Morgan
35
1*>
12
Lawrence
40
15
15
Maury
04
25
25
39
11
11
Montgomery
51
24
24
65
25
05
Marshall
49
15
15
39
10
10
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 87
SEC. 3. Be it further resolved, That there shall also be printed and bound for each mem
ber of the senate and house of representatives one copy of the acts and one copy of the
journals, both of the house of representatives and the senate ; for the office of the secretary
of state, two hundred copies of the acts and fifty bound copies of the journal of each house ;
for each department of the government of the United States and for the United States library,
one copy of the acts ; for each judge of the supreme court, for each judge of the circuit
court, for each judge of the criminal court, for each chancellor, for each county judge
in the State, for each judge of the criminal and common law court in this State, one copy
of the acts ; for each of the supreme and criminal court clerks, one copy of the acts ; for each
attorney general, one copy of the acts ; for the ti'easurer and comptroller, one copy of the
acts; and for each State and Territory and the District of Columbia, two copies of the acts.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS
Speaker of the Senate,
Adopted May 29, 1865.
NUMBER LIIL
A JOINT RESOLUTION in relation to a certain class of Tennessee Union soldiers who
lost their lives in the army of the Union during the rebellion.
Whereas a large number of Tennessee soldiers have died and been killed in battle while
serving the United States against a hostile rebel foe, without having been duly mustered
into service, and there being great deficiency in the records of the State pertaining thereto:
Therefore,
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the adjutant general
of the State be, and he is hereby authorized to perfect — in a well-bound book to be kept for
that purpose — a complete record of all Tennessee soldiers who have belonged to the United
States service during the present rebellion, with such historical remarks as will enable them
or their families to obtain such bounty, arrears of pay, &c., as may be due them, and that
he be allowed such compensation for his services as may be determined by subsequent legis
lation.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted May 29, 1S65.
NUMBER LIV.
JOINT RESOLUTION directory to the trustees of the Tennessee hospital for the insane.
Whereas William A. Cheatham, M. D., late superintendent and physician of Tennessee
hospital for the insane, has been called upon, by a resolution of the Senate, to communicate
a detailed statement of the financial operations of that institution from the first day of Octo
ber, 1861, to the 3Jst day of July, 1862, during which period there is no report known to this
general assembly of the institution, and there being other reasons why there should be an
investigation of its affairs, and the late superintendent and physician having failed or refused
to notice the resolution referred to above : Therefore,
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the board of trustees
are hereby instructed to investigate the books and accounts and management of Tennessee
hospital for the insane, during the administration of William A. Cheatham, late superin
tendent and physician, and power is hereby given to send for persons and papers, and report
the result to the next session of this legislature.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of tlie House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted June 2, 1865.
NUMBER LV
JOINT RESOLUTION appointing a committee to wait on the major general commanding
the department, and make inquiries in relation to certain assessments.
Whereas it appears from the orders issued by the various military commanders of the
United States, at different places in this State, that they are levying on persons who are
permitted to trade under privileges granted to them by the authorities of the United States,
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
and of the State of Tennessee, and collecting considerable sums of money; and whereas it
^^to^±^^^L±?, is in accorduace with the 5*- *f the *£*
Bezt resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a committee of three
ontfie part of the house, and two on the part of the senate/be appointed to call on the
major general commanding the department, and ascertain Whether such assessment are
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives,
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted June 3, 1865. Speaker <* the Senate
NUMBER LVI.
A JOINT RESOLUTION appointing a committee to settle with Hon. Joseph S. Fowler
late comptroller and acting treasurer of the State.
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That a joint committee of
three on the part of the house, and two on the part of the senate, be appointed to settle with
the Hon. Joseph 8. Fowler, late comptroller and acting treasurer of the State
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
A , , -, -r Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted June 5, 1865.
NUMBER LVII.
JOINT RESOLUTION directory to the secretary of state.
Resolved ly the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the secretary of state is
hereby authorized to furnish the clerks of the courts of record of this State the Code of Ten
nessee and the acts of the general assembly of the State, in all the counties where the books
tu said officers have been destroyed.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted June 6, 18G5. Speaker °fthe Stnatt'
NUMBER LVIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION requesting the governor to employ an attorney-at-law.
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the governor be and
is hereby requested to employ an attorney-at-law for and in behalf of the State, to prosecute
and defend all suits now pending in the circuit court of Davidson county, now in session iu
the name of or against the Bank of Tennessee, and to be allowed such compensation as
the governor may think reasonable.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted June 6, 1865. Speal"r °J th* Scnate'
NUMBER LIX.
JOINT RESOLUTION directory to the comptroller.
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the comptroller be, and
s hereby, instructed to prepare and have printed a circular containing all the subjects of tax
ation, together with the rates of taxation, and forward two copies of the same to the clerks of
the various county courts of -this State, and that the same be done immediately.
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 89
Be it further resolved, That the secretary of state be and is hereby instructed to have pub
lished in one newspaper published in the city of Nashville, the Chattanooga Gazette, Kuox-
ville Whig, Flag of the Union, and the Memphis Argus, the revenue bill passed by the legis
lature at its present session, for four successive weeks.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted June 7, 1865.
NUMBER LX.
JOINT RESOLUTION directory to the keeper of the penitentiary.
Whereas there are now confined in the penitentiary many convicts who have acquired no
trades, owing to the difficulties of procuring material for them to work up, and that they are
unemployed, because the inspectors and keepers have no power to employ them beyond the
prison walls unless authorized to do so : Therefore,
Be it resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the inspectors and
keepers of the penitentiary are hereby authorized and empowered, whenever they may deem
it advisable to do so, to employ the convicts in such work about the capitol, or otherwise
outside of the prison walls, as may be by them deemed advisable, looking to the safety of the
convicts and the best interests of the State.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted June 9, 1865.
NUMBER LXI.
JOINT RESOLUTION postponing the business before the general assembly.
Whereas the present session of the legislature of Tennessee has been continued and
protracted beyond our desire or expectation, from the necessity of circumstances and the wel
fare of the State ; and
Whereas the business under consideration is of minor importance, and does not abso
lutely demand our immediate attention : Therefore,
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That all business which may be
before the respective houses on the 10th inst., at 12 o'clock m., will be postponed until the
October session, and that the general assembly of the State of Tennessee adjourn on Mon
day, the 12th of June, 1865, to meet the first Monday in October, 1865.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted June 10, 1865.
NUMBER LXII.
JOINT RESOLUTION to have published in certain newspapers an act to limit the elective
franchise.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the act to limit the elec
tive franchise be published once a week from June 12 until the 6th day of August next, in
the following papers, to wit : Jonesborough Union Flag, Knoxville Whig, Chattanooga Ga
zette, Press and Times, Nashville Union, Nashville Dispatch, Memphis Argus, the paper
published at Kingston, and the paper published at Greenville, and also any German paper
published in Nashville, and in one German paper at Memphis.
Be it further resolved, That the comptroller issue his warrant to pay for the same. .
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted June 12, 1865.
90 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
NUMBER LXIII.
JOINT RESOLUTION of thanks to Brevet Brigadier General J. L. Donaldson, chief quar
termaster, department of the Cumberland, and Captain Hunter Brooke, provost marshal.
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That the thanks of this general
assembly are most heartily and cordially tendered to Brigadier General J. L. Donaldson,
chief quartermaster of the department of the Cumberland, for his kindness in furnishing a
special car for the accommodation of the members, and for renewing their transportation over
military railroads.
Resolved, That the thanks of this general assembly are due, and are hereby tendered, to
Captain Hunter Brooke, post provost marshal, for his uniform courtesy and kindness to the
members of this general assembly.
Resolved, That a copy of these resolutions be furnished General Donaldson and Captain
Brooke by the secretary of state.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Speaker of the Senate.
Adopted June 12, 1865.
NUMBER LXIV.
JOINT RESOLUTION congratulatory at the appointment of Major General Thomas to this
military division.
Whereas the pleasing intelligence has reached us that the distinguished soldier and
commander, Major General G. H. Thomas, has been assigned to this military division:
Resolved by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That we do most heartily con
gratulate our citizens upon the appointment of this model soldier, possessing as we do the
most unbounded confidence in his ability and judgment, and believing that under his rule
early peace and quiet and Unionism will prevail in every section of our State.
Resolved, further, That we tender to the President and War Department our special thanks
for their assignment of General Thomas over this military division, and with his consent we
propose to adopt him as a Tennesseean, General Thomas having endeared himself to us both
by distinguished services and by many acts of noble and unostentatious kindness.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Adopted June 12, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
[The following act of assembly was mislaid in the house and not deposited in the office
of the secretary of state until the other acts were printed. It has been collated and found
correctly printed. A. J. FLETCHER, Secretary of State.]
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
AN ACT to change the times of holding the county court of Knox county for the trial of
misdemeanors.
SECTION \. Be it enacted by the general assembly of the State of Tennessee, That from and
after the next August term of the county court of Knox county, for the trial of misdemeanors,
the said court shall be regularly opened and held on the second Mondays of April, August and
December of each year, and succeeding days if necessary, instead of on the first Monday of
said months, as heretofore ; but the regular county court for the transaction of county busi
ness shall be held on the first Monday of each month as heretofore.
SECTION 2. And be it further enacted, That this act shall take effect from and after its pas
siige.
WILLIAM HEISKELL,
Speaker of the House of Representatives.
SAMUEL R. RODGERS,
Passed May 16, 1865. Speaker of the Senate.
STATE OF TENNESSEE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE,
Nashville, July 25, 1865.
I, ANDREW J. FLETCHER, secretary of state of the State of Tennessee,
hereby certify that I have carefully collated the foregoing documents, with au
thentic copies on file in my office, and find them correctly printed.
A. J. FLETCHER, Secretary of State.
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 9 1
NASHVILLE, TENN , January 9, I860.
At a meeting of the Union Central and German Union Central Committees
of the State of Tennessee and the Union members of .the Tennessee legislature
the following memorial was unanimously approved and adopted.
A. LOVERING,
Chairman pro tern, of Central Committee.
EDWARD MAYNARD,
Secretary of Union Central, Committee.
NASHVILLE, TENN., January 9, 1866.
To the honorable Congressional Committee on Reconstruction :
The undersigned, constituting a large majority of the State Central Com
mittee of the Union party of Tennessee, being all who could be present, beg
leave to communicate to you their views of the present political and social
conditition of this State, and their anticipations as to future results from that
condition.
The vast powers conferred upon you, so vitally affecting ourselves and our
posterity, we feel to be a sufficient warrant for this liberty on our part.
Our statistics show that, in the spring of 1861, about 40,000 of the voters of
Tennessee made up their minds to adhere to the flag of their country in spite of
the tornado of treason that swept the State and carried it into the vortex of
rebellion. They constituted less than one-third of the voting population of the
State, and far less of its wealth and political influence. Surrounded on all sides
by rebel population ; suffering every conceivable outrage in person and property ;
hanged on the gallows ; shot by an infuriate soldiery ; cast into many prisons ;
mercilessly conscripted, and hunted like wild beasts and murdered in our places
of concealment, our numbers have been reduced, but the survivors of us have
kept the vows made upon the altar of patriotism five years ago. More than
twenty-five thousand of our number, leaving their homes and families to be
pillaged and abused, travelling through mountains or swamps by night and
hiding in thickets by day to evade a pursuing and murderous enemy, escaped
to the federal lines, and, without bounty or other inducement, enrolled them
selves as Union soldiers. They have returned to their homes from a gallant
and bloody service to find, in many instances, their houses in ashes, their
property gone, and their families abused, insulted, and outraged. And, it must
be added, that in many instances these victorious heroes of the national cause
are not permitted to remain at their homes in peace, or, if permitted, they are
crippled in business and politically and socially outlawed.
The designs of the great secession majority of Tennessee may have been
changed by the events of the war, and so may have been their opinions of their
own strength and of the strength of the goveinment, but, unless your memo
rialists greatly misunderstand them, their sentiments, sympathies, and passions
remain unchanged. They welcome peace because they are disabled from making
war ; they submit because they can no longer resist ; they accept results they
cannot reject, and profess loyalty because they have a halter around their
necks. They recognize the abolition of slavery because they see it before them
as a fact; but they say it was accomplished by gross violations of the Consti
tution, that the negro is free only in fact, but not in law or of right.
Less than a year ago the provisional governor, representing the military power
of the President, and recognizing the right of the loyal people to govern the
State, set on foot a civil government, founded upon the basis of the loyal popu
lation — his favorite policy. The plan of a popular convention and a submission
to a vote of the loyal people was adopted, and the former constitution and laws
were restored without the institution of slavery. Whether we regard it as our
92 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
former State government restored, or as a new government given to us by the
power of the nation, is immaterial, as it has been compelled at every step to lean
upon the strong arm of the national authority for support. The action of the con
vention was submitted to the vote of the loyal people, and, by means of the strong
will of the military governor and a rigid test oath, and because the election was
not recognized by the disloyal, it was nearly unanimously adopted, receiving
over 20,000 votes, many of the Union men being within the rebel lines at the
time.
Under the government thus adopted, and by means of the same test oath, a
governor and legislature were elected by general ticket on the 3d of March last.
The legislature assembled in April, and proceeded to inaugurate the governor
elect and to elect State officers, to establish a revenue, to provide for the election
of members to Congress, and to legislate in general matters. Under authority
conferred upon him, the new governor appointed a judiciary pro tempore, and
reorganized the entire State by appointments. But one general election has
been held, and that only for members of Congress, with what result will appear
hereafter.
The convention of February, foreseeing the impossibility of carrying out the
principle upon which they were acting, by keeping the political power of the
State in loyal hands, if all those who had by acts of treason forfeited their right
to participate in the State government, provided for a formal disfranchisement
by conferring upon the first legislature the power to limit the elective franchise.
So far the legislation on this subject has been unsatisfactory and ineffectual.
Indeed, many of the members are utterly unequal to the task, and, yielding to
the influence and dreading the power of numbers, shrink from its performance.
A suffrage law was passed at the spring session, the result of compromise, and
doubtful in its terms, easily evaded, and practically defective. By means of
repeated proclamations by the governor, telegraphic orders from the President,
and the aid of the military, a partial execution only of the law was obtained.
So defective was the execution of the law by the officers to whom it was in
trusted, that the governor was constrained to declare the August election totally
void in twenty-nine counties of the State. An attempt will be made at the
present session to pass an amended suffrage law, but it is doubtful whether any
effectual disfranchisement can pass, and still more doubtful whether, if passed,
it can be executed even with the presence of the military. Certainly, such a
law cannot be executed if the supervising power of the general government
should be discontinued.
In short, your memorialists anticipate that, at the first general election, the
entire civil and judicial power of the State must pass into the hands of those
who have so long oppressed them, and made actual war upon them. The
judicial election, which is the most important of all, must soon occur.
By a careful consideration of the passions, prejudices, and designs of those
lately in rebellion, a correct idea of the course they will pursue, when once more
installed into power, may be arrived at. Your memorialists are not driven to
consult tourists nor correspondence for information. They are fill citizens of
the State; some of them are natives, and from official position are in daily inter
course or communication with all parts of the State, and with citizens of all par
ties and classes. They claim to speak not from hearsay or report, but as
wit-nesses admissible in court.
The predominant feeling of those lately in rebellion is that of deep-seated
hatred, amounting in many cases to a spirit of revenge towards the white Union
ists of the State, and a haughty contempt for the negro, whom they cannot treat
as a freeman. The hatred for the white loyalist is intensified by the accusation
that he deserted the south in her extremity, and is, therefore, a traitor, and by
the setting up a government of the minority. The spirit of revenge is called
forth by the attempt to disfranchise them, and by the retaliatory acts of the
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 93
returned Union soldiers for wrongs done them during the war. The negro is
the Mordecai who constantly reminds them of their defeat, and of what they
call a "just, but lost cause." And the sight of him in the enjoyment of freedom
is a constant source of irritation.
The tourist would not be apt to detect the true state of the southern temper.
Even the resident observer has to look beneath the surface of insincere protesta
tions of loyalty. True, the traveller or visitor might observe a large number
of daily rebel newspapers well sustained, while a single loyal paper is sustained
with difficulty. He might discover that the rebel merchant or lawyer is full of
business and growing rich, while the loyalist either fails, or is driven to pander
and dissimulate. And he may find that the rebel chaplain preaches to over
flowing houses, while the loyal minister is in truth a missionary in an unfriendly
country. But he will hardly go into the social circle to learn that the Union
man is not admitted into society, or into private families, to find that hatred of
the Yankee and contempt for the government are inculcated by rebel min
isters and teachers; nor will he visit the township election to learn that the
bushwhacker and guerilla can defeat the most respectable Union man for con
stable or justice of the peace ; or to the courts, to learn that the despised " Lin-
colnite" fails to get justice at the hands of a rebel jury, and that the putting of
a negro on trial is equivalent to his conviction and sentence to the maximum
penalty of the law. Yet these and many other manifestations betray to the
resident observer the malignant temper of the majority of our people.
A party exists in the State, which is every day becoming more and more com
pact ana powerful, which sympathizes with the men and principles of the re
bellion. It commands every agency to operate upon public opinion. It has
five well-sustained and ably-edited daily papers in Memphis, four in Nashville,
one in Knoxville, and a weekly in each of the important villages. Their par
doned but talented and still popular leaders are with them. Hundreds of rebel
ministers who glory in having led off in the rebellion, and who have been
throughout the war the bloodiest-minded men in the south, are still in the con
fidence of their people. All these appliances acting in harmony mould public
sentiment as they please, and command a party of over two-thirds of the white
men of the State. Free from restrictions upon suffrage, they will probably cast
90,000 votes in the State.
It is a sad delusion and a dangerous mistake to suppose that this hatred of
loyalty, contempt for the negro, and alienation from the government, are con
fined to the politicians, or leaders as they are termed, and that the common peo
ple have been all the time loyal. It is certainly true that a portion of the south
ern people went into the rebellion reluctantly, and that a few were actually forced
into it. But it is equally true that nine-tenths of those who went in reluctantly
came out the bitterest of rebels. The process of firing the southern heart and
educating the southern mind for treason had been progressing for many years,
and had reached all classes. Long before the war the common laborer had
learned to curse the Yankees and abolitionists, and to talk about negro equality
and his rights in the Territories. Filled with murderous hate, they have fought
four years against their country. They have denounced and heard it denounced
with every breath. They have suffered cold, hunger, and wounds in an effort
to destroy it. They have slain its defenders, and seen their comrades fall in the
same cause. The laws of human nature forbid the idea that they love their
country. Indeed, it may well be doubted whether the capacity for patriotism is
not extinguished in many of them.
lour memorialists regret to say that as yet the loyalists of East Tennessee,
brave and noble as they are, have not kept pace with the spirit of the nation in
extending civil rights to the negro, and consequently there exists a want of
harmony among ourselves ; but they do not doubt that that patriotic but rural
people will soon take a position worthy their fame. But in any event, all legis-
94 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
lation looking to the elevation of the freedman in a moral, civil, or political
point of view must come from Congress, and not from the State legislature. It
may be that the present body may pass some favorable laws — probably they
will ; but it is easy to see they will be swept away by the next general assembly.
Supposing the supervising power of the general government to be withdrawn
from Tennessee, and assuming that to some extent at least the passions, preju
dices, and resentments of the majority of the people will be reflected in their
legislation, it is not difficult to anticipate her State policy and the character
of her civil and judicial administration. It may be safely assumed —
1. That so far as possible in legislation, the bestowal of patronage, and the
management of all public affairs, the late rebels will be the preferred class;
and that all the acts of the rebel State government, including the removal and
the destruction of the State banks and State treasury, the disarming and con
scripting the people, and the impressment of their property, and all the acts of
rebel officers, soldiers and guerillas, will be legalized. Those who have been
robbed, wounded, and imprisoned will go unredressed, while those who have
inflicted those injuries will be justified in law, as they now are in public senti
ment.
2. As is even now the case in many localities, services rendered and wounds
received in the confederate cause will be passports to preferment, while to have
taken sides with the cause of the Union will be equal to a judgment of infamy,
forever consigning the offender to obscurity and disgrace.
3. If the legislature does not vote thanks and medals to southern heroes,
and unite with other southern States to pay the confederate debt, it will be
from fear or policy, and not from want of sympathy or desire.
4. As far as possible, restrictions will be thrown around the freedom of the
negro, and his elevation in the scale of being discountenanced, if not actually
prohibted. He will be excluded from the courts, from common schools, and
probably from all means of education, from business and privileged occupations,
and, perhaps, from the acquisition of property.
Such, we apprehend, will be some of the results of well known laws of the
public mind. And it requires but little speculation to anticipate still further
and more ulterior results. It is very questionable whether East Tennessee will
submit to a rebel government. Her people will not tamely succumb to those
who have pursued them like bloodhounds for four years. If she does not resist
by force, she will refuse her revenues, and scorn to send her representatives to
take seats in a legislature composed of rebel officers and guerilla leaders.
Union men will feel that they have lost and the rebels won, and that their
martyrs have fallen in vain. Even now, in many localities they are crushed by
the power of numbers, and actually afraid to speak like freemen.
Loyal emigrants will turn aside to more congenial parts, and the south will
be left to herself, to resume her former rate of progress.
The negro will be forced to seek an asylum in other lands, or perhaps he will
become a declining race, relapse into barbarism and disappear from the face of
the earth ; an effect confidently predicted, and, in fact, hoped for by seces
sionists.
Your memorialists do not presume to point out the means of preventing the
direful results they have attempted to foreshadow. They simply ask pro
tection. They pray that the government will not forsake them by withdraw
ing its direct agency in our affairs, thereby delivering them over to their tor
mentors.
Your memorialists will say, however, that they desire to be represented in
Congress. The loyal people of Tennessee have not forfeited their civil rights
by the misfortune of being surrounded by rebels. And if difficulties should
occur hereafter, as is to be feared, in that event they desire to have a voice in
the councils of the nation. But if our form of government is such that to
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 95
admit our representatives to seats in Congress will compel the withdrawal of
the supervising control of the national government over our internal affairs,
thereby insuring the ascendency of the rebel majority, your memorialists pre
fer, and they are sure the loyal people of the State would prefer, to live in a
territorial condition, and even under a military government.
From the rebel yoke they pray to be saved. From such a fate we rely upon
the power of the nation to rescue us. In behalf of ourselves, in behalf of the
devoted loyalists of the State, of whatever color, and in behalf of our posterity,
we appeal to that government we love and have served to save us and them
from the power of those who have inflicted upon us every conceivable injury
We are, most respectfully, your obedient servants,
JOHN SCHIMMLER.
FERDINAND KUHN.
A. W. HAWKINS.
A. LOVERING, Chairman pro tern.
E. P. CONE.
WILLIAM HEYDT.
A. J. FLETCHER.
N. DERBY.
A. S. THURNECK.
ROBERT WEITMULLER.
GERVAS HAURG.
JULIUS BRIESEN.
R. LEHMANN.
STATE OF TENNESSEE,
Executive Department, Nashville, November 13, 1865.
To all who shall see these presents, greeting:
I, William G. Brownlow, governor of the State of Tennessee, do hereby cer
tify that at a general election, opened and held in said State on the first Thurs
day in August, A. D. 1865, for the purpose of electing representatives of the
State of Tennesse in the 39th Congress of the United States, Horace "May-
nard, of the county of Knox, was regularly elected, in accordance with the laws
of the State of Tennessee and of the United States, representative in said Con
gress from the second congressional district, composed of the counties of Clai-
borne, Union, Knox, Campbell, Scott, Morgan, Anderson, Blount, Monroe, Polk,
McMinn, Bradley, and Roane.
And I do therefore commission the said Horace Maynard, representative in
Congress as aforesaid, during the term and with all the powers, privileges, and
emoluments appertaining.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the
great seal of the State of Tennessee to be affixed, at the department in the city
of Nashville, this 13th day of November, 1865.
[SEAL.] W. G. BROWNLOW.
By the governor :
A. J. FLETCHER, Secretary of State.
STATE OF TE\NESSEE,
Executive Department, Nashville, November 13, 1865.
To all who shall see these presents, greeting:
I, William G. Brownlow, governor of the State of Tennessee, do hereby cer
tify, that at a general election for representatives of the State of Tennessee in
9 6 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
the 39th Congress of the United States, opened and held in said State on the
first Thursday of August, A. D. 1865, William B. Stokes, of the county of De
Kalb, was regularly elected, in accordance with the laws of the State of Ten
nessee and of the United States, representative in said Congress from the third
congressional district, composed of the counties of Meigs, Rhea, Hamilton,
Marion, Grundy, Bledsoe, Van Buren, Sequatchie, Warren, White, Smith, Cum
berland, Putnam, Jackson, Macon, Overtoil, DeKalb and Fentress.
And I do therefore commission the said William B. Stokes, representative in
said Congress as aforesaid, during the term and with all the powers, privileges,
and emoluments appertaining.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the
r -1 great seal of the State of Tennessee to be affixed, at the department
in the city of Nashville, this 13th day of November, 1865.
W. G. BROWNLOW.
By the governor :
A. J. FLETCHER, Secretary of State.
STATE OF TENNESSEE,
Executive Department, Nashville, November 25, 1865.
I, William G. Brownlow, governor of the State of Tennessee, do hereby certify
that at a general election opened and held in the State of Tennessee, on the first
Thursday in August, 1865, for representative from said State in the thirty-ninth
Congress of the United States, Samuel M. Arnell was regularly elected, in accord
ance with the laws of the State of Tennessee and of the United States, repre
sentative in said Congress from the sixth civil district, composed of the counties
of Lawrence, Wayne, Hardin, Decatur, Perry, Lewis, Maury, Hickmau, Hum
phreys, Dickson, Montgomery, and Stewart.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name and caused the
r 1 great seal of the State to be affixed, at the department in the city of
J Nashville, the 25th day of November, A. D. 1865.
W. G. BROWNLOW.
By the governor:
A. J. FLETCHER, Secretary of State.
THIRTY-NINTJJ CONGRESS UNITED STATES,
House of Representatives, Washington, D. C., February 26, 1866.
SIR : I herewith respectfully present the statements of R. Hough, esq., internal
revenue tax collector for the Memphis district, and request that it be treated as
a part of my statement of a late date in which I alluded to the facts herein more
definitely set forth.
I also beg to mention that I learn from George H. Ellery, esq., formerly United
States cotton purchasing agent at Memphis, that during seventy-five days the
profits to the government, as the 25 per cent, tax on cotton through his office, was
in round numbers one million seven hundred and fifty thousand (1,750,000)
dollars.
I am, sir, with much respect, your obedient servant, &c.,
JOHN W. LEFTWICH,
Member of Congress Elect, Sfk district Tennessee.
Hon. Senator GRIMES, of the Reconstruction Committee.
RECONSTRUC TION — TENNESSEE.
97
Statement of assessments and collections in the first district, State of Ten
nessee, from October 19, 1863, to January 1, 1866.
Date.
Monthly as
sessments.
Annual lists.
Collections.
October J863
$28, 178 87
$20, 135 62
$16,070 35
November 1863 ....
33,269 88
32,429 71
32 279 92
December 1863
25,560 81
68 9f56 46
31 525 14
January, 1864 .... ..................
21,476 28
180,631 71
34,870 42
February 1864
42,232 75
47 894 28
March 1 864
111 317 27
119 796 51
April 1864
109 483 46
120 253 99
May 1864
120,971 06
124 146 96
June 1864
23 059 25
25 939 83
July 1864
24,419 65
33,154 02
August 1864
14 309 78
32,770 61
September 1864
8 913 78
30 922 11
October, 1864
108,889 93
39, 063 09
November 1 864
88 916 87
146 307 97
December 1864
30 279 81
49 902 48
January 1 865
80 466 80
92,940 82
February 1865
94 405 58
92 277 24
March, 1865
126,861 55
124,867 98
April 1865
49 339 72
53 964 25
May 1865
143 256 37
182 077 78
June, 1865 ..
106 143 43
110,929 26
July 1865
128 674 25
173 150 07
August, 1865
177,406 11
193, 313 92
September, 1865
191 660 39
207,896 41
October 1865
283 238 48
306,443 25
November 1865
185 832 38
188 186 82
December 1865
245 105 05
226,772 33
Total
2 603 669 56
302 163 50
2 842 747 81
R. HOUGH, Collector.
UNITED STATES INTERNAL REVENUE,
COLLECTOR'S OFFICE, FIRST DISTRICT, STATE OF TENNESSER,
Memphis, Tennessee, January 30, 1866.
MY DEAR SIR: In consequence of the constant press of business in my office,
I have procrastinated the delivery of the enclosed statement until this late day,
for no other reason than that so much was on hand to be done that I did not like
to set clerks at anything that was not strictly office-work. My only regret now
is that I cannot give you so elaborate a statement of facts connected with the
collection of over three millions of revenue (adding the stamp-sales to the en
closed) as I would wish, for want of time. You will recollect that our city was
captured by the federal fleet on the 6th of June, 1862, previous to which large
drafts were made on its inhabitants by the rebel leaders for the support of their
army. When the federal flag was hoisted here it floated over a city of less
than thirty thousand people, with no commerce, limited resources, and no trade
from river or country. The government collected the larger portion of the rents
during 1862 and 1863 ; besides, heavy taxes were paid on the demands of mili
tary commanders, and all shipments to and from the city were taxed by the
Secretary of the Treasury; so that I think I am safe in saying that the internal
revenue collected per the enclosed statement does not amount to more than one-
third of the taxes paid by our people. The assessor commenced his labors
some time in June, 1863, but he dated his assessments back to September, 1862,
7 T
98 BECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
I commenced collection about the 1st of November, 1863, at which time I Lad
two annuals to collect for 1862 and 1863, and before these were closed up the
annual for 1864 had been assessed and the special five per cent, tax on the in
comes of 1863. You will remember that the civil courts were suspended during
this time, and, in fact, have but recently been fully re-established, and this was
the only office that did not exist by and depend on military sufferance and rule ;
yet I think I am safe in saying that our people have paid their revenues to the
government collector as promptly and apparently as cheerfully as in any por
tion of the United States. I have never been obliged to levy upon any man's
effects to secure his revenue due to the government, and though personally an
austere man, I think the tax-collector is as much in the favor of the people at
large as it is possible for any man to be in like circumstances anywhere in the
land. I do not intend to convey the idea that the collector possesses qualities
to make him popular notwithstanding his office, but that the people in this dis
trict, so far as they have been reached, respond as cheerfully to the demands
of the government as they do in any State in the Union. A Boston merchant
of some note lately said to me, " Tell me how your people pay their taxes, and
I will myself judge of their loyalty." By this rule, I am inclined to the opin
ion that we should vie with Boston herself; but being a Bostonian originally, I
don't like to make any comparisons.
Trusting that the enclosed will be of service to you, I am, very respectfully,
your obedient servant,
R. HOUGH, Collector.
Hon. JOHN W. LEFTWICH, Washington, D. C.
WASHINGTON, January 26, 1866.
GENTLEMEN : In answer to your inquiries, I have the honor to state :
I. That the loyal people of the State of Tennessee assembled in convention
at Nashville on the 8th day of January, 1866, and proceeded to organize the
government of the State. They adopted an amendment to the constitution
abolishing slavery forever in the State. They adopted a schedule to the con
stitution, in which —
1. They repudiated the rebel debt contracted to carry on the war.
2. They declared the ordinance of secession void ab initio, and all the legis
lative acts passed by the legislature at its different sessions from the 6th of May,
1861, inoperative and void.
3. They provided that all the acts of Andrew Johnson as military governor,
together with his appointments to office, valid and binding.
4. They provided for the election of a general assembly to be held on the 4th
of March, 1865, as well as for the election of a governor.
5. They declared that the amendments so proposed should be submitted to
the people for ratification or rejection on the 22d day of February, 1865.
II. On the 22d day of February, 1865, the amendment and schedule were
submitted to the people, and adopted almost unanimously.
III. On the 4th day of March, 1865, the governor, William G. Brownlow,
was elected, and the members of the legislature, gentlemen who for " uncon
ditional Unionism" will compare favorably with the same number of gentlemen
selected from any State in the Union.
IV. On the 3d day of April, 1865, the legislature met at Nashville, and in a
few days thereafter the governor was inaugurated, and that civil government
for the State has been in successful and peaceable operation ever since.
V. One of the first acts passed by the legislature was one ratifying the
amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolishing slavery. It
passed unanimously.
\
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 90
VI. The legislature enacted a franchise law, disfranchising all rebels for the
space of five years who had not participated in either one of the last elections,
and by which a large number of the qualified voters were prohibited, because of
their treason, from participation in the subsequent elections.
VII. The legislature provided for the congressional elections by dividing the
State into eight congressional districts, and by electing two senators. Since
that time the civil government of the State, under its present loyal organiza
tion, has been in uninterrupted and successful operation all over the State,
No obstacles have been put in the way. I have in my possession, and which I
will produce for the inspection of the committee, if desired, printed copies of th^
proceedings of the convention of January 8, 1865, as well as the acts and reso
lutions of the April session of the general assembly.
VIII. The election for Congress was held on the first Thursday in August,
1865. the regular day, and everything passed off harmoniously and quietly.
This result was extremely gratifying to the loyal men of the State. The mem
bers elected are known to have been loyal to the government, and have all complied
with the law of the land.
IX. I can say fearlessly, from an intimate personal acquaintance with the
eople of the fourth congressional district, composed o£ the counties of Ruther
ford, Cannon, Coffey, Franklin, Lincoln, Giles, Marshal, and Bedford, and which
I have the honor to claim to represent, and where there are no federal soldiers,
and have not been any, except in Rutherford county, since the 1st of July, 1865,
that peace and quiet and complete obedience to law prevail. No difficulties of
any kind ; law and order are everywhere observed. The United States asses
sors and collectors visit every part of the district unguarded and alone ; are
promptly paid and kindly treated. The United States marshal needs no mili
tary force to enable him to do his duty. The white men and the freedmen live
harmoniously together. Contracts are made between them, liberal, just, and
satisfactory, and are faithfully performed by both parties. No complaints are
t)eing made. All recognize the government of the United States as the supreme
law of the land. They most earnestly desire to be once more fully restored to
the benefits of its protection, so that they can once more feel that they are
American citizens.
I fully believe that the United States troops might be withdrawn any day,
and the present State government would be protected and guarded until the
expiration of its term without molestation or danger. It seems to me that the
people feel the necessity of peace and law and order, and they intend to have it.
The legislature has passed all laws necessary for the protection of the freed
men, and there is but one single case in which the punishment of the white man
differs from that of the freedman, and that is in the case of rape, or assault with
intent to commit raj. e, on the person of a white woman.
The recognition of the present State government by the Congress of the United
States, the admission of its senators and representatives, in the full restoration of
the State to an equality with the other States in the government, will give con
fidence and happiness to those citizens of the State who, through all the horrors
of this cruel and unjust rebellion, have maintained their integrity to the national
flag, and who loved their country too well to betray it into the hands of traitors.
if Congress will recognize us as worthy of being admitted to our seats in the
Senate and House of Representatives, thus giving to us the moral weight of their
action, we can, without doubt, preserve and protect the loyal people of the State.
If, on the contrary, we are treated as if we were rebels, as if we had sinned,
when we have not, then, of course, our influence is gone, and we can no longer
hope to be able to control the political destinies of the State.
Respectfully,
COOPER.
100 RECONSTRUCTION— TENNESSEE.
WASHINGTON, January 29, 1866.
To the honorable gentlemen of the "Reconstruction Committee:"
GENTLEMEN : In compliance with suggestions' from the Hon. Senator Grimes,
I respectfully submit these my opinions, with the reasons therefor, in relation
to the loyalty and present feelings of the people whom I have the honor to
represent.
Since the first occupation of Memphis by the national forces, in June, 1862,
no spirit of discontent or insubordination has ever manifested itself; and
though we have, in addition to the usual taxes, been compelled most of the
time to pay from three to five per cent, tax on all merchandise shipped to Mem
phis, and twenty-five per cent, and four cents per pound on all cotton shipped
from Memphis, and two dollars per bale military tax, and other military taxes ad
injinitum — amounting, in the aggregate, to millions of dollars — it has been
promptly paid without complaint.
Our " internal revenue tax collector" now proudly asserts that his collections
have been made with a promptness above the average of northern cities, and
that the disgraceful attempts to defraud the government, so prevalent elsewhere,
are comparatively unknown in Memphis.
When our army was needed actively on other fields, and that portion remain
ing at Memphis was inadequate to protect the immense army stores there col
lected, our entire able-bodied male population, amounting to many thousands,
was organized, armed, and equipped for active militia duty; many having to
remain on duty all the time, and all compelled to suspend business for the pur
pose of drilling from one to two days in each week ; and such was their conduct
on several occasions of threatened attack, as to call forth the congratulatory
orders of the commanding generals, to one of whom, the " Hon. R. P. Buck-
land," I respectfully refer.
We also furnished our quota in the last draft.
The crops of 1863, '64, and '65, in "West Tennessee," were not cultivated-
by involuntary servitude, but by compensated labor; and the result of the three
years' experience is, that our colored population have learned the important
lesson that a good and trusty laborer will command better wages than a bad
one; and our white population, who own the land, have learned the equally
important lesson that he who pays wages promptly, and fairly, and otherwise
honestly redeems his obligations to the employe, will surely procure the best
and most reliable laborers.
The prejudice that did at one time exist against the negroes as freedmen
remaining in our State has been most effectually dispelled by a remembrance
of their good qualities during the war; and, by self-interest, the most potent of
all arguments, reminding us that the profitable cultivation of our rich and pro
ductive lands requires twice the number of laborers now there.
In view of this desire to retain these laborers in our State, I believe there is
n-o disposition on the, part of our citizens to impose illiberal terms on those they
employ ; and I know they have not the ability to do so, as the demand for labor
is so much in excess of the supply as to give all the advantage to the employe".
The only relic of slavery now seen in our midst is the frequent practice, by
agents of the " Freedinen's Bureau," (generally understood to be for a considera
tion,) of compelling negroes to make unwilling contracts with parties with
whom they do not desire to live.
I am fully persuaded that, if left to a vote of the former slave-owners of my
district, they would now vote by a large majority against assuming the moral
responsibility of re-enslaving the negroes.
I am sure that the colored laborers of this district will make more money
this year than any equal number of white laborers in States north of the cotton
producing region. ,
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. . 101
During my contest for my present position I travelled on horseback, alone
much of the time, through the entire district; and though my Union sentiments,
already notorious, were plainly and boldly proclaimed day after day, I did not
hear a rude or impolite expression-, though the country was full of returned
rebel soldiers, who might be expected to have been smarting under a "franchise
law" that was odious even to Union men.
I had four opponents, each trying to prove himself a better Union man than
the rest, and all surpassing me in political ability, yet I was elected by a hand
some majority, only because I was able to show a more consistent Union record
than either.
One other opponent issued a circular claiming votes as an original sympa
thizer with the rebellion, but met such poor encouragement that he withdrew
without completing the contest.
During December, hearing many reports in Washington prejudicial to the
loyalty arid good conduct of my constituents, I determined to take no hearsay,
but go home and see for myself if such rumors had any foundation in fact.
The result was, I found my people contented, hopeful, industrious, and happy,
considering this as their only government, with no willingness to injure it, but
an earnest desire to make it better and stronger than ever.
I heard no man of influence oppose allowing the negroes to testify in our
courts, and to own and bequeath property, &c.
On the 28th of December two members to the State legislature were elected
in Memphis and Shelby county, both of whom favored the above movement,
and have since succeeded in making it the law of the State.
To learn the condition of a portion of my district to which I could not go,
I wrote to a friend, (an appointee under Governor Brownlow, whom I knew
to be loyal and truthful, and possessed of unusual facilities for knowing the
real feelings of the people,) telling him of the reports coming to Washington,
and asking if such were the facts.
I respectfully annex his reply as part of this statement.
In conversation with the deputy United States marshal, who had been through
West Tennessee on official business, of such an unpopular nature as to induce
him to have a military escort, he said, " I was met in such a friendly man
ner and treated with such cordial hospitality, that I was ashamed of having an
escort, and made it convenient to be away from them most of the time."
I have just received a letter from "J. M. Hill, esq.," to whom every military
commander at Memphis has awarded the first position in point of loyalty and reli
ability, and possessing general information, in which he takes occasion to say,
" We need no troops at Memphis ; but if the government desires to retain a fe\v
here, one company of white regulars would be an abundance."
From personal knowledge in many instances, and reliable information in
others, I am able to say that most of the reports coming to Washington against
the loyalty and good conduct of Tennesseaus come from those who have been
defeated for office, or who now hold positions by appointment, and know that
their personal unpopularity will prevent them from retaining it when left to the
people ; and as our county elections ought legally to be held in March, it is the
desire of this class to make excusable the filling of these positions by appoint -
ment instead of the ballot.
There are, no doubt, occasional local disturbances in our State, (that our civil
officers are entirely able to subdue, however,) but these all grow out of old per
sonal animosities engendered during the war, and not arising from any rebel
lious spirit towards the general government.
These disturbances are much less frequent in my part of the State than else
where, owing to the fact that the army maintained uninterrupted control there
after its first occupation.
Instead of there existing an animosity against consistent Union men who have
102 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
i
no used their influence to the unfair injury of those who have disagreed with
them in politics, they are really the most popular men in the country; as it is
through their influence, mainly, that all expect finally to he reinstated in theen-
joyrneut of all their lost privileges and blessings.
It is the opinion of myself, as well as of most of the best informed with whom
I have talked, (among them our lamented President Lincoln,) that, notwith
standing so many of our people were subsequently, by various influences, forced
into the rebellion, the election in Tennessee in February, 1861, was, and is,
the true criterion of the loyalty of our State ; at which we gave a majority,
as I remember, of 65,000 against "separation," (thought to be a more palatable
term than "secession,") and nearly that number against even calling a conven
tion to discuss it.
When Mr. Johnson assumed the presidential chair he was more odious to
the southern people and more feared by them than any man now in the north ;
yet he is now by these same people as universally beloved and honored, ju^t
in return for evidencing a kind and forgiving spirit.
Like causes produce like results ; and it is now in the power of the Congress
of the United States to produce in the feelings of the masses of the southern
p'-ople this same favorable change towards them.
Every kind word uttered here goes as a healing balm to the wounded spirit
of our people, and is as welcome as the olive branch brought by the returning
dove to the ark.
I have said much more than I intended. The assertions made are suscepti
ble of proof. The opinions expressed are well-matured convictions, based on
a thorough acquaintance with the facts from which they are deduced.
I regret that I cannot close without expressing the belief that the treatment
our people are now receiving is well calculated to produce that state of feeling
now falsely said to exist, though I have no fear of such a result in my imme
diate district, as such is the desire, and so favorable the opportunity, to mend
their ruined fortunes, that they now look with much more interest to the fluctu
ations of the cotton market than to the proceedings of Congress, believing, cor
rectly, that there is no surer way to obtain the good opinion of others than by
industriously attending to their own business.
Hoping that nothing I have said will have an influence to secure my admis
sion to a seat in Congress until my people can be trusted as Iltnow they deserve
to be,
I have the honor, gentlemen, to remain, very respectfully, your obedient
servant,
JOHN W. LEFTWICH,
Eighth, District, Tennessee.
The undersigned beg leave, in compliance with the request of the cou-
gnv.-sional Committee on Reconstruction, to submit the following in relation to
the present State government of Tennessee:
1. The government was organized by a convention of the loyal citizens Jan
uary 8, 1865, ratified by popular vote February 22, 1865; governor and legis
lature elected March 4, 1865; inducted into office April 3, 1865. So that the
government has been in practical operation nearly ten months.
2. When the organization began, the rebel army under Hood had just been
defeated and routed before Nashville ; the hostile forces were still in the field ;
guerillas overran some portions of the State; our Union soldiers were, some of
them, in service on the Atlantic seaboard. There was no mail communication ;
heavy rains had swollen our numerous streams ; so that, iu many places, the
single ballot-box for a whole countv was inaccessible, and the vote failed to
develop the whole loyal strength. Yet it is believed, and confidently asserted,
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 103
that the result met the entire approval of every loyal citizen, and the acqui
escence of many who had been disloyal.
3. From the meeting of the legislature, the 3d of April, 1865, and the induc
tion into office of the governor, the government, so organized, has had entire
and unresisted control of the whole State, in every department of administra
tion, executive, legislative, and judicial, including the conservation of the public
peace. The legislature continued in session until into June; adjourned to the
1st of October ; again assembled, and is still in session. The governor and
other executive officers have discharged the functions usual to their respective
offices. The courts of every grade, up to that of last resort, the supreme court,
have held their regular terms all over the State, and have been open for the
hearing of all pleas, civil and criminal.
4. The first act of the legislature, by unanimous vote, ratified the recent amend
ment of the national Constitution in accordance with an amendment of similar
import made to the State constitution. The election of senators followed, and
legislative provision for the election of members of Congress. A law of fran
chise was passed, adding one qualification to the elector, additional to the pre
existing loyalty, and providing for the registration of the voters.
5. The election was held at the usual time in August, and persons elected
whose loyalty has been unequivocal, and will abide the test of the official oath.
The number of votes cast was sixty-one thousand, nine hundred and seventy,
not far from the number usually cast by each of the two parties into which the
State was almost equally divided before the war. The governor, deeming it
his duty, under the act of Congress of 3d March, 1863, to certify whether the
election was regularly held according to the laws of the State, and also to be
informed as to the practical working of the late registry laws, instituted an
inquiry, and rejected the votes of several of the counties for informality and a
failure to comply with the recent law, on the part of officers intrusted with the
novel duty of registration.
At this election there was no military force present anywhere at the ballot-
box ; nor was there, so far as known, the slightest disturbance or disorder. A
military force has remained in the State, under Major General Thomas, to sup
port and sustain the civil government. One prominent arrest was made on the
charge of sedition and scurrilous libel against the President of the United States ;
but in general the military has been felt only in the moral effect of its presence
as a power which the civil authority might at any time invoke.
6. No general election has since been held in the State. On the first Satur
day of March next elections will be held for sheriffs and other county officers
in the several counties of the State.
7. The general legislation so far has looked to the restoration of our State
credit and the re-establishment of our financial prosperity. A revenue system,
(the public debt increased twenty-five per cent, by the accumulation of interest
during the war, the rebel debt having been repudiated by the people,) the banks,
the railroads, the public schools, and the squandered school fund, the eleemosyn
ary institutions, have received, as they demanded, primeattention. It is not strange
that the novelty arid importance of the questions arising in such connexion
should occasion honest, even obstinate, diversity of opinion.
8. The two subjects, however, occasioning the most declared and unyielding
difference, are the rebels and the freedmen. It becomes necessary in various
ways to define their respective privileges, both having been to a certain extent
outlawed — the former bv reason of their conduct, the latter by reason of their
slavery. What some insist upon as a wise and politic liberality towards the
rebels is branded by others as copperheadism, if not downright treason. What
some regard as but sheer justice to the freedmen, and a necessary safeguard
against the reassertion of the rebel sentiment, is denounced by others as radical
ism. This division is aggravated and intensified by an admixture of prejudice
1 04 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
and interested motive. The so-called radical element prevails in the present
organization of the government. Public sentiment, as represented by the press,
possibly, if expressed by the voice of the entire population, irrespective of ante
cedent relations, favors the self-styled conservative element.
9. Whether, upon a submission to the ballot-box, 'the government would be
continued in the same hands, or those of men with similar views, is necessarily
matter of specula! ion and conjecture. Such a submission will occur in August,
1867. Much will depend upon the wisdom, good conduct, and practical success
of the State administration meanwhile ; much upon the turn of affairs throughout
the country, and much upon the issues, personal and other, that happen to be
submitted to the people, as friends of the national government, who have stood
close to it, defending its policy and maintaining its honor all the way through
the recent conflict. We see no cause for discouragement, provided that the gov
ernment will stand by us and give us the moral effect of its support. If, on the
other hand, we are unrecognized and unsustained ; if we are practically declared
usurpers, and our effort at restoring our deserted and inanimate State govern
ment a usurpation, then we are necessarily overborne and swept away.
10. The unenlightened and narrow-minded rebel sentiment is bitterer and more
rancorous possibly than during the war, under the humiliation of defeat and dis
grace. It is expressed less towards the federal than to the State government,
and is especially strong tow »rds persons of northern origin, those Union men
who took an active part for the government against the rebellion, and the freed -
men. The intelligent rebels, on the other hand, see and accept the situation, and
endeavor to make the best of it. Their political aspirations would naturally
tend to the control first of local affairs, then of the Slate, and lastly of the
national government. They hope for much from a division between the execu
tive and legislative powers.
11. The situation of the freedmen is much more satisfactory to themselves,
however it may appear to others, than when in slavery. There is suffering,
oppression, injustice, wrong. In the economy of society the world over, poverty,
ignorance, and weakness entail inevitable hardships. The case of the freedman
is no exception. In addition, the prejudice of race is a burden. His freedom
is an idea too proximate to the calamitous overthrow of the rebellion to be wel
comed by those who took part in tliat foolish and iniquitous enterprise ; while
the loyal Union man has too long felt his progress in life obstructed by him as
a slave to relish his presence even in freedom, and his labor no longer organized
by the intelligence and capital of his master.
The pre-existing laws applicable to free persons of color were at once applied
to the freedmen. These allowed him nearly all the civil rights accorded to
white persons, except to bear testimony in courts against white persons, and to
peddle, and to traffic in spirituous liquors. It subjected him to the same crimi
nal code, except in some offences against white females and in the measure of
punishment. He was accorded no political rights, and was subjected to various
political disabilities. He has been admitted to testify as a white person. It ia
not known that he has received any political enfranchisement.
12. If it be urged that our Union element, in the beginning, through weak
ness and want of support, succumbed to* rebellion ; that even now, if left unsup
ported and alone, it may once more be overborne ; that the sharp animosities of
the war do not entirely subside with the cessation of arms, we respectfully sub
mit that these are considerations imperative why the national authority should
rally to us and sustain our effort of self-government by its moral influence, and,
if need be-, by the assertion of its physical power.
JOSEPH S. FOWLER.
W. B. STOKES.
HORACE MAYNARD.
FEBRUARY 1, 1S66.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 1 05
TESTIMONY.
WASHINGTON, January 25, I860.
Brevet Major General Edward Hatch sworn and examined :
By Mr. GRIMES :
Question. Where is your residence, and how have you been employed for the
last five years ?
Answer. My residence is in Muscatine, Iowa ; prior to the war I was engaged
in the lumber business; I entered the military service of the United States in
1S61, and have been through the various grades in the army to that of brevet
major general of volunteers.
Question. Have you, during the time you have been in the military service
of the United States, been stationed in the State of Tennessee, or been con
nected with the military operations in that State ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were you so employed during any portion of the year 1865 ; and
if so, during what portion of that year ?
Answer. The troops under my command were on the confines of the State of
Tennessee the first of the year, and I occupied a portion of West Tennessee,
having command of a division of cavalry and a post. During September, Octo
ber, and November, I was stationed at Kuoxville, Tennessee, as chief of cavalry
of that department.
Question. How recently have you been in Tennessee 1
Answer. I left in December last.
Question. During the time you were in that State were you much among the
people of the State; and do you regard yourself as familiar with the sentiments
of the people there ?
Answer. Yes, sir; in portions of the State. I was often at Nashville, and
also in other parts of the State a great deal.
Question. What conclusions did you reach as to the sentiments of the people
of that State, so far as loyalty to the federal government is concerned 1
Answer. Leaving the people of East Tennessee out of consideration, I should
think that the people of the balance of the State were largely opposed to the
general government ; that is, that there was no good feeling toward the govern
ment. There is very little good feeling towards the United States government,
except in East Tennessee.
Question. You regard the public sentiment in East Tennessee as, in the main,
loyal ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And do I understand you to mean that in Middle and West Ten
nessee public sentiment is, in the main, disloyal ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; West Tennessee I consider as disloyal as Mississippi.
Question. Is it your opinion that the troops of the United States could safely
be withdrawn from any portion of Tennessee ?
Answer. Do you mean with safety to the people of the State ?
Question. Yes, safety to the Union people of the State.
Answer. They could be safely withdrawn from East Tennessee, for there the
1 OG RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
people could protect themselves. That is the only portion of the State from
which they could be withdrawn in safety.
Question. What, in your opinion, would be the condition of affairs in Middle
and West Tennessee, should our in litary force be withdrawn from those por
tions of the State?.
Answer. The loyal portion of the people would be subject to certain ostracism
which would drive them out of the country. They would legislate against them
in every way — at least, I have often heard them openly say so.
Question. Do I understand you to say that the disloyal people there say that
they would legislate against the loyal white people ?
Answer. Yes, sir; they say that those people who opposed them in this war
shall not hold office there; that is, that they will not vote for any of them, and
that all civil offices shall be held by their own men. That is the way they have
always talked to me.
Question. Is anything else threatened besides depriving them of office ?
Answer. They say the two people cannot live together. There is no more
popular man in West Tennessee to-day than the late rebel General Forrest.
The quartermaster of my old regiment is partner with Forrest on a plantation ;
he said he took the plantation because Forrest is popular, and jvill take care of
him and his interests.
Question. Is this feeling of hostility towards the federal government in Mid
dle and West Tennessee quite general ?
Answer. I think it is. Perhaps much of the hostility towards the govern
ment has accrued from the personal animosities of the people ; they have been
fighting among themselves for four or five years, and now have an intense hatred
for each other, and that feeling, I think, has extended to the government in
some measure. There are some men in the State — men of large views and land
holders—who are willing to accept the state of affairs as it is, and to do almost
anything in order to farm their lands ; they wish to retain their old labor, but
they constitute a very small portion of the people.
By Mr. GRIDER :
Question. How long were you stationed in Tennessee ?
Answer. I had troops in West Tennessee, and was at Eastport, just on the
confines of the State.
Question. On the border of Mississippi ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I was at that post from January unlil July, ISGo.
Question. State whether the rest of your intercourse with the citizens of Ten
nessee was not of a rather cursory nature, when the army was passing from
point to point.
Answer. No, sir; for I have done a great deal of business for them and been
among them a great deal. I have been in Tennessee more or less since IS62.
Question. Did you know Colonel Hobson, of Kentucky, a very young man,
who was with the army at Knoxville ?
Answer. I may have seen him, but I am not personally acquainted with him.
By Mr. GRIMES:
Question. I understand you to say that you have been in Tennessee more or
less for the last three or four years ?
Answer. Yes, sir; since 1862.
Question. And most of that time in that State?
Answer. Yes, sir; I have been stationed at Memphis, Lagrange, Oollierville,
and Eastport. I was stationed at Lagrange in the summer of lbG3. I know
West arid Middle Tennessee better than my own State; that is, the roads and
thoroughfares.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 107
Question. While travelling about in Tennessee were you always known as
an officer of the federal army 1
Answer. No, sir.
Question. You did not always wear the insignia of your office and rank 'I
Answer. No, sir; not all the time.
Question. Were communications made to you as freely when you wore the
insignia of your office as when you did not; that is, communications showing
the sentiments entertained by the people towards the government and towards
each other ?
Answer. No, sir; not always. Sometimes people would speak in a very
braggadocio way towards officers. As I have already said, men of large views,
those who understand the question and admit the state of affairs as it is now,
those men are willing to do anything to sustain the government; but they arc
in a very small minority, and cannot control these fellows. There is every
where an intense hostility towards the negro, and I suppose there always will
be in that State.
Question. What is the condition of the freedmen in the State of Tennessee?
Answer. They can find employment now; but they have the opposition of
the poor whites, «r of the men who own very little property, and that is a very
intense opposition.
By Mr. GRIDER :
Question. A great many of the original owners of the slaves desire to employ
their old slaves ?
Answer. Yes, sir; the reasonable men, the men of education, understand this
question.
By Mr. GRIMES:
Question. Is there any public sentiment there in any instance to prevent the
original owners from employing their former servants ?
Answer. Where the original owner has been a liberal, good-hearted man, the
negro is inclined to work for him cheerfully; but if he has been a severe mas
ter they are afraid of him. Some of the negroes have the idea that they may
be run off further south, to Mexico or Cuba, into slavery. The negro has strong
local attachments, and if his former master was a generous, good man, his
former servants will work for him cheaper than for any one else. But there are
not very many liberal men; they worked their servants very hard on their
plantations.
Question. What is the general condition of the freedmen in Tennessee, so far
as your observation extends ?
Answer. The negro is perfectly willing to work, but he wants a guarantee
that he will be secured in his rights under his contract. I have always found
them willing to work, since the close of the war, at any rate ; but they want
their contracts guaranteed to them. They desire to have the government guar
antee them for them, and take care of them in that way. They are willing to
work. But the negro knows that without his rights are secured, and his life
and property secured, he is not safe from the poor whites. He understands
their antipathies towards him as well as any one does.
We have always issued less rations to the negroes there than we have to the
poor whites. We did not issue one-tenth the rations to the negroes that we did
to the poor whites.
The men there who dislike the present state of things do not like to give up
the negro They think that by some kind of legislation they can establish a
kind of peonage; not absolute slavery, but that they can enact such laws as
will enable them to manage the negro as they please — to fix the prices to be paid
108 RECONSTRUCTION —TENNESSEE.
for Lis labor. That is a very general idea among that class of men. But those
men of broad views who know that labor will find its level, are in favor of
hiring the negro and paying him fairly. But they are in the minority.
Question. Do you know anything about the security of the negro's life in
Tennessee ?
Answer. You cannot call his life secure there. They are liable to be shot by
the poor whites ; and no doubt it is done every day.
Question. What do you mean by " poor whites 1"
Answer. Men on both sides who have been in the army and are not willing
to work, and wish to get along the best way they can.
By Mr. GRIDER:
Question. Did you or not find among the servants a great disposition to ag
gregate together, a desire to work together, and a dislike to being separated 1
Answer. Yes, sir; as I said before, the local attachment of the negro is great.
I think the negro is anxious to accumulate property. I think, that the people
down there* are mistaken in supposing that the negro does not desire to accu
mulate property. In my opinion the negro does not desire governing ; he wants
to be acknowledged as a part of the population. Say to him what his labor is
really worth and pay him for it, and you will have no trouble with him.
By Mr. GRIMES:
Question. They need government for their protection ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
WASHINGTON, January 29, 1866.
Major General George H. Thomas sworn and examined.
By Mr. GRIMES:
Question. Where are you stationed at present, and what are the duties which
you now have to perform ?
Answer. I am in command of the military division of the Tennessee ; my
headquarters are at Nashville, Tennessee.
Question. Of how many States is your division composed ?
Answer. The division is composed of the States of Kentucky, Tennessee,
Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
Question. How many troops are now under your command in the State of
Tennessee 1
Answer. I cannot state precisely, but I think about six thousand ; princi
pally required to take care of public property.
Question. Where are they stationed for the most part ?
Answer. At Nashville, Chattanooga, and Memphis.
Question. So far as your knowledge and observation extend, what is the
condition of the popular sentiment in the State of Tennessee, so far as it relates
to the federal government and the rights of the Union people, and of the freed-
men ?
Answer. I have studied the condition of affairs in Tennessee pretty carefully,
and have had practical demonstration of the condition of affairs there ; having,
in addition to the information I have derived from personal observation, such
information as I have received from other sources. The Union sentiment in
Tennessee, of course, has been sufficient to place the State in its present favor
able condition towards the government, and, if protected and encouraged by the
presence ot a small Union force, it will gain the complete ascendency in the
State in the course of a year or two. I do not think it would be safe, at this
time to remove the national troops from Tennessee, or to withdraw martial law,
or to restore the writ of habeas corpus to its full extent.
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 1 09
Question. What is the condition of East Tennessee, as compared with that
of Middle and West Tennessee ?
Answer. East Tennessee is perfectly safe, because the Union element pre
dominates there very largely. Middle Tennessee is disturbed by personal ani
mosities and hatreds, much more than it is by the disloyalty of persons towards
the government of the United States. Those personal animosities would break
out and overawe the civil authorities, but for the presence there of the troops of
the United States. In West Tennessee these personal animosities exist even
more strongly than they do in Middle Tennessee, and there is less loyalty in
West Tennessee than there is in Middle Tennessee. But the people of Ten
nessee desire very much, it is their strongest desire, to be back in the govern
ment of the United States. Still, while they wish to enjoy the rights of citizen
ship, they are not friendly towards Union men, particularly men from Tennessee
who have been in the Union army. They are more unfriendly to Union men,
natives of the State of Tennessee, or of the south, who have been in the Union
army, than they are to men of northern birth.
Question. What is the condition of the Union people in West Tennessee ?
Answer. The Union people of West Tennessee are in a minority ; but public
sentiment there is gradually approaching a good loyal standard.
Question. Do you think there is an improvement going on generally in the
sentiment of the State ]
Answer. Yes, sir. I can probably express my idea better in this way : I
think the people of Tennessee will go on improving in their Union sentiment,
provided they are prevented from running to extremes against their personal
enemies in the Union ranks, and the presence of troops there is necessary sim
ply to prevent them from committing excesses and being led astray in their pri
vate animosities.
Question. You believe, then, that it would be dangerous either to remove the
national troops, or to restore the writ of habeas corpus, or to abolish martial law
in Tennessee ?
Answer. I do, for the present.
Question. What is the condition of the freedmen in Tennessee ?
Answer. The condition of the freedmen in Tennessee is very favorable at this
time. A very greo,t improvement has taken place in their condition ; and if the
affairs of the Freedmen's Bureau can be administered for another year in the
way they have been administered for the last six months, mutual confidence
would be restored between the whites and the blacks; and I am very much in
hopes that the freedmen could then be left to the protection of the civil authori
ties of the State.
Question. Then the administration of the Freedmen's Bureau has met with
your approval ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Under General Fisk 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do the freedmen generally find employment in Tennessee ?
Answer. I do not know of any difficulty in their finding employment.
Question. And at fair wages ?
Answer Yes, sir; and there is a general understanding among the negroes
and among the whites that each is to comply with his part of the contract, so
that there is no difficulty and no dissatisfaction.
Question. Has General Fisk the charge of the freedmen in the whole of the
State of Tennessee 1
Answer. Yes, sir; and he has charge of the freedmen in the State of Ken
tucky, in addition.
110 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE.
By Mr. GRIDKR:
Question. You say you believe that there is a gradual improvement going on
in Tennessee as to loyalty ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Will you give your opinion as to whether the admission into Con
gress of the representatives from Tennessee would tend to encourage the loyal
people of Tennessee, and strengthen the feeling of loyalty in that State ?
Answer. 1 think it would very much. It would not only encourage the loyal
people to exert themselves, but it would encourage the rebels to return to their
loyalty, because they would see that their chances and hopes for another out
break were passing away from them. If you will permit me to give additional
reasons why I think the delegation from Tennessee should be admitted I will
do so.
Question. Certainly; state any reasons you may desire to state.
Answer. I think the delegation from the State of Tennessee should be ad
mitted into Congress for the reason that that State, of her own accord, has corn-
plied with every instruction of the President, and has done all that it was be
lieved it would be necessary for her to do in order to gain admission into Con
gress. All that they have done of their own accord in Tennessee. They have
repudiated the rebel debt ; they have abolished slavery, and also adopted the
constitutional amendment upon that subject; they have passed a franchise law
prohibiting from voting every man who has been engaged in the rebellion ; and
I believe they have now passed a bill giving the negro the right to testify in the
courts; and all the members elected to Congress can take the test oath, both
senators and representatives ; and if their representatives shall be admitted into
Congress it will be a precedent for all the southern States ; they can see at once
the reasons why the Tennessee members are admitted, and that if they expect
their members to be admitted they must do as she has done.
By Mr. GRIMES:
Question. You have answered the inquiry of Mr. Grider in regard to the
propriety of admitting into Congress the delegation from Tennessee; state, if
you please, whether, if her delegation should be admitted into Congress, it
would be safe for martial law to be then abrogated in the State of Tennessee.
Answer. I would not abrogate it just yet.
Question. Would you recommend the abolition of the Freedmen's Bureau
in that State ?
Answer. Not yet.
Question. Even if the Tennessee delegation should be admitted into Congress f
Answer. No, sir; I would admit the delegation from Tennessee simply to
encourage the people of Tennessee to return to their loyalty, and also as an
example ibj- the othor southern States, because you have it in your power to show
them plainly and clearly why they are admitted at on^e and the rest are not ;
that is, because none of the other States have complied with the same conditions
that the people of Tennessee have complied with.
Question. You also stated as a reason why, in your opinion, the State of
Tennessee ought to be represented in Congress, that, in case that was done, the
rebel people there would abandon their hopes of another outbreak. Have you
any reason to believe that they still entertain the opinion, or that any conside
rable portion of them do, that there may be another outbreak?
Answer. I have received communications from various persons in the south
that thore was an understanding among the rebels, and perhaps organizations
formed or forming, for the purpose, of gaining as many advantages for themselves
as possible; and I have heard it also intimated that these men are very anxious
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. Ill
and would do all in their power to involve the United States in a foreign war,
so that, if a favorable opportunity should offer, they might turn against the
government of the United States again. I do not think they will ever again
attempt an outbreak on their own account, because they all admit that they
had a fair trial in the late rebellion and got thoroughly worsted. There is no
doubt but what there is a universal disposition among the rebels in the south
to embarrass the government in its administration, if they can, so as to gain as
many advantages for themselves as possible.
Question. In what could those advantages consist, in breaking up the gov
ernment?
Answer. They wish to be recognized as citizens of the United States, with
the same rights that they had before the war.
Question. How can they do that — by involving us in a war with England or
France,' in which they would take part against us?
Answer. In that event their desire is to re-establish the southern confederacy.
They have not yet given up their desire for a separate government, and if they
have an opportunity to strike for it again they will do so.
Question. Does the intelligence in regard to these organizations reach you
from such authentic sources as to command your belief of their existence?
Answer. Yes, sir; it comes from very 1-eliable men.
Question. What is the industrial condition of the people of Tennessee ? Are
they taking steps to put in crops and employ such labor as is within their reach ?
Answer. The industrial condition of the State has improved so much that by
the end of this year I think the people will be more interested in their private
operations and pursuits than they will in political affairs, and be very much
quieted down. They are very much encouraged now, and almost every plan
tation in the State is being put in operation again. The Union people of Ten
nessee, particularly, wish to be quiet.
Question. How about the rebels ?
Answer. A great many of the rebels are going to work, quietly, -to cultivate
their farms. A great many of them say that they failed in their attempt to
gain their independence of the United States, and that they now wish to be
quiet citizens of the country, and are going to turn their attention to farming
again.
GEO. H. THOMAS,
Major General United States Army.
WASHINGTON, January 30, 1866.
Brevet Major General Clinton B. Fisk sworn and examined.
By Mr. GRIMES :
Question. What is your present rank, and what is the duty you now have to
perform ?
Answer. I am brevet major general of the United States volunteers and
assistant commissioner of the Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees, and Abandoned
Lands, for the States of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Question. How long have you been employed in that capacity?
Answer. About eight months.
Question. How many freed men have you under your charge ?
Answer. About 500,000, according to census of 1860. During the greater
portion of the eight months I have been assistant commissioner, northern Ala
bama has been attached to my district.
112 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
Question. You have about half a million of freedmen under your charge now?
Answer. Yes, sir; for the two States of Kentucky and Tennessee.
Question. What is the condition of those freedmen, especially in. the State of
Tennessee ?
Answer. The great mass of the freedmen in the State of Tennessee are in
what might be called a good condition, and they are constantly improving in
their condition, both as to industry and elevation. They need the protection of
the government very much in the State of Tennessee.
Question. Why do they need it?
Answer. On account of the opposition of the people to freedmen and justice
to the negro.
Question. Is that sentiment of opposition to the freedmen general through the
State?
Answer. It is not.
Question. To what parts of the State, or what classes of people, is it confined ?
Answer. Tennessee is peculiar. In no other State do you find the same sort
of opposition as in Tennessee. My duties, within the last eight months, have
called me through the five States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia,
and Mississippi. I made an inspection tour through the three States below
Tennessee, in addition to my own regular duties. It is a melancholy fact that
among the bitterest opponents of the negro in Tennessee are the intensely rad
ical loyalists of the mountain district — the men who have been in our armies.
Take East Tennessee, for instance. The great opposition to the measure in the
Tennessee legislature, giving the negro the right to testify and an equality be
fore the law, has come from that section, chiefly. In Middle Tennessee and in
West Tennessee the largest and the wealthiest planters of the old slaveholding
population have more cordially co-operated with me in my duties than the
people of East Tennessee.
Question. In what way does their opposition manifest itself?
Answer. In a desire that he should be entirely removed from the State; op
posing his education, and right to justice before the law.
Question. Do the freedmen manifest a disposition to be industrious and se
cure a livelihood for themselves ?
Answer. They do, and to elevate themselves. They literally hunger and
thirst for knowledge.
Question. What proportion of them are able to find employment ?
Answer. All of them in Tennessee who can do any work. I could furnish
employers for 25,000 more laborers from my district than I have, such is the
demand for labor in the valley of the Mississippi. During the first twenty days
of this month we made contracts at the Memphis agency of the Freedmen's Bu
reau covering 7,280 persons, and at good remunerative wages.
Question. Do the freedmen recognize you and your bureau as a means of
protection to them ?
Answer. They do.
Question. And they have confidence in your administration of the bureau ?
Answer. They appear to have the fullest confidence, as also in the military
administration of that division. The Freedmen's Bureau has received the most
hearty and cordial co-operation of General Thomas, the commandant of that
division. The freedman has no better friend in the country than Major General
George II. Thomas.
I do not want to be understood as saying that in Middle and West Tennes
see there is no opposition to the freedmen, for there is. There are slaveholders
and returned rebel soldiers there who persecute them bitterly, and pursue them
with vengeance, and treat them with brutality, and burn down their dwellings
and school-houses. But it is not the rule ; such conduct is exceptional. It
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 113
may not be best for me to speak of Kentucky in this connexion. But contrast
ing the two States, I can say that the freedmen in Tennessee are treated with
more favor than they are in Kentucky. There is more brutality to negroes, and
more wicked, malicious persecution of loyalists in the State of Kentucky to-day
than in the State of Tennessee. 1 have travelled over both States and ob
served carefully. I have travelled incog in portions of those States I have
mentioned, going as a Missourian, talking with the people on their plantations,
and the negroes in their quarters, reaching the real sentiment of the people in
that way. The opposition to the freedmen in Kentucky, in many localities, is
very great — in fact, to freedom itself.
Question. How large is the pecuniary support that you are obliged to extend
to the freedmen in Tennessee ?
Answer. I am not to-day issuing a single ration to freedmen in Tennessee,
except to about one hundred orphan children, and thirty old people at Memphis,
and about sixty orphan children and twenty-five old people at Nashville — that
is all.
Question. Do you issue rations to white people in Tennessee ?
Answer. During the last year the rations issued to white people in Tennessee
have been much in excess of those issued to freedmen. When I took charge of
my district the government was feeding 25-000 people; in round numbers, about
17,500 white persons, and 7,500 black. The month preceding the establish
ment of the Freedmen's Bureau, for rations alone for that class of people, the
sum of $97,000. My first efforts were to reduce the number of these beneficia
ries of the government ; to withhold the rations, and make the people self-sup
porting as far as possible; and in the course of four months, I reduced the
monthly expenses from $97,000 to $5,000 ; paving within that time, on subsist
ence, ten times as much money as the whole Freedmen's Bureau cost in the en
tire district, including all salaries paid to officers and agents for the government.
Question. Is the military support of the government required now in the State
of Tennessee in aid of your bureau?
Answer. It is.
Question. Do you believe the affairs of the bureau could be safely adminis
tered there without the military support of the government ?
Answer. I do not. My subordinates are chiefly civilians. I select the best
man for the position I can find in a county. For instance, I select the county
judge at the county-seat, and give him the agency of the Freedmen's Bureau
in that county, and under our regulations and instructions he administers our
affairs. If he needs it, he requests any district or post commandant to give him
assistance, and he gets it.
Question. Are they frequently compelled to require such aid and assistance ?
Answer. They are.
Question. And you do not think that at this time the military could be safely
withdrawn from Tennessee ?
Answer. I do not.
Question. Do you think that martial law could be safely abolished there at
this time 1
Answer. I do not.
Question. Do you think it would be safe at this time to restore the writ of
habeas corpus there ?
Answer. I do not.
Question. What is the general sentiment of the white population in the State
of Tennessee at this time in respect to loyalty to the federal Union 1
Answer. I should think that the majority of the people of Tennessee, count
ing them right through, are opposed to the government. I think the vote at
8 T
114 RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE-
the polls to-day, if every man were allowed to vote as he pleased and according
to his own judgment, would show a majority against the general government.
Question. Is there any difference in that respect in different parts of the
State?
Answer. Yes, sir ; there is more loyalty in East Tennessee than in any other
portion of the State, and there is more in Middle Tennessee than there is in
West Tennessee.
Question. Is there now safety to the Union people of the State of Tennessee]
Answer' But little opposition to the Union people has come within my ob
servation. A large delegation of the citizens of Memphis waited on me not
long ago and stated that they were cruelly oppressed by the rebel element of
the population in that section, and that they feared the military protection was
to be withdrawn from the State ; and they stated to me that if the military was
withdrawn, those persons in most portions of West Tennessee who had been
early and consistent friends of the government, and loyal to it, would be com
pelled to withdraw with the military. That was their opinion as expressed to
me.
Question. Is it your belief that within two or three years there will be a
mutual understanding arrived at between the white and colored populations of
Tennessee, so that the Freedmen's Bureau could be dispensed with ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I believe that with the enactment of just laws, laws se
curing impartial justice to all men, and their enforcement in that State by the
civil authorities, it would not take that length of time to properly adjust the
new relations.
By Mr. GRIDER :
Question. Where are your headquarters ?
Answer. At Nashville, Tennessee.
Question. How long have you been in Kentucky ? Have you been at
Frankfort lately ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I have been in Kentucky the most of the time for the
last six weeks. I was there often during the summer months and made toura
through the State.
Question. When you speak of the vote of the majority of the people of Ten
nessee being in opposition to the general government, do you mean that the
majority would vote to overthrow the government, or do you mean that they
are opposed to the present policy of the government?
Answer. I mean this — that I believe a majority of the people of Tennessee
to-day would prefer that the rebellion should have been a success ; that is my
meaning.
Question. Is there, or not, an increasing loyalty — a disposition gradually
growing up to take position under the federal government and do their duty]
Answer. I will tell you just what my observation in that particular has
been. When I went to that district in June last there seemed to be a general
disposition on the part of the majority of the people to cordially support the
government — to return to industrial pursuits, and to let bygones be bygones,
In the course of three or four months there seemed to be an increase of disaffec
tion ; I heard more of complaint against the government, more expressions of
regret that the rebellion had failed, more open and unjust criticisms of the gov
ernment ; then again that spirit subsided, and I believe the feeling to-day in
Tennessee is growing better.
Question. As the legislature of Tennessee has adopted the principal measures,
if not all of the measures, recommended by the President of the United States, and
RECONSTRUCTION TENNESSEE. 115
they have elected members of Congress, will you state whether or not you be
lieve their admission into seats in Congress would tend to encourage and increase
the spirit of loyalty in Tennessee, and of attachment to the general government ?
Answer. My own opinion about that is this : The State of Tennessee occu
pies altogether a different position from that of any State below. In the first
place, Tennessee abolished slavery by her own actions ; she elected a governor
by the people; she repudiated the rebel debt; she ratified the constitutional
amendment abolishing slavery, and did all that without Executive indication or
inauguration. Tennessee furnished thousands for the defence of the Union.
All this is to her advantage; and were I a member of the Senate or House of Rep
resentatives of Congress I would vote most cheerfully to admit the delegation
from Tennessee, believing that in so doing I would be taking a step that would
increase the loyal sentiment of the State, and which would promote the tran
quillity and prosperity of the State. I speak now of Tennessee.
By Mr. GRIMES :
Question. You discriminate between Tennessee and the more southern States ?
Answer. I do.
WASHINGTON, February 2, 1866.
David T. Patterson sworn and examined.
By Mr. GRIMES :
Question. Where do you reside 1
Answer. I reside in Greeneville, Greene county, East Tennessee.
Question. State, if you please, so far as you may know, the condition of the
public sentiment in Tennessee so far as regards the whole of the State, as well
as the different sections of it ; the condition of the Union people and the freed-
men in those different sections ; and what you know in regard to the changed
condition of the industrial pursuits of the freedmen.
Answer. I can speak from my own personal knowledge of the condition, of.
the loyal people of East Tennessee. In regard to the condition of loyal people
in Middle and in Western Tennessee, I can only speak from information derived
from correspondence and conversations with people who live there. In East
ern Tennessee the loyal people have an overwhelming majority ; they are the
dominant party now. But during the war they were subjected to the bitterest
persecution ; they were driven from their homes ; they were conscripted and
sent into the rebel armies ; they were persecuted like wild beasts by the rebel
authorities, and hunted down in the mountains ; they were hanged on the gallows,
shot down and robbed ; every imaginable wrong was inflicted upon them. From
20,000 to 25,000 loyal men of East Tennessee left their homes, went through
the mountains into Kentucky, there joined the federal forces, and fought their
way back home under General Burnside in 1863. Perhaps no people on the
face of the earth were ever more persecuted than were the loyal people of East
Tennessee in 1862 and 1863 ; the persecution commenced just after the burn
ing of bridges in 1861. The first conscript law passed by the rebel congress,
I believe, was passed in April, 1862, and as soon as they got their machinery
at work they commenced attempting to conscript the Union men of East Ten
nessee. As soon as they organized their bureaus of conscription and appointed
their enrolling officers, a great many Union men in East Tennessee escaped
from the country, while others concealed themselves in the mountains and in
houses.
At the June election in 1861, on the question of separation from the Union
and representation in the rebel congress, we had in East Tennessee a majority
of about 20,000 against those issues. Both questions were presented together.
116 EECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
Those who opposed them voted " no separation," "no representation ;" those
who were in favor voted " separation, " "representation."
Upon the occupation of East Tennessee by General Burnside. in September,
1863, the rebels themselves, those who had made themselves obnoxious, fled
from East Tennessee, and but few have returned. We have now but few rebels
in East Tennessee. The Union men, when they were enabled to return, were
not very amiable, and they resorted to retaliation, and executed a great many
rebels — paid them back in the some sort of coin they had received at their hands.
The Union men were guilty of a great many excesses, and can only be excused
upon the ground that they had themselves been made to suffer terribly by those
rebels.
Really, so far as East Tennessee is concerned, we. have now very few rebels
there. We have nothing to fear from rebel votes or from rebel influence in my
section of the State. I doubt very much whether there are more than three
counties in Eastern Tennessee where a rebel would present himself for any
office of any character. East Tennessee can take care of itself. The trouble is
in Middle Tennessee and in Western Tennessee.
Question. In West Tennessee, especially ?
Answer. I suppose there is more disloyalty there ; but I know but little
about public sentiment there. All the information 1 have I obtain from corre
spondence and conversation with gentlemen living in that section of the State.
I have been in Tennessee but little since the capitulation of General Lee and
the surrender of the rebel armies. Since last July I have been here.
So far as the Freedmen's Bureau is concerned, I know very little of its prac
tical operation in East Tennessee. We have very few freedmen there. In fact,
I know nothing of the practical operation of the bureau in any part of the
State. And in East Tennessee, before the war, slavery existed in its mildest
form.
Question. What is your opinion in regard to the propriety of admitting into
Congress the delegation from Tennessee at this time ?
Answer. Situated as I am, it is very natural I should entertain the opinions
I do upon that subject. I really think it would be advantageous to the loyal
sentiment of Tennessee to be represented in Congress. I think the moral
influence of a representation in Congress would do us good at home.
It is very difficult to judge of men's motives and their real sentiments; but
those who were rebels, and who have corresponded or conversed with me upon
the subject, profess now to bs loyal to the government of the United States — to
accept the results of the war in good faith.
I have read pretty carefully the address of the central committee of the State,
and must say that I was surprised to see it. If we have not succeeded in
making any impression upon the rebel organization in the State, and they were
to combine together, they could certainly defeat us in a general election ; that
is to say, they could defeat us in an election for governor. They could not
defeat us, so far as East Tennessee is concerned, in an election for members of
Congress, or for members of the legislature, or for county officers. We have
no trouble there about that ; we carry all those elections our own way.
But if, as some of our prominent Union men think, we have made no impres
sion upon the rebel organization in that State, then, if they were to combine
and cast their full vote for candidates of their own, they could certainly defeat
us in a general election.
RECONSTRUC TION TENNESSEE. 117
WASHINGTON, February 2, 1866.
Col. William Spence sworn and examined.
By Mr. GRIMES:
Question. Where do you reside, and what is your occupation ?
Answer. I reside three miles from the city of Murf'reesboro', Rutherford county,
Tennessee. My business now is farming.
Question. Are you a native of Tennessee ?
Answer. No, sir ; I have been there ever since I was five years old ; but I
was born in Ireland.
Question. Are you in any public employment at this time 'I
Answer. I was elected to the senate of the legislature of Teuness e, and am
at present a member of that body.
Question. Have you been in Tennessee during the last five years ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I have been there all the time, and at home, when I could
stay there.
Question. Were you the owner of slave property when the rebellion broke
out?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What is the condition of public sentiment in the State of Tennessee,
or in the different portions of the State, as regards loyalty to the federal gov
ernment ; and what is the condition of the freedmen, anjl the condition of the
loyal Union men — those who have adhered to the government during the last
five years ?
Answer. First, with regard to the Union feeling in the State. Among those
who have been in the rebellion, and have been pardoned, if the question was in
reference to obeying the law, I think the most of them would be inclined to obey
the law. Still, according to my judgment, they would have no very kind feel
ing towards the government But I think they would obey the law as near as
you could get any body of men to do it. I think the poorer classes who have
been in the rebellion could be made truly loyal if proper efforts were made.
They are ignorant and need education.
In the county where I live the condition of the frcedman is very good. There
is an agency of the Freedmen's Bureau there, but there have been very few cases
that have to be taken before it for adjustment. The freedmen have behaved
exceedingly well, and have obtained fair wages. When their time was out this
year they commenced hiring out again on farms for $15 a month and board. I
think everything with the freedmoii is working well. The poorer classes of
whites are not getting along so well. \ They have no schools, and where they
have no land they cannot get employment as readily as the colored men can.
The richer men will not employ them, for the truth is, they are not as valuable
for laboring as the negroes are. According to my judgment the poorer classes
of white people, not only in Tennessee, but all over the south, are scarcely able
to take care of themselves. They are inclined to be idle and lazy, and think it
degrading to work.
I only know from report about other parts of Tennessee. The eastern por
tion of the State, where about three-fourths of all the loyal people of the State
live, is in a peculiar condition in regard to politics. The Union people in my
section, Middle Tennessee, consider it absolutely necessary for the good of the
country that the negro should have his rights in court; and not only that, but
that we should. at least inaugurate the principle that those who have fought in
the army should have the right to vote as well as those who pay taxes and those
who can read and write. But our Union friends in the eastern portion of the
State, as we understand it, almost to a man, although the best Union men in the
land, are opposed to any such thing.
118 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
I think the disloyal sentiment is much greater in West Tennessee than in
Middle Tennessee ; but how far that disloyal sentiment would be carried out if
opportunity presented I have no means of knowing ; whether it would go so far
as disobedience to the law I do not know. I think it probable that in some por
tions of the State there might be some lawless fellows who would disobey the
laws.
Question. You speak of the operation of the Freedmen's Bureau in your
county. Do you think it is working advantageously to the planters and to the
freedmen in that county ?
Answer. There must be some tribunal before which, if there is any dispute,
it can be settled. But we really have had no use for it of any consequence, be
cause we were organized and getting along very well before there was any bu
reau established there, and I endeavored to have a law passed by the legislature
which would have prevented our having any use for it in our section, but we
failed to get it. I think the Freedmen's Bureau operates very well.
Question. How does this new system of paid labor seem to satisfy the intel
ligent people of Tennessee ?
Answer. In my judgment it satisfies them remarkably well. I know it sat
isfies me. I have made the experiment ; I allowed the freedmen I employed to
have pretty much their own way, and they made as much as they ever made
when slaves. I made as much as any of my neighbors made the past year ; in
fact, I think I made more. I do not hold at all to the idea that negroes will
\ not work for compensation.
Question. What, in your opinion, would be the effect at the next election in
Tennessee of admitting her representatives into Congress now ] Would it re
suit to the advantage of the Union men of the State to admit the Tennessee
representatives at this time ?
Answer. I think it would have a good effect. It would set the whole ma
chinery of the State in motion, and the people would become identified with and
better satisfied with the government of the United States, even those who have
been in the rebellion My judgment would be that different candidates would
come out at another election, and in some sections what we term radical men
would be elected ; in other sections what we call conservatives would be elected.
But I think that in hardly any case — at least not in Middle Tennessee — would
they elect what would be called rebels, men who have been in the rebel army
and taken an active part in favor of the rebellion. They would be afraid, if
they should put up such men, that the poorer classes would be arrayed against
them by the Union people, which I think can be done in every district in Mid
dle and West Tennessee ; ancl if they do that, we will have a civil war at home.
I really rtiink it would have a very beneficial effect to admit our representatives
now. I live in as bad a rebel djstrict as any in the State of Tennessee ; not
originally any worse than others, but they all got into it at last. The rich men
had influence, and made the poor people go into the rebellion; but I do not
think they have that influence any longer.
W. SPENCE.
WASHINGTON, February 5, 1866.
Lieutenant Colonel John H. Cochrane sworn and examined.
By Mr. GRIMES:
Question. Are you connected with the army ?
Answer. I have been ; I was mustered out of service last week.
Question. With what regiment have you been connected ]
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 119
Answer. With the 101st United States colored infantry. I was acting assist
ant adjutant general for General Fisk, of the Freedrnen's Bureau.
Question. Have you been on General Fisk's staff until recently 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How long have you been stationed in Tennessee, and at what
place ?
Answer. Since the 5th of September, 1863, at Nashville.
Question. Have you had occasion to travel much through the State ?
Answer. Yes, sir; considerable, at various times.
Question. Have you been brought in contact with the people of Tennessee to
any considerable extent?
Answer, Yes, sir; iny official position brought me in contact with a groat
many people.
Question. So far as you have been able to form an opinion, what is the pres
ent condition of public sentiment in Tennessee as regards loyalty to the federal
government 1
Answer. I do not think there is much loyalty there. I think the Union
people are in a very decided minority ; and I think it would be still worse if
our troops were withdrawn. That has been shown, I think, in the sections
from which the troops have been withdrawn.
Question. Is there, in any portion of the State, much dissatisfaction with the
restoration of the federal government ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; there is a great deal of it in Middle Tennessee and some
in East Tennessee.
Question. How is it in West Tennessee 1
Answer. West Tennessee is bad, too, in some portions of it-
Question. How tolerable is the condition of those men who have been loyal
to the government of the United States throughout the rebellion?
Answer. In reference to what ?
Question. How are they treated and regarded by those who have been dis
loyal ?
Answer. The feeling now is subsiding a great deal ; but there was a great
deal of opposition by disloyal men to Union men. They seem to harmonize
now better than they did a year ago. There does not appear to be so much
trouble between them. Still the Union men are in the minority, as was demon
strated at the election of mayor of Nashville ; but there is not much open hos
tility between them.
Question. Are the lives, and is the property, of Union men of the State who
have borne arms in the federal cause safe and protected at this time ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I do not know how it would be if the troops were taken
away from the State.
Question. Do you believe the troops could be safely withdrawn at this time ?
Answer. I do not; not from the whole State. They might be safely with
drawn from some portions of the State; but in other parts of the State I do not
think it would be safe for northern men who have emigrated there, or for the
Union men of the State who have served in our army, if our troops were with
drawn.
Question. Would it be safe for the freedmen ?
Answer. No, sir, it would not.
Question. What is the condition of the freedmen there now?
Answer. It is very good ; they are making contracts for labor. At General
Fisk's office the demand for laborers was five or six thousand more than we
could supply.
Question. Do the freedmen receive remunerative wages for their labor?
120 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
Answer. I think they do.
Question. Are the labor contracts generally observed on both sides ?
Answer. Yes, sir, in most instances. We have had but very little trouble
in consequence of their contracts being violated.
Question. So far as you know, has the Freedmen's Bureau operated advan
tageously for all parties in Tennessee*?
Answer. Yes, sir, I think so. There has been some complaint about it; but
I guess the great cause of the complaint, the freedmen's court, has been removed
now. The admission of negroes to testify in the courts will do away with the
necessity for a freedmen's court.
By Mr. GRIDER:
Question. You say the people of Tennessee are becoming more quiet?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What is your opinion as to the effect of the admission of the dele
gation from Tennessee into Congress? Would it increase the spirit of loyalty
or quietude, or would it do otherwise ?
Answer. I think it would increase it. They feel there now as though they
were not represented, as though they were a Territory, and it was hardly worth
while being loyal.
Question. Do the men who were in the federal army and those who were in
the confederate army treat each other with more courtesy than the citizens do?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And more generously?
Answer. We have but little trouble with the men who were in the confede
rate army. I found it so in Tennessee and Kentucky.
WASHINGTON, February 5, 1866.
Lieutenant Colonel R. W. Barnard sworn and examined.
By Mr. GRIMES :
Question. Are you an officer of the United States army ?
Answer, Yes, sir ; a brevet lieutenant colonel of the United States army.
Question. Where have you been last stationed ?
Answer. In Tennessee.
Question. How long have you been there ?
Answer. I have been stationed permanently there since the last of June, 1864.
Question. At what place have you been stationed ?
Answer. At Nashville.
Question. What has been your duty there ?
Answer. From the 21st of June, 1864, until about the 1st of August, 1865, I
was superintendent of contrabands for the department of the Cumberland.
Question. Is Nashville still your headquarters ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What is the condition of public sentiment in the State of Tennes
see in regard to loyalty to the government of the United States ?
Answer. I do not think there are many citizens of Tennessee who are favor
able to the government of the United States.
Question. What do you mean by that ? Do you mean that there is a general
spirit of disloyalty throughout the State, or merely that they are dissatisfied
with the condition of things ?
Answer. Rather that they are dissatisfied with the condition of things. It is
not disloyalty sufficient to produce an outbreak, but it is a spirit of disaffection.
Question. What is the condition of the Union people of the State, those who
have been loyal during the last four or five years ?
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 121
Answer. Do you mean as regards their treatment by the citizens ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Answer. I do not think they are molested by the southern sympathizers.
Question. Is it your opinion that they are thoroughly protected in all their
rights and privileges ?
Answer. I think they have their rights and privileges by sufferance ; that
they are simply not interfered with.
Question. What is the condition of the freedmen in Tennessee ?
Answer. I think that it is improving. I think that self-interest on the part of
the employers will protect the freedmen in their rights in a great measure.
Question. So far as you know, are they now protected in their rights of per
sons and property ?
Answer. As a general thing, I think they are by their employers.
Question. How are they treated by those who are not their employers ?
Answer. I do not think they are treated with much cruelty; but they are not
treated with much favor. There is a dislike to the negro since he is free, but I
do not think he is treated with much cruelty in Tennessee. Still, I ascribe that
in a great measure to the presence of the military in Tennessee, and the decided
policy of General Thomas.
Question. Do you know whether measures are being taken generally through
out the State to put in crops ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and there is a great demand for labor from all parts of
Tennessee by northern men who have emigrated there and citizens of the State
who have always lived there.
Question. Is it your opinion that the military could be safely removed from
Tennessee at this time ?
Answer. I hardly know how to express myself on that subject. I have not
been in favor of removing the military. I can tell you what an old citizen, a
Union man, said to me. Said he, " I tell you what, if you take away the mili
tary from Tennessee, the buzzards can't eat up the niggers as fast as we'll kill
'em." I do not think it would be as bad as that; but I know there are plenty
of bad men there who would maltreat the negro.
Question. What is your opinion, if you have any upon the subject, in regard
to the effect upon the public sentiment in Tennessee of admitting into Congress
the delegation from that State ?
Answer. I think the effect would probably be beneficial. But I am not a
politician ; I have never meddled with politics ; I have never voted in my life.
Still, there is such a universal desire there to have their delegation admitted that
I think it would probably have a beneficial effect.
Question. From what does that desire arise ?
Answer. Simply H desire to be represented in Congress, to be recognized as
a State again. It is a natural desire for a people to have. I do not think there
is any particular political meaning in it.
By Mr. GRIDER :
Question. Is the inclination or disposition to be severe on the freedmen most
common with those who formerly owned slaves, or with those who never
owned any ?
Answer. There are very few persons of any standing in Tennessee who did
not formerly own slaves ; therefore, any maltreatment of freedmen would be by
those who formerly owned slaves.
Question. Do not a large majority of the people in Tennessee who formerly
owned slaves, so far as they can, seek to retain them by hiring them ?
Answer. I think they are more anxious to hire their own former slaves than
to go abroad for laborers — that is, as a general thing; but there are some
122 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
instances where men positively refuse to let a negro come near them who was
ever owned by them*
Question. But the general rule is the other way ?
Answer. I rather think it is.
Question. Portions of slaves that belonged to particular men went off with
the army, and some remained at home. Are not the owners of those who re
mained at home peculiarly kind and attentive to their interests ?
Answer. I cannot say how that is in a general way. When I was superin
tendent of contrabands there were so many instances of cruelty brought before
me, and at the same time so much evidence of kindness, that I thought it was
about equally divided ; it depended a great deal upon the natural heart and
condition of the former owner.
Question. You speak now of contrabands ?
Answer. I say my official title was " superintendent of contrabands."
Question. They were not freedmen then 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. The constitutional amendment had not then been ratified ?
Answer. No, sir ; but the President's proclamation had freed all slaves in
insurrectionary districts. That is the way I always decided, that the slaves in
the insurrectionary districts had been all freed by the President's proclamation.
I decided that the slaves in Kentucky were not freed, but that in Tennessee
and the other insurrectionary States they were free.
Question. You speak of your experience as the officer in charge of that in
terest before the constitutional amendment was ratified ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have had nothing to do with it since. I have been com
manding my own regiment since August last.
WASHINGTON, February 13, 1866.
Oliver P. Temple sworn and examined.
By Mr. BINGHAM :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Knoxville, East Tennessee.
Question. How long have you resided in Tennessee ?
Answer. All my life ; I was born in Tennessee.
Question. Will you state what is the present condition of affairs in Tennes
see touching the good order of the community, and what it has been for the
past six or twelve months 1
Answer. During the last three or four months a large portion of East Ten
nessee has been very quiet, considering the condition of the country previous lo
that time. Of course, previous to that time all was disorder and confusion and
war. At the present time I know of but very little disorder there except such
acts of personal lawlessness as always grow out of the demoralization resulting
from some years of war.
Question. How is it in Middle and in West Tennessee 1
Answer. Personally I know very little about those parts of the State, for I
have not been there for some time.
Question. Do you know by general report ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I hear a great deal of complaint from there through the
newspapers and from other sources of information ; but I have not been out of
my section of the State in that direction for four years.
Question. According to your observation, does there still exist in the State
of Tennessee a disunion party 1
Answer. That is a question very hard to answer. In one sense of the term,
and probably in most senses of the term, there does exist a disunion party
RECONSTRUCTION— TENNESSEE. 123
there ; in another sense of the term there does not. In my section of the
State the Union party was very largely in the ascendency during the war and
up to the present time. The rebels were very hostile, very bitter, and very
prescriptive until the surrender of General Lee and General Johnston. Since
that time the large majority of the rebels in my section of the State with whom
I have come in contact have expressed a determination to submit to the laws
and government of the United States, and although I know some original seces
sionists who still would desire the overthrow of the government of the United
States if they had it in their power, I think the majority of the original dis-
unionists in my section of the State are so overwhelmed by the public sentiment
around them, and the disasters that have befallen their cause, that they utterly
despair of accomplishing anything of the kind. •
Now, while I apprehend that that state of acquiescence does not exist to the
same extent in Middle Tennessee and in West Tennessee as in East Tennessee,
yet public opinion has a great effect upon the sentiments of men, and hence I
think that a large majority of the original secessionists are disposed to acqui
esce in the result of the war. I do not think they will ever go to war again
against the government of the United States, unless there was a much better
prospect of success than has yet presented itself. In other words, I think they
are inclined to submit to the existing state of affairs. They complain, it is true ;
but I do not think they have any intention of rebelling again ; at least they say
they have not in their conversations with me. I have had some conversations
with them, though I am not so intimate with them as a great many others are,
because I am known throughout my region of country as a very decided Union
man, and by some regarded as an ultra man.
Question. Have all the secessionists been disfranchised under the new State
organization of Tennessee ?
Answer. They have not all been disfranchised — only those who cannot take
a certain oath; certain persons who did not vote at certain elections that are spe
cified in our laws are permitted to vote.
Question. What proportion of the former voting population of Tennessee have
been disfranchised by the existing State organization ?
Answer. I do not know ; I have never made the calculation. I have seen a
great many statements made by politicians, but I have never seen any state
ment that I had reason to believe was accurate. I should suppose that from
40,000 to 60,000, perhaps more, voters have been disfranchised.
Question. Is not that a majority of the whole voting population of the State ?
Answer. I think our voting population before the war was about 145,000.
I do not know how that number has been affected by the war.
Question. What is the highest vote given at any election under the present
organization ?
Answer. I think that some 40,000 votes were given in the election for gov
ernor of the State.
Question. Is it or not your opinion that if the white people of the state were
all put on an equality in regard to the franchise, a majority of secessionists and
sympathizers with the secessionists would secure the control of the affairs of
the State, and elect its officers ?
Answer. I very much fear they would ; but I am by no means certain about
that ; I think that would depend somewhat upon the policy adopted by our
party at the north. If a very ultra and extreme policy is adopted at the
north it will in all probability, supposing the secessionists should have the
privileges of the ballot-box, have a tendency to increase their numbers. If a
milder policy is adopted, it will have a tendency to strengthen the Union ele
ment. Party combinations are shifting so in our State, and I suppose every
where now, that it is very difficult to predict in advance what the relative
124 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
strength of parties will be in the future. I should have some fears that if the
. franchise laws of our State were repealed and a free election were allowed, the
rebels permitted to vote, the control of the State would pass into the hands of
the rebels ; indeed I believe it would.
Question. Do you think it would be safe for the Union men of Tennessee
to allow the whole voting population of the State as it formerly existed to con
trol the affairs of that State without any federal interference at all ?
Answer. The Union people in our section of the State would unquestionably
be safe. I cannot answer positively in reference to the other divisions of the
State. East Tennessee is able to take care of itself beyond any question in the
world ; no doubt about that. With the present franchise act of our State in opera
tion, 1 have but very little doubt but what the Union men would be able to
take care of themselves there.
Question. Excluding the rebels from voting?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. But my question was, supposing the right of suffrage was restored
to all the people ?
Answer. 1 should apprehend that in certain sections of the State the Union
men would be in very great danger ; that is, from what I hear, not from what I
know, because I live in a section of the State where we have no apprehensions
whatever.
Question. Suppose the whole body of the white population of Tennessee was
admitted to the exercise of the franchise, what in your opinion would be the
security of the freedmen in Tennessee without federal intervention 1
Answer. I am inclined to the opinion that there would be individual instances,
and probably a considerable number of them, where the freedmen would be
very badly treated ; but, on the other hand, I am inclined to the opinion that a
majority of the people of the State would be disposed to respect their rights
even if all restraints were removed. I am very well satisfied of one fact — that
the attempt on the part of our friends to protect the freedmen there, (as a
necessary consequence there have been some unwarranted acts, not intentional,
upon the part of persons who were superintending that freedmen's department, )
has had a tendency to create a feeling of ill will towards the freedmen that
would not naturally and of itself have existed. I myself think that a majority
of the southern people entertain a feeling of kindness for those who were for
merly their slaves. I have always felt that, although I have never in my life
been an ultra man upon the subject of slavery, and have always preferred my
government to the institution of slavery, as is very well known in my section of
the State, I was perfectly willing to give up the institution of slavery. I do
not think that there is the same enmity towards the blacks upon the part of the
southern people, even if extraneous influences were removed, as is commonly
supposed in the north. But possibly I judge more from my own feelings to
wards those I formerly controlled than from other reasons ; it may be that has
too much influence upon my opinion upon the subject.
Question. You mentioned forty thousand votes as having been given at one
election in Tennessee ; were they given for the same candidates, or were they
divided among opposing candidates 1
Answer. My recollection is that about forty thousand votes were given for
the Union ticket. I am not sure that any at all were given for the- opposite
ticket, but I may be mistaken about that. I have been very busily engaged in
other pursuits, ami am not a regular professed politician in any way, though I
take an interest in such matters.
Question: Was there a military force present at the last election in. the State,
in any manner controlling it ?
Answer. So far as I know, and so far as I have ever been authentic illy in
formed, there was not. There was a military force in the State ; but if the
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 125
military interfered at all in the elections there, I have no authentic information
about it.
By Mr. GRIDER :
Question. What is your opinion and your conviction as to the effect of ad
mitting the present delegation of representatives now elected from the State of
Tennessee ? Would it increase the loyalty and gratify the feelings of the peo
ple of the State, and would it decrease it to exclude them ]
Answer. I think to admit the representatives would unquestionably strengthen
the loyal men there very much, and to reject them would unquestionably
strengthen the disloyal element. I think that rejecting them would have a ten
dency to make a great many Union men discontented, and when men become
discontented it is a very easy matter to drive them off into the opposite extreme.
I desire to state one thing more definitely and distinctly than 1 have stated in
my former answer with reference to the disunionists. I do not pretend to say,
nor do I mean to be understood in anything I have said to say, that the original
secessionists in our State have changed their hearts. I think their hearts are
just where they were four years ago ; but a great many of them are acquiescing
in the present condition of things, and I think a great many of them intend to
continue to acquiesce in the supremacy of the government of the United States.
But I think their hearts are just where they were before ; or, at least, that is
the case with a majority of them.
Question. I will ask you whether those gentlemen who are acquiescing, and
who say they are willing to submit to the general government, are not generally
men of capacity and influence and consideration ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they are generally, so far as I know, because those are the
persons I generally come in contact with. I have not come in contact with
many of the common refugees, and I know very little about their sentiments.
It is generally persons of position with whom 1 have come in contact, or with
whom I have had conversation. I have had conversation with a great many of
them, and they are men generally of standing and respectability, or were so be
fore the war. A great many of them have fallen off very much, in my estima
tion, since that.
WASHINGTON, February 13, 1866.
John Williams sworn and examined.
By Mr. BINGHAM :
Question. In what part of Tennessee do you reside, and how long have you
resided in that State1?
Answer. I reside in Knox county, East Tennessee, and have resided there
all my life.
Question. Have you the means of knowing the general state of public feel
ing in Tennessee ?
Answer. I think I have.
Question. What is the feeling of the majority of the people of Tennessee
towards the government of the United States 1
Answer. So far as I am advised, it is my opinion that the feeling of not
only the majority, but almost the entire mass of the people of Tennessee, is
friendly towards the government of the United States. I know of no opposi
tion there, and hear of none except through the newspapers. You can hear
contradictory statements upon that subject almost every day. Some contend
that there is opposition to the government. But my observation is that there is
none anywhere in the State, so far as I am advised. The rebels have been
126 RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE.
thoroughly whipped, and I think they are disposed to acquiesce in the
supremacy of the authority of the United States.
Question. Are the rebels disposed to take the possession and control of the
government of Tennessee, if they get the chance to do so ?
Answer. I suppose if you were to give them the privilege of voting, as a mat
ter of course they will go to the polls like everybody else, and they will vote ;
and in that event, there being a majority in Tennessee of those who were
rebels, they would get the control of the State. But I am one of those who
do not believe there is much opposition in the State of Tennessee to the govern
ment of the United States. If you permit them to go to the polls, of course
they would be in the majority, because there are more of them than of the
other party in Tennessee.
Question. What is the relative strength of the rebel population in Tennessee,
compared with the white Union population ?
Answer. I think that upon the question of separation from the Union, which
was the last real test we had there, there were from 40,000 to 45,000 for the
Union, and about 100,000 for secession. That was about the vote, as well as
I now recollect.
Question. Is it your opinion that the two parties sustain about that relative
relation now?
Answer. I do not think they do.
Question. What do you think is now the difference between the whole num
ber of Union voters and rebel sympathizers in Tennessee?
Answer. That I cannot tell. We can only judge of that from the test of an
election, and we have had no election which was anything like a test since the
8th of June, 1861, and therefore it would be impossible for me to form any
exact idea as to what would be their relative strength at this time. I do not
think, however, the proposition to secede again would now get a single vote
in Tennessee.
Question. I do not mean whether they would vote for secession now, but
whether the rebels would vote to give themselves the control of the State.
Answer. My observation and experience for the last twelve months in Ten
nessee would lead me to believe that some of those who have been the worst
rebels have now got to be some of the most noisy Union men ; they are the
most clamorous and make the most noise. The great body of the Union men
in my section of the country have not been to an election for some time. They
refused to vote at any of the elections under the secession government, and a
great many of them have not gone back to the polls since they have been
under federal rule.
Question. What is the reason of that?
Answer. I suppose it is for various reasons. There is a state government in
Tennessee now which a great many of the Union men do not indorse.
Question. Why do they not indorse it?
Answer. Because they do not think it was organized in accordance with prin
ciples laid down in the constitution of the State of Tennessee; that is all.
Question. Do they still have that opinion ?
Answer. I think a great many of them have. Still they acquiesce in the gov
ernment; they offer no resistance to it. You are asking me for my opinion.
Question. Undoubtedly ; and a great deal of this testimony which you are
giving is merely your opinion. Do these Union men of whom you speak intend
to remain away from the polls under the existing State organization?
Answer. I do not think they do. I think, as time rolls on, they will all go
back to the polls. But men in a high state of excitement will not do a great
many things which otherwise they will do.
Question. Do you know anything about any agreement or organization among
RECONSTRUCTION — TENNESSEE. 127
the rebels to acquiesce for the present, and after restoration to take control of
the State?
Answer. I have no knowledge of any such organization.
Question. Neither from rumor nor otherwise1?
Answer. None, except what I have seen published in the Nashville papers,
as coming from some gentlemen there. A Mr. Fletcher, and others who are on
a committee there, say that such is the fact. But I have no knowledge of the
existence of any such organization.
Question. Those men to whom you refer have made that statement public?
Answer. Yes, sir; it is contained in an address to Congress, which I suppose
you have all seen.
Question. Do you think with the State of Tennessee under the control of
rebels, without any restraint upon them from federal intervention, justice would
be done to the freedmen in that State?
Answer. I do not think there is any disposition upon the part of anybody in
Tennessee, rebel or Union, to inflict any injury upon the colored man.
Question. That is not exactly an answer to my question?
Answer. Well, I will endeavor to answer as well as I can.
Question. My question is whether you think, if the control of the State should
pass into the hands of the rebel majority, justice would be done to the freedmen
in Tennessee?
Answer. I think it would ; because I know personally a great many rebels
who are as kind to the negro as any one else is, and therefore I think it is fair
to infer that they would continue to be so.
By Mr. GRIDER :
Question. What effect do you think the admission into Congress would have
upon the spirit and temper of the people of Tennessee ? Would it gratify them
and make them more loyal, or would it tend to encourage the rebel feeling there?
Answer. I think it would have a very beneficial influence ; I think it would
go a great way towards bringing about a better state of feeling than perhaps
exists there now. There are some of our people there, good Union people, who
are disposed to complain of the action of Congress in not admitting our repre
sentatives. I think their admission would put them in good humor and make
them feel better disposed towards the government.
WASHINGTON, February 13, 1866.
Abner G. Jackson sworn and examined.
By Mr. BINGHAM :
Question. In what part of Tennessee do you reside, and how long have you
resided there?
Answer. I reside in Knox county, East Tennessee, and I have resided there
for fifty-seven years. I was born in the neighborhood of Petersburg, Virginia.
Question. What is your opinion of the present feeling of the majority of the
people of Tennessee towards the friends and defenders of the Union in the State
of Tennessee ?
Answer. So far as my observation goes, the feeling of the secession party is
nothing like as bitter as it was some time ago. Until within the last two or
three months there has been a great deal of bitterness and a great deal of trouble.
But it is now much more quiet, so far as my observation goes. .
Question. Is it your opinion that the active Union men of Tennessee would
be safe if the control of the government of the State was transferred to the hands
of the majority, that majority being understood to have been rebel ?
128 RECONSTRUCTION— TENNESSEE.
Answer. I really think they would. I should be perfectly willing to risk it
if it were thought practicable and advisable to do so. But just in that con
nexion, speaking of rebels, perhaps you and I would differ as to who were
rebels. My neighbor, for instance, has been a rebel ; but he is an honest man,
and comes up and takes the oath. I do not now look upon him as a rebel, be
cause by taking the oath he has wiped out his sin of rebellion. In regard to
honest men, I take a different view of that subject from some others. An honest
man before the war will be an honest man after the war.
Question. In what majority are those persons in Tennessee who have been
in favor of the rebellion ?
Answer. I am not as well posted in that respect as some others are.
Question. Do you think they would be as about two to one to the Union men
in Tennessee ?
Answer. I think, taking the whole State, perhaps they would be, or that they
have been.
Question. Are they now ?
Answer. I do not think they are.
Question. Are they in the majority in the State now ?
Answer. I think it very likely that they have a decided majority.
Question. Do you think the vote of the State now would be in the proportion
that Mr. Temple has stated, whose testimony you have heard?
Answer. I form my opinion more from what Mr. Temple and Mr. Jackson
have stated than from my own observation, for they have bestowed more pains
upon this subject than I have.
Question. Do you know about what was the vote of Tennessee for governor
at the last election for that office?
Answer. I do not ; I was absent from Tennessee at that time.
By Mr. GRIDE R :
Question. You have spoken of the bitterness that existed between the rebels
and the Union men some months ago. Will you not state whether that was not
rather a personal difference, rather than a feeling of opposition towards the
United States government ?
Answer. It was a personal difference, and confined to very low people, as a
general thing.
Question. What effect, in your opinion, would the admission of the delegation
from Tennessee into Congress have upon the people of the State? Would it
have a good effect ?
Answer. I think it would have a very decided effect to harmonize the people
of Tennessee.
Question. Will you state whether the rebel officers and the Union officers
who have met in your neighborhood since the war ceased have not got along
harmoniously together and like gentlemen ?
Answer. Officers and soldiers both have done so; that is true, with the ex
ception, as I stated before, of low fellows.
PART II.
VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, SOUTH CAROLINA.
SUB-COMMITTEE.
Mr. JACOB M. HOWARD, (of Michigan,) United States Senate.
Mr. ROSCOE OONKLING, (of New York,) House of Representatives.
Mr. HENRY T. BLOW, (of Missouri,) House of Representatives.
Mr. CONKLING, from the Select Joint Committee on Reconstruction, reported
the following evidence.
TESTIMONY
WASHINGTON, January- 23, 1866.
Brevet Major General John \V. Turner sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Of what State are you a citizen ?
Answer. The State of Illinois.
Question. Are you now in the public service ? If so, in what capacity, and where are you
stationed?
Answer. I am in the military service of the United States, in command of the district of
Henrico, including the city of Richmond, Virginia ; I have been in command there since the
middle of June last.
Question. Does your district include any other city than Richmond ?
Answer. It does not ; it includes the county of Henrico and the town of Manchester, op
posite Richmond, on the opposite side of the James river.
Question. Were you in the Union army at the time of the evacuation of Richmond ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Serving under whom ?
Answer. I was commanding a division in the 24th army corps, under General Gibbon.
Question. State, generally, the nature of your duties at Richmond at the present time.
Answer. Perhaps I had better go back a little and state what my duties have been, as they
have been circumscribed somewhat lately.
Question. Please do so.
Answer. On assuming command there I took the entire control and charge of the city of
Richmond, exercising all the power and authority ordinarily vested in the municipal authori
ties of a city. The civil courts were suspended — all the ordinary tribunals before which the
citizens of a community resort for the redress of their grievances.
Question. Was the district under martial law ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Has it been ever since ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And is now ?
Answer. Yes, sir. From time to time I have turned over to the regularly constituted civil
authorities which have been established all actions in civil cases. During the summer, and
until October, I took cognizance, as a sort of equity court, of all civil cases that I could ad
judicate upon. I was consequently brought in contact with a great many citizens, who
necessarily came to me for relief of their wants of various kinds.
At present my duties are confined almost exclusively to affairs in which freedmen are in
volved. The State civil courts all having been established, a mayor having been elected and
his police court established, they have taken from me all jurisdiction over matters tending to
the peace and quiet of the community. At present, therefore, I take cognizance only of those
matters in which freedmen are involved ; and of those I take action only in criminal cases ;
all civil cases go to the Freedmen's Bureau. But Richmond being a large city, and there
being a large congregation of negroes there, there is required a court constantly in session to
dispose of criminal cases of daily occurrence. I have trom ten to twenty cases every day to
dispose of, mostly for petty misdemeanors.
Question. Is there in your district any interruption of the courts of justice by mobs or
violence ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Are juries regularly assembled in the State courts for the trial of causes ?
Answer. The courts were established only late in the fall, and the only court that has
been going on is what is called the hustings court. Of that court there are two branches — the
one composed of a judge, the other of fifteen magistrates. That court does not have a jury.
I think that in the circuit court and in Judge Meredith's court there is a jury.
Question. How are the sheriffs of those courts appointed ?
Answer. They are all elected.
Question. Have you been present in Richmond or in any other place in Virginia on any
day of election ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What do you know in regard to ex-rebels voting?
1 V NC SC
2 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. The first election in Richmond was for mayor, aldermen, members of the council,
sheriff, high constable, commonwealth's attorney, &c. So far as tumultuous proceedings
were concerned, that election was conducted very quietly ; there was no disturbance. I took
every precaution that the soldiers should not interfere with the voting ; that they should keep
a\vav from the polls. The people had free scope to do and say just what they pleased. I
oulv"took the precaution, in case of a riot or disturbance, to have the means at hand to sup
press it. I know that at that election the people of Richmond electioneered on the streets
and made harangues and speeches in favor of ex-rebel officers.
Question. Was this done within your own hearing?
Answer. I cannot say I heard it ; it was so reported to me.
Question. Was the information you received so direct and authentic as to leave no doubt
upon your mind as to its correctness ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you, at that election, hear any outcries or shouts, indicating that the people
were generally more in favor of those candidates who had been rebels than of those who had
Answer. I did not, personally, for I took the precaution to keep out of sight of anything
of the kind that day ; but my officers, whom I had on duty, reported to me that such things
did occur, and I am fully confident they did.
Question. Have you mingled freely with the people of Richmond and of other portions of
your district since you have been in command there, so as to be able to ascertain the state of
their feelings towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. I have been thrown in contact with a great many of them; but when you ask me
if I have mingled with them — gone into their society — I must say that I have not, because
they will not permit me to do it.
Question. Why not?
Answer. Because I am a "Yankee," and they will not permit me to go inside their nouses.
Question. Can you give an instance of any exclusion of that sort?
Answer. No, sir; not of any direct exclusion; only that none of them have ever invited me to
visit their houses. I know of only one instance where I was invited to the house of a citizen
of Richmond who was, and has been during the war, a secessionist. I judge from the man
ner in which they avoid me ; the nature of their conversation when they are in my presence,
when they are obliged to approach me on matters of business; their deportment and their
acts on the streets indicating— all these things satisfy me that I am not welcome among them.
On the contrary, that they have towards me, and I am constantly reminded of it, a deep-
abiding hate. I am filled with the cousciousnesss of it every day. I have not been on the
streets of Richmond scarcely a day for the last four months that I have not seen some indi
cation from man or woman marking his or her contempt for me because I am a "Yankee ;"
bv a shrill of the shoulders, by walking across the street to avoid meeting me, by their
turning their backs on me, or leaving a store when I enter it, turning their noses up at me.
I do not suppose a day has passed in any week for the last four months that that has not
been done.
Question. Are you aware that any of those citizens have any cause of personal dislike
towards you ?
Answer. They have not.
Question. Have you had any personal altercation with any of them ?
Answer. Not with a single person in the city of Richmond. When I have been brought
in contact with them, in the exercise of my official duties, I have always treated them
kindly ; I have spoken pleasantly to them ; I have avoided in every way the giving any
offence by word or act
Question. Have you received any instructions from your superiors in relation to your
demeanor towards them?
Answer. No, sir; I have never received any instruction on that point.
Question. I do not mean any official instructions ; but have you not been informed of the
desire of the President of the United States on that point ?
Answer. I conceived it to be my duty, when I was assigned to the command there, to do
all in my power to conciliate and harmonize the people, and I did it conscientiously. I have
forced down many a time against my inclination the indignation that arose in me, feeling
that it was my duty to do so ; that perhaps I ought to forbear showing rny feelings. I think
it probable that if you should ask the citizens of Richmond, they would speak of my course
there as having been charitable and kind. At any rate, such are the reports that are brought
to me ; that they have nothing to gainsay of what I have done. Of course, in the proper
discharge of my official duties there, I have been obliged to take some measures that were
not very pleasant to some of them.
Question. It was your uniform and firm intention and inclination to treat them fairly and
Answer. Yes, sir ; as much so as I ever attempted to perform any duty in my life.
Question. And you are not conscious of ever having acted differently?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. What is your conviction of the general sentiment of the people in your district,
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 3
or in Virginia generally, so far as you know, towards the government of the United States ;
as a general thing, as a prevalent feeling, do they like it or do they hate it?
Answer. It is my conviction that they hate it.
Question. And you derive this conviction from what?
Answer. From a long intercourse with them ; from watching them as carefully as I could
and judging them as dispassionately as I could; and I think I am able to judge them dis
passionately. I do not think they love the country or the government. It is their belief,
or their expression of belief, that they cannot live with the north ; that they are a different
people. I do not think that their oath of allegiance conveys to them any binding force or
obligation whatever to support and defend the government. I do not believe that they, for
an instant, think it does.
Question. As a general thing ?
Answer. As a general thing.
Question. Why not ; in what sort of casuistry do they indulge in that regard ; in other
words, how does it happen that a man, honorable and honest in his private relations, can
reconcile it to his conscience to violate and disregard his oath ?
Answer. That is a matter entirely beyond my comprehension. I can only attribute it to
the fact that they are an impulsive people, and speak and act from their impulses more than
from their reason and judgment. I have had related to me scores, and I may say hundreds
of times, instances of men who have taken the oath of allegiance, asserting that they would
never fight for the old flag.
Question. Does this information come to you from authentic sources ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I call to mind distinctly now one instance where a man told me that he
was sitting at the breakfast table in a private boarding-house, when the conversation turned
upon the probability of a war with France or England. One man present at the table re
marked, "Well, if we get into a war with England, I am going on that side."
Question. On the side of England ?
Answer. Yes, sir. " I am going to fight for England ; I will not fight for this country."
Question. Was that man one of position in society there ?
Answer. That I cannot say. He was certainly living at a genteel boarding-house.
Question. Was he an educated and well-bred man ?
Answer. He was boarding with the gentleman who related the circumstance to me, and
who goes in the first society there. I have heard these things so often that I have ceased to
pay attention to them ; they pass in one ear and out of the other. It is from hearing these
remarks, and from their deportment towards me, that I have been brought to the conviction
that their oath of allegiance does not bear with any force or obligation upon them.
Question. In case of the actual occurrence of a war between the United States and any
foreign power, say England or France, suppose there should be an opportunity offered for the
southern rebels to join the enemy ; in your opinion, what would they do ?
Answer. I cannot help but think they would go against us. If a foreign fleet should land
on the coast of any of the southern States, the people, as a community, might not organize
into an armed band or an armed force and re-enforce the enemy ; but I believe they would
assist them by giving them information and furnishing them with supplies, and open their
country to them as a base of operations. Such is my conviction. I think if we should get
into war with a foreign pcwer, and that power should make offers to the leading military men
of the rebellion, the generals, colonels, majors, &c., the most of them would accept the
offers. I think that is their spirit now.
Question. What is your idea as to the decrease or increase of this spirit since the close of
the war ; so far as your observation extends, has it decreased or increased ?
Answer. There is vastly more demonstration of it now than there was in the months of
May and June last : whether their feeling of hate has increased since that time or not I will
not say. They certainly give more demonstration of it now than they did then.
Quastion. In your judgment what has been the effect of the pardons and amnesties which
have been granted to rebels in Virginia, especially in your district ; what has been the moral
effect upon the minds and hearts of the recipients of those favors ? ,
Answer. I cannot help thinking that it has gone far to depress the hopes of the few Union
men there, and to raise the hopes of the secessionists. The secessionists receiving pardons
seem to have assumed an authority and political control, and to exercise an influence upon
society that they did not before they received those pardons ; and, of course, their control
and influence are antagonistic to the Union people and Union sentiment. The Union peo
ple were in the minority after these secessionists got their pardons, and had to take back
seats. I have been deeply grieved for the Union men there when I saw their utter want of
hope. I am confident that, as they all tell me, they have no hope now.
Question. Have the Union people there any effectual strength, politically or socially ?
Answer. No, sir, neither politically nor socially. Union men who have lived in Virginia
all their lives tell me they will have to leave as soon as our troops are withdrawn.
Question. Is such the state of things now ?
Answer. Yes, sir. There are men there who remained there during the four years of the
war, who were Union men, but whose feelings and opinions were not generally known
through the war ; by keeping quiet and out of the way of the crowd they were lost to the
4 RECONSTRUCTION.
public view generally. Since our advent there they have come forth and made known what
were their feelings and sentiments all through the lour years of the war. These people are
now persecuted to death, one might say, by the rebels, who accuse them of having l>een
false to their flag and their countiy.
Question. I will suppose this case: that the military power and control of the government
is entirely withdrawn from Virginia, and from the other rebel States, so that there shall be
no longer the restraining influence of the government of the United States upon them ; but
those States would apparently have perfect liberty to again attempt to secede from the
Union ; would they or not again attempt to set up the so-called confederate government, or
something like it ?
Answer. I think this : that if they thought they could succeed, by tearing down the United
States flag to-morrow, they would do it.
Question. Suppose this case: that the government of the United States should not exer
cise or threaten to exercise its military power and restraint in opposition to secession again ;
or, in other words, suppose there was no immediate prospect of the use of military force for
that purpose, would they again undertake to go out of the Union and form a confederate
government and take the chances ?
Answer. There are so many contingencies involved that one can hardly give a direct
answer to that question. I arn confident they would fire on the United States flag to-morrow
if they thought that by so doing they would effect a separation. But there are many chances
against them, and it is a question ot how many chances they would take against themselves.
My theory of the matter is this : they are determined, I think, to effect a separation from the
north socially and commercially ; they failed to effect one politically, and they are determined
to effect a social and commercial separation if they can. They will make themselves a sepa
rate people in every way ; make it unpleasant for northerners to be among them ; be aggres
sive, and a northerner will be unable to obtain redress. They will do that for the purpose of
effecting a social separation, and making themselves a distinct people, so far as they can,
while living under the same government ; biding their time when they may effect a politic il
separation.
Question. Ever entertaining the hope of an ultimate separation ?
Answer. Yes, sir, that is my opinion ; and if we cannot overcome those people, socially
and commercially ; if we cannot make them homogeneous with us at the north, by introdu
cing among them enough of us, I think it is only a question of time when we shall be sepa
rated. They say they cannot mix with us; that they do not mean to mix with us ; that
they cannot live with the north.
Question. Why?
Answer. Because they say they are above the north. They look upon a man from the
north as a mean and despicable wretch, a Yankee. There is nothing so contemptuous or
opprobrious, in their estimation, as the term "Yankee." It is the concentration of every
thing mean and despicable ; and if we cannot overcome that feeling by sending capital, and
brains, and muscle down there, we will yet be a divided country. At present there is con
siderable northern capital in Richmond ; and men will come up and cringe and fawn for the
purpose of borrowing money. A president of a bank there told me himself that they would
come up and cringe for the purpose of borrowing money, and then would not speak to the
man on the street of whom they got it. Capital has not yet begun to exercise much influ
ence there. A great deal of capital which had been taken there has been withdrawn, owing
to the animosity exhibited on the part of the people there. Those who took it there have
left, feeling that they could not get along.
Question. Among capitalists who have thus attempted to take their money into Virginia,
what is the feeling in regard to their obtaining justice from the courts as they are adminis
tered there ?
Answer. As the courts have been established very recently there, I do not know that I
ought to give an opinion upon that subject. But knowing what the feelings of the people
are^ I can readily anticipate what the result will be ; it cannot be otherwise. But as they
have had little or no opportunity as yet to show what their course will be in that respect, 1,
perhaps, had better not express an opinion.
Question. What is your impression as regards the conviction of rebels for treason by a
Virginia jury ? Could a jury be found in Virginia that would convict a man of treason ?
Answer. I have not the slightest idea in the world that it could be done ; it would be a
farce to attempt any such thing.
Question How do the people of Virginia treat the emancipated negroes ?
Answer. I do not think there is a general feeling of aggression towards the negroes. The
more intelligent people there, those who have landed estates, need their labor. Being de
pendent upon them for labor, they see the necessity of employing them, and are disposed to
get along with them. All of the people, however, are extremely reluctant to grant to the
negro his civil rights— those privileges that pertain to freedom, the protection of life, liberty,
and property before the laws, the right to testily in the courts, &c. They are all very
reluctant to concede that ; and if it is ever done, it will be because they are forced to do it.
They are reluctant even to consider and treat the negro as a free man, to let him have his
hall* of the sidewalk or the street crossing. They cannot get over their prejudices against
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 5
him, or have not as yet. Among the lower classes of the whites there is a spirit of aggres-
sion against the negro ; they are disposed to ban the negro, to kick him and cuff him, and
threaten him with what they will do as soon as the Yankees go away.
Question. Is this feeling of dislike of the negro more intense and bitter with the lower*!
classes of whites than with the upper 1
Answer. I think that, as a rule, even the more intelligent classes cannot look upon the
negro in any other light than a negro. Their feeling may, perhaps, be more deep ; and while
they are willing to treat him well — not to abuse him physically — they do not accord to him
civil rights. The very question of according civil rights to a negro is something very repug
nant to them, something at which they revolt from the very bottom of their souls. With the
lower classes — I speak now more particularly of the city of Richmond — probably the feeling
does not exist to such an extent in the rural districts — there is an impulsive feeling of aggres
sion — a desire to hit the negro out of the way. They do not think about his rights; they do
not appear to know what it means ; only they feel that the negro has something now that he
did not have before ; that he is putting on airs. And a great many of the negroes are in
clined to take the thing in their own hands ; they are not disposed to be imposed upon by
those people, if they can have half a show to defend themselves.
Question. Can you think of any motive which would induce the white population of that
region to permit the negro to have the right of suffrage 1
Answer. No, sir; they will not do it, unless they are compelled to do so — at least not for
years. I do not know what motive would induce them to do it now; it must be some great
compulsion. I have seen the proposed amendment to the Constitution introduced by the
Joint Committee on Reconstruction. My present impression is, that should that amendment
be adopted, they would lose a portion of their representation before they would allow the
negro to vote.
^ Question. State, in general terms, what is the condition of the colored population in your
district and its vicinity in respect to good order, industry, and willingness to labor and earn
a living, if treated fairly and paid reasonably.
Answer. They are getting along there fully as well as could be expected. The affairs of
the Freedmen's Bureau have been very well managed, so far as it has come under my obser
vation. I have no doubt of the disposition of the freedmen to work. Of course, take any
class of slaves as numerous as were those of the south and remove from them the restraints
under which they have always lived, and there will be a great many lawless, idle people
among them who will be inclined to prey upon the community ; but I have no doubt at all that
the mass of the freedmen will soon learn what it is to take care of themselves. I have talked
with a great many men down there who have employed a large number of negroes, and I
have yet to come across the first case, where the negro has been impressed with the confidence
that his employer was willing to accord to him all his civil rights as a free man, that there
was any difficulty at all. In those instances where there has been trouble, and the negro
has gone off and left the place, I have found the employers to be impracticable men. As I
said before, 'they could not forget that the negro had been a slave. They might not be dis
posed to punish them or beat them; but there was something in their conduct which excited
in the mind of the negro that he had not accorded to him all the privileges of his new status,
and the consequence was that the negro was discontented, was not so controllable, and was
disposed to wander off and leave his work.
Question. Owing to his want of faith in his employer?
Answer. Yes, sir. And then I think there is another cause which may, perhaps, tend to
create some discontentedness. No man likes to labor for a contingency. The negroes were
necessarily compelled to do so, because the farmers were poor and had no money to pay
them. They wrere consequently employed upon the contingency of receiving a portion of
the crop ; that was in the future, and the negro could not see it. That, combined with a dis
trust of his employer, tended to make the negro discontented ; but in every instance where
he has been paid his wages at the end of every mouth he has been contented.
Question. Are there many negroes who own property, real or personal T"
Answer. There are a great many ; I cannot say what per centage.
Question. Do any of them own farms 1
Answer. I think very few of them own farms ; it was not permitted much under the old
system.
Question. Are you aware of any combination among the white proprietors by which the
negroes are prevented from becoming the purchasers of land 1
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Do you know of any combination in regard to the employment and wages of
negroes 1
Answer. Not in my district. I understood there was in the lower part of the State ; but,
being outside of my district, it was a matter about which I did not inquire.
Question. Will you state any other facts which occur to you as being important in this
connexion 1
Answer. I do not know but I have been over the whole ground pretty nearly.
Question. What military force have you now in Richmond ?
Answer. They have just taken away a part of my force, and that is one reason why I
6 . RECONSTRUCTION.
desire to go back immediately. My force now has probably been reduced to about rive
hundred troops.
Question. Stationed in Richmond?
Answer. Yes, sir. Just in proportion as we have withdrawn from the control of civil
affairs have the people expressed their discontent and contempt publicly. It has got so now
that actually as disloyal speeches are made, and as disloyal articles published in the papers,
as ever there was at any time; and that is increasing just iu proportion as we relax our con
trol and authority.
Question. Do you not perceive among the whites of the section where you are. a deep
sense of mortification and chagrin at the fact of their having been overcome in war? Is it
not a deep-seated and very bitter feeling of disappointment ?
Answer. Yes, sir, undoubtedly.
Question. And of mortified pride?
Answer. They have a very deep feeling of disappointment, a very deep feeling. But it
never struck me that they felt it as we would, because they have so often confessed to me
what was unpleasant for me to hear, what I did not wish to hear, and what I tried to re
press them from saying. They would say to me, "Well, you have conquered us; we are
whipped." Now, I'think if a man of generous soul felt deq) mortification he would keep
quiet on the subject. I have always thought that their feeling of mortification was more
superficial than otherwise. But I think their disappointment was very great in not attaining
success. Their admissions six months ago were much more general and much more candid
than they are now.
Question. Much more frank ?
Answer. Yes, sir. Immediately after the surrender of Lee's army at Appomattox I was
sent to Lynchburg to take possession of that city ; and I came all the way with my troops
from there to Richmond, and I talked with a great many people in the country and in the
city, and it was my conviction at that time that the people were disposed to accept the results
of the war, but that they were not very clear as to what those results were, or all that they
involved. If some of their own people had stepped forward then and told them what they
would have to do, they would have yielded a ready acquiescence to almost anything.
Question. What is your profession?
Answer. I have never had any profession but that of a soldier.
Question. Were you educated at West Point?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How long have you been in the service ?
Answer. Ten years last June.
Question. What is your age?
Answer. I am thirty-three years of age.
WASHINGTON, January 31, 1S66.
Judge John C. Underwood sworn and examined :
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. At Alexandria, Virginia.
Question. Are you a native of that State ?
Answer. I am not.
Question. How long have you resided in the State of Virginia ?
Answer. About twenty years.
Question. What official position, if any, do you now occupj- ?
Answer. I am the United States district judge for Virginia.
Question. How long have you held that; office?
Answer. About three years.
Question. During that time in what portion of Virginia have you resided?
Answer. In Alexandria, or near there.
Question. Will you state how the war has left matters in Virginia?
Answer. It has left great bitterness of feeling between those who are loyal and those who
adhered to the confederacy ; and I think that bitterness has increased within the last two
months. It certainly has in Alexandria, and in those parts of the State with which I am
most acquainted.
Question. Can you state any incident that has occurred within your district as evidence of
disloyal feeling, or of the feeling of bitterness to which you have referred?
Answer. I will mention a fact that came under my official observation last week. A Mr.
Minor F. Davis acted as a guide and scout for the Union army during a long period of the
war, and was and is a thoroughly loyal man. He was imprisoned in Prince William county
jail, under the charge of larceny. The sheriff who held him was a rebel, and has been
recently elected sheritf of that county. Application was made to me for a writ of habeas
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 7
corpus, the affidavit setting forth that Davis had been imprisoned for guiding some Union
forces, so that they succeeded in capturing a band of guerillas in that county, some fifteen
or twenty in number, and from these guerillas their horses were taken. That was the only
act of which Davis was accused. The affidavit also averred that the sheriff who held him in
custody was, at the time Davis rendered this assistance to the Union forces, in open armed
hostility to the government ; that he had since been elected sheriff of the county. I issued
the writ, and Davis has been discharged from custody. About the time my marshal got
there the provost marshal got there, and I think Davis was really discharged by the provost
marshal.
I will mention this fact also: under decrees of confiscation rendered in my court, sales of1
property have been made. Several of the persons who became purchasers have recently
been proceeded against in the State courts — the circuit and county courts — by way of eject
ment, in order to put the old parties in possession of the property thus sold. The purchasers
have been prosecuted in several instances. They are annoyed in that way, and in one or
two instances they have actually been ejected by the local authority from their purchases.
Question. During the lifetime of the original owner ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. That is, the judgments of the State courts have overruled the judgments of your
court under the confiscation act of Congress ?
Answer. I think it has been done generally by some evasion. I do not think they have
done it in direct terms. There are a number of prosecutions of that kind now pending, and
one or two I understand have been decided. But I do not know the precise grounds on
which the decisions have been rendered.
Question. Do you find it practicable to get a jury of loyal men in your court?
Answer. Not unless it is what might be called a packed jury. I do not believe, from what
I have seen, that a Union man could expect to obtain justice in the courts of the State at
this time ; certainly not if his opponent was a rebel. The bitterness of feeling is very great,
and I think the jury would be at least nine-tenths rebel, and the influence of the court would
be the same.
Question. Do you think it practicable to call a jury in Virginia that would convict a man
of treason ?
Answer. It would be perfectly idle to think of such a thing. They boast of their treason,
and ten or eleven out of the twelve on any jury, I think, would say that Lee was almost
equal to Washington, and was the noblest man in the State, and they regard every man who
has committed treason with more favor than any man in the State who has remained loyal
to the government.
Question. Do you refer to the whole State ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Would those prejudices against a Union man, and particularly a northern man,
operate so far with a Virginia jury as to lead them to deny him ordinary justice in a matter of
private right ?
Answer. I think they might. I will mention this fact : there was a native of Virginia who
was a paymaster in our army. In I860 he was the only man in his county who voted for
Mr. Lincoln. When he left the service he settled his accounts in a most satisfactory manner.
In November last he was shot down and killed by a returned rebel surgeon in the streets of
Alexandria. Believing that it would be utterly impossible to prosecute him successfully in
the State courts, I applied to General Augur to take cognizance of the case, and bring the
offender to trial. But the general told me that the State having been so recently turned
over to the civil authorities he did not feel that it would be proper tor him to take cognizance
of the case ; and the murderer of Major Dixon has not yet been punished, but is still at
large.
On Christmas day there was a riot in Alexandria, in which one negro was killed, and a
number of others were seriously wounded. ]n that case General Augur thought it proper to
institute a trial of the offenders by military commission, and they are now undergoing U'ial.
I mention these facts to show, what, in my judgment, is the truth of the matter, that the
condition of the loyal white man in Virginia at this time is worse even than the condition of
the colored man, inasmuch as the colored man is protected by military authority, while the
white man is not. Therefore the condition of the colored man is much more endurable than
that of the loyal white man.
Question. What is the feeling among the people of Virginia toward the freedmen ? State
any example that may occur to your mind to illustrate that feeling.
Answer. I think the feeling was well expressed by one of the most intelligent, and, I may
say, one of the most candid rebel gentlemen of Alexandria. We were engaged ^ in friendly
conversation in my office one day, in the course of which conversation he remarked, " Sooner
than see the colored people raised to a legal and political equality, the southern people
would prefer their total annihilation." I had regarded him as well informed, and almost as
candid a man as we have among the rebels.
Question. Have you heard similar expressions from white persons of lower condition ?
Answer. Soon after the Christmas riot in Alexandria, one 'man remarked to me that he
"would kill a nigger as soon as he could see him." I think the first man expressed the
8 RECONSTRUCTION.
sentiment of the educated ; the last expressed the sentiment of the vulgar and uneducated, espe
cially of the returned rebel soldiers.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that there has been and still is any concert or
conspiracy among the freedmen to produce disturbances in the State of Virginia, to seize the
lands of'their masters, or do any other illegal act to the prejudice of society or of individuals ?
Answer. I am confident there is no such design. I certainly know the sentiment of the
leading colored men there. I am president of the Freedmen's Relief Association of Alexan
dria, and I have had intercourse with the leading colored men upon various subjects, churches,
schools, &c., and I have contributed as liberally as I could to the building of school-houses
and churches for the colored people, and I think I have their confidence.
Question. Have you any ground to suppose that any such concert or conspiracy exists or
has existed ?
Answer. I am satisfied no such conspiracy has ever existed ; on the contrary, I have found
those people very peaceful and law-abiding.
Question. Do you suppose this disposition on the part of the whites pervades the State
of Virginia generally ?
Answer. I think it does. And I think the principal reason for it is the assistance the ne
groes rendered the Union cause during the rebellion. When I was holding court at Rich
mond recently, I had a conversation with one of the leading men in that city, and he said to
me that the enlistment of negro troops by the United States was the turning-point of the
rebellion ; that it was the heaviest blow they ever received. He remarked that when the
negroes deserted their masters, and showed a general disposition to do so and join the forces
of the United States, intelligent men everywhere saw that the matter was ended. I have
often heard a similar expression of opinion from others, and I am satisfied that the origin of
this bitterness towards the negro is this belief among leading men that their weight thrown
into the scale decided the contest against them. However the fact may be, I think that such
is a pretty well settled conclusion among leading rebels in Virginia.
Question. Have you any knowledge of, or any reason to suspect the existence of, a con
spiracy or plan in Virginia or elsewhere in the rebel States to reopen the war or to set up
another rebellion ?
Answer. I have not. On the contrary, although they are now quite as rebellious in spirit
as they have been at any time, I believe their present design is to attempt to accomplish
their purpose through the ballot-box.
Question. What is then- scheme ? What is their idea ?
Answer. I think I understand their scheme. I think it is their expectation that there will
be some split in the Union party, which will enable them, in concert with the democratic
party of the north, to succeed by voting better than by fighting.
Question. Let me put a hypothetical case to you. Suppose that by means of a combina
tion with the so-called democratic party, alias copperhead party, alias conservative party,
they should again obtain political power in Congress, and in the executive department ;
suppose this to be the result of a combination between the ex-rebel party in the south and
this so-called democratic party in the north ; what would be the effect of that ascendency
upon the rebel States 1 What measures would they resort to ?
Answer. They would attempt either to accomplish a repudiation of the national debt, or
an acknowledgment of the confederate debt, and compensation for their negroes. I think
these would be their leading measures, their leading demands ; and I think if either the rebel
debt could be placed upon an equality with the national debt, or both could be alike repu
diated, they would be satisfied. But the leading spirits would claim compensation for their
negroes, and would expect to get it by such a combination.
Question. Suppose they should not succeed in their scheme of repudiating the national debt,
or in their other scheme of the assumption of the rebel debt ; what would they finally do, pro
vided they had the power ?
Answer. If they had the power they would undoubtedly again go out of the Union, because
being aristocratic and not republican in their tastes and feelings, they would greatly prefer
some other form of government. I have for twenty years past known that that was the
feeling among the leading men. I think they always would have preferred an aristocratic
government to any other.
Question. What degree of cordiality exists generally among the people of Virginia towards
northern men and loyal people ?
Answer. There seems to be an almost total separation, socially, politically, religiously,
and educationally. For instance, we have five Union churches and five churches which are
recognized as rebel churches in the city of Alexandria — all white churches ; and then we
have six colored churches there, that are intensely loyal ; and there is hardly ever an instance
where a man of one political feeling goes to a church of a different political belief. I do not
know of half a dozen instances in Alexandria.
Question. How are weB-bred northern men treated by the rebels when they visit Alexan
dria or other parts of Virginia 7
Answer. I do not know that they are treated at all ; they are simply let alone, according to
my impression. I do not think they are treated offensively. The Union element is very con
siderable in Alexandria — enough so to be respected.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 9
i
Question. There is no disposition to form social alliances or acquaintance with them on
the part of the rebels ?
Answer. The separation is very pronounced indeed.
Question. They are rather disposed to be a separate people ?
Answer. It would seein so, at all events. Past recollections seem to be very controlling in
their social relations.
Question. What, in your judgment, has been the effect of the liberality exercised by the
President of the United States in granting pardons and amnesties to the rebels of Virginia 1
Answer. Well, to say the least, they have in most instances been ungrateful.
Question. Has that liberality and kindness of the President rather increased than dimin
ished the respect and regard of the rebel community for the government of the United States ?
Answer. I think it has encouraged their hopes of ultimate success in obtaining power in
this government, and that or some other cause has increased their vindictiveiiess towards
Union men, and their ill treatment of them. I think that has been the cause.
Question. Do you think that has been one of the causes of the increased malignity of the
rebels towards Union men?
Answer. I think it has been.
The examination of the witness was here suspended ; but subsequently resumed on the
same day, and concluded as follows :
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. State whether you are a member elect of the Senate of the United States ?
Answer. I have been elected by the legislature of Virginia to the long term in the Senate.
Question. When were you elected ?
Answer. I was elected about a year ago to fill the vacancy about to occur in the Senate by
the retirement of Mr. Carlile, for six years.
Question. State what is your own feeling in regard to the readrnission of the rebel States
into the Union ; I wish you to make a clean breast of it.
Answer. Of course I have a strong personal interest in the admission, at least, of members
of Congress elect ; but that is entirely overpowered by the conviction that the immediate ad
mission of the southern States would produce unpleasant consequences. I fear that it would
be fatal to the peace of the country.
Question. What is the general feeling among the Virginians in regard to negro suffrage in
that State ?
Answer. I think the loyal men, who I suppose do not amount to anything like one-fourth
of the white people, are in favor of it. The loyal men are, so far as I know, almost invaria
bly in favor of equal suffrage.
Question. Would they limit the right of suffrage by any qualification ?
Answer. I think there is some difference of opinion on that subject among the loyalists.
Some would prefer to see it limited, either by educational or property qualifications, or by
service in the army of the United States ; I have heard that opinion expressed frequently.
Question. Would they generally prescribe a property qualification ?
Answer. I think that is not so generally favored as either of the others — either education
or military service. But I have heard some say that they would like a property qualification;
that, however, they would like to see applied as -s\ell to whites as to blacks. At present we
have no property qualification.
Question. The mode of voting in Virginia— has it not been, under her law, for ages, twa
voce!
Answer. It has been.
Question. Not by ballot ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How do the rebels feel in regard to negroes voting — I mean those who have been
rebels ?
Answer. Well, sir, I think they are nearly unanimous in their opposition to it.
Question. In case the right of suffrage should be given to the negroes there, is it likely
that there will be outrages and disturbances of the public peace, scenes of violence and riot ?
Answer. I think that some bad men might perhaps assault negroes when they come to the
polls ; I think it probable that there would be instances of that kind, but I do not apprehend
anything very serious.
Question. Would the rebels themselves, if in authority as municipal officers, preserve the
peace with alacrity and defend the negro 1
Answer. Well, sir, prejudice is strong against the negro, because they regard him as hav
ing turned the scale against them ; I think that is a very prevailing notion now, that the
negro turned the scale against the rebels. His adherence to the Union cause, and his deser
tion of the master, naturally produce an unkind feeling against him. That feeling is not uni
versal. I must do some of my rebel acquaintances the justice to say that they consider that
the negro was justified in the course he took ; that it was human nature to strike for freedom.
Question. In case of hostilities between the United States and one of the first-rate Euro
pean powers, is it your opinion that the masses of the people of Virginia would stand firmly
1 0 RECONSTRUCTION.
by the government of the United States and defend it against foreign invaders and foreign
hostilities ?
Answer. I think their hostility to the conquerors, as they call them, the Yankees — which
means everybody from the north — is greater than it is to almost any foreign power, and they
would prefer to be associated with any respectable European power, rather than have their
present compulsory association with their conquerors.
Question. I infer from your answer that there would be danger of their adhering to the
enemies of the country ?
Answer. I fear there would be danger of that if they felt it would be safe.
Question. If they thought that it would give them an occasion to escape from the govern
ment of the United States, would they or not avail themselves of it 1
Answer. I think most of them would ; I think their tastes and habits and feelings are all
aristocratic, and that they would prefer an aristocracy, or even a monarchy, to a republican
government. I speak of the leaders — those who took the States as they say, out of the Union*
Question. During the civil war has there been any considerable feeling among the Virgin
ians in favor of establishing a monarchy in the confederacy ?
Answer. I of course had no association writh the leaders during the rebellion ; we were
separated by two lines of bayonets, and I could not speak as to that.
Question. Speak according to the best information you have derived at that time or since.
Answer. I know that many of them would prefer what they would call a strong govern
ment — an aristocracy, a government of the wisest, of the property-holders, of the intelligent,
as they would say — to a government of the rabble of the people. I know that that is a very
prevailing opinion ; I have conversed with leading men on the subject.
Question. What is the standing at present among Virginians of Jefferson Davis, in point
of popularity ?
Answrer. He is not as popular a man as General Lee by any means. He is regarded as
their representative man, but I know that he is not really as highly esteemed as some others
at the south. There are those who are strongly opposed to him at Richmond ; some of tlie
newspapers there were very hostile, particularly the Richmond Examiner.
Question. What are some of the principal defects in his administrative career ?
Answer. I think they have complained of his want of firmness, as they called it, and his
leniency towards prisoners, more than anything else. I have heard that spoken of ; I have
heard them accuse him of selfishness ; and a variety of defects are alleged against him by
his opponents. He certainly is not as popular as General Lee.
Question. Could either be convicted of treason in Virginia?
Answer. Oh, no ; unless you had a packed jury.
Question. Could you manage to pack a jury there ?
Answer. I think it would be very difficult, but it could be done ; I could pack a jury to
convict him ; I know very earnest, ardent Union men in Virginia.
Question. Do you think of any other matters that you deem it necessary to mention on
this examination ?
Answer. I do not know that I do. I know a man named Joseph Stiles who acted as a
scout in Virginia, and who has since been indicted for assisting the forces of the United States
in taking horses belonging to guerillas. That is treated as horse-stealing in the State courts
of Virginia.
WASHINGTON, January 31, 1866.
Lewis MoKenzie sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. You reside in Alexandria ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I was born there, and have always lived there.
Question. What is your occupation ?
Answer. I am a merchant, and I was a representative in the general assembly of Virginia
for three sessions. I was in the assembly that called the convention of 1861. I have been
elected to Congress twice; but they never gave me a seat.
Question. You were not a member of the insurgent legislature of Virginia ?
Answer. I was a member of the legislature that called the convention of 1861.
Question. That was a loyal legislature ?
Answer. A majority of the body were not loyal.
Question. Have you served in any legislatures of Virginia since 1861?
AnsAver. Oh, no, sir; I left the general assembly on the 4th of April, 1861. We ad
journed that day sine die. ,
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance throughout the commonwealth of old Vir
ginia?
Answer. I am pretty well acquainted throughout the commonwealth. I am president of
the London and Hampshire railroad, and if abuse of me in the disloyal papers is evidence
of acquaintance with the people, there can be very little doubt of it.
VIEGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 11
Question. In general terms, \vhat is the state of feeling among the rebel people of Vir
ginia towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. I will tell you. President Lincoln sent me a pass to go to Richmond two or
three days before his unfortunate murder. I went down to Richmond, and was in Richmond
when the news of the massacre came. I thought the temper of the people was really hum
ble. They seemed to be humble and rather kindly disposed, and when the news came of
the death of Mr. Lincoln it created a very great sympathy. Although they were whipped,
still they were trembling in their shoes from an apprehension that Mr. Johnson, whom they
despised as a southern Union man, would execute his purpose, so often indicated before,
during, and since the wrar, in reference to the punishment due to traitors. I thought that
the people were getting kindly disposed towards the government, and had made up their
minds that Mr. Lincoln was a much better man, more kindly disposed towards them than
they ought to have expected under the circumstances, and were satisfied that their State gov
ernment would be restored ; still I know there was a great deal of bitterness towards the
government of the United States. /I stayed there a week, (this was in April, 1865.) I was
anxious for Governor Peirpoint's government to be sustained, and I did all I could to open
the door for him. I went down partly for that purpose. I found a very great unwillingness
on the part of the people ; but still, before I left, they found there was no hope of anything
else, and they finally concluded that it would be better for Peirpoint to come there. He did
not come for some time after ; he stayed in Alexandria waiting for movements on the part of
the President and others. I went to Richmond shortly after Governor Peirpoint, and I found
the former enemies of the government coming in crowds to the governor to advise him that,
under the Alexandria constitution, it would be impossible to organize a legislature. They
were anxious for rapid reconstruction, and for the removal of the test oath and other restric
tions upon the eligibility to office contained in the Alexandria constitution, which were great
stumbling-blocks to the former enemies of the government ; and I thought the best thing he
could do was to call the legislature together if he could only get ten loyal men, and if he
could get even one or two or three more every year, so as to organize a State government,
but at any rate that it should be organized upon a Union basis. After leaving Richmond I
heard, when going down the James river, that Governor Peirpoint had called the members
of the general assembly together, and when I got to Alexandria I found the call in the hands
of some of the people. It struck me with great surprise. When that legislature went to
Richmond they altered the constitutional provisions in such a manner that I found that the
loyal men of the State were to be totally sacrificed and turned over to the power of the se
cessionists. Still I had some hope that the people would be favorably inclined towards the
government, and that the kindness shown to them by the Executive would probably have a
good effect. A great many people called upon me to recommend their pardons, and I, hav
ing been somewhat of a prominent man in that part of the State, recommended a great many
for pardon, and the pardons were obtained ; but I am sorry to say, from my experience of
things, that this policy has not had a good effect. I am satisfied that the indiscriminate
pardoning system adopted by the President has produced a very bad effect, and that the
State of Virginia is in a worse condition now than it was last April. That has grown out of
two facts which were the cause of all our troubles during the war. One is this : start from
Alexandria or Washington or Baltimore, and go down the bay, and through the south, and
you find the New York Daily News and the Baltimore Daily Gazette — rabid secession pa
pers — in circulation at every point, and all over the State. There is scarcely a secessionist
in. Alexandria or along the line down to Tennessee who does not have these papers. Then
we have the disloyal sheets of Virginia ; and the minds of the people are poisoned and dis
affected in that way. It was so during the war, and it is still kept up. In Alexandria one
of the newspaper sellers tells me that he sells ten copies of the Tribune, five copies of the
Times, one hundred and fifty copies of the Herald, and two hundred and fifty copies of the
News, and the numbers run all along in that way.
Question. These two papers, the New York News and Baltimore Daily Gazette, are under
stood to be what kind of papers ?
Answer. The meanest, awfulest secession papers, unfriendly to the government, and the
people are constantly plied with that kind of fuel. It seems to me that there are twice as
many papers in the State since the war as there were before; so that under such influences I
do not wonder that the people are unfriendly to the government. Then they have been
spoiled and ruined also by the policy of the President of the United States.
Question. What, in your judgment, has been the effect of the so-called liberal policy of the
President of the United States in extending pardons and amnesty to rebels 1
Answer. Decidedly unfavorable.
Question. Unfavorable to what ?
Answer. Unfavorable to the cause of the Union and to the restoration of the Union senti
ment in the State. I hav^ no doubt about it. I am sorry to say ,it, because these people
were friends of mine.
Question. What opinion or feeling does that liberality seem to create among the people
there?
Answer. A feeling of contempt. It grows out of the fact that these people have been
treated better than they expected ; that has had its effect. Then they are constantly influ-
12 RECONSTRUCTION.
enced by the hope that their disloyal members will get into Congress, and they expect to
form a coalition with the northern democrats and copperheads.
Question. Suppose they get the ascendency ; what will they do ?
Answer. They will repudiate the public debt ; that is what they will do ; that is what they
want to do. In Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, when the people sell their
cotton for greenbacks, they go right to the broker's office and buy gold for the greenbacks,
paying four per cent, more than gold is worth in the New York market ; they do this because
they have no confidence in the United States government ; they say it will be the same again
as it has been, and after they will have saved two or three cotton crops you will find that
two-thirds of the specie of the country will be in the cotton States. My own opinion is that
they are waiting and hoping for a restoration of the Bourbons in 1863.
Question. By the Bourbons you mean the copperhead party ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I mean the copperhead party of the north and the secession party of the
south, who are brethren ; of course they always were brethren ; I have a perfect horror of
them myself; but I would not do any injustice to the people ; still, that is God's truth.
Question. Suppose they succeed in reaching that point of ascendency in the government of
the United States ; what do those men in Virginia propose to do now — go out of the Union, or
to have another civil war ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. What are they going to do ?
Answer. They expect to take possession of the government of the United States. Let
them have a majority to-day and they will soon let you see what they will do. They will
join with Fernando Wood and those gentlemen of the north, and will form a party to repudiate
the national debt ; they will not pay the interest on the public debt ; and suppose there
should be a war bctwee'n the United States and Mexico, you would get but few men to assist
you from Virginia to the Texas line.
Question. You are speaking now from your own observation ?
Answer. From what I see going on now ; and what you see in Virginia is pretty much the
same everywhere else. You might meet occasionally a gentleman who feels kindly disposed
towards the government, but there are very few Union men in the south.
Question. In your opinion what proportion of truly loyal men are there in Virginia ?
Answer. The district where I was a candidate runs from Frederick down to Prince William,
and embraces the counties of Frederick, Warren, Shenandoah, Fauquier, Alexandria, Fairfax,
Prince William, &c., I think eleven counties in all. I had supposed from the kindness I
had exhibited to that people all along that they would have given me a tolerably decent vote.
I was born in the State and have always lived in the State. I used to beat everybody in
my district for the legislature ; and before the war, I was a tolerably popular fellow, because
I was an industrious man and worked pretty hard. I got about 1,900 votes in the district,
and I was beaten about 3,000 by a secessionist. The county of Frederick did very well,
giving me, perhaps, 600 votes. I got a tolerably decent vote in Loudon county, 400 perhaps,
and about 400 in Alexandria. I think that in the county of Fauquier, Billy Smith's counfy,
I got only nineteen votes ; that is the South Carolina of Virginia. These people would not
vote for me because I was a Union man ; of course they would not ; they told me openly at
the polls that they did not intend to vote for anybody who was a Union man. There are
some very good Union men in the State, but they were to be found among the masses of the peo
ple chiefly ; mostly hard-working Union men ; for instance, in the town of Winchester there are
very respectable, sensible, hard-working men, who are Union men, and you will find that pretty
much all the Union men are of the middle class of people ; but there is no hope in the Union
men of Virginia. I had hoped myself that the rebels would have left the State, would have
gone to Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, or to Mexico, and that their places would be supplied with
honest, industrious northern settlers ; but the rebels are coming right back, and I do not see any
hope in the world for the Union men without the immediate aid of Congress or the President.
I do not know what is to become of them. We had a meeting at Alexandria the night before
last, and we are going to memorialize Congress to put Virginia in a territorial condition. I
do not know whether Congress will have the power to do that, and I suppose the President
will be opposed to it. The proposition is pretty radical, but the evil reqtiires a radical cure.
The difficulty about the provisional government is simply this : We have had experience of
it in Governor Peirpoint ; that gentleman did as well as he could under the circumstances.
If you put a provisional governor there, the same people who control Governor Peirpoint will
have the control. You have got to commence at the foundation and build up. This is my
opinion about it ; it is the unanimous opinion of pretty much all the Union men of Alexan
dria, and it is going to be the opinion ot the Union men throughout Virginia.
Question. How do the rebels in the neighborhood feel towards the freedmcn ?
Answer. The Union whites treat them remarkably well ; they are paying them fair wages.
In I860 and 1861 1 was a large merchant in Alexandria, shipping a very large amount of goods,
and I have had to do with negroes all my life. The price of labor in Virginia then for field-
hands was $1^0 to $130 a year, and $70 a year for a woman. In addition to that the master,
who hired them, furnished them with clothes, provisions, house, and fuel, and at Christmas
the bond was paid for his wages. That was after the price of cotton had advanced, and
when the negroes had advanced in South Carolina to $1,000 and $1,500. Now, at the close
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 13
of the war, employers are only -willing to pay these people from six to seven or eight dollars a
month, or a hundred dollars a year, out of which these laboring people have to buy their
clothes and pay their doctors' bills, while the price of clothing is double what it was in I860.
I employed, three months ago, from eighty to a hundred of these freedmeu to work on land
I have got this side of Drainesville. They came in at Christmas, when I paid them their
wages. I give them seventy-five cents a cord for cutting pine wood, and supply them with
a month's provisions in advance. They all work cheerfully and pleasantly. They went
back after Christmas, and have remained there ever since. There is no difficulty about the
freedmen working, but they work better for gentlemen who treat them kindly than they work
for rough people. If you pay them and treat them kindly there is no difficulty about the ne
gro working. The only difficulty about it is with overseers who become proprietors, and be
tween whom and the colored race there is a natural antagonism. That is the trouble I appre
hend about all this affair. These people and the miserable newspapers will destroy the col
ored people finally. My own opinion is, that whenever the day comes for colored men to
vote, they will vote for nobody but gentlemen. They are not going to vote for pot house
politicians. It will be the most conservative vote ever given.
Question. What is the disposition of the freedmen in your neighborhood in regard to edu
cation ?
Answer. They are very smart ; very anxious for education.
Question. Eager for education ?
Answer. Very much so.
Question. Are there any facilities for going to school ?
Answer. Oh, yes ; there are a good many free schools in Alexandria.
Question. What is the feeling of the whites generally in regard to the education of the col
ored people ?
Answer: The rebels are not in favor of it ; they are opposed to it.
Question. What is the feeling of that class of people in regard to negroes voting?
Answer. They are very much opposed to it. They think it a very great outrage.
Question. In case the negro should be allowed to vote, how would he be treated at the polls
in voting ?
Answer. I reckon if the darkies ever get to vote some of these fellows will want their votes,
but they will not get them. I reckon there will be no difficulty on that head ; but I do not
think it would do to remove the Freedmen's Bureau from Virginia at present.
Question. What would be the effect of that removal ?
Answer. It would be very disastrous to the colored people.
Question. Would it not have the effect of reducing them to a condition worse even than
slavery itself?
Answer. I do not know about that. I am not prepared to say. The effect would be very
injurious, and I think it would be very unsafe to do so.
Question. Has not a bill passed the senate of Virginia requiring a five years' residence in
the State before a person can vote ?
Answer. The bill has not passed. It was reported by committees of both houses ; but I
think the legislature got alarmed about it. and has put back the provision of the old law re
quiring a two years' residence. The object of the five years' limitation was to prevent
northern people from voting there, and to keep the power in their own hands. They have
taken our Alexandria charter away pretty much, merely to get power in their hands ; and
that is the fear I have about this Congress.
Question. They do not intend to permit any immigration from the north?
Answer. They do hot want northern immigrants to vote there anyhow, and do not want
them there at all, if they can help it.
Question. How are their commercial relations with the northern people? Are they
friendly?
Answer. I do not know. The secessionists or disloyal people hold very little intercourse
with the loyal people after their pardons are obtained. They all worship in the same church.
Question. The rebels go to rebel churches, and the Union men to Union churches ?
Answer. Yes, sir. It is a great misfortune. I do not know how it is to be settled. I
think you will find that Alexandria is a very fair exponent of Virginia.
Question. You think that these disloyal newspapers do a great deal of mischief?
Answer. I think they are the cause of all our present difficulties. I think the war was
prolonged two years by them. During the time that General McClellan was in command in
Virginia the proportion of newspapers sold in the camp was one thousand Heralds, five hun
dred copies of the Daily News, ten copies of the Tribune, and five copies of the Times.
What could you expect? You could not get the government to say that these copperhead
papers should not be sold in the army. If it had stopped their circulation I think the war
would have been closed long ago, unless it was that God did not intend it to be closed
sooner.
Question. If the rebels had the opportunity, would they assume the payment of the rebel
debt?
Answer. Why of course. All the rebel States would if they could do it. And I do not
know what constitutional amendment can be devised to prevent them. The difficulty to be
14 RECONSTRUCTION
apprehended is, that if these people are permitted to come in and effect a coalition with the
democrats of the north they will finally control the government, and will certainly never pay
the federal debt. That is my opinion. The government ought to take care of the public
debt.
Question. Would they not also overturn the whole system of emancipation if they
could?
Answer. I really cannot say about that ; but they hate the government of the United
States bitterly. There is no question about that. They have no love for the government
of the United States. It is a great misfortune.
Question. To them?
Answer. Yes, and to the government.
Question. Do you think the rebel people in Virginia and elsewhere respect the power of
the United States ?
Answer. No, sir ; but they are afraid of it.
Question. Is there anything about the United States which they respect ?
Answer. I do not know that there is. They will give the government trouble some of
these days. They will try to get into power before 186d.
WASHINGTON, January 31, 1866.
George S. Smith sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. I am now residing in Maryland. I am a citizen of Virginia, but am temporarily
residing in Maryland.
Question. In what part of Virginia have you been residing ?
Answer. In Culpeper county.
Question. What is your business?
Answer. Farming.
Question. How long did you reside in Culpeper county ?
Answer. I moved into Culpeper county in 1846 from Spottsylvauia county.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. No, sir; I am a native of the State of New Hampshire.
Question. You must, of course, be pretty well acquainted with the condition of affairs in
Culpeper county, and the state of public feeling them towards the United. States ?
Answer. I have had very good opportunities of becoming so. I am very well acquainted
throughout the State.
Question. According to your observation, what is the state of feeling among the disloyal
portion of the people of Virginia towards the government of the United States?
Answer. I think it is hostile.
Question. In what sense is it hostile ?
Answer. I do not think that they will yield obedience to the government of the United
States any further than they are compelled to do. None whatever willingly.
Question. To what particular classes does this feeling attach itself ?
Answer. I think to the leading classes ; what we call representative men. I think the
common class of people could be handled very easily. The trouble is with our leading men,
arid with the newspapers.
Question. Among the leading classes is there, properly speaking, any attachment to the
government of the United States ?
Answer. I do not know of an instance — not an instance.
Question. If they could have their own way, what would they do ?
Answer. If they could have their own way, they would certainly separate. There is
nothing that would induce the south to live with the north if they could have their own way.
That is a settled fact.
Question. You mean to be understood as saying that there is a hatred on the part of the
southern people to the north ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; a perfect hatred.
Question. What do you regard as the principal cause of that hatred ?
Answer. Education. They have been educated up to it. I have lived among them nearly
thirty years, and it was not so when I first went there. The people on the stage of action
now have been educated up to it. They believe in themselves as a superior class of people,
and that northern people are a low-lived, degraded class of people.
Question. In what respect do they regard themselves as superior?
Answer. Intellectually.
Question. Morally ?
Answer. I do not know that I can say that.
Question. Physically ?
Answer. They did believe physically.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 15
Question. Has that feeling become, in any degree, changed or modified as a result of the
war .'
Answer. I do not know that I am capable of answering that question properly. I went
into Richmond with our army. There I met with a great many gentlemen of my former ac
quaintance — influential, leading men. They then gave up everything. They were very
plastic indeed ; you could have moulded them in any way. I have since met with them re
peatedly, and they have gene back again to their first notions. They now say that they do
not regret anything they did ; that if they had to do it over again they would do the same
thing. They only regret their want of success. Their object in going into it is just as strong
now as it was.
Question. What effect has the President's liberal policy toward the rebels and rebel States
had, with reference to the increase or diminution of loyal feeling towards the government of
the United States ?
Answer. I think it has brought forward a class of men as representative men, who would
not otherwise have come forward. I think it has brought forward the original leaders of the
rebellion, who would not have sought position if they had not thought they could get it
through this policy.
Question. Has that policy of the President increased or diminished the respect of the slave-
holding class of Virginia towards the government of the United States 1
Answer. I do not know, for I do not think they ever had any respect for it.
Question. Then I am to infer that it has not increased that respect?
Answer. Certainly it has not.
Question. Speaking of that policy, has it, or has it not, made that class more contemptuous
towards the United States than they were before ?
Answer. I should think it has.
Question. I mean in their expression?
Answer. Yes, I think it has.
Question. How has that result arisen ?
Answer. From the leniency of the government. They did not expect it. The representa
tive men of the south have had power and are ambitious of power. When the rebellion was
first brought to a close, they did not expect that they could reckon upon that power any more.
They thought that they had lost it, and that they would have to step aside. But when a
mild policy was resorted to, and inducements were held out to them to come back, they
thought there was an opportunity for them again to step back and regain what they thought
they had lost ; and they took that opportunity. It has brought in a different class of men,
who would not have come in if that policy had not been resorted to.
Question. What, in general, are the schemes which that class of southern people now have
in view ?
Answer. To overthrow the general government and to repudiate the national debt.
Question. And to assume the payment of the rebel debt, think you?
Answer. I do not know that I can venture to say that because I have different views from
most people respecting that rebel debt. I do not think that the masses of the people at the
south could be induced to vote to pay that debt. The men who have been in the army re
ceiving $13 a month could not be degraded so low as to make them tax themselves to pay at
the rate of sixty or seventy dollars for one, for the benefit of a few speculators.
Question. You think they have in view still the overthrow of the government of the United
States. What are the means by which they propose to accomplish it ?
Answer. By political combinations. I talked with a great many of the leading politicians,
and they say they want to try to accomplish by stratagem what they failed to accomplish by
war.
Question. Let us hear what their plan is.
Answer. I think that they have a great many friends among the democracy of the north,
if I may use plain language.
Mr. HOWARD. Yes, use plain language.
WITNESS. They say that the large proportion of the national debt is owned at the east,
and that the west, when they are taxed to pay it, will begin to squirm — will be dissatisfied;
and they think that with their peculiar ingenuity they can influence the west to go with them
and assist them in repudiating the federal debt and establishing their independence, perhaps. ,
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that there are combinations in Virginia or else
where in the south, any secret associations, having such an object in view?
Answer. I do not know of any. I believe, however, that is the fixed determination of every
one of the leading men.
Question. And you think that their general purpose is to get rid of the authority of the
United States ?
Answer. I do.
Question. What, in brief terms, have been your means of knowledge ?
Answer. I have been connected with the internal improvements of Virginia before the war.
I have been a contractor on some internal improvements and have become well acquainted
with some of the leading men of the State in that way. The first year or year and a half of
the war I was inside the rebel lines. General Pope let me out when he came to Culpeper.
Since then I have been with the federal army in Virginia. Wherever the army has been
1 6 RECONSTRUCTION.
I have been. I have met with a great many Virginians, men of influence. Not being sub
ject to military control, I would drift around, and these people would talk more freely with
me than with an officer, and I could get their opinions in that respect. I have not met with
a gentleman of influence or position who is not just as determined in his purpose now as when
he first entered the rebellion, that is, to have a separate government if they possibly can get it.
Question. Do you think that the policy of Mr. Johnson has encouraged that purpose ?
Answer. I really do, sir.
Question. Do you think that his establishment of State governments under military orders
and decrees has had the effect of encouraging that hope of the ultimate independence of the
rebel States ?
Answer. I think the encouragement held out to them in allowing them to elect their own
officers has had a tendency to make them think that they can in time carry out what they
failed to carry out by the sword.
Question. What effect has that policy had on the Union men ?
Answer. It has diminished them in this way : it has made a great many men who were
Union men cloak it over ; they dare not say anything. I do not know that the cases are in
numerable, but they are very common. Union men who have been speaking to me have said,
"Mr. Smith, please to say nothing about what has passed between you and me as to politics.
My property is here, my life is here, my associations are here, my business is here, and I do
not want to have it known that I ever said anything in favor of the federal government."
They want to cloak it up. They dare not at this day have it known that they are Union men.
Question. Do you think, then, that that policy has brought upon the Union element a feel
ing of despair rather than of courage and hope ?
Answer. That is my experience, sir. It has suppressed among the common people a good
deal of the Union feeling which was growing up.
Question. Suppose the question was now put in the proper form to the people of Virginia
whether they would secede — whether they would go out of the Union ; and suppose that
there should be no danger of military interference to prevent it, or any effort on the part of
the United States to prevent it; what would probably be the result of the vote?
Answer. More than ninety-nine out of every hundred would vote to secede.
Question. Suppose the question should be submitted in the same way to the people of Vir
ginia whether they would pay their just share of the federal debt contracted in the prosecu
tion of the war : what would be the result of that vote ?
Answer. They would vote against it.
Question. Why?
Answer. They think it is unjust. They think it is forced upon them.
Question. Suppose the United States should be engaged in a war with a first-rate foreign
power, such as England or France : what would be the conduct of the people and the gov
ernment of Virginia on such an occasion ?
Answer. I think they would study policy in regard to it. I think the leaders, if they
thought it was for their interest — that they could gain anything by doing it — would sustain
the government ; otherwise they would go against it.
Question. Suppose that, at such a moment, there should be a combination and concert be
tween the rebel States, and suppose that that combination should assume, apparently, strength
enough to assure success in case they joined the enemies of the United States : what, then,
would be their conduct ?
Answer. I think they would join them ; I am sure they would.
Question. Have you ever talked with any men of influence and position in Virginia, or
elsewhere in the slaveholding States, on that subject?
Answer. Not bearing so strongly as that ; but, from such conversation as I have had with
them, I should certainly think that that would be the course they would pursue. I do not
think that there is any loyalty at all in the leading men of the State of Virginia.
Question. In the event of such a war, would you regard these ex-rebel States as elements
of strength to the United States, or of weakness ?
Answer. Of weakness.
Question. How do they feel generally towards the freedmen ?
Answer. Hatred. Their hate, first, is to the citizen Union men ; their next hate is to the
negro ; and their last is to the Yankees, as they call them.
Question. If left to themselves, what would they do with the negro7
Answer. They would entirely extirpate him from the face of the earth. They would first
commence with the Union men, and men they would take the negro.
Question. Do you think they would murder the negro ?
Answer. I do ; and they are doing it every day.
Question. Why should they murder the negro ?
Answer. I cannot answer that in any other way than by supposing it owing to human de
pravity.
Question. They need the negro's labor ?
Answer. Yes, sir; but a man's passions go beyond his interests. They always have been
the negro's masters ; they controlled him ; they never acknowledged that he had any rights ;
he had no rights more than a beast had ; I was a slaveholder myself, and I know it. When
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA 17
you come to give the negro his rights, it is very galling to men educated in that way. They
cannot yield to the negro those rights that they can to the white man.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the education of the freedinen?
Answer. I never discussed that question with them.
Question. How do they feel in regard to negroes voting and exercising political rights ?
Answer. Prejudiced against it. I know of no men, except strong Union men, who are in
favor of it.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. They are prejudiced against it. They think that it is a thing forced upon them,
and that there is no constitutional law for it.
Question. They raise the constitutional point upon it ?
Answer. Certainly, on every question, as though they were interested in the Constitution
which they were trying to overthrow.
Question. Have you noticed a disposition generally among them to maltreat the negro ?
Answer. I have.
Question. To deprive him of the fruits of his labor ?
Answer. Yes, sir : they maltreat them every day they can. I have been in the provost
marshal's department, under General Patrick, almost ever since he has been provost marshal,
and have had great opportunities of seeing the cases that are brought before him. Although
I am prejudiced against the negro myself, still I must tell the truth, and must acknowledge
that he has rights. In more than nine cases out of ten that have come up in General Pat
rick's office the negro has been right and the white man has been wrong, and I think tha
that will be found to be the case if you examine the different provost marshals.
Question. What chance does the negro stand to obtain justice in the civil courts of Vir
ginia ?
Answer. Not a particle — no more than a rabbit would in a den of lions ; nor a Union man,
either.
Question. Do you regard it as safe for people of the free States to settle in Virginia and
other rebel States ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I do. The prejudice against the northern man is not so strong as to
jeopardize his life. It is only the Union man who has lived among them and taken an active
part against them Avhose life is in jeopardy. I think that, if I had never lived among them,
and were as strong a Union man as I could be, I would not hesitate to go and live among
them.
Question. What chance would a Union man have of obtaining justice in a Virginia State
court ?
Answer. I do not think he would have justice done him.
Question. Do you think it practicable to obtain a jury in Virginia that would convict a
man of treason for being engaged in the late civil war against the government ?
Answer. I do not think such a jury could be summoned outside of the element that is
known to be Union.
Question. How large is that element?
Answer. Very small, sir, at the present time. There are a good many Union men in Vir
ginia who dare not let it be known.
Question. Is their influence increasing or diminishing ?
Answer. I have not seen any increase. I do not know of any change from a rebel fro a
Union man, or from a Union man to a rebel.
Question. Are the ex-rebels as bitter at present in their proscriptions of Union men as they
were during the war?
Answer. I think they are worse to-day than they were, except during the first year of the
war.
Question. Have you had any acquaintance in North Carolina or South Carolina ?
Answer. No, sir, not outside of Virginia.
Question. Are you a man of competent education ?
Answer. Yes, sir, in English education : I am not a graduate.
Question. You have mingled a good deal with the people of Virginia, both previous to,
and during, and since the war ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; there were very few men who knew more of Virginia than I did.
Question. Arising from what?
Answer. From my business. I raised my family in Virginia. If I should write out my
own experience I could not for my life do it as well as it has been written out fur me in dif
ferent reports. Take for instance that report of Major General Carl Schurz ; it is the expe
rience or every Union man in the south. Take Governor Browulow's letter ; take the two
letters from North Carolina that were published in the Chronicle yesterday — there is not an
honest man in the south who will not say that they describe the true sentiments and the true
feelings of the whole south. You may summon before your committee every man in th.e
southern States, and you cannot get anything more than you have got there. They embody
the whole of it. No man can express himself better than they have expressed it for him. I
have been driven from the State of Virginia away from my property ; and such is the state of
feeling in the neighborhood where I resided, that I dare not go back for fear of personal
violence.
2 — V NC SC
1 8 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, January 31, 1866.
Dr. G. F. Watson sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. I reside in Accomac county, Virginia, when at home — Wise's old district.
Question. What is your profession?
Answer. A doctor of medicine. I am at this time, and have been for nearly three years,
one of the board of United States direct tax commissioners for the State of Virginia.
Question. Do you know the feelings of the people of the State toward the government of
the United States ?
Answer. I think I do pretty well.
Question. What is the loyalty of Accomac and Northampton counties ?
Answer. When I visited Accomac and Northampton counties in October last the citizens
were then disloyal ; and from reliable information since, I have no reason to believe that
they are better disposed toward the government at this time. I think I have had as good an
opportunity to know the sentiments of the people of the State as almost any other man,
having lived in it from my birth to the present time, and my official duties having called me
to different portions of the State. I feel that the educated class of the community are as dis
loyal now as they were at the time of the surrender of Lee.
Question. How has that happened ?
Answer. I think mainly through the leniency of the government. I was in Richmond in
November and December last, and saw some apparently good feeling on the part of the ex-
rebels toward the government ; but on my late visit to that city I found that feeling mate
rially changed. /The Union men in business there were afraid to be seen conversing with
other Union men for fear of injuring them in their business. I spent last winter in the city
of Norfolk. At that time the mercantile business was engaged in principally by northern
Union men. The citizens not feeling disposed to encourage them in trade, and opposed to
northern emigration, raised their rents to such an exorbitant price that they were compelled
to discontinue business and leave; consequently the ex-rebels have the entire control. In
Alexandria city the same proscription has been carried out. I am credibly informed that
in Richmond the northern capitalists have partly suspended operations in the erecting of
buildings on account of illegal legislation and a feeling of antipathy toward northern emigra
tion. There is one other thing of which I feel fully satisfied ; that is, that the loyal men of
the State cannot get justice in the reconstructed disloyal courts./
Question. Why not?
Answer. For the reason of the disloyalty of the jurors and lawyers. As an instance, in
the counties of Accomac and Northampton there is not a loyal man practicing at the bar out
of some fifteen or twenty.
Question. Have they been all engaged in the rebellion?
Answer. Yes; some of them, however, did not leave, but used their baneful influence at
home ; whilst others, who ran the blockade and returned, were captured ; others, who were
the best and most respected, went with the southern confederacy, and remained there until
the surrender of Lee.
Question. What is the feeling among that class of people as to remaining in the Union ?
Answer. The feeling is this: if they can be thoroughly reconstructed in accordance with
their desires — giving them full control of the government, the emoluments of. office, and the
honors connected — they might be induced to remain in the Union. They have said to me
that they have no interest in the government. A prominent lawyer in the city of Richmond
said to me last December that he would prefer to see Fred. Douglass emperor of the countiy
than a Yankee to be at the head of the government.
Question. What was his idea about having a king or emperor ?
Answer. They feel, I suppose, that they have been whipped, and those of prominence and
wealth before the war, now being poor, feel that they have lost their power and have not
their former influence. It is the leading politicians who do all the mischief; were they prop
erly dealt with we would have less trouble, and I believe that the medium class would sus
tain the government.
Question. Could any of these persons be convicted of treason by a Virginia jury ?
Answer. I think not ; but a Union man would be very readily prosecuted by them.
Question. How is it with reference to freedmen 1
Answer. They despise the freedmen ; they think, and frequently express, that all they
want is for the military .to be removed and they will handle them roughly ; they also speak
in the same terms of Union white men. If reconstruction of the rebel States, as proposed,
be successful, and they get possession of the States, my opinion is that not a Union man can
stay in Virginia, as taxation and persecution by these parties must necessarily drive them
from this State.
Question. What are the feelings and opinions of the Union men of the State? ^
Answer. The feelings and opinions of the Union men are, that they do not desire any form
of reconstruction, either by a provisional or civil governor ; we desire a territorial govern
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 19
merit. If we can have that, I think in a short time we could induce emigration, which will
not come in under the present state of things. It would also give time to make the colored
man more intelligent and less under the influence of his former master. When a proper
time shall arrive for reconstruction, we shall then be able to cast a majority of loyal votes —
friends to the government, not enemies, as would-be the case under the present policy of
reconstruction. Without some such protection God save the Union men !
Question. Suppose the restraint arising from the presence of Union forces in Virginia was
withdrawn, and suppose the Freedmen's Bureau was withdrawn, what would be the condi
tion of the loyalists and freedmen in Virginia?
Answer. There would be no protection for Union men, and the freedmen would necessarily
suffer much.
Question. Would there be scenes of riot and violence ?
Answer/ I think it probable. You have heard of the riot which took place on Christmas
day, almost under the eye of the military, in Alexandria ; from that you can judge what it
would be if the military were withdrawn. At the late election at many places the ex-rebels
paid no attention to the provisions of the Alexandria constitution, which required such voters
to take the oath that they had not borne arms against the government of the United States
since . A number of the members of the legislature who were elected, as I have been in
formed, were engaged in the rebellion as officers and otherwise, and have never taken the
oath required by the constitution adopted in Alexandria in April, 1864.
Question. Is that the character of that legislature?
Answer. A large majority of that legislature, in my opinion, are disloyal men, but of course
profess to be loyal. A member of the senate informed me a few days since that the money
in the treasury, and for which the loyal men had been taxed, would not last more than
twenty days.
Question. What effect has the liberal policy of President Johnson in granting pardons and
amnesty to the rebels in Virginia had ?
Answer. It has had no beneficial effect as far as my experience has been. I will give you
a case in point. A wealthy gentleman, owning much land near Richmond and on the penin
sula, came to my office in the month of December last, and said to me that he undei stood
his lands had been forfeited to the United States government for the non-payment of the direct
tax. On looking over my books I found his information to be correct. He asked me, " Can
I redeem them ?" I answered him, he could by paying the tax and interest. I made out a
redemption receipt, and on handing it to him he gave me a check, with these words : "This
is the bitterest pill I ever took except one, and that was the oath of allegiance to the United
States government." That did not prove to me that leniency had caused him to feel any
devotion to the government.
Question. What effect has been produced by the Union victories over the rebels on the
minds of that old class of Virginians ?
Answer. They had a considerable effect at the time of the surrender of Lee, but they seem
to have been encouraged by the hope of reconstruction and leniency from the government of
the United States, and now assume to demand rights which they have forfeited.
Question. Suppose the rebel States are admitted to a representation in Congress, what
would be the effect upon the people of Virginia ?
Answer. I think from what I know that the members elected would obey the wishes of
their constituents, which are inimical to the government.
Question. Suppose they should get the power by a combination with some other party ;
what then ?
Answer. That is what I alluded to. I believe they would use it if they got it.
Question. In what way would they use it ?
Answer. First, to repudiate the federal debt.
Question. Would they stop there ?
Answer. I think not ; they would go for the payment of the confederate debt.
Question. Would they stop there ?
Answer. I doubt it very much. I am of the opinion that should they get the power by
combination with other parties a second rebellion might be the consequence.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that any of the leaders of the late rebellion
have it still in contemplation to bring about another war?
Answer. I do not know that they have.
Question. Have you any idea that any such conspiracy exists in any of the rebel States ?
Answer. I have not.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that they are collecting arms in any locality ?
Answer. I have not. I would be the last man in Virginia to know it.
Question. Have you heard any such rumor ?
Answer. I have not. I believe that there is a desire on the part of them that a difficulty
between this country and some foreign power should take place. In Richmond, last Novem
ber, in a conversation with a confederate captain, at the time there being much talk of
difficulty between France and this government, he seemed rejoiced, and made this remark
"I regret that my little company is squandered, but I can whistle them up."
Question. What was he going to do in case of a war with France ?
20 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I inferred from his remarks that he would join Maximilian.
Question. In case the government of the United States should be involved in a war with
England or France, what would be the course likely to be taken by the rebel States ?
Answer I think they would join France or any other foreign power. I will not say that
all of the ex-rebels would, but I think a very large portion of them would.
Question. Have you any other fact upon your mind which you wish to state to the com
mittee ?
Answer. No, sir. I would prefer to make some notes of what does not occur to me at
present. In the first part of my testimony before this committee I spoke of the State legis
lature. I deem it proper to offer the following on that subject. The present legislature of
Virginia should be set aside because of its illegality, and all its acts passed since the adoption
of the Alexandria constitution declared null and void. In the Alexandria constitution, which
was passed or adopted by the convention on the 7th day of April, 1864, among others it
adopted the following provisions :
Article 4, section 1 : "The legislative power of this commonwealth shall be vested in a
general assembly, which shall consist of a senate and house of delegates." Section 2 : " The
house of delegates shall consist of not less than eighty and of not more than one hundred and
four members. The senate shall never be less than one-fourth nor more than one-third the
numbers of the house of delegates." Section 8: * * "A majority of the members
elected to each house shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller number may
adjourn from day to day, and shall be authorized to compel the attendance of absent members,
in such manner and under such penalty as each house may provide."
Since this constitution was adopted, there have been three sessions of the general assembly :
a regular session commencing Decembers, J864; an extra session commencing June ^1,
1865 ; and a regular session commencing December 4, 1865, and not yet closed. At the first
regular session, and the extra session, the house consisted of fourteen members and the
senate of six. No more were elected, or could be as matters then existed.
These facts are now matters of history and cannot be controverted.
WASHINGTON, January 31 1866.
John Hawkshurst sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Alexandria, Virginia. I am a citizen of Fairfax county, Virginia, and am in
the employment of the government as United States direct tax commissioner.
Question. How long have you held that place ?
Answer. For three years.
Question. What is your age ?
Answer. Forty-nine.
Question. Are you a man of family ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Are you a man of property ?
Answer. I had property before the war, but it is pretty much all gone now.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. No ; I was born in Queens county, New York. I moved to Virginia in 1846,
bought property there, and engaged in milling.
Question. Have you been in the rebel service ?
Answer. No.
Question. You have been a Unionist all along ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I left my place, believing that there was an order out for my arrest, on
the 28th day of May, 1861, going through the woods and avoiding the highways^ and came
to Washington.
Question. After that you did not pass back through the rebel lines?
Answer. No. I was then appointed to represent my county in the first Wheeling conven
tion, and served in it; and then was elected to the legislature of Virginia, sitting at Wheel
ing. While I was a member there I was appointed to my present place.
Question. State what the general feeling is in Virginia, so far as you know, towards the
government of the United States.
Answer. The feeling would seem to l)e sullen silence among a large portion of the people ;
a disposition to acquiesce so far as they must, but no further ; a very strong desire to obtain
their political influence, and to wield the actions of the general government to suit them.
Question. How are they satisfied In regard to the emancipation of their slaves?
Answer. They take it as a matter of necessity ; a few, perhaps, do not regret it. Those
who are loyal accept it and are satisfied.
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance with the rebel oortion of the population ?
Answer. Not very extensive ; am well acquainted with most ot the leaders of our county.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 21
Some of the original Union men became active and efficient in the rebellion at a later date.
The man who represented our county in the convention that passed the ordinance of seces
sion was such. His error was, that he took ground against coercion, and, upon the call of
the President for troops, went against the government. He has come back and taken the
oath, and I think him reliable ; but some of this class seem more dissatisfied thuii the origi
nal secessionists.
Question. How does that happen ?
Answer. They seem to feel the disgrace, as they deem it, more keenly than the others,
and a large portion of them were not Union men from principle, but from policy — deeming
secession a mistake rather than a crime; but when the State was committed to the measure
they ceased their opposition, and became as active as the others, and feel the disgrace of de
feat more keenly.
Question. What is the feeling of all these people towards the northern people ?
Answer. It appears hostile.
Question. If they could have their way would the rebel people generally remain in the
Union ?
Answer. No ; I think they have a stronger aversion and dislike of the Union than when
they seceded.
Question. What has produced this increase of hatred ?
Answer. The irritation of the war, and the humiliation of their State pride, which is a
very strong element in their character, and predominates over all national feelings.
Question. Do you think they generally desire to see the government of the United States
preserved ?
Answer. I think not ; do not think one-tenth of those engaged in the rebellion heartily
desiro the success of our government if it continues to be controlled by the present party,
and will submit to it no longer than they are compelled, and hope yet to see the time when
they will be free from it.
Question. You think, then, they have not given up that expectation ?
Answer. I think not ; I believe a large portion of them are looking to a foreign war as the
means of their deliverance ; meantime they are active in endeavoring to obtain political stand-
Ing to the end that they may either control the government to their interests or produce a
sepai'ation, as may best suit their purposes when such time comes.
Question. Suppose they get control of it in that way ; what, in your judgment, will they
be likely to 'do in regard to the public debt of the United States 1
Answer. I think they will repudiate it.
Question. Suppose they cannot repudiate it ; what then would they do ; would they then
ask to have their own debt assumed by the United States government?
Answer. Yes; I think there is a strong feeling that their own obligations should be paid
as well as ours ; I think, however, there is a strong feeling in favor of repudiation of the
whole ; but failing in that, would endeavor to throw in their own.
Question. In case of a war between the United States and a foreign power, such as Eng
land or France, would you regard the rebel States as an element of strength to the govern
ment of the United States or of weakness ?
Answer. A great weakness ; it would be much stronger at present if the Union was cut
in two at the Potomac. The north is much stronger alone than combined with the south ;
and it would probably require more men to control the rebel States than to meet any foreign
force that could be sent against us.
Question. Do you think they generally love this government less than they do the govern
ment of almost any other nation ?
Answer. I think they have a strong and predominating desire for independence. They
hold the government of the United States as a foreign government, and in about the same
respect as they do others.
Question. What is their social demeanor towards Union people, either residents or from
the loyal States ?
Answer. There is not much social feeling between the rebels and the resident Union men ;
in many cases friendships are utterly destroyed. There does not seem to be so much bitter
ness towards those who have come from the loyal States since the war, as towards those who
were here at the commencement and acted against them during the rebellion.
Question. How are they disposed towards the freedmen ?
Answer. I have not been in a situation to see much on which to form an opinion in that
respect. Two instances have come to my knowledge in which endeavors were made to keep
them out of business : one in which a man had rented his farm to a freedrmm, and he heard
of threats to burn his house in consequence, and on examination, sufficient danger seemed
to exist to prevent him from fulfilling his contract with the freedman. Another, who em
ployed freedmen to do nearly all his labor, heard of threats that induced him hastily to have
his buildings insured. The corporate authorities of Alexandria refused to grant them licenses
to do business, the law of the State not allowing it ; and attempts were made in that city
to enforce the old law against them in respect to whipping and carrying fire-arms, nearly or
quite up to the time of the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau in that city.
Question. What are the chances of Union men getting justice in a State court in Virginia ?
2 2 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I do not think it is good : we have sold considerable property for the non-pay
ment of the United States direct tax, and no person has been able to obtain possession of it
through the State courts. To aid this, Congress at its last session gave the commissioners
authority to issue writs of possession ; a number of suits of ejectment have been brought in
the State courts against purchasers at government sales, creating distrust and uneasiness.
Question. How have they resulted ?
Answer. None have yet been decided that I know of; several persons have been indicted
for acts done while in the service of the United States as guides, but have been released by
the military.
Question. What chances have the freedmen of obtaining justice in the State courts ?
Answer. I do not think good, although it has not yet been fairly tried. The first organi
zation of the counties with which I am most familiar, the loyal men obtained control, and they
are as well disposed towards the blacks as any other people. In the counties organized after
Lee's surrender, where the disloyal obtain*ed control, the Freedmen's Bureau has taken
charge of the matter.
Question. Have you any idea that a jury could be called in Virginia that would convict
any of the ringleaders of the rebellion?
Answer. No ; I do not think you could get a jury in the State to convict any one of treason,
unless unfair means were used in obtaining it.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 31, 1866.
George Tucker sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Alexandria, Virginia.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia?
Answer. I am not ; I am a native of New Hampshire.
Question. How long have you resided in Virginia ?
Answer. I have been in Virginia most of the time for the last four years.
Question. What has been your occupation in Virginia during that time?
Answer. I have been practicing law in Alexandria and Fairfax counties. I am common
wealth attorney of Fairfax county ; I commenced the practice of the law in these counties
in the spring of 1863 ; I came out as an officer in the army in the first place.
Question. How extensive is your knowledge of the state of public feeling in Virginia?
Answer. My personal knowledge of the state of public feeling in Virginia only extends to the
counties of Alexandria and Fairfax, but I have had pretty extensive correspondence through
out almost all parts of the State.
Question. You have had good opportunities to know the condition of public feeling
throughout the State ?
Answer. I think I have.
Question. How is it in regard to the government of the United States ?
Answer. The opinion of a large majority of the people of Virginia is, that they have no
respect for the government of the United States. I have heard leading men among them
say that they had no respect for the government of the United States ; that they were subjects,
conquered, but that they had no respect for the government, and that the time would come
when the east and the west would disagree, and when the south would have sufficient power to
achieve its purposes. That is a very prevalent idea among them. It is also a prevalent idea
among them that in their rebellion they made a mistake in regard to seceding ; that if they
had revolutionized, as they now say, they would have succeeded, and that if there be any
further difficulty it will be a revolution and not a secession. Secession was a mistake.
Question. You are a lawyer, and can give us the difference between secession and revolu
tion as understood by the Virginians.
• Answer. As understood by them it is this : that if they had revolutionized, it would have
been a general thing throughout the Union; would have extended its ramifications all over
the country ; have had friends all over the country, and would have fought under the colors
of the nation, so that it would have been a national movement, and a struggle between them,
aided by those thinking like them, and the national power all over the United States.
Question. So that if it had succeeded it would have amounted to a usurpation?
Answer. To a usurpation; and my judgment, founded on what I have seen and heard, is,
that it is a favorite object with them to destroy the United States government whenever an
opportunity shall present itself.
Question. Do they foresee any particular method of getting at it just now?
Answer. I think that in that respect they are somewhat in the condition of the man who
was waiting for something to turn up ; but in my judgment, in the case of any foreign war,
if they could see any reasonable hope of success, by joining their forces and power with a
foreign government, they would do it ; and if they did not do it collectively, they would
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 23
do it very extensively, as individuals. That is to say, I believe that, as at present organized,
and even as at present governed by provisional governments, they would be a source of
weakness to the national power.
Question. Have you heard that particular subject spoken of by rebels of position and in
fluence ?
Answer. The subject was broached in a conversation I had with one of them, but of course
there was no plain statement made of what they would do. The subject came up in the
course of conversation in regard to the present state of affairs in Mexico. The gentleman
with whom I was talking is one of the most respectable of the returned rebels whom I have
met. He was one of that class who were Union men at the commencement. Although he
believed in the right of secession, he did not believe that they had occasion for it ; or, rather,
he was one of that numerous class in Virginia, and I presume in the rest of the south, who
did not believe that at that time they ought to secede, but that they ought to wait for an
overt act, as they called it, on the part of the general government. I would not have a legal
right to infer what I did infer from the remarks he made, but I inferred, that if a war should
spring up now between us and Trance, it was his judgment they would be a source of weak
ness to us. I do not think that he personally would be on that side ; but others, of equal
intelligence and more bitterness, say that they have not the slightest respect for the na
tional government — that we have not any national government. Others say, and I have
heard them, that they are among the number of those who look upon emancipation as an
outrage, and who believe that slavery will be reinstated. Of course it cannot be reinstated
without force and opposition to the Constitution and laws of the United States. In the course
of my practice in Fairfax county, where I am the attorney for the commonwealth under the
reorganized government, which, a year ago, we were taught to consider loyal and good, I
found a great difficulty in getting anybody punished who was a secessionist, or a sympa
thizer with secessionists, and who had committed any depredation upon a Union man. We
had one capital case — a case of murder — where a Union man was killed by a fellow who had
been in Mosby's gang — a noted guerilla. He was one of that class of men who would go on
both sides. He had deserted, for some cause, from Mosby, and had acted with us for awhile,
giving information, but his feeling as a rebel was not changed. This fellow murdered a man
at the village of Falls Church. It was a clear case of deliberate murder. The man who was
murdered was a Union man, and he and others were talking of the subject of the Union. It
was directly after the re-election of Mr. Lincoln, and that was the subject of conversation
between the deceased and several other gentlemen on the front stoop of a store there. This
man drove up and heard some of the conversation. He immediately came upon the stoop,
and in a very violent manner threatened one of the men in conversation. They were in the
position of two men about to fight, when this man, Porter, who was killed, interfered. He
had at the time a very sore thumb, with his arm slung up. There was a grudge between
them on account of general politics. Porter interfered by stepping up and touching the
party who finally killed him, with his elbow, and saying, "Don't let us have any figlrting
here." The other fellow turned around, with an oath, and demanded to know if he took it
up. I suppose Porter noticed that there was danger. He stepped back and said, no, he
didn't take it up. The tellow immediately drew his pistol for the apparent purpose of shoot
ing him, when he was interfered with by other parties. After^ disengaging himself he went
around where he could get a fair shot at the man, and he shot* him, so that he died in a few
hours. On the trial of that case, which was made very plain, we had a jury, unfortunately,
consisting of men who had sympathized with the rebellion. There was but one Union man
on the jury. They were men of comparatively good standing, in other respects, in the com
munity. They refused to find a verdict of guilty of murder in any degree, and eleven in
sisted upon an acquittal. The one Union man, however, would not agree to that, and the
eleven thinking, I suppose, that it was safer, finally brought in a verdict of manslaughter.
According to the provisions of Virginia law, the juries, in such cases, are allowed to pre
scribe the amount of imprisonment,' and they made it one year. That .was the result of that
kind of trial before that kind of jury. When I tell you that Fairfax county is the best county
in the State ot Virginia, so far as Unionism is concerned; so far as the influence of northern
men is concerned ; so far as loyalty to the government is concerned, you can draw your in
ference in regard to the resi of the State. The fact is, that Fairfax county has been the
(Bounty where a great many northern men have settled. At the time of the breaking out of
the war, there were nearly two-fifths of the population northern people.
Question. What is the feeling towards the freedmen on the part of these ex-rebels ?
Answer. It is very malignant. The freed man before any of their juries stands no chance
of obtaining his rights, although he Avill stand as good a chance as a Yankee will, or as a
native-born citizen of Virginia who has been a loyal man. The latter even stand a worse
chance. These men, all of them, will be compelled to leave the State, just so soon as they
cease to be protected by the national power. They cannot stay there. I am intimately
acquainted with the Union men of Fairfax county, necessarily, and I do not know one of
them who does not feel that he has got to leave. I know that almost all of them are pre
paring now to leave, and it it were possible for them to sell their lands, even at a large sacri
fice, they would do so and leave. I have a nretty good opportunity to know that, from the
fact that some months ago, when we hoped for a different state of affairs, I undertook to act
24 RECONSTRUCTION.
as agent there to sell lands ; and the lands of these people are nearly all for sale. They feel
that they must leave the country.
Question. What does this arise from — from a feeling of insecurity?
Answer. Yes, sir ; if they understood that they would be surely protected in their natural
and political rights they would not only remain, but if a territorial government was given to
us wo should have a tremendous rush of immigration, and it would be for a little while only
that it would be necessary for the general government to make any special protection for us,
especially if we had equal suffrage. We do not feel afraid of the suffrage of the negroes ;
we do not feel afraid that they would give their votes to their old masters.
Question. In case the negroes were allowed to vote, would they not be likely to be con
trolled by their old masters, and vote in his interest and according to his dictation and
desire ?
Answer. I presume that would be true to a certain extent, and in certain localities ; but
these colored people who have mixed with northern men would be controlled by them. I
infer that our influence over the negro would be far greater than that of the rebels. Proba
bly on some plantations in the more southern States the masters might have an influence over
the freedmen for the time being, but we do not feel any danger in Virginia in that respect. I
think there is no difficulty in reaching them, and especially if we can have a territorial
government long enough to let the freedmen get a little education, which they are very
anxious to get.
Question. How do the Union men feel in regard to the policy of Mr. Johnson, in granting
pardons so liberally ?
Answer. They do not approve of it, and never have approved of it.
Question. Is the present government of Virginia generally acceptable to the people of that
State?
Answer. It is acceptable to those who were active in the rebellion.
Question. But is it acceptable to the Union men?
Answer. It is very unacceptable. They consider, in fact, that the government, as it was
reorganized, and out of which grew West Virginia, is entirely destroyed, and that that has
been done by disregarding the constitutional provision made by the convention at Alexan
dria ; though I am of the opinion that even with the provisions of that constitution, the
white Unionists could not have sustained themselves against the influence of overpowering
numbers. They legislate now without the slightest regard to that, and are there without
having taken the oaths required by that constitution. They have been elected by men who
were disfranchised by that constitution; and this has been done by the approval and assist
ance of Governor Peirpoint, whom we consider an apostate. He was advised to it, as I am
credibly informed, by a man who, it seems to me, has more influence in this city than he
ought to have, Vho never did anything for the benefit of the Union till after the surrender —
I mean John Minor Botts. The Union people feel all this very much, especially those native-
born Virginians who risked their lives and property, and everything, in order that the nation
might not be hurt.
Question. What effect has the liberal policy of President Johnson exerted over the public
mind of Virginia, whether upon rebels or Unionists ? »
Answer. The effect upon Unionists has been to discourage them ; it makes them doubt
whether they are going to bo protected hereafter; it makes them feel as though those who
had been against the government during the war were more sought after and more cared for
than they, and that they would continue to be in their power. The effect of it is this, that
many who were Union men, and who desired, when the fall of Richmond came, to have it
known that they were Union men, are now afraid to have it known that they were loyal.
They feel that they must deny their master. On the other hand, that policy makes the rebels
impudent, exacting, intolerant, boasting, and vainglorious. That is the effect of it.
Question. On the whole, do you think that that policy has done any good ?
Answer. I would say this : that if it had been intended, and was acted upon, as an experi
ment to ascertain the animus of the people, it may have had a good effect in that way ; but
having ascertained that animus, the further practice of the policy, it seems to me, should
stop.
Question. You think the experiment has been fully tried?
Answer. I do, certainly ; and it has proved a failure, unless it were for the purpose of
ascertaining what effect it would have. My own opinion always has been, and still is, that
they should have been treated as rebels, and should have been made to feel that to be a rebel
was dishonorable ; that they have lost their caste among men, and the leaders ought to have
been made to feel that they were, and ought to be, outcasts.
Question. Do they exhibit any such feeling now ?
Answer. Not the slightest. They claim that they acted honorably and well. They act
in all their movements upon the principle that those who took the most active part in the
rebellion should be first cared for in the way of civil offices, or anything of that kind.
Their legislature has already proposed to pension the widow of Stonewall Jackson.
Question. You mean the legislature of Virginia ?
Answer. Yes; I said "their" legislature, because it is theirs; it is not ours ; they have
proved that. They say that Lee shall be the next governor of Virginia, and they even think
that he ought to run for President.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 25
Question. Do you know of anything- else you wish to state to the committee ?
Answer. I cannot think of anything particular.
Question. What would be the fate of the freedmen in case the Freedmen's Bureau was
abolished and the federal forces withdrawn ?
Answer. They would be in a worse state of slavery than ever before — those that remain.
Question. Would they be suffered to remain in the country ?
Answer. I do not think they would, as a general thing, unless they remained as servants,
subject to the absolute rule of the whites. They have not any idea of prosecuting white
men for offences against colored people ; they do not appreciate the idea. I do not think, and
have not thought for two years, that there is any way to reach these people except for the
government to take control of the country and give perfect security to all loyal people so as
to repopulate the country.
Question. In such a case as that, there must be an exodus of rebels ?
Answer. There would probably be a great exodus of rebels if we took stronger measures.
Question. Would that be injurious to the material prosperity of the State?
Answer. I do not think it would be injurious to the material industry of the country ; I
think, on the contrary, it would be beneficial, and for this reason : They feel a great repug
nance to northern enterprise, and will use all their influence to keep it out, and their influence
is great, for the people of that country have been always subject to their leaders, obeying
their orders as much as soldiers obey military orders. To see any northern capital come in
there and set up industrious pursuits, manufactures, or anything of that kind, so as to increase
immigration from the north, is distasteful to them, and they will do everything to prevent it.
The action of the legislature shows that in its proposition — to make a five years' residence
necessary for voting.
Question. How does that measure stand in the legislature ?
Answer. I understand they have amended it so as to reduce the term to two years. The
constitution which the loyal men made- before the breaking up of the confederacy provided
for one year's residence only, as is usual in other States. They are going on to legislate
without reference to that constitution at all.
Question. They do not regard the constitution formed at Alexandria as of any force ?
Answer. They do not seem to.
Question. Is it not under that constitution the legislature is assembled ?
Answer. Yes, so far as the form is concerned.
Question. They disregard the provisions of the constitution ?
Answer. They discard its provisions in many respects. There is one simple provision in
it providing for a change by the legislature in one particular item ; they make that a stepping-
stone and an excuse to do pretty much as they have a mind to with the constitution.
Question. What is that item?
Answer. It was in reference to the disfranchisement of a certain portion of the population.
The constitution made two different classes of disfranchised persons, and provided that the
legislature might enfranchise one of these classes ; that, I think, was the extent of the provi-
sion. They make good use of that clause. I do not think of any other items at this time.
WASHINGTON, January 31, 1866.
Lysander Hill sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Alexandria.
Question. What is your occupation?
Answer. I am a lawyer.
Question. How long have you resided in Alexandria?
Answer. I have resided in Alexandria for two or three years.
Question. Of what State are you a citizen ?
Answer. Virginia.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. No, sir ; I am a native of Maine.
Question. What have been your opportunities to observe the state of public feeling in
Virginia since the close of hostilities in regard to the government of the United States 7
Answer. I have made it something of a study to observe the state of feeling there ; and
while I have been confined for the most part, in my own observations, to the city of Alex
andria, yet I have seen a great many persons from all parts of the State.
Question. Have you seen persons from the southern and eastern parts of the State ?
Answer. Yes ; I have seen persons from all parts of the State.
Question. What is the general state of feeling on the part of the rebel portion of the State
of Virginia towards the government of the United States — friendly or unfriendly?
Answer. I think it is very unfriendly. There are very few, indeed, of those who are rebels,
who would accept the present state of affairs and go in honestly with a reconstructed State
2 6 RECONSTRUCTION.
government ; but the majority of them are just as bitter and more bitter than they were when
actual hostilities were going on.
Question. What has produced that increase of bitterness ?
Answer. I think that the lenient' course of the government towards them has tended to
produce it. The abolition of all restrictions on the elective franchise, admitting those who
were rebels to come in to a full participation in thtfelective privileges, has made them a great
deal worse than they were before.
Question. From what source has that relaxation proceeded?
Answer. It has proceeded really from Governor Peirpoint Peirpoint engineered the matter
after he went to Richmond.
Question. Is there no limitation in Virginia of the right of rebels to vote?
Answer. Not in the slightest.
Question. And has the present legislature been elected without reference to the distinction
between loyal and disloyal citizens ?
Answer. Yes, sir; elected almost unanimously by rebels.
Question. Then the legislature is a rebel legislature ?
Answer. It is a rebel legislature emphatically.
Question. And that character has arisen from the policy of Governor Peirpoint, you think?
Answer. There is no doubt of it at all.
Question. What restrictions or qualifications does the Alexandria constitution contain in
regard to the right of voting ?
Answer. The Alexandria constitution imposed certain restrictions on the right of voting
and holding office. Article III of the constitution reads as follows :
"QUALIFICATION OF VOTERS.
"SEC. I. Every white male citizen of the commonwealth of the age of twenty-one years
who has been a resident of the State for one year and of the county, city, and town where
he offers to vote, for six months next preceding an election, and who has paid all taxes
assessed to him after the adoption of this constitution under the laws of the commonwealth,
after the reorganization of the county, city, or town where he offers to vote, shall be qualified
to vote for members of the general assembly and all officers elective by the people : Provided,
however, That no one shall be allowed to vote who, when he offers to vote, shall not thereupon
take, or shall not before have taken, the following oath :
"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support the Constitution of the United States
and the laws made in pursuance thereof as the supreme law of the laud, anything in the
constitution or laws of the State of Virginia, or in the ordinances of the convention that
assembled in Virginia on the 13th day of February, 1861, to the contrary notwithstanding;
and that I will uphold and defend the government of Virginia as restored by the convention
which assembled at Wheeling on the llth day of June, 1861; and that I have not, since
the 1st day of January, 1864, voluntarily given aid or assistance in any way to those in
rebellion against the government of the United States for the purpose of promoting the same.
"But the legislature shall have power to pass an act or acts prescribing means by which
persons who have been disfranchised by this provision shall or may be restored to he rights
of voters when, in their opinion, it would be safe to do so. Any person falsely so swearing
shall be subject to the penalties of perjury.
" No person shall hold any office under this constitution who shall not have taken and
subscribed the oath aforesaid ; but no person shall vote or hold office under this constitution
who has held office under the so-called confederate government or under any rebellious State
government, or who has been a member of the so-called confederate congress, or a member
of any State legislature in rebellion against the authority of the United States, excepting
therefrom county offices."
Question. State what has been done under that provision of the constitution.
Answer. This was the provision of the Alexandria constitution which was adopted in April,
1864, and is the fundamental law of the State. The legislature which was in existence at
the time of the surrender of Lee consisted of about twenty members altogether. As soon as
Governor Peirpoint got to Richmond and had time to communicate with the leading Virgin
ians, chiefly of the rebel persuasion, he sent around to the members of the legislature asking
them to meet him in Richmond to consult with him in regard to the state of public affairs. After
they went to Richmond he issued a call for an extraordinary session of the legislature. That
legislature met at Richmond on the 20th or 21st of June last, and immediately repealed all
restrictions upon voting and referred it to the people at the next election whether the legislature
which next met should not be clothed with power to repeal all restrictions upon holding office
or upon amending the constitution. All restrictions having been taken away from voting,
power was given almost unanimously to the legislature that is next to convene to alter or
amend that article of the constitution. The legislature that has just assembled at Richmond
this winter has considered itself clothed with full power to do this, and has proceeded to make
such amendments as they considered necessary. These amendments have been to abolish
all restrictions upon holding office or voting, growing out of the rebellion. In electing mem
bers of that legislature I may say that the first qualification throughout the State was that
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 27
the candidate should have been actively and warmly engaged in the rebellion against the
government of the United States ; any person who put himself upon his record of loyalty was
sure to be defeated. The condition of the people as regards obedience to the government of
the United States has been growing gradually worse since the surrender of Lee ; and it has
been rapidly growing worse, I think, since the legislature met at Richmond.
Question." What effect has the President's liberality in extending pardons and amnesty to
the rebels had upon the rebel community in Virginia ?
Answer. It has had the same effect in character as the repeal of the restrictions upon suf
frage and voting. It has tended to produce upon the minds of the late rebels in Virginia the
idea that they can split the Union party of the country, and array President Johnson and cer
tain classes of the Union party with him in opposition to that party which did the actual and
effective work in carrying on the war. They are going to form an extensive alliance with
the copperheads, and to combine to confiscate the government of the United States. That is
the idea they have. They have learned to regard President Johnson as a natural ally of
theirs against the republican party. •
Question. Have you ever seen any of them who have talked with the President about
that?
Answer. I do not recollect that I have.
Question. How do they feel about a foreign war ?
Answer. There is a small party among the old men, I suppose, who would do nothing in
case of foreign war ; and they might perhaps advise others to do nothing, but the great ma
jority of the active men, the young men, would try to assist any foreign nation at war with
us. I have no doubt that, in the event of a foreign war, the first thing a foreign power
would do would be to send emissaries among them who would find material ready for use,
plenty of it. I do not know that I have heard any of them express that sentiment boldly,
but I have heard of their expressing such sentiments, that they were desirous of a foreign
war.
Question. Is the organization known as the Knights of the Golden Circle in vogue in any
part of Virginia ?
Answer. If it is it is secret.
Question. Do you know of the rebels entertaining any plan of reviving the rebellion in any
form whatever ?
Answer. A great many threaten to revive it in the same old form. They intend to revive
it in Congress, and in the administration of the country, if they ever get the opportunity.
They are just as hostile and more hostile to the government of the United States to-day than
they were a year ago. They know that their military power is broken, and that is all the
difference.
Question. Have they got any arms or military facilities at all in case of an outbreak ?
Answer. Not to any great extent. There is a quantity of arms, of course, all through the
south, but not to such an extent as before the rebellion.
Question. Have you any grounds to suppose that there is any concert between the leaders
of the rebellion now existing, having in view a renewal of the war, or an attempt to get out
of the Union ?
Answer. I should not suppose there was a concert with a view of getting out of the Union,
but I would have fears in case of a foreign war.
Question. Are you a practicing lawyer ?
Answer. Yes ; and I have made it a special study to examine the feelings of these people
since I have been in Alexandria. I have had a great deal of curiosity to know what their
feelings were, and what changes have been going on. I have tried to induce immigration
there, in the hope of changing public sentiment in that way ; and I have been obliged, of
course, to understand the feelings of the people in order to talk with the persons who were
coming from the north, and who would ask me a great many questions. I have probably
seen hundreds coming here with a view of settling, and have been obliged to answer their
questions and give them information, and I am constantly looking out for .that information.
Question. Do you suppose it is safe for northern men to go into Virginia for the purpose
of settlement ?
Answer. At present, in some parts of Virginia, if they will ignore all political ideas and
simply attend to the cultivation of their land, they may remain there.
Question. Suppose they do not ignore or suppress their Union sentiments?
Answer. Then I would not want to advise any one to go to Virginia.
Question. Has your acquaintance extended beyond Virginia into the other rebel States?
Answer. No, sir ; except as derived from the public prints and from gentlemen who have
been there.
Question. Is there any further statement that you wish to make ?
Answer. I do not think of any.
2 8 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, January 31, 1866.
Josiah Millard sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do your reside?
Answer. Alexandria, Virginia.
Question. Of what State are you a native ?
Answer. I am a native of Massachusetts.
Question. How long have you resided in Alexandria ?
Answer. For three years past. I have been in the State of Virginia nine or ten years.
Question. What is your occupation ?
Answer. I am now assessor of internal revenue for the third district of Virginia.
Question. What counties does your district include?
Answer. Alexandria, Fairfax, Prince William, Lo"udon, Clark, Shenaudoah, Frederick,
Warren, and other counties.
Question. You must be quite well acquainted with the state of public feeling in your col
lection district?
Answer. Tolerably well.
Question. Is it loyal or friendly to the government of the United States ?
Answer. No, sir, except a very small proportion compared with the population.
Question. About what proportion ?
Answer. The original Union men, who were favorable to the government from the com
mencement, are about one out of twenty — perhaps hardly that.
Question. Were you residing in Alexandria during the war ?
Answer. No, sir ; I was residing in Loudon county. I was taken prisoner by the rebels
on the 28th of May, 1861. I was the first prisoner taken in Virginia.
Question. What effect had the emancipation proclamation upon the rebels ?
Answer. They did not think it had any effect at all. They did not think it would ever be
executed.
Question. Did they look upon it as a pleasant proceeding on the part of Mr. Lincoln 1
Answer. They looked upon it as something that could not be maintained.
Question. As if it was the " Pope's bull against the comet ?"
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How did they like the fact that their slaves were all emancipated ?
Answer. They did not like it at all. They protested against it to the very last, and some
of them in the country now are trying their very best to make the colored men believe that
they are still theirs ; that they are not free.
Question. Have you ever occupied any other public station than you now hold ?
Answer. No, not in Virginia.
Question. How do the rebel people feel in regard to the preservation of the government of
the United States ? Are they willing to pay the taxes necessary to preserve it and carry
it on?
Answer. It is with great reluctance that they pay their taxes.
Question. Suppose they had it in their power, would they abolish all taxes to pay the
national debt?
Answer. Yes, sir, unanimously so. I do not think there would be one dissenting voice
among them. I have heard it repeatedly.
Question. Would they consent to contribute their proper share to the payment of the rebel
debt if they had the opportunity ?
Answer. I think they would. They simply claim that they are loyal now from necessity.
Question. Suppose that necessity was taken off ?
Answer. To illustrate what I believe to be the general feeling among the rebels, I will
state a conversation I had with one of the leading ones the other day. He said to me, "Sir,
I entered into this thing in good faith. I honestly believed it to be right, I now propose to
be a loyal man, to accept the laws of the United States, and to carry out all proclamations
and requirements of the President of the United States in good faith." I said, "Suppose
we examine the record and see. There is one thing you have not done ; you did not open
your church on Thanksgiving day." He seemed to be very much agitated when I spoke
about that, and said, "Why, sir, do you think I could get upon my knees and ask God to
forgive me for something which I believed to be right ?" Said I, " That is the point. You
are as big a rebel to-day as you ever were. You are simply loyal because the strong arm of
the government makes you so." And that is the general feeling with all the leading men I
have conversed with, and I have conversed with a great many.
Question. Has there been great destruction of property in your district during the war?
Answer. Yes, sir, very ^reat.
Question. What kind ot property has suffered principally ?
Answer. Agricultural property, live stock, and mill property.
Question. Have you ever heard anything said by leading men in your neighborhood about
a foreign war with the United States ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 29
Answer. Not directly. I have heard it intimated that if such a thing should come up,
and if there was a possible chance of their gaining their independence, they would join any
power to accomplish that object.
Question. Have you heard that intimated very frequently in conversation?
Answer. Not very frequently. They do not intimate it unless you get them rather
excited and warmed up in conversation. They do not like to be heard saying that, particu
larly persons who have taken the oath, because they think there might b'e some advantage
taken of it.
Question. Could a jury be called in your collection district which would convict a rebel oi
treason for making war against the government of the United States ?
Answer. No, sir, it could not, nor could there be one selected in the ordinary way to give
a Union man any justice.
Question. What is that owing to?
Answer. To their violent prejudices against Union men.
Question. Would they treat men from the free States in the same way in your courts ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think they wrould.
Question. How would they treat the freedmen ?
Answer. The freedmen would have no show of justice at all, not a particle.
Question. Do they seem to like or dislike the freedmen as such ?
Answer. They dislike them as such. Up in London county and in the valley they have
resolved not to employ the freedmen.
Question. Are there associations for that purpose?
Answer. Rather neighborhood association of that kind. I know of several such.
Question. How are they going to get their work done ?
Answer. They will try to get white foreign immigration.
Question. What is the reason of that? Is not work done by a negro as good, in their esti
mation, as that done by a white man ?
Answer. The negro being free, they cannot say to him, as they used to, "Tom, you
must do this, and if you don't I will give you a cut." They cannot talk in that kind of way.
They say they have raised the negroes, and have fed them all their lives, and it is the negro's
duty to work for them.
Question. The point of mortification is that they cannot lawfully whip them any more?
Answer. Yes, sir ; that is it.
Question. They regard that as depriving them of a luxury ?
Answer. Yes ; I think so. I have seen them performing it as if it was a luxury.
Question. Have you in your mind any particular facts which you wish to state to the com
mittee—any facts illustrating your views?
Answer. I only desire to say this — that unless Congress relieves us by giving us some
other kind of government, either a military government, or some other government that will
protect the Union men, the firm Union men, who have been firm to the government, have
got to leave Virginia and the south. They cannot remain there. It would not be safe for
me to go back on my farm and reside there.
Question. What have you to apprehend ?
Answer. From their threats I apprehend personal violence.
Question. Are such threats of frequent occurrence ?
Answer. Very frequent.
Question. You are a Union man and an employe" of the government?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Suppose you should be murdered by an ex-rebel out of revenge and from dislike
to you as a Union man, and suppose your murderer should be indicted and prosecuted in the
proper court of that district, and a jury should be called under the existing laws of Virginia,
have you not grounds to suppose that, in case the evidence vras plain and clear, the jury
would convict that man ?
Answer. That would depend upon circumstances very materially. If the case was very plain
and clear, and there was no possible chance to cover it up, the jury might bring in a verdict of
guilty, but it would be very pressing circumstances that would compel them to do it.
Question. Under such circumstances you would rather expect that they would render a
verdict of guilty, if the evidence was plain and without doubt ?
Answer. Yes, sir; if there was no possible chance to avoid it. I have seen cases tried
there similarly, which, to me, were as plain as the sun that shines, and the verdict was ren
dered quite the reverse.
Question. And that, you suppose, is owing to the prejudice felt generally by rebels against
Union men ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Are they still anxious for independence of the national government ?
Answer. The leaders are, all of them. There are a good many men who are very poor —
reduced almost to starvation — who say ' ' we have got enough fighting ; we are not going to
fight any more." But hitherto the leaders have always induced them to do what they wanted,
and they will probably do the same in the future.
Question. Has the material prosperity of the people in that district been seriously affected
by the ravages of the war ?
30 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir; the valley of Virginia, London county, Fairfax, and some of those
counties, have been very materially injured.
Question. Have many estates been coniiscated under the laws of the United States?
Answer. There were a good many seized, but the proceedings were stopped and the costs
paid. There were quite a good many estates sold in Alexandria and some in Fairfax.
Question. What would be the effect on the freedmen if the Union military forces were re
moved ?
Answer. It would be an awful affair. It would be something which I have not language
to express.
Question. What would you anticipate ?
Answer. The freedmen would be reduced to take just what compensation their employers
chose to give them, and the latter would impose such penalties upon them as they might
deem necessary. The result would be really the annihilation of the freed men in a short time.
It would not take a great while. They could not remain. They would be starved to death.
Question. How would it be in reference to the sick and aged and infirm among the freed
men ? Would the whites be willing to contribute anything for their support ?
Answer. I do not think they would.
Question. Would they leave them to die without giving them a helping hand ? I speak of
the people generally.
Answer. The general sentiment among the leading people, I think, is, that they would re
joice if the freedmen were out of existence. They would say, "God speed them; let them
get out of the way as soon as they can."
Question. Why do they feel so to the freedmen ?
Answer. I cannot tell you the reason why. They feel very indignant also toward the
Union men who had been living among them. They say that the Union men — the northern
fanatics — were the cause of their failing.
Question. Why should they detest the negro so bitterly? — he has been passive and sub
stantially neutral.
Answer. That is true. I suppose they hate him because he was the cause of the war, and
because the result has not been as they anticipated.
Question. Is that the cause of their deep mortification ?
Answer. I expect that it is ; I see no other.
WASHINGTON, January 31, 1866.
Joseph Stiles sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Alexandria city. I am a citizen of Fairfax county, but I am temporarily re
siding in Alexandria. I was a refugee during the war, and have not gone back yet.
Question. Where were you born ?
Answer. In Burlington county, New Jersey.
Question. How long have you resided in Virginia ?
Answer. About twelve years.
Question. Were you ever a slaveholder ?
Answer. My wife had an interest in a slave estate, but I never became fully possessed of it.
Question. How have you been employed during the war ?
Answer. I have boen in the military service of the government as a guide and scout and
military detective. I served three years and about ten months.
Question. That was rather a perilous service, was it not?
Answer. Yes, sir, sometimes.
Question. Relate some of your adventures.
Answer. I left my home in Fairfax county the Sunday before the first Bull Run battle, and
immediately became connected with the army in that capacity, and served until the first day of
June, 1864, when I was captured by the rebels and served a short term in Libby prison. I
went through many other adventures incident to that business.
Question. How long did you serve in Libby prison ?
Answer. About two months.
Question. The apprenticeship was sufficiently long for your comfort ?
Answer. Yes, sir, plenty.
Question. How did they treat you there?
Answer. The treatment was bad, but I fared as well as anybody else. They were not
exactly aware of my business, or else I should not have got exchanged. Since my discharge
from the military service, I served a short time as deputy United States marshal, during
which time I travelled over some few counties in eastern Virginia, libelling property. I met
with a great many people, and talked with a good many of the returned soldiers and officers
of the rebel army, and with a good many citizens. At the time of Lee's surrender the feel-
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 31
i ng appeared to be generally th at they were glad to get home ; they were worn out ; they
appeared to fear confiscation, taxation, and the penalties of treason. About the first of Sep
tember I commenced collecting United States direct taxes in Virginia, and since that time
I have been continually out in the counties collecting, and have met with a great many
people. I find the sentiment of the people to have been gradually chan'ging for the worse,
in my opinion. It seems to me that the rapid promotion of rebels, the old politicians, to
places of trust and honor, has had a great tendency to render treason popular instead of
odious. It appears to me that a great many of those pel-sons who at first were quiet are now
beginning to talk about their rights again. I think that the disloyal feeling of the people is
more intense now than it was immediately after the surrender of Lee's army.
Question. What effect has the liberal policy of President Johnson in granting amnesty
and pardons, and restoring property that was confiscated, had upon their minds ?
Answer. The general feeling and sentiment of the people appears to be as I have stated —
getting worse, getting more unfriendly to the government. It appears to me that the leni
ency of the President was very bad for the Union people. Any man in that country who
sets himself up as a candidate for office, and pretends to base his claim upon the ground that
he has been loyal to the government of the United States, would be considered impudent —
highly so. * The successful candidates for office all base their claim upon the ground that
they have been positive rebels, and that they fought this thing out. I have heard them boast
that they were in the army until the surrender. These men are almost universally elected.
Question. -Do they appear to be proud of the part they have acted in the war ?
Answer. Yes, sir. There is a class of men in eastern Virginia who are good, honest peo
ple. They are tired of this thing. They are anxious to see peace and quiet restored to the
country ; but unfortunately that class of people, like the immigrants from the north, have
very little to say in the reconstruction of affairs. The disappointed politicians, the disap
pointed ex-rebel officers, who were slaveholders and wealthy, and who mw find themselves
in a poor condition, seem to take the lead in these things, and it has often occurred to me
that the editors and politicians were using the United States mail as a channel for commu
nicating matter appealing again to the passions and prejudices of the people.
Question. Have you any ground to apprehend another outbreak in the rebel States?
Answer. No, sir, I think not. But it looks to me as though the politicians were attempt
ing to gain by political intrigue what they failed to secure by resort to arms. If they can
not get the independence of the confederacy, they will try to get all the control they can.
Question. Suppose they should g«t the control of the government of the United States,
both in Congress and in the executive branches, how would they use their power, judging
from what you have seen and heard among the rebels themselves 1
Answer. That is something I never thought of; but they certainly would use it very arbi
trarily, judging from what they do.
Question. From what you have seen and heard, have you the impression that the masses
of the rebel people have any respect for the United States government, or for the loyal peo
ple who have upheld it 1
Answer. No, sir. I think there is a majority of them who are to the contrary, decidedly
so — especially the politicians and those other classes I referrel to. A loyal man, especially
one who has been actively loyal, stands no chance of a show of justice among them at all.
At the very first term of the circuit court of Prince William county, indictments were found
against four of us who had been in the service of the government. I believe I was the only
one in the actual service of the government; but the other three were refugees, and went as
volunteer guides upon a scouting expedition in the autumn of 18b'3, by special order of
Major General Heintzelman, who was in command at Washington. It was a scouting ex
pedition in pursuit of guerillas, and the soldiers on that occasion took from a man who was
caught running the blockade, two mules, and stole some of his chickens. At the first term
of the circuit court this man went before the grand jury and made a statement, and they
brought in a bill of indictment against four of us. I wrote to the clerk of the court for inform
ation concerning it, and he informed me that this man charged me with being present with
a squad of soldiers when this stealing took place ; but still this reconstructed grand jury
could bring in an indictment on that information. There was a bench warrant issued for
my arrest, and I sent them word where I was and to come and arrest me ; that they would
have to take me to jail, as I would not give bail. I concluded that, if the military authori
ties would suffer it, I would see what it would result in. They failed to come and arrest me.
I suppose they thought that there was something behind by my sending them word. There
were two or three other men who were in the service, and who were arrested since on the
same charge. One of them gave bond for a thousand dollars ; the other t\vo had to go to
jail. The one who gave bond came to General Augur, having been in his employment be
fore ; and the result was, General Grant's order directing military division and department
commanders, whose command embraced any portion of the seceded States, to issue and en
force orders prohibiting civil courts from prosecuting any person who had been in the em
ployment of the United States for acts done in the service. The officials of the county of
Prince William refused to release these two men at first on that order, but held them for some
time on the ground that they were not enlisted men : but finally, on the order of General
Terry, they did release them. I was indicted, but never arrested. I suppose the indict-
32 RECONSTRUCTION.
ment is on the docket yet, and that, when the military is withdrawn, it will be renewed.
Some weeks ago I heard a party of men at the county seat of Culpeper county remarking
that one Smith came and lived on their land and then joined their enemies as a guide to
Kilpatrick. One of them remarked that Smith had killed two confederate scouts. A young
lawyer, now a member of the Virginia State senate, advised them to have Smith indicted
and tried for murder, stating that they could convict him.
Question. Has that been attempted ?
Answer. That has not been attempted yet, but that was the advice which this member of
the Virginia State seriate gave. It almost discourages me, after fighting four years and
whipping these -men, to be placed again in their power, and be sat in judgment upon by these
very men. By-the-by, Moseby was engaged to assist the prosecuting attorney at the trial
in my case.
Question. Where is Moseby now ?
Answer. He is at Warrentou, practicing law. It occurred to me that, after fighting fonr
years and still feeling need of protection, I had better leave and give up Virginia ; but then,
again, it occurred to me that they could make a requisition for me as a fugitive from justice.
Some persons have looked to immigration from the northern Slates into the south to neu
tralize, in a great measure, this rebel sentiment ; but unless there is protection given, it
never will be ; and if these State governments are permitted to reconstruct, and to go on in
the manner they are going on, the south will remain a nursery of treason. The rebels say.
"We know that we are whipped ; we are overpowered ; but we hate you, and we will teach
our children's children to hate you !" Their favorite expression is, "Every dog has his day,
and the time will come, some time or other, when an opportunity will present itself to us."
Question. Is that feeling very general ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You have seen evidences of it wherever you have been in Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; especially within the last two months.
Question. What chance does a Union or a northern man stand in their State courts ?
Answer. No chance at all.
Question. Why not ?
Answer. The popular feeling is against him altogether, and he has it all to butt against.
It appears to me, when men who commit treason manifest such bad faith towards the len
iency shown them, there is no show for justice to Union men in any case that affects rebels.
Question. What chance does a freedman stand for justice at their hands ?
Answer. As a general thing, he does not stand any chance for justice at all. You may
find men among them who would do him justice ; but they are too few, and have but little
to say.1 I found lots of men who said that it was wrong in the grand jury of Prince Wil
liam county to indict me ; but their saying so did not have any effect ; it did not get rid of
the indictment or affect public sentiment at all.
Question. Do you think there is generally in the State of Virginia a willingness to have
the free negroes remain among them ?
Answer. A majority of the persons whom I have heard speaking about it are anxious to
have them sent away.
Question. Where do they propose to hare them sent ?
Answer. I have not heard any suggestion as to the place where the government should
have them sent.
Question. WThy do they want to have them sent away ?
Answer. I have not heard any good reason advanced for it — anything more than a bitter
ness of feeling on the part of the rebels toward the negroes because they cannot control them
any more.
Question. They dislike the negroes because they can no longer control them by force?
Answer. That is it. I find a very strong desire to get rid of the troops also. That is
very prevalent, as far as I have been. I found it very prevalent among all persons con
nected with the State government.
Question. In case the troops were withdrawn, would you anticipate scenes of violence
and riot ?
Answer. Yes, sir, towards loyal men and frecdmen.
Question. Would you anticipate the expulsion of loyalists from Virginia and also of freed-
meii?
Answer. Yes, sir. I would anticipate the expulsion of loyalists, and that the freedmon
would be subjected to a peculiar kind of servitude similar to the kind they are attempting to
bring about through the State legislature. I have heard them complaining that the negro
will not work.
Question. Is there any foundation for that complaint ?
Answer. Some of the negroes will work, but of course some of them are idle. I have told
a good many of these rebels that they were standing about in idleness themselves, finding
fault and apparently waiting for something to turn up, and that I thought the negroes were
looking on following their example, and that it was better for them to go to work themselves
and set a good example.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 33
' Question. If they paid the negro fairly for his labor, would he not work as willingly as the
white inan ?
Answer. A majority of them would. There are some of the negroes, of course, who, be
ing suddenly emancipated, do not really understand it : but they will soon come into it.
Question. Has not the negro a strong love of property ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. They love money, do they not ?
Answer. Yes, sir. The negroes who are working the best are those who have been per
mitted heretofore to hire their own time and go around and work for themselves, which I
think proves conclusively that when they have an opportunity they are inclined to work and
take care of themselves.
Question. Have you any other statement that you wish to make ?
Answer. None that occurs to me at this time. I sincerely hope that the government of the
United States will not resign loyal men into the hands of these people.
WASHINGTON, January 31, 1866.
Jonathan Roberts sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What is your official position ?
Answer. I am sheriff of Fairfax county, Virginia.
Question. How long have you been sheriff of Fairfax county ?
Answer. Nearly four years. They elected me sheriff when we reorganized our county,
after the rebellion broke out. They re-elected me before the rebellion burst, and my time is
not out yet.
Question. Does your acquaintance extend much beyond that county ?
Answer. Not minutely. I have been seventeen years a resident of that county.
Question. How much chance is there for a Union man in the courts of that county who
should be a party against a rebel in a suit ?
Answer. None; not so far as justice goes. Let me qualify that. In the reorganization
of our county the magistrates who were elected were almost all Union men, and, so far as
they go, they are all right ; but, when we come to a jury, we have to take the masses as they
come, and there is no chance at all for justice.
Question. You have to draw your jurors by lot ?
Answer. Yes ; and, since the surrender and coming home of the rebels, there is less chance
for getting a jury who will act justly.
Question. Could you gather a jury in Fairfax county that would convict of treason one or
these rebels ?
No, sir.
Question. Could you pack a jury in that county that would do it ?
Answer. No, sir. I have no means of packing a jury. As the sheriff of the county I
have the right to select the jurors to be summoned, and then a jury is drawn from them by
lot. Just before the surrender of Lee there was a case tried of a returned rebel who shot a
Union man at Falls Church. I endeavored, not particularly to get all Union men, but to
get all who I thought would do right. The lawyers for the defence, however, managed to
get nine out of twelve rebels on the jury. The evidence was just as plain and positive as it
could be — indeed, the facts were admitted; and yet the jury brought in a verdict of man
slaughter, with one year's imprisonment. Nine of them went for acquitting him entirely ;
but the three Union men would not agree to it, and finally they compromised with one year's
imprisonment. If it had been the other way, or if a rebel had killed a rebel, there would
have been no doubt at all about his conviction.
Question. How large a proportion of the people of Fairfax county are Union men ?
Answer. I suppose we have twelve hundred votes in our county, and I do not suppose we
could number, with the returned northern men and all, three hundred Union votes, all told.
Question. Is there any real friendship for the government of the United States among
these rebels ?
Answer. None whatever among the leading rebels. I would modify that. If they could
get the power that they had before the rebellion they would not try it again while that was
the case. But they hate the Yankees, as they call all northern men, and while the govern
ment of the United States is in the control of northern men, or Union men, they will hate it,
and they do hate it, and do everything they can to injure it.
Question. What has been the effect of President Johnson's liberal policy in granting par
dons to rebels and restoring their estates to them ?
Answer. We think, down there, and I think, that it has been bad. As soon after the sur
render of Lee as the rebels could get home they all seemed to be perfectly satisfied with
everything. So as they only got home, they were glad enough to submit to anything. They
would shake hands with the Union men and be as clever as you pleased. But leading men
3 — V NC SC
34 RECONSTRUCTION.
got their pardons, and then they began to sue Union men for everything they cottld get
hold of. A returned rebel, who was taken prisoner for shooting our pickets up at Fauquier
county — an old slave trader — came back and sued me, as sheriff, for property which I was
put in possession of for the benefit of the court. I was put in possession by an order from
the Secretary of War. He sued me as a trespasser the minute he got buck. If it was to go
on to a trial they would convict me.
Question. You have resorted to some means to stop it ?
Answer. Yes ; that is good while the military are there, but will not protect me one hour
after the military are taken away.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia?
Answer. No, sir, I am a native of New Jersey. I have been in Virginia for seventeen or
eighteen years. I went there in 1848.
Question. How do they feel toward the freedmen?
Answer. Some have a liberal feeling toward them, but the great majority of them are very
bitter, just because they have been liberated. Many of them who used their slaves pretty
well before are very bitter now. They want to drive them away, and do everything they
can to drive them away, to make the government odious for freeing them.
Question. Could they easily supply their places as laborers ?
Answer. They could not.
Question. What are they going to do for laborers ?
Answer. They seem to be reckless of consequences.
Question. Is it a species of blindness?
Answer. Yes, sir ; it is a kind of mania that has possession of them ; it seems to be their
old prejudice, and the result of blasted hopes and blasted doings. That seems to be the
definition. You asked me whether Union men would be protected and allowed to live
quietly if the troops were withdrawn. I have got one thing to say in that respect. If it
was known publicly that I came here and made this statement before you, I would not be
safe one hour. There is evidently a band of people secretly bound among themselves to be
true to each other, and to do all the injury they can to Union men. There are plenty of
horse-thieves over there. They steal horses and cattle, and there is no convicting them be
cause they are bound together ; and if one undertakes to blab upon another, some of the
party will shoot him. That was the case there recently, where a man named Sexton was
shot.
Question. Do you suppose there is a secret association among them to protect each other?
Answer. I have no doubt of it at all This Mr. Sexton, who was shot at Herndon the
other day by McDonald, one of the gang, stated upon his dying bed that he was shot to
prevent his giving evidence against them for horse-stealing.
Question. How do they feel in regard 10 the war debt of the United States ?
Answer. I do not know that I can say much about it, only from what I learn from the
newspapers, &c. They would hate most to pay this direct tax ; but, as a war debt, I do
not know that I have heard much said about it. My brother-in-law, who is United States
assessor at Richmond, tells me that they talk down there as if they would like to pay their
own war .debt, but they do not like to pay Uncle Sam's. I have heard but little of it, ex
cept in newspaper editorials.
Question. Do you think that the general sentiment is that they would repudiate the federal
war debt, if they had the power to do so ?
Answer. There is not a particle of doubt about that.
Question. Do you think they would consent to assume to pay the debt of the confederate
government if they had the opportunity?
Answer. There might be some who would object to it, but the leading men — those who
would control things — would pay it. There is no doubt of it.
Question. Would the rebels join a foreign enemy in case of a war between this country
and a foreign power?
Answer. I do not think they would like to join England. They are sore upon England.
I think they would willingly join with France, and that they would jump at the chance of a
war with Mexico. The rank and file do not want to go to war, but they are completely under
their leaders. They do not talk much, but I can hear them saying, once in a while, " We
are biding our time; we are only just subjugated at present; we are not whipped ; we are
only overpowered; we will be at it again one of these days; we will bide our time" — and
such expressions as these.
Question. It appears to be not a state of contenteduess under the government of the
United States ?
Answer. None whatever. If you knew the southern character as well as I do, you would
confess that there is nothing but force will make them yield. You cannot coax them. They
respect force, and nothing else. They are educated to it. One class is educated to drive,
and another to be driven, and they do not believe in anything else. Law they do not respect
for its moral obligations ; but, if they can do anything which the law cannot absolutely take
hold of; if they can just manage to steer clear of the law, they will do it. If they have a
grudge against a man, they will plan all manner of schemes to gratify their grudge in a man
ner that the law will not get hold of them. They will get drunk and to quarrelling with a
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 35
man that they have a spite against, so that they may not appear to be malicious in the
matter.
Question. In their personal resentments are they perfidious ?
Answer. They are really nothing but perfidy.
Question. Are they revengeful ?
Answer. They are especially revengeful just as tar as they think they can escape the law.
Before the war, when northern men went there, they would be glad to receive them, and get
their money; and as soon as they got their money they seemed to take a delight in banding
together and injuring them as much as they could — in contriving to cheat them, and then
drive them away. That seemed to be a systematic thing. All the northern people of that
county will tell you the same thing. I was a little isolated when I went there, and yet they
would come and tear down my fences, and turn in their hogs and stock, and do all they
could to injure me. The Union men will have no kind of show at all unless the government
will protect them.
Question. You would advise the continuance of the military force there?
Answer. The Union men cannot stay there unless the military force is continued.
Question. And also the Freedmen's Bureau 1
Answer. I would. We are not going to have any safety under our present State organi
zation. I say that although I am a sheriff, sworn to sustain the reorganized government,
yet I do not believe that it is reorganized while rebels control it. They are now passing
laws there to disfranchise men who. have been voters there. They are passing vagrant laws
on purpose to oppress the colored people and to keep them in vassalage, and are doing every
thing they can to bring back things to their old condition, as nearly as possible.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 31, 1866.
Charles R. Joyce sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Alexandria.
Question. What are you by profession ?
Answer. Machinist and engineer.
Question. How long have you resided in Alexandria ?
Answer. Fifteen years.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. No, sir ; I am a native of Maryland.
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance in the State of Virginia-?
Answer. Nothing outside of Alexandria; I have never been further in Virginia, than
Gordonsville.
Question. Have you taken any part in the late war ?
Answer. At the beginning of the war I was nine months in the volunteer navy as- engi
neer on board of one of the transports ; she was afterwards taken by Admiral Goldsborough
as his flag-ship. I was at the battles of Roanoke Island and Newbern ; I was taken sick
with typhoid fever and sent home and got discharged. I afterwards went to work for the gov
ernment at the depot of the military railroad ; I have been to work for the government during
the Avar up to the 13th of November last.
Question. What is the feeling of the people of Virginia in regard to the government of
the United States ?
Answer. I believe, from the intercourse I have had with themT that they are opposed to the
government ; not all of them, however ; there are a few Union men in Alexandria, but those
rebels who have come back since the war are, I believe, as strong if not stronger against
the Union than they were when they went away.
Question. Your acquaintance does not extend much beyond Alexandria-?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Have you any acquaintance with the leaders of the rebellion in Virginia ?
Answer. Nq, sir; except with some men who went away from Alexandria, officers of com
panies.
Question. What effect has the liberality of President Johnson in regard to pardons and
amnesties had upon the minds of the rebel population, so far as you have been able to ob
serve it?
Answer. I think if a different course had been pursued they would, have been a different
people.
Question. Different what way — better or worse ?
Answer. I think they would have been better ; I think there has been, too much leniency
used ; I think the government has extended too much leniency towards them.
Question. What particular eifect has that leniency produced upon them.?
36 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. It has made them more defiant. It looks to me as if they thought the govern
ment was afraid of them, and was pursuing this course to conciliate them.
Question. Is there any particular fact on your mind which you desire to state to the com
mittee ?
Answer. No, sir ; my opinion is that if the rebels should get control, they would proscribe
the Union men politically and socially.
Question. In such an event, would you stand in fear of violence on the part of ex-rebels ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they threatened to drive me out of the town at the commencement ot
the war; they sent me word if I was not careful of how I talked they would drive me out of
town; but I defied them, and they never bothered me.
WASHINGTON, February 1, 1866.
J. J. Henshaw sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside?
Answer. Lovettsville, London county, Virginia.
Question. How long have you resided there 1
Answer. I have resided there since 1856, with the exception of being absent from the 28th
of June, 1863, uutil the 4th of July last. I was necessarily compelled to be absent during
that time in consequence of the rebellion.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. I am ; I was born in the county of Frederick, Virginia.
Question. What is your occupation ?
Answer. I am a practicing physician.
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance throughout the State of Virginia ?
Answer. Not very extensive ; I have been in Richmond as a member of the legislature last
spring — I mean the loyal legislature that went from Alexandria. I was called there on that
extraordinary session, and was there three days; I have never been in Richmond before.
Some years ago I travelled the whole length of the Sheuaudoah valley, but I cannot say that
I know much about the country or the people now, of course.
Question. From your knowledge and information, what is the general feeling of the rebel
people in London county towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. In the precinct where I reside we had but very little disloyalty ; we have about
375 voters, at the lowest estimate, and there are not twenty-five rebels anioug them, all told.
Consequently, there being so few rebels in that particular locality, they are very quiet, and,
generally speaking, conduct themselves very well. I have noticed this difference : Before I
left the State, in the spring of 1863, my own warmest friends and most intimate associates
were rebels, who had belonged to the whig party generally before. Since I went back, with
the exception, I think, of three families that I have met in the outskirts of my ride, I have
not been invited to call and see one of my old friends.
Question. Do you mean professionally ?
Answer. No, sir ; socially.
Question. Have you been called professionally among them?
Answer. Only in my immediate vicinity ; there I practice among them as well as among
others.
Question. Have you been, uniformly, a Union man yourself?
Answer. Yes, sir ; all the time.
Question. You never have rendered any service to the rebel confederacy ?
Answer. None ; and in consequence thereof I had to leave ; I was compelled to leave or
report to General Jones, at Charlestown, on the 28th June, 1863.
Question. Who was General Jones ?
Answer. A rebel general. The rebels were then on the raid into Maryland, and I was
captured and notified to meet my captors the next evening- or morning, at a certain point, to
go with them to Charlestown. I of course did not meet them, but crossed the Potomac river
into Maryland.
Question. How were you treated by the rebels into whose hands you fell? j*
Answer. They gave me time to report at a certain place and to go with them to the gen
eral ; but I left the State and did not go back to remain there until the 4th of July last.
Question. What is the feeling on the part of the rebel population where you are acquainted
towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. As far as I am capable of judging, they are as hostile to-day to the government of
the United. States and to the loyal people of the State of Virginia as they ever were. There
may be a few honorable exceptions, but they are very few.
Question. Are there many among them who have been pardoned by the President?
Answer. There are some in our county.
Question. What kind of feeling do they manifest?
Answer. I have not met with them at all, and cannot tell what their feeling may be.
VIRGINIA —NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 37
Question. What effect has generally been produced on the minds of ex-rebels by the
liberality of the President in granting: pardons and amnesties ; how do they regard that policy,
and what effect has it had upon their hearts and conduct?
Answer. That would be a very difficult question for me to answer, and it is a little deeper
in than I am able to see. But, if I am to judge from what I hear, they do not appreciate
the kindness of the government at all, or only so far as it may serve their purpose.
Question. Do you think that that policy has had a tendency to quiet their feelings and rec
oncile them to the authority of the United States?
Answer. It should have had.
Question. But does it have according to your observation?
Answer. I do not think I can say it has.
Question. You have mingled among them to a large degree since you went back ?
Answer. Yes, sir; with the few that wre have in our neighborhood.
Question. State whether, in speaking of the United States and its government, they are in
the habit of using expressions of respect for it or of contempt, or dislike ?
AnsAver. I do not know that I can say that I have heard one, since I have been back, speak
ing disrespectfully of the government ; I do not know that I have.
Question. Is there any other fact which you want to 'state to the committee ?
AnsAver. If I am only to state mainly what I am an eye-witness to I do not believe —
Mr. HOWARD. You can state Avhat you hear from credible sources of information.
Answer. I Avill state a circumstance that I have from unquestionable authority, from some
young men Avith whom I was Avell acquainted AA-hen a refugee and Avho have since gone back
to their homes in Fauquier county. These men have been loyal and respectable, and they as
sure me that they got this information through Mosby's men — that Mosby had notified them
to hold themselves in readiness. His words were : "Boys, hold yourselves in readiness, for it
will not be more than tAvelve months until I Avantyou again."
Question. What are the names of the persons who gave you this information ?
AnsAver. John E. Fletcher, William H. Fletcher, and Marion Fletcher, three brothers with
AAThom I Avas- well acquainted when north of the Potomac. They got it from members of
Mosby's gang. I do not knoAv a better man than John E. Fletcher to be summoned before
your committee.
Question. Do you get this statement from Mr. Fletcher?
AnsAver. Yes, sir.
Question. And he told you that some of Mosby's men had made this statement in his pres
ence ?
AusAver. Yes, sir.
Question. Does Mr. Fletcher live in Lovettsville ?
AnsAver. No, sir; his post office is Middleburgh, London county. He liA-es on the road
from Middleburgh to Upperville. I Avill relate another incident to the committee. I Avas in
timately acquainted with a lad^ in our county before the Avar; and since the AA~ar, although
she is an aA'owed rebel, I am still on intimate terms Avith her. She assures me that she is as
much a rebel to-day as she ever was ; and also assures me that those who have taken the oath,
so far as she knoAvs, are just as much rebels to-day as before they took it. Her husband was
a rebel during the Avar.
Question. What do they think of the constitutional right of secession ?
AnsAver. I do not think that they consider that their State rights or anything of that sort
haA'e been impugned. They have been overpoAvered, but they were right neArertheless. What
they claimed and Avhat they struck for they Avere entitled to, and are entitled to yet. That
seems to be their impression. I do not think you can find one of them AA^ho AA'ill admit that
he AA-as wrong in sustaining the rebellion and in making Avar upon the government.
Question. HaAre you any reasonable ground for supposing that there are combinations or
conspiracies anywhere in the rebel States, in Virginia or elsewhere, having in vieAV the re-
neAval of the Avar, the overthrow of the government of the United States, or the independence
of the rebel confederacy ?
AnsAver. I haA^e never been induced to think anything of the sort until very recently ; and
my reason for thinking now that there may be something of the sort, is the manner in which
the rebels and the disfranchised portion of the people of Virginia seem to be disposed to
act. We are kept in the dark entirely as to anything of that sort ; Ave can only get at it by
accident, if at all. But if you would refer to the acts and speeches of that rebel legislature
at Richmond, you would see that they either Avish the government of the United States to
destroy the State of Virginia, or are determined to let the government of the United States
see that they Avill have things, and do things, and say things, just as they choose, whether
loyal or disloyal.
Question. Is that a very general feeling among them ?
AnsAver. I think it is almost unanimous. We have a member of the senate in the legisla
ture from our county ; I look upon him as a loyal man. I asked him the question recently,
"How do you got along with these fellows.'" He says, "Oh, very smoothly." 1 then
asked him about the elective franchise, and about the proposition to require any one immi
grating into the State of Virginia to remain there five years before he could exercise the right
of a citizen. "Oh, " says he, "that Avill not pass." "Well," says I, " they have got a bili
38 RECONSTRUCTION.
up of that kind." That is one of the best indications I have seen from any quarter of the
direct hostility of that part of the State of Virginia to the government of the United States —
that five years' bill.
Question. Why did he think it would not pass ?
Answer. I did not ask him. I just met him on the road as I was going home, and he did
not enter into any particulars in reference to it.
Question. What do you suppose to be the animus of that bill, of which you have spoken,
requiring five years' residence to enable one to vote in Virginia?
Answer. My supposition is, that it is designed to keep northern men — intelligent working
men — from immigrating into the State of Virginia, and, at the same time, to prevent those
who left the State and went north, and took part against the rebellion, from exercising their
rights as citizens when they come back, because they have lost their residence in Virginia.
Question. Among what class in Virginia does this indisposition to welcome immigration
from the north operate most powerfully ?
Answer. Among the most wealthy and influential portion of the people.
Question. Do you mean the old slaveholders?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How are that class of persons generally disposed towards the freedmen in Vir
ginia?
Answer. From what little I have seen (I have not seen a great deal) they are hostile, as a
general thing, to the freedmen — decidedly so.
Question. If they had the power, would they or would they not reduce the blacks again to
slavery ?
Answer. I do not think they Avould hesitate a moment in doing so.
Question. Do you think it is their intention, by some artifice of State legislation, again to
reduce the black man to a state of servitude ?
Answer. I do not know. If they could do it with safety, I have no doubt but that they
would do it ; if they could have help enough from the United States, they would do it.
Question. Is the Freedmen' s Bureau of any utility in Virginia, so far as you know ?
Answer. WTe have a branch of it in our county-town, but I have seen or heard but little of
its workings there. There is not much material for it to attend to. I know of but one
family in my neighborhood that has undertaken to take care of freedmeu.
Question. What effect would the withdrawal of the United States troops from Virginia
have upon the peace and quiet of the State ?
Answer. If the loyal white man and the freedman would willingly obey all the commands
and dictates of the rebels, we would get along peaceably enough.
Question. Suppose they would not do that ?
Answer. I do not suppose we would be allowed to do anything else but obey. I think we
would necessarily be compelled to obey, if the military were taken away from the State of Vir
ginia. We would have to succumb to the wishes of the rebels and to keep quiet, or else we
would have to leave the State. We see from the papers that they complain now of certain par
ties telling falsehoods upon them, in order to excite Congress and the President against them ;
that they are loyal while these men are disloyal ; and that if those men do not like what they
are doing, the community would be as well without them — giving them permission to leave.
That is a bold and significant indication, and I think it more than likely that it would be
pressed in another form. I, myself, having taken a prominent stand all the time in favor of
the government of the United States, would not feel very safe in Virginia if the military
were taken entirely from the State.
Question. Would you not feel pretty safe in any of the civil courts of Virginia — you, a
Union man ; would you not expect impartial justice from a court and jury, if you were an
accused person in the court, or were suing there for redress of any of your wrongs ?
Answer. I do not believe that you could get au impartial jury hardly in our county to try
a case between an avowed Union man and an avowed secessionist ; I do not believe that you
could do it.
Question. Could you not find a jury there who would convict a man of treason against the
United States fur waging war against it, wilfully and wantonly ?
Answer. If you would select a jury, you could do it, because we have no less than seven
hundred loyal men in the county.
Question. But if the jurors were taken up by lot, could you do so?
Answer. If they were taken up by lot in the ordinary way, you could not get a jury that
would convict a man of treason against the government of the United States ; I do not
believe you could.
Question. You mean to say that it would be very difficult to get a verdict of twelve men,
constituting a jury, to convict anybody of treason?
Answer. Yes, sir, I think it would, unless you selected a jury and picked them out. You
could not do so if the jury was taken in the ordinary way.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that that feeling is prevalent throughout the
State of Virginia?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Dues anything else occur to your mind that you wish to state to the committee?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 39
Answer. I might mention the treatment which Methodist preachers receive at the hands ot
the people in our county. Within the last three weeks a Rev. Mr. Ross, of the Baltimore
conference, a Methodist preacher, was ordered into our county by the proper authorities of
the church. About three weeks ago last Sabbath, while he was going from Leesburg to
Warren to preach, he was attacked by three or four men, taken from his horse and pretty
severely beaten ; his pocket-book was demanded, but there proved to be nothing in it ;
they released him with the understanding, that in so many hours (a day or two) he should
leave ; if not, he would fare worse the next time. That is a notorious fact.
Question. What was the real character of the gang ; were they mere robbers or highway
men, or were they rebel guerillas ?
Answer. I do not suppose they were robbers, or highwaymen, or rebel guerillas ; but they
\vere men who are determined that ministers of the Baltimore conference shall not continue
to preach to them.
Question. What is the political character of these ministers ?
Answer. Their political character is, that they come from the north, and are sent there as
men loyal to the government of the United States. Being members of the Baltimore confer
ence, they are not, of course, members of that other conference which proposed to meet in
Alexandria a week or two ago.
Question. What sort of men are they ? »
Answer. They call themselves southern Methodists.
Question. Has the split in the Methodist church never been healed ?
Answer. It has never been healed. Nearly all those who during the rebellion adhered to
the Baltimore conference, have gone now with the southern Methodists ; and that reduces the
northern Methodist church — as the southern people call it — to very few, except along the
northern border of the county. I heard Mr. Ross state last summer, in the pulpit of the
Rehoboth church in our county, that he proposed to preach at Hamilton, in London county :
but they would not let him have the key of the church in which he proposed to preach, and
they would not let him have the church. These are evidences of their hostility.
Question. Are the municipal affairs of Loudon county in the hands of rebel officials ?
Answer. No, sir ; our sheriff, clerk of the county court, clerk of the circuit court, and three
of the five deputies, are loyal men. The presiding judge of the county court, William H.
Gray, is a reconstructed rebel. He has taken the oath and is a member of this Virginia le
gislature.
Question. How is the legislature now in Richmond regarded by the people of your county —
as being a true representative of the State of Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they are regarded as a true representative of the people of Virginia they
represent them very well.
Question. What is the feeling in your county among the rebels towards Jefferson Davis ?
Answer. I never heard a rebel in the county say aught against him or anything in his fa
vor ; more than that, he ought not to be hanged, and would not be hanged.
Question. Is there anything else you wish to state to the committee ?
Answer. There would be no difficulty in getting every man in the county of Loudon to
sign a petition in favor of doing away with that rebel government at Richmond, and giving
us something that will not be such a government as that. I am satisfied of that ; and I am.
not so sure but you will have petitions to that effect brought in soon.
WASHINGTON, February 2, 1866.
Watkins James sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. WThere do you reside ?
Answer. I reside in Winchester, Virginia. I am about two-thirds of my time in Winchester
and one-inird in Woodstock.
Question. How long have you resided at Winchester ?
Answer. Since May last. I am assistant United States assessor under the revenue act.
Question. And you find it necessary in the discharge of your duties to travel about a good
deal ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I had charge of three counties recently, but within the last three months
I gave one of them up. Those counties were Frederick, Shenandoah, and Warren. I have
not been acting in Warren since September last ; I had more than I could attend to, and that
county was assigned to somebody else.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. No, sfr; I was born in Maryland. I left Maryland in 1844, and since that time
have resided in Virginia with the exception of the last two and a half years, when I was com
pelled to leave.
Question. In the course of your journeyings throughout your district what opinion have
you formed of the feeling of the once rebel people towards the government ot the United
States?
40 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I have come to the conclusion, from travelling through the country, that their feel
ings towards the government, towards Union men, and towards the freedmen, are more hos
tile to-day than they were at the close of the rebellion.
Question. Is that feeling confined to any particular class ?
Answer. The under class as we, may term it, manifest that feeling ; but the great difficulty
is that there seems to be no disposition on the part of those who can control that class of the
community to suppress it. I have, in my official capacity, gone to the leading men of sev
eral towns and talked with them on the subject, impressing upon them the necessity of trying
to control that feeling, telling them that we would never get rid of the military until they
learned to control that element. I had a conversation the other day with a gentleman in a
store in Edinburgh, where tlure were some twenty persons present. I commenced making in
quiries about our representation in Congress ; I asked if he did not believe that there were
influential men in that town who would dissolve the government to-morrow by legislation it
they could. He said he believed there were. I asked if he did not believe that a majority
of the people would do so. He said he believed they would. I said that there had been too
much blood and treasure sacrificed in the country to let them step in now and accomplish by
legislation what they failed to accomplish by the sword. I feel satisfied, from the conversa
tions I have had, that if the troops were removed there would be trouble. It seems to me
that our protection depends altogether upon United States troops. A little circumstance oc
curred on the 29th of last month (January) which I will mention : about seven o'clock in the
evening, when the mail arrived, I went to the post office, and was in the ante-room, where there
suppose, fifteen years of age. I looked on for some time, and the boys kept it up for aboufr
fifteen minutes ; at last I spoke, and said that they must stop that, as the boy was not troub
ling them. The boys stopped at once, and I then turned to the crowd and spoke to them
about the impropriety of their permitting such conduct. I said, "You are anxious to &<
<ret rid
was outrageous, and thaHt occurred every night. I said I wanted to know who that boy's
father was ; I intended to see the boy's father and tell him about his son's conduct ; I could
not get one individual to tell me who that boy was. I talked to them in a spirit of kindness,
and reasoned with them as though it was my interest to get rid of the troops. I do not re
gard the troops as a nuisance, because I believ^they are necessary for my protection, but I
talked as if I regarded them as a nuisance. /After I left the post office one of the fellows
there made the assertion that I seemed very much concerned about the troops, but that I
knew damned well that I couldn't stand therye twelve hours if the troops were gone. I have
here the sworn statement of the postmaster.. Witness produced and read the statement as fol
lows :
"On the 29th day of January, 1866, I heard Watkins James talking to several persons
about permitting some persons pulling a little negro about and calling him Freedmeu's Bu
reau. He, James, insisted that it was the duty of every citizen to check such conduct, and
gave as a reason why they should take the matter in hand, that unless they put a stop to
such conduct we never would get rid of the troops. After said James left the room some
person in the room remarked that James knew very well that if the troops left he, James,
could not stay there.
"GEORGE W. TAYLOR,
" Postmaster of H'ijichcster, Virginia."
"FREDERICK COUNTY, State of Virginia :
"Sworn to and subscribed before me, Joseph S. Denny, a justice of the peace, January
"JOSEPH S. DENNY, J. P."
Witness continuing : It is a common saying, and they believe it, that we cannot stay
there longer than we are protected by the military. Mv own idea is, that we cannot. If
the military were withdrawn, nothing in the world coulcl save us except the influential rebels
were to take a stand and move in the matter.
Question. Does this feeling pervade these three counties ?
Answer. I have not been in Warren county recently. Immediately after the surrender
that feeling did not seem to pervade eitner of these counties. The principal inquiry seemed
to be what the government would do.
Question. In which of the counties does this feeling prevail?
Answer. In Shenandoah and Frederick. The other county I would suppose was worse,
because there are worse rebels there, and more of them. When I was in that county I
found but one loyal man in it, and that was at Front Royal. The remark is often made, and
it is the general impression, that we must go away from there as soon as the troops are re-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 41
moved. I have been struck by the good behavior and forbearance of the negroes. I have
seen them pelted with snow-balls by boys fifteen years of age. The negroes seem to pass by
and take no notice of what is done to them. There is almost negro element enough in the
town of Winchester to weed out the rebels if they chose. I entertain the idea that the lead
ing men are too much afraid of the government to take any part in the matter ; but I look
every day for patience to cease to be a virtue. The negroes have behaved thus far remarka
bly well. After this transaction which I have spoken of as having taken place in the post
office, I went to Mr. Philip Williams, one of the leading lawyers, and told him about it.
My object was to show him that there was no disposition to stop this thing. He rather apolo
gized for the boys, and supposed they were playing with the negro. I told him about the
remark which the fellow made about my having to leave. He said that I was popular
among the people ; that he had never heard any one speak disrespectfully of me, and that
there was no danger of me. He said that the fellow must certainly have been drunk.
Question. What are Mr. Williams's politics ?
Answer. Mr. Williams has been aiding the rebellion all he could since the State seceded.
Before that, he made some of the most eloquent Union speeches I ever heard. The reason
they do not try to suppress this element is this : they are working on the political board and
want these boys' votes. It does appear to me that they are laboring now as faithfully to
bring about a dissolution of the Union by legislation as they did by the sword, and they
think they will accomplish it.
Question. Do you suppose there are any conspiracies or secret associations having in view
the dissolution of the Union ?
Answer. I do not know that there are ; but I think that there is a general understanding
among them in their political movements, and that they hope to accomplish a dissolution of
the Union by legislation.
Question. How are they going to work at that ?
Answer. If they can get representatives in Congress, and get up any question that will
divide the north, they expect, by co-operation with their copperhead brethren, to embarrass
legislation, and get the government into difficulty.
Question. By means of concert with their copperhead brethren ?
Answer. Yes ; I feel satisfied that if there was a rupture to-morrow between the United
States and France or England, four-fifths of these men would engage with any ally who
they might think would prove the destruction of the country. I cannot be mistaken about
that.
Question. Have you heard anything said about that ?
Answer. No; I have heard nothing said about it; but I have heard men arguing about
the great principles that underlie the government — men who have not been defenders of their
country or protectors of its honor ; and the only object in the world they could have in
wishing to get the country into trouble was to have their revenge.
Question. Do they generally detest the government of the United States ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Are they in the habit of speaking of the government of the United States in
terms of opprobrium or contumely ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they hardly ever speak of it in any other terms. They speak of it as a
tyrannical, oppressive, Yankee government, and everything else. They would injure them
selves and the entire community if they thought they could ultimately injure the govern
ment. They suffer the basest misrepresentations to be gotten up about the currency, for
instance. Men who have too much common sense to believe a story of that kind suffer it to
be repeated in their presence a hundred times. For instance, they allow statements to be
made in relation to the national bank notes which they know to be false. They will suffer
the entire community to be injured by those misrepresentations simply that they may ulti
mately injure the government. I happened to be at Woodstock on Monday week, when a
merchant came into the office and offered a note in payment of his taxes. I had seen this
underhand work in trying to depreciate the currency, and I thought it was a good time to
say something in favor of the currency. The room was pretty full, and all of them were
rebels. Said I, "Mr. Smith, if I understand anything about the national currency — and I
do not profess to understand much about it — the holder of this note is safe anyhow, unless
the government breaks. Now," said I, "do you know how the bank gets this note?" He
says he did not know. Said I, " Let me tell you how I think it is. The banks do not now
issue their notes as the old banking institutions did; but before one of these national banks
can issue a note they have to deposit a sufficient amount of government bonds for the ulti
mate redemption of their notes. Now," said I, " I can see how the bank itself can break,
but the holder of the note must get paid." They began to talk about the mutter, and all of
them agreed upon it. "Now," says I, "if you all understood it before, why did not you
simply say so, and stop these reports ? They can do no good, but injure the currency of the
country. This paper is worth from sixty to seventy cents on a dollar. If you drive this out
of circulation, the next best money you can get is the notes of some broken bank of Virginia,
that will be worth only from ten to twenty-five cents on a dollar." And yet they allow
these reports to pass uncontradicted.
Question. Do you mean to say that business men who are in the daily use of large
42 RECONSTRUCTION.
amounts of money — merchants and dealers who know the necessity of a good currency — will
remain silent while these aspersions are cast upon the credit of the national currency?
Answer. Yes, sir. I saw in the town of Winchester lists of broken banks given to men
who came into the country to put them on their guard, and the reason of it was this: None
of the issues of these banks were in circulation; but the idea was to give the impression that
there were bills of broken banks in circulation, so as to make people suspicious of the national
bank notes. I was in Woodstock the day the military were withdrawn from there, and was
stopping at the house of a Mr. Ives. A teacher of the colored school came down to see Mr.
Ives, and spoke about giving up his school. He advised him to go on and continue his
school, and take six or seven of the young men home with him to protect him. That night
they put up a piece of writing on the postmaster's door, blaming him for boarding this man
who was teaching the colored school. The writing made inquiry about his board bill —
whether he had paid it, and remarking that the postmaster had gone up the spout for board
ing him. After a day or two they took to snow-balling the teacher, and he had them up
before the court. There their fathers promised that they would not do so any more, and
they were let off. That judge was elected before the right of suffrage was extended. I do
not believe that & Union man can have any justice in the courts for any outrage done him
during the rebellion ; and I will give my reason for that belief. Some Union lawyers there
instituted certain suits of that kind, which have come off before the county court, and they
have all been moved up before the circuit court, so as to get Judge Parker's opinion.
Question. Is that circuit court a State court ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. How can a case be .thus removed from a county court to a circuit court?
Answer. I am not lawyer enough to tell you ; but there is a mode provided by law. I
heard Mr. Pollock, a lawyer there, say that Mr. Williams, another lawyer, had four or five
suits of that kind, and withdrew them because he would not involve his clients in further
costs, as he did not believe there was any chance for them. He was afraid of the rulings
of the circuit court being in favor of the rebels.
Question. You think that if the troops were withdrawn there would be scenes of riot and
bloodshed committed by the rebels upon Union men?
Answer. I think so. I think Union men would not be permitted to stay there. I heard
a lady who had been a refugee during the war say that she went to a church in Woodstock,
and that a lady came in and took a seat beside her, but upon discovering who she was she
got up and took a seat in another part of the house. The rebels will set to and curse the
Union men who went off and followed the old flag as traitors.
Question. Do the rebels generally disregard the obligatory character of the oath?
Answer. It seems to me they entertain the idea that that oath is forced upon them for the
Eurpose of their obtaining equal rights with other citizens, and therefore is not obligatory or
hiding upon them. I think that nineteen out of twenty believe that. It is a doctrine
taught by high authority. Soon after the surrender I went up the valley and found these
people quiet and peaceable, disposed to submit to almost anything. Some of the leading
men inquired earnestly as to the policy the government would pursue towards them. I
thought there would be no confiscation, and I remarked to them that there was nobody in
the Shenandoah valley of importance enough for the government to notice if they behaved
themselves. I gave them every assurance, so as to pacify them. Since that. time they have
assumed a different attitude altogther.
Question. What, in your opinion, has been the cause of that change?
Answer. My own impression is that the leniency of the government is the cause. They
expected to have been dealt with more harshly than they have been. They found that the
right of suffrage was extended to them, and that they could control the State and county
and had nothing to fear.
Question. What, in general, is the disposition of the rebel portion of the population
towards the freedman ?
Answer. They are as hostile to him as they possibly can be. If it were not for the Freed-
men's Bureau he would be in a worse situation now than when he was in bondage. My
honest impression is that, if you remove the military, the negro will either have to leave
there, go back to bondage, or be annihilated. It seems to me there is an auhnosity between
the rebels and the negroes which never will be settled in this world. If there was a collision
between the rebels and negroes to-morow in Winchester I would not be afraid to walk the
streets while the contest was going on, for I know that the negroes would not trouble me.
Their conduct has been orderly beyond my expectations. Their conduct has been unex
ceptionable, only that some of them will not work as well as they were expected to work ;
but there are a great many white people who will not work either. It is not an uncommon
thing to see five or six of these young aristocrats, who never worked a day in their lives,
and who are depending on bank stock which is not worth a cent, cursing and damning the
negroes for not working, while the negroes can get along better without work than they can.
Question. What is the truth of the case in regard to the negro's inclination to work now
that he is set free?
Answer. The negroes there seem to be sustaining themselves. I do not know that any
charity is given to them in Winchester. I have said to these people: "I have uo sympathy
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 43
with the negroes ; I am not going to grieve myself to death about them. Here is work for
them to do."
Question. If the negro is fairly and honestly paid for his labor will he not work enough ?
Answer. My own impression is that he will work much better than those people wrho are
denouncing him. It is all a humbug, and has been a humbug from the beginning, to say that
he will not work. The negroes know where they are treated well.
Question. What do you think of the present State government of Virginia ?
Answer. I think that is the rock on which we split — in extending the right of suffrage so
that the rebels could get control of things. I regard Mr. Peirpoiut as having been deceived
by them. He thought his lenient course would work well ; but it has only made them arro
gant.
Question. Does a Unionist stand any chance of being elected to office in Virginia?
Answer. None in the world ; he never will be elected to office there. You have no idea of
the tyranny exercised over men's opinions there. A friend could not sit down and talk with
you if the negro was concerned in the conversation. Here was the prosecuting attorney,
with the law on the one hand, and the mob with tar and feathers on the other. Talk about
liberty! there never was more tyranny exercised on the face of the earth.
Question. Is it likely that a rebel who has been wilfully and willingly engaged in the war
against the United States could be brought to justice and convicted of treason before a
Virginia jury?
Answer. No, sir; no possibility of it unless you pack the jury with Union men. They
believe now that they had the right of secession. The Virginia legislature want to assume
the direct tax of 1861, and my opinion as to their object is^that it would be a stepping-stone
towards establishing their great doctrine of State sovereignty. Another objection to their
assuming it is, that they will collect the tax in their own way, by a capitation tax, so as to
make the laboring people pay it, because the landed aristocracy are not able to pay it.
Besides, a great many of the Union men went forward and paid their taxes, while the rebels
are holding back as if by concert of action.
Question. Would they not be likely to discriminate between rebels and Unionists in the
imposition of this tax ?
Answer. It would seem to me that they would do so.
Question. And compel the Unionists to pay the principal part of the tax ?
Answer. If there was any way in the world to put it all upon them they \vould do it.
They say we are the ones who created the debt — that we would not let them alone.
Question. Is there anything else you wish to say to the committee?
Answer. No, sir; nothing else.
WASHINGTON, February 16, 1866.
The following letter was this day received from the witness Watkins James, and was
directed to be attached to his testimony :
ASSESSOR'S OFFICE, U. S. INT. REVENUE, 3D DISTRICT VIRGINIA,
Woodstock, Shenandoah County, Va,, February 12, 1866.
DEAR SIR : You will remember that I was before the Committee on Reconstruction on the
2d day of February. Permit me to add to my testimony some things that have taken place
since my return. I came from Winchester to this place to attend to my duty. I passed up
Cedar Creek valley, and the rebels in this county have shown such a vindictive spirit that
my friends here were alarmed about my safety, and were much relieved when I arrived. The
reasons they gave, there was no security for life./" A few days ago an anonymous letter
was dropped in the post office, notifying the teacher of the freedmen's school that he
must leave or take the consequences. About the same time, or a few days thereafter, two
United States detectives were run from New Market. A black man, who called at New Market
to collect some money due him, was run out of the town. There was a juvenile exhibition
in Woodstock, the county seat of Shenandoah county, under the supervision of the minister
of the Methodist church south — his name is Armstrong— at which the lone star was exhibited
in the room, with the word excelsior written under it. An argument was made, drawing a
comparison between General Lee and George Washington, in which General Lee was made
the greater. A man named Larnbersou, who is engaged in a business in Woodstock, was
coming from where his parents lived to town. He was shot at twice in quick succession, one
ball passing in front of his face, and a Minnie ball passing through his carpet-sack, which he
was carrying in his hand. This man's offence is, he served in the Union army. The Union
men feel there is great danger. About the same time a teacher of freedmen, who was teaching
about six miles east of New Market, and in Page county, was called on some time in the
night by fifteen or twenty persons and taken from his bed ; taken to the Sheuandoah river,
put in a ferry-boat, taken to the middle of the stream where the water was about four feet
deep, and held under the water some time. He was put under a second time, and then
threatened, if he did not leave the county in three days, he would be shot dead. This teacher
came to Woodstock and reported these facts. The man who kept the key to the ferry-boat
is either postmaster or deputy postmaster. The key to the boat was used by the mob. All
these transactions took place about the same time, and but for the timely arrival of a few
44 RECONSTRUCTION.
Union soldiers at Woodstock, there is no telling where these atrocities would have'ended.
The teacher at Woodstock, and the one they ducked near New Market, went to Winchester '
and reported this case of ducking- to Major General Ayres. He referred them back to the
lieutenant at Woodstock, and thus the matter at present rests. It is said as soon as the cav
alry arrives some arrests will be made, as several of the parties engaged in this outrage are
known.' While under examination you asked me if I knew of any secret organization existing
in Virginia which I thought was operating against the government. I told you I did not,
but there was a concert of action among the rebels since my arrival here. I now think there
is, for this reason : A Union man, upon whom I can rely, told me a rebel asked him whether
lie had heard of such an organization, and from the character of that man I feel confident,
from the manner in which the question was asked, it was done simply to find out whether
the Union man knew of the existence of the organization. Rebel songs are sung nightly in
our streets, and sometimes shouts for Jefferson Davis. When the purport of the Emperor of
France's address was known here the leading rebels evidently showed they were disappointed.
I am fully satisfied they would rejoice to see a war between the United States and any other
power that they thought could damage the government.
Yours, very respectfully,
WATKINS JAMES,
Assistant Assessor '3d District Virginia.
Hon. JACOB M. HOWARD,
United States Senator for State of Michigan.
p. g. — The teacher who was ducked in the Shenandoah river made an affidavit to that fact
before the lieutenant in command at Woodstock to-day. While I am writing there is a crowd
in the street singing "Down with the Yankees and up with the bars." A pistol was fired in
front of this house not two minutes ago.
ASSESSOR'S OFFICE U. S. INT. REVENUE, 3D DISTRICT VIRGINIA,
Shenandoah County, Va., February 12, 1866.
I, Watkins James, do solemnly swear that I believe all the above statements are true.
They have come to my knowledge by such sources as I cannot reasonably^ doubt.
Sworn to before me this 12th day of February, 1666.
GEORGE RYE, Justice of the Peace.
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
Rev. E. O. Dunning sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. I reside in Winchester, Virginia. I am not legally a resident of \ irgima, but
that is my headquarters.
Question. In what capacity are you acting ?
Answer. I am a clergyman, and I am agent of the American Bible Society. I was sent
out to Tennessee and Virginia after the close of the war to make some explorations in regard
to the condition of things there.
Question. How long have you been actually at Winchester ?
Answer. I have been at Winchester about a month ; but I have been in the valley of the
Sheuandoah and southwestern Virginia and East Tennessee for five mouths ; I have been
through all that region.
Question. Where is your home?
Answer. My family resides in New Haven, Connecticut. I am a citizen of Connecticut. I
resided, I may say, ten years, before the war, in Virginia. I left there when the war broke out.
Question. In what part of Virginia did you reside 1
Answer. In Winchester ; that is, I resided there, as I do now. Occasionally I went home
north to see my friends.
Question. H ire you travelled about in Virginia much since the commencement ot hostilities 1
Answer. I have.
Question. Have you mingled freely with the people of all classes ?
Answer. I have.
Question. What portions of Virginia have you visited since the war?
Answer. I have visited the tier of counties which belong to southwestern Virginia and the
whole valley of the Sheuandoah. I have been in nearly two-thirds of the counties of the
valley since the close of the war. I visited at least twenty counties.
Question. How do you find the state of public feeling among the ex-rebels, where you
have been travelling in Virginia, in reference to the government of the United States, and in
reference to the loyal people I
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA— SOUTH CAROLINA. 45
Question. My opinion is that they are, as a general thing, disloyal. When I speak of
their being disloyal I mean this: that they seem not to have fidelity to the government.
They do not seem to have any good will to the government. They are not true, as I under
stand it, to the Union of the (States, because I think that the old disunion feeling still exists
there, and that they would like to be independent to-morrow.
Question. Do they tell you so, or is that an inference of their own?
Answer. Well, I will say this— that I have heard such expressions used.
Question. Among people of condition and influence ?
Answer. I would not say that. I merely say that I have heard such expessions used as
this : that they did what was perfectly right, and would do the same thing again ; that I
have heard, and that expression is published in the correspondence of the London Times as
being the opinion of the young men of Virginia.
Question. What part would the ex-rebels generally be likely to take in the event of a war
between the United States and any foreign power, such as France or England ?
Answer. I have heard a great deal on that subject. I have heard general exultation at
the prospect of a war with Mexico and France, because it would cripple the United States,
and I have heard this remark made in connexion with it, and by respectable men, too, that
were war to occur between the United States and Mexico, thousands of young men would
rush to Mexico.
Question. What side would they be likely to take?
Answer. Against the United States.
Question. What young men ?
Auswrer. The southern young men who had been in the rebel army. They would rush to
Mexico; I have heard that. I have made a little arrangement of my ideas on paper here.
Would it be pertinent to the subject to mention the ecclesiastical divisions upon sectional
grounds, and the feelings of the people in that respect ?
Mr. HOWARD. Certainly, sir ; go on and give your narrative in your own words touching
upon all the subjects that you choose to touch upon.
WITNESS. I Avould say with reference to church divisions that ecclesiastical bodies in
Virginia are now divided upon sectional grounds. Before the war, churches in Virginia
and in the south were connected with one of the general assemblies. They have now a
synod of their own in the south, and on no ground that I can see, except on the sectional
ground. I refer to the Presbyterian body, Old School. The Presbyterian body, New School,
was divided before the war ; that is, there was a southern assembly and a northern assembly.
Since the war the Old School body and the New School body have merged all their doctrinal
divisions, and have come together and united in doctrine ; whereas they were divided before,
discarding all connexion with the north.
Question. How do these religionists of whom you speak regard the abolition of slavery ?
Answer. They say that the question is settled, so far as slavery is concerned.
Question. Do they think the abolition of slavery right or wrong ?
Answer. They do not like it ; they think it wrong.
Question. Is that feeling pretty general in that church ?
Answer. Yes, sir. As to the Methodist denominations the same things have occurred there,
which I thought very significant. Although the Methodist denomination was divided before
the war on the question of slavery, yet there were many churches in the valley of Virginia
still connected with the north by the Baltimore conference. Since the war these churches
have gone over to the south, and withdrawn their connexion from the north. The preacher
who was sent by the Baltimore conference to the church at Winchester was confronted in
the pulpit by Mr. Wilson, a minister, who belongs to the southern connexion, and who took
the hymn-book out of his hand and went on and preached the sermon. That was since the
war. General Ayres, the general of the department, was in the congregation at the time,
and sent word to Mr. Wilson not to appear in the evening ; he had given notice of a meeting
in the evening. That congregation has all withdrawn from the church and gone to the
southern church, leaving the pews to the few Unionists who are there, officers of the army,
&c. They all go to the Union church to sustain it, but the body of the people have gone
to the southern church — all on sectional ground entirely.
In Berryville recently a mob broke up the meeting of a Methodist minister who had been
sent by the Baltimore conference, in his own church where he was preaching. The mob
assailed him, and drove him out of the pulpit and out of the church, and one of them fired a
gun or pistol. The rebels said that they had fought four years, and would fight four years
longer to break up such an establishment as that. I suppose that may be important to
indicate the state of public feeling there. Northern ministers are not invited to preach in the
south at all.
Question. How general is that refusal to invite them ?
Answer. Almost universal, unless a northern minister is known to be a southern sympa
thizer. Some northern men may preach in the south.
Question. So far as your observation extends, is this universal ?
Answer. Yes, sir. Dr. Bacon, of New Haven, went to the south, and I suppose he would
give the same testimony. As an agent of the Baltimore conference I did business there, but
was not invited into any pulpit, as I used to be. I am speaking now of Virginia ; there is a
46 RECONSTRUCTION.
very different feeling in Tennessee. I went all through the valley of Virginia, an<? western
Virginia to Charlottesville, andover the ridge to Lynch burg, and was not invited to preach
anywhere. I never heard a prayer for the President of the United States, or for the govern
ment, except in the Episcopal service, which requires it. I have heard since the close of the
war expressions made in the pulpit, of which the people approved, in regard to the oppression
of the United States government. I was in Charlottesville on the thanksgiving day ap
pointed by Presiden Johnson, and while the stores were shut up, there were no religious ob
servations taken of the day at all.
An Episcopal minister of high standing in one of the towns of Virginia went down town
with his coat to be mended ; in one store that he went into he asked the tailor if he was a
Union man ; the tailor said yes, and the minister would not leave his coat to be mended,
saying that he would not trade with Union people ; he would rather do without having his
coat mended. His congregation embraces friends of very influential men in the south.
A distinguished Presbyterian minister, Dr. Boyd, died recently in the valley of Virginia.
His funeral sermon was preached by one of the most celebrated clergymen of Virginia, the
well known Dr. Stiles, who was formerly settled over one of the Richmond churches, and
in his sermon he made these remarks: he alluded to Dr. Boyd; said that he was a strong
southern man, and had done what he could to separate the churches north and south, which
he did not regret ; then he spoke of Dr. Boyd having been taken from his family as a pris
oner (he had been taken and carried to Wheeling as a hostage for the safety of two members
of the West Virginia legislature who had been taken to Richmond.) He remarked that Dr.
Boyd regretted nothing he had done for the separation of the churches, and asked who had
any right to drag him from his family, to take him away and place him among felons as a
prisoner 1
Question. Did he say that the clergyman who was made a prisoner was placed among
felons by the Union troops 1
Answer. Yes, sir ; he used that phrase, and I was pained to hear it. I was there myself
part of the time ; but this thing ca-me directly to me from a lady who heard it. I thought it
was calculated to keep up a state of bad feeling and excitement there.
I would say, in the next place, that there is very little social intercourse between the Union
people and the secesh people of the district with which I am acquainted. The rebels will not
have anything to do with the Union people. As a general thing, they shun them, and, as
they are in the majority, the Union people expect them to make the advances which they are
willing to meet ; but the secesh people stand aloof and show very little social feeling. Union
ladies are not recognized in the churches where they have been accustomed to go. No notice
is taken of them by the secesh people in the churches. They will not trade with the Union
people in that section of the country, if they can help it. 1 think there is a general disposi
tion manifested not to do so, and I can relate some instances of it.
Mr. HOWARD. If they illustrate the state of feeling, relate them.
WITNESS. An apothecary in that district said that all his secesh customers had fallen off
since the war. A shoemaker said that he had not had six cents' worth of custom from a secesh
since the war closed. When I was going back south at the close of the war I met in Balti
more a gentleman from Winchester. He asked me where I was going. I told him I was go
ing to Winchester, and asked him a little about^the state of things there. He is a man of some
influence. He said that northern men could not stay there, and he told me the circumstance
of a Union man Avho came there with a carpet bag full of money to buy land, and who very
soon found his way back to the railroad cars, because there was such a feeling of opposition
to men who come there to buy laud.
Question. You think there is an opposition to northern people going there to buy land and
settle?
Answer. I think there is.
Question. How strong is it ?
Answer. It exists among the majority of the people. A gentleman told me the other day
that he bought a farm a few miles from town, but that there was such a state of feeling there,
he was sorry he did so, and would sell it as soon as he could. A secesh lady who had beeft
in the habit of trading with a Union man inquired of his brother if he was a Union ma^
He said yes. She had been trading at the rate of a thousand a year, but she said she wouR*
do no more trading with him.
I will relate an anecdote as to the feeling towards the United States government, the troops,
and the Freedmeu's Bureau. I met two or three gentlemen in Marion county, Virginia,
within the last two months. They were conversing about the state of things. One of them
was a principal lawyer of the county, and another was one of the most influential men of the
county. One of them said, "Well, we submit because we are obliged to, but we hate the
government, and, if the government were to get into trouble, we would laugh at their calam
ity, and mock when their fear cometh." The other gentleman, turning to his son, said ''Yes,
we teach our boys to hate the Yankees ; there is a boy twelve years old who is trained up to
hate the Yankees." These are two as distinguished men as are to be found in the valley.
I have often heard it mentioned as good news, the possibility of a rupture with France
upon the Mexican question. General Lee's chief of artillery (Curtis or Custis, I think) was
travelling with a friend of mine in the State, who related to me this fact ; The chief of arlii-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 47
lery found out that my friend was from the north and said to him "You have the advantage
now, but we will try you again if you do not give us our rights," or words to that effect. It
was as strong as that certainly. This was reported to Mr. Seward. A gentleman in Woodstock,
an influential man, said the same thing to me. He is the tavern-keeper there. He said "well,
we are whipped; but if the government does not give us our rights, we will fight again."
Question. What did he mean by their rights?
Answer. That he did not specify. I suppose he meant State-rights. I heard a remark
made in reference to which was the strongest party in Virginia, the Union or the rebel party.
The remark was, that if the United States troops were withdrawn we would soon see who
were the strongest party. It was a rebel who said so. The army wagons belonging to the
government were recently stoned when they were leaving Woodstock. This was within a
few days past. They were also fired upon from a house. I have these facts upon the
authority of Captain Howe, who is on duty at Winchester; and I suppose General Ayers
will make a report of it to the War Department ; but I thought I might as well mention it to
the committee. Lieutenant Hall told me that he was travelling in an omnibus going to the
cars ; that the rewere two rebel officers sitting beside him, and that one of them said to the
other that the member elect to Congress had promised him an office, and that he supposed he
would get him his old office in the Coast Survey. I think myself that the way the rebels
parade their uniforms, wearing their buttons, is a sign of disloyalty.
Question. State how they parade them.
Answer. A great many coats are worn which were worn in the rebel army. As a general
thing their buttons are cut off; but there are a good many who still wear their buttons,
some coats are evidently new, made in the old shape, but merely denuded of buttons, while
a great many wear buttons. The gray predominates throughout the south. They seem to
fancy it. As to the Freedmen's Bureau, of course there is a universal hostility against it.
There is no doubt about that. Mr. Tookay, assistant superintendent of the Freedmen's
Bureau in Staunton, was lately hooted in the streets. His authority was repudiated by per
sons whom he had summoned before him, on the ground that the Yankees were gone. A
circumstance occurred recently in the cars at Gordonsville to Mr. Cohan, superintendent of
colored schools. He had got out of the cars for a moment, leaving his baggage on the seat.
When he came back into the car he found that his baggage had been set aside, and that a
lady had taken his seat. He finally hunted up his baggage and remarked to a person near
him that he thought no lady would use a gentleman's baggage in that way. The gentleman
afterwards conversed with the lady and she told him the facts. When they were getting out
of the cars he told Mr. Cohan that if he did not ask the lady's pardon he should suffer for it.
Mr. Cohan said that he had not insulted any person, and was not going to ask pardon.
Upon that the gentleman knocked him down. His name is Strother, and he is a member of
the house of representatives of Virginia. Cohan rose from the ground and asked if there
vras no guard there, meaning the United States soldiers. One man remarked, "We have
got enough of you, you d — d Yankee ;" and that was the general shout of the car-load of
passengers. They had inquired of the conductor who Cohan was, and when they found out
who he was the general feeling was against him — a feeling of exultation that he had been
knocked down, I would say that colored schools have been broken up in Virginia since the
troops have been withdrawn. That has been the case in Waynesboro', near Stauuton.
Question. Is that to your personal knowledge ?
Answer. I had it from Mr. Tookay, assistant superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau at
Staunton. A southern lady, who had undertaken to teach a colored school there, had been
told to leave. They would not allow her to teach there.
Question. Who told her to leave ?
Answer. The secesh portion of the people.
Question. Did she leave?
Answer. Yes, sir; but they were going to restore the school again. She did leave, and
the school was broken up. Ladies who go there as teachers of colored schools find it almost
impossible to get any quarters ; people will not take them in to board. I have heard it said
often that if the soldiers of the United States were not there, there would be no colored
schools open. Mr. Creever, pastor of the Methodist church in Winchester, told me the other
day that although he had done nothing but preach in the church, he should not consider his
life safe in Winchester unless there were troops there. I have heard some of the conservative
secessionists say that it is the mob that does this thing; but the question arises, why there
is not some exhibition of feeling on their part to put down such things. I believe, from my
general observation of the people of that district, and from what 1 know of Virginia before
the war and since, that there is as bitter feeling prevalent among the people against the
Union citizens at the south — those who sided with the Union cause in the rebellion — as there
was during the war; and that is the general feeling there among Union people. I do
not think that the Union men can stay there, unless they are protected by the United States*
soldiers. A circumstance occurred the day before yesterday in Winchester, which it may be
as well to mention. Two Union men were conversing in the street, and one said to the other
that for his part he approved of a certain measure introduced in Congress to consider the
States lately in rebellion as conquered territory, to be treated as such. A person who was
said to be the first man to appear when the war broke out, with his musket, in the streets of
48 RECONSTRUCTION.
Winchester — he was a major afterwards in the rebel army throughout the war, and is an
influential man — was passing at the time and overheard part of the remark. He turned to
the other Union man and asked, "What did he say?" The other mentioned what he had
said, that he had approved of the measure introduced by Mr. Stevens. " Ah," said he, " he
ought to have been hanged ten years ago, and you with him," and he passed ou. The post
master at Winchester is my authority.
Question. Do you know anything about the condition of East Tennessee ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I do. I visited about twenty counties, out of thirty, in East Tennessee.
I consider the people of East Tennessee as decidedly loyal— very much so. I did not go
into West Tennessee. Judging from what they said and did, there is a strong feeling mani
fested against the rebels. There have been some excesses of mobs, which, of course, I do
not approve of; but they were excesses running the other way. The rebels there are alto
gether more subdued and more submissive than the rebels in Virginia, and have, I thought,
a different feeling towards the government of the United States.
Question. Is it not because there are more Union men in East Tennessee that the rebels
feel thus mollified?
Answer. I think it is. I found there the old feeling against the colored people, just as
much as in Virginia.
Question. What is the general disposition of the rebel people toward the freedmen in V ir
ginia where you have been acquainted 1
Answer. Decidedly hostile.
Question. If they could have their way would they reduce the blacks again to slavery ?
Answer. I cannot say, as a general thing; some would.
Question. Would they expel them from the country if they had that power ?
Answer. I think they would.
Question. Are they willing to supply their places with free laborers from the north or from
foreign lands 1
Answer. They manifest a preference to supply their places with foreigners.
Question. Are the rebel people, with whom you have been acquainted, generally anxious
still for southern independence, so called 1
Answer. Yes, sir ; I regard them so.
Question. Do they seem to feel a disposition to separate themselves and to be by them
selves as an independent people, unconnected, either commercially or socially, with the
northern States 1
Answer. Yes, sir ; they do, very decidedly.
Question. Do they appear to hate the government of the United States generally as a gov
eminent ?
Answer. I think they do.
Question. And do they appear to hate the north as a community ?
Answer. Yes, sir; decidedly.
Question. In case of the removal of the military forces of the United States from those
communities, is it likely, in your mind, that there would be scenes of violence and riot
there 1
Answer. I have no doubt of it.
Question. What would be the special object of such violence ?
Answer. I think it would manifest itself against Union citizens and against colored poop!?.
Question. In your opinion, could any considerable portion of the rebel population i> : 1.1-
duced to volunteer their military services to defend the government of the United States 1
Answer. I think not ; that is my opinion.
Question. How do they regard General Lee ?
Answer. With a great deal of admiration.
Question. How do they regard Jefferson Davis ?
Answer. I never heard much said about Davis in my travels. They did not talk about
him much. They talked pretty much about Lee.
Question. Did you hear any censure cast upon Lee, among intelligent men, either for the
terms of his surrender or for the fact of his surrender ?
Answer. I did not.
Question. When they say that they "accept the situation," what is the practical meaning
which they attach to that very indefinite phrase ?
Answer. I suppose them to mean this : that they could not wage the war duy longer ;
that they were conquered, and had to submit to the government of the United States, but
unwillingly, and that they would prefer to be independent all the time. That is my opinion.
Question. Have you any reason to believe, from information which you may have gath
ered, that there are conspiracies or combinations of rebels having in view the renewal of the
war or the securing of southern independence?
Answer. I have not. I have not any knowledge of that sort.
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 49
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 3, 1866.
Calvin Pepper sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Of what State are you a native ?
Answer. Of Massachusetts.
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. At Norfolk, Virginia.
Question. How long; have you resided at Norfolk ?
Answer. I have resided at Norfolk about eighteen months.
Question. What is your occupation there ?
Answer. I am a lawyer.
Question. Are you in the practice of the law there ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I was in the practice of the law at Alexandria six months before go
ing there.
Question. How extensively are you acquainted with the political and social condition of
affairs in Virginia?
• Answer. I will state the sources of my knowledge and information. I am delegate here
from a loyal league council, No. 7, of Norfolk. I have come commended by that league. I
have been delegated to come to Washington to represent the state of feeling in Virginia. I
am also sent here by an association of white persons exclusively, at Norfolk, to promote the
right of impartial suffrage. This loyal league and this association comprise, as I believe,
every one of the white persons in that section of the country who have been loyal during
the war.
Question. How numerous are the two associations put together ?
Answer. The number of white persons whom I feel authorized to represent is about two
hundred and fifty.
Question. Are they all embraced within the city of Norfolk ?
Answer. Norfolk and Portsmouth. I am also deputed to represent about twelve mass
meetings, held irrespective of color, but principally composed of colored people, held at
Norfolk, Portsmouth, Hampton, Old Point, Yorktown, and Williamsburg.
Question. To whom are you deputed here ?
Answer. I was deputed to the President of the United States, to this committee, to the
War Department, to the Freedmen's Bureau, and to represent the interests of the people
whom I have come to represent. I would state that I have also been elected by the colored
people of Norfolk county as their judge in the freedrnen's court, so called, and that I have
been, by many separate meetings, appointed the attorney and counsel of colored people in
regard to those matters, and that I should judge that there are at least thirty persons a day
on the average at my office, especially colored people, consulting me in regard to matters
pertaining to their interests.
Question. What is the state of feeling on the part of the rebel people in and about Norfolk
toward the government of the United States ?
Answer. It is decidedly hostile.
Question. Is that hostility apparently on the increase ?
• Answer. It has sensibly increased within the last three months — that is, by expression.
Question. What, in your opinion, is the cause of that increase ?
Answer. I do not say there is an increase of the feeling, but there is an increase of the
manifestation of that feeling.
Question. What do you fancy has been the cause of that increase ?
Answer. Their restoration to power by pardons.
Question. What effect has the liberal policy of granting amnesties and pardons had upon
the minds and hearts of the rebels ?
Answer. To encourage them in their hopes of establishing an independent government
eventually.
Question. What appears to be the ultimate hope of the rebel community there ; what do
they intend ; what is the ultimate purpose and great end to which they are looking ?
Answer. I think they still fondly cherish the nope of eventual separation from the United
States government, but to be brought about in other ways than by the battle-field. They
.seem to have abandoned that.
Question. What other scheme have they in view now ?
Answer. I will state that I am seriously apprehensive of direct hostile collisions between
loyal citizens and the former rebels, unless checked.
Question. Suppose the Union forces were withdrawn from those localities, what result
would it have ?
Answer. I do not believe there would be protection to the colored people or to the loyal
white men, or that it would be safe for a loyal white man to reside there.
Question. What would the rebels do ?
Answer. I think we would not be safe in property, liberty or life.
Question. You mean to say that you apprehend scenes of violence and outrage ?
4 V NC SC
50 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How do the rebels feel toward the freedmen ?
Answer. They feel vindictive toward them because of their aid in suppressing the rebel
lion and their steadfast loyalty to the country.
Question. If they had the power, what kind of policy would they pursue toward the
freedmen ?
Answer. They would reduce them again to slavery, or its equivalent under some other
name, so far as they could do so without interference.
Question. Would you apprehend an expulsion of the blacks from the neighborhood ?
Answer. Their expulsion or complete subjugation, one or the other.
Question. Is that feeling, in your opinion, prevalent in the State of Virginia ?
Answer. I believe that is the opinion of all the colored people without exception, and that
is the opinion and conviction of all the white Unionists with whom I have come into corre
spondence, many of whom are native Virginians. The native Virginians are the most decided
in that conviction.
Question. Do you draw these conclusions from your actual conversations with the rebel
portion of the* community, or from the loyal portion ?
Answer. From both, and from what I have seen and observed and know.
Question. What is the feeling in relation to any foreign war in which the United States
may be engaged?
Answer. I think that, with the present feeling, it would be quite unsafe, if we would pre
serve peace at home, to engage in foreign war.
Question. What do you anticipate would be the course taken by the rebels ?
Answer. I think they would make use of that opportunity to show resistance again to the
United States government.
Question. Would they generally join the enemies of the United States ?
Answer. If by that course they could secure their independence, as they call it, I think
they would.
Question. What is the general feeling among the rebels toward the northern people ; are
they willing to have social and commercial intercourse with them ?
Answer. They carefully abstain from it, and persistently, so far as they can and main
tain any of the other decent appearances of life.
Question. How much chance does a northern Unionist stand in a State court in Virginia
in the prosecution of his rights ?
Answer. A very poor chance.
Question. In an ordinary suit between a loyalist, whether northerner or southerner, and a
rebel, would you expect that justice would be fairly administered by a State court and jury
in Virginia '/
Answer. As a general rule, I do not. Of course there might be some jurors who would
insist on justice being done ; but, as a general rule, I do not think there would be.
Question. In your opinion, could one of the ringleaders of the rebellion, if brought to trial
for treason before a jury selected in Virginia, be convicted of treason upon clear proof of his
having participated in the war against the United States ?
Answer. I should regret very much to have the experiment tried.
Question. What, in your opinion, would be the result in case the proofs were clear and
sufficient; would the jury find a traitor guilty ?
Answer. I think the verdict of a jury could not be relied on. It might be possible that
they would convict him, but my own opinion would be that a conviction would, not follow.
Yot it would be possible if the jury were as fairly constituted as it might be.
Question. Suppose the jurors were taken by lot ?
Answer. If they were taken by lot, I do not think that a conviction would be possible.
Question. Could you pick out a jury in the county where you live that would convict Jef
ferson Davis of treason in case the proof was perfectly clear that he had participated in overt
acts of war ?
Answer. Not unless northern men should be selected as jurors, or native Virginians who
have been loyal throughout the war, and are known to be such.
Question. How do the rebels feel toward the freedmen ?
Answer. Within the last six months I have had more than a hundred complaints made to
me with reference to the abuse of freedmen by the rebels, or at their instigation. They have
been beaten, wounded, and in some instances killed ; and I have not yet known one white
man to have been brought to justice for an outrage upon a colored man.
Question. Are these scenes of frequent occurrence ?
Answer. Quite frequent. I am at present employed in the prosecution of a white man for
hanging a colored man ; in a prosecution against a white mau for shooting, with intent to
kill, a colored man ; in a prosecution against a mob of white men who broke into the house
of a colored man at Portsmouth and robbed him and destroyed his property. These are
cases still untried. I am also employed in a case in which a colored mau was beaten^ by a
member elect to Congress.
Question. What, if they had the power, would the rebels do with the freedmen — expel
them from the country ?
ri~ VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 51
Answer. Or subject them, so that they could have their unrequited labor and be masters
over them.
Question. From what you have seen, are you of opinion that that feeling is extensive m
Virginia ?
Answer. I think it prevails as extensively as ever it did.
Question. Are there colored schools established at Norfolk ?
Answer. There are.
Question. How are they regarded by the rebel whites ?
Answer. With detestation.
Question. Are the teachers treated with respect ?
Answer. They are not, but quite the reverse. They do not expect to be treated with
respect.
Question. Is there anything else that you desire to say on this examination ?
Answer. A year ago I thought it my duty to bring before the district court of the United
States the right of a colored man from another State to testify in the State courts in Alexan
dria. I filed a bill in the district court of the United States, before Judge Underwood, in
behalf of a witness whose testimony was excluded. I held that the State law excluding his
testimony could be treated as a nullity by the United States court, and that that right to tes
tify should be enforced ; for which, and which only, I was indicted at the instigation of the
governor of the State.
Question. Indicted for what ?
Answer. Indicted for this disloyalty to the State of Virginia.
Question. For arguing in that way in a court ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; for taking that position ; for that I was indicted. I want to show you
what protection we have. I was told by the governor of the State, in view of that (although
his opinions are ostensibly changed since) and for other reasons, that, if he had the power,
he would build a wall as high as the clouds to exclude every Yankee from the State.
Question. What governor said that ?
Answer. Governor Peirpoint, He told me so to my face, and for no other reason than for
those proceedings which he asked me to stay. I told him I would if he would pledge his in
fluence to have a law passed allowing such testimony.
Question. Where did you hold this interview with Peirpoint ?
Answer. In Alexandria.
Question. Have you anything further to state ?
Answer. I will state, that the colored men who are here with me are delegates appointed
at the meetings of which I spoke, and are representative men in Virginia, men of influence.
The meetings at which these delegates were appointed numbered actually in attendance at
least five thousand persons, and this delegation must represent at least fifty thousand per
sons in Virginia,
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
Dr. Daniel Norton (colored) sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. I reside in Yorktown, Virginia.
Question. How old are you ?
Answer. About 20 years old.
Question. Are you a regularly licensed physician ?
Answer. I am.
Question. Where were you educated ?
Answer. In the State of New York. I studied privately under Dr. Warren.
Question. How long have you resided at Yorktown ?
Answer. About two years.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I was born in Williamsburg, Virginia.
Question. What is the feeling among the rebels in the neighborhood of Yorktown towards
the government of the United States ?
Answer. They do not manifest a very cordial feeling toward the government of the United
States. There are some, of course, who do, but the majority do not seem to manifest a good
spirit or feeling.
Question. How are they disposed to treat you ?
Answer. Me, as a man, they are generally disposed to treat well, but there are others of
my fellow-men whom they do not treat as well.
Question. Are you employed as a physician in white families ?
Answer. I have not been employed in any white families, except in one case, since I have
been there. I principally practice among the colored.
Question. How do the returned rebels treat the colored people ?
52 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. They have in some cases treated them well, but in more cases they have not. A
number of persons living in the country have come into Yorktown and reported to the Freed-
men's Bureau that they have not been treated well ; that they worked all the year and had
received no pay, and were driven off on the first of January. They say that the owners with
whom they had been living rented out their places, sold their crops, and told them they had
no further use for them, and that they might go to the Yankees.
Question. What is the condition of the colored people in that neighborhood ?
Answer. They are poor, sir. There is a large settlement near Yorktown, called Slabtown,
settled by the government during the war with those who came within the lines. The colored
people there are doing such work as they can get to do, oystering, &c.
Question. Are not their old masters ready to employ them for wages ?
Answer. There have been some sent for, and in several cases they received such bad
treatment that they came back again. (Witness related several instances of this kind.)
Question. Are the colored people in your neighborhood willing to work for fair wages ?
Answer. They are, sir.
Question. Do they find any difficulty in obtaining employment at fair wages ?
Answer. They do find some difficulty. The slaveholders, who have owned them, say that
they will take them back, but cannot pay them any wages. Some are willing to pay a dol
lar a month, and some less, and some are only willing to give them their clothing and what
they eat. They are not willing to pay anything for work. ,
Question. Are the colored people generally provided with houses in which they can eat and
sleep ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; such houses as they have built themselves, slab-houses.
Question. How do the colored people feel toward the government of the United States?
Answer. They feel determined to be law-abiding citizens. There is no other feeling
among them.
Question. Are you a delegate sent to the city of Washington by some association ?
Answer. I am. I was sent by three counties ; I represent, perhaps, something like fifteen
or twenty thousand people. The great trouble, in my opinion, is, that the colored people are
not more disposed to return to their former homes on account of the treatment which those
who have gone back have received.
Question. State generally whether or not the treatment which these colored people receive
at the hands of their old white masters is kind or unkind ?
Answer. It is not what I would consider kind or good treatment. Of course I do not
mean to be understood that there are not some who treat them kindly, but I mean generally ;
they do not treat them kindly.
Question. In case of the removal of the military force from among you, and also of the
Freedmen's Bureau, what would the whites do with you ?
Answer. I do not think that the colored people would be safe. They would be in danger
of being hunted and killed. The spirit of the whites against the blacks is much worse than
it was before the war ; a white gentleman with whom I was talking made this remark : he
said he was well disposed toward the colored people, but that, finding that they took up arms
against him, he had come to the conclusion that he never wanted to have anything to do
with them, or to show any spirit of kindness toward them. These were his sentiments.
WASHINGTON, February 37 1866.
Reverend William Thornton (colored) sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What is your age ?
Answer. Forty-two, sir.
Question. Where were you born?
Answer. In Elizabeth City county, Virginia.
Question. What degree of education have you received ?
Answer. My education is very narrowly limited ; I have not had the advantages of a first-
ate education.
Question. You can read and write? •
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Can you read the Bible ?
Answer. Oh, yes, sir.
Question. Can you read ordinary newspapers 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Can you write a letter on business ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were you ever a slave ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. When were you made free ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 53
Answer. I was made free under the proclamation.
Question. Where do you reside 1
Answer. Hampton, Elizabeth City county, Virginia.
Question. How do the old rebel masters down there feel toward your race ?
Answer. The feeling existing there now is quite disagreeable.
Question. Do they not treat the colored race with kindness down there?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. What acts of unkindness can you mention ?
Answer. I was asked the other day if I did not know I was violating the law in celebra
ting marriages. I did not know that that was the case, and I went up to the clerk's office to
inquire ; I said nothing out of the way to the clerk of the court ; I only asked him if there
had been any provision for colored people to be lawfully married. Said he, "I do not know
whether there is or not, and if they are granting licenses you can't have any ; that is my busi
ness, not yours." After I found I was violating the law, I went to the Freeduien's Bureau
and stated the case. A provision was afterwards made in the bureau granting licenses, and
authorizing me to marry. Some days after that an old gentleman named Houghton, a white
man living in the neighborhood of my church, was in the church. In my sermon I men
tioned the assassination of Mr. Lincoln. Next day I happened to meet Houghton, who said
to me, " Sir, as soon as we can get these Yankees off the ground and move that bureau, we
will put you to rights ; we will break up your church, and not one of you shall have a church
here.'" Said I. "For what ? I think it is for the safety of the country to have religious meet
ings, and for your safety as well as everybody else's." "We will not have it, sir," said he,
and then he commeuced talking about two classes of people whom they intended to put to
rights, the colored people and the loyal white men. I asked him in what respect he was
going to put them to rights ; said he, "That is for myself."
Question. Is he a man of standing and condition in the neighborhood?
Answer. He owns property there.
Question. Is he a rebel ? .
Answer. Oh, yes.
Question. Can you speak of any acts of violence committed by the whites upon the blacks ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; about three weeks ago a colored man got another one to cut some wood
for him, and sent him into the woods adjoining the property of a Mr. Britner, a white man.
The colored man, not knowing the line between the two farms, cut down a tree on Britner's
laud, when Britner went into the woods and deliberately shot him as he would shoot a bird.
Question. WTas he not indicted and punished for that ?
Answer. They had him in prison.
Question. Is he not in prison now ?
Answer. I heard that they had let him outlast Sunday morning.
Question. Do you know any other instances of cruelty ?
Answer. I have church once a month in Matthews county, Virginia, the other side of the
bay. The last time I was over there an intelligent man told me that just below his house a
lady and her husband, who had been at the meeting, received thirty-nine lashes for being
there, according to the old law of Virginia, as if they had been slaves. This was simply be
cause they were told not to go to hear a Yankee darkey talk. They said he was not a
Yankee but was a man born in Virginia, in Hampton.
Question. Why did they not resist being flogged 1
Answer. They are that much down.
Question. Did they not know that they had a right to resist?
Answer. They dare not do it.
Question. Why ?
Answer. I do not know. On the 1st of January we had a public meeting there, at which
I spoke. The next night when I was coming from the church, which is about a mile and a
half from my house, I met a colored man who told me that there was a plot laid for me ; I
went back to the church and got five of my church members to come with me. I afterwards
learned that a fellow named Mahon, a white man, had determined, for my speech that day,
to murder me the first chance.
Question. Did that come to you in so authentic a form as to leave no doubt upon your
mind ?
Answer. I believe he made the threat. The next day he said to me, "We hope the time
will come that these Yankees will be away from here, and then we will settle with you
preachers." That gave me to understand that the threat was made.
Question. Do you wish to state any other instances ?
Answer. These are as many as I care to speak of.
Question. You are up here as a delegate to make representations to the President in refer
ence to the condition of the colored people ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Are you a regularly ordained minister of the gospel ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. In what church?
Answer. In the Baptist church.
54 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
Madison Newby (colored) sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Have you any white blood in you ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Where were you born ?
Answer. In Surrey county, Virginia.
Question. How old are you?
Answer. Thirty-three.
Question. Can you read and write ?
Answer. I cannot write ; I can read a little.
Question. Can you read the Testament ?
Answer. A little.
Question. Have you a family ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have you been a slave before the war ?
Answer. No, sir ; I never was a slave.
Question. How do the rebel white people treat you since the war ?
Answer. They do not allow me to go where I came from, except I steal in there.
Question. Why not? *
Answer. They say I am a Yankee. I have been there, but was driven away twice ; they
said I would not be allowed to stay there, and I had better get away as quick as possible. I
had gone down to look after my land.
Question. Do you own land there ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. How much?
Answer. One hundred and fifty acres.
Question. Did you pay for it ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Do you stand in fear of the rebel white men ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I do. If all the Union men that are down there would protect us we
would not be so much afraid. I went down there to pay my taxes upon my laud, but I
could not see any person to pay them to ; I didn't want to pay any but the United States gov
ernment ; and finally, they told nie at the court-house that 1 had better let it alone until I
could see further about it.
Question. What is your land worth ?
Answer. I gave $700 for it.
Question. Is there a house on it ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Do the colored people down there love to work ?
Answer. They work if they can get anything for it ; but the rebel people down there who
have got lands will not let the colored people work unless they work for their prices, and
they drive them away. They expect colored people down there to work for ten or eighteen
cents a day. Six or eight dollars a month is the highest a colored man can get ; of course
he gets his board, but he may have a family of six to support on these wages, and of course
he cannot do it.
Question. How do you get your living?
Answer. I am living in Norfolk at present. I piloted the Union forces there when they
first came to Surrey ; and afterwards the rebels would not let me go back.
Question. Were you impressed by the Union forces, or did you voluntarily act as a guide ?
Answer. I was impressed. I told the Union forces when they came that unless they were
willing to protect me I did not want them to take me away, because my living was there ;
and they promised they would see to me.
Question. Did they pay you for your services?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. They gave you enough to eat and drink ?
Answer. They gave me plenty to eat when I was travelling, but nothing to drink except
water.
Question. Now that the blacks are made free, will they not, if left to themselves without
the protection of the whites, become strollers and rovers about the country and live in idle
ness, and pilfer and misbehave generally ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. WhyNaot?
Answer. Because they have all been used to work, and will work if they can get anything
to do.
Question. Do they not want to go away from the old places where they have been accustomed
to live and go off west somewhere ?
Answer. No, sir ; we want to stay in our old neighborhoods, but those of us who have gone
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 55
away are not allowed to go back. In Surrey county they are taking the colored people and
tying them up by the thumbs if they do not agree to work for six dollars a month ; they tie
them up until they agree to work for that price, and then they make them put their mark to
a contract.
Question. Did you ever see a case of that kind ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I did.
Question. How many cases of that kind have you ever seen ?
Answer. Only one ; I have heard of several such, but I have only seen one.
Question. What is the mode of tying up by the thumbs ?
Answer. They have a string tied around the thumbs just strong enough to hold a man's
weight, so that his toes just touch the ground ; and they keep the man in that position until he
agrees to do what they say. A man cannot endure it long.
Question. What other bad treatment do they practice on the blacks ? do they whip them ?
Answer. Yes, sir; just as they did before the war; I see no difference.
Question. Have you seen them whipped since the war?
Answer. Several times.
Question. By their old masters 7
Answer. By the old people around the neighborhood ; the old masters get other people to
do it.
Question. Do they whip them just as much as they did before the war ?
Answer. Just the same ; I do not see any alteration in that. There are no colored schools
down in Surrey county ; they would kill any one who would go down there and establish
colored schools. There have been no meetings or anything of that kind. They patrol our
houses just as formerly.
Question. What do you mean by patrolling your houses?
Answer. A party of twelve or fifteen men go around at night searching the houses of
colored people, turning them out and beating them. I was sent here as a delegate to find
out whether the colored people down there cannot have protection. They are willing to work
for a living ; all they want is some protection and to know what their rights are ; they do
not know their rights ; they do not know whether they are free or not, there are so many
different stories told them.
Question. Where did you learn to read ?
Answer. I first picked up a word from one and then from another.
Question. Have you ever been at school ?
Answer. Never in my life.
Question. Are the black people there anxious for education and to go to school ?
Answer. Generally they are ; but down in my neighborhood they are afraid to be caught
with a book.
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
Richard R. Hill (colored) sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you live ?
Answer. Hampton, Virginia.
Question. That is where President Tyler used to live ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you know him ?
Answer. Yes, I knew him pretty well.
Question. Can you read and write ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How old are you ?
Answer. About thirty-four years.
Question. Were you ever a slave ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. When did you become free ?
Answer. When the proclamation was issued. I left Richmond in 1863.
Question. Did you serve in the rebel army ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Or in the Union army ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How do the rebels down there, about Hampton, treat the colored people ?
Answer. The returned rebels express a desire to get along in peace if they can. There
have been a few outrages out upon the roadside there. One of the returned Union colored
soldiers was met out there and beaten very much.
Question. By whom was he beaten ?
Answer. It was said they were rebels ; they had on Union overcoats, but they were not
56 RECONSTRUCTION.
United States soldiers. Occasionally we hear of an outrage of that kind, but there are none
in the little village where I live.
Question. What appears to be the feeling generally of the returned rebels towards the
freed m en ; is it kind or unkind?
Answer. Well, the feeling that they manifest as a general thing is kind, so far as I have
heard*
Question. Are they willing to pay the freedmen fair wages for their work ?
Answer. No, sir; they are not willing to pay the freedmen more than from five to eight
dollars a month.
Question. Do you think that their labor is worth more than that generally?
Answer. I do, sir ; because, just at this time, everything is very dear, and I do not see
how people can live and support their families on those wages.
Question. State whether the black people down there are anxious.to go to school ?
Answer. Yes, sir; they are anxious to go to school ; we have schools there everyday that
are very well filled ; and we have night schools that are very well attended, both by children
and aged people ; they manifest a great desire for education.
Question. Who are the teachers ; white or black?
Answer. White, sir.
Question. How are the white teachers treated by the rebels down there ?
Answer. I guess they are not treated very well, because they have very little communica
tion between each other. I have not heard of any threatening expression in regard to them.
Question. Did you ever hear any threats among the whites to reduce your race to slavery
again?
Answer. They have said, and it seems to be a prevalent idea, that if their representatives
were received in Congress the condition of the freedmen would be very little better than that
of the slaves, and that their old laws would still exist by which they would reduce them to
something like bondage. That has been expressed by a great many of them.
Question. What has become of your former master?
Answer. He is in Williamsburg.
Question. Have you seen him since the proclamation?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did he want you to go back and live with him?
Answer. No, sir; he did not ask me to go back, but he was inquiring of me about another
of his slaves, who was with him at the evacuation of Williamsburg by the rebels.
Question. How do you feel about leaving the State of Virginia and going off and residing
as a community somewhere else?
Answer. They do not wish to leave and go anywhere else unless they are certain that th?
locality where they are going is healthy and that they can get along.
Question. Are they not willing to be sent back to Africa ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Why not?
Answer. They say that they have lived here all their days, and there were stringent laws
made to keep them here; and that if they could live here contented as slaves, they can live
here when free.
Question. Do you not think that to be a very absurd notion ?
Answer. No, sir; if we can get lands here and can work and support ourselves, I do not
see why we should go to any place that we do not want to go to.
Question. If you should stay here, is there not danger that the whites and blacks would
intermarry and amalgamate?
Answer. I do not think there is any more danger now than there was when slavery existed.
At that time there was a good deal of amalgamation.
Question. Amalgamation in Virginia?
Answer. There was no actual marrying, but there was an intermixture to a great extent.
We see it very plainly. I do not think that that troubles the colored race at all.
Question. But you do not think that a Virginia white man would have connexion with a
black woman?
Answer. I do, sir; I not only think so, but I know it from past experience. It was nothing
but the stringent laws of the south that kept many a white man from marrying a black woman.
Question. It would be looked upon as a very wicked state of things, would it not, for a
white man to marry a black woman/
Answer. I will state to you as a white lady stated to a gentleman down in Hampton, that
if she felt disposed to fall in love with or marry a black man, it was nobody's business but
hers ; and so I suppose that if the colored race get all their rights, and particularly their
equal rights before the law, it would not him the nation or trouble the nation.
Question. In such a case do you think the blacks would have a strong inclination to unite
with the whites in marriage ?
Answer. No, sir; I do not. I do not think that the blacks would have so strong an incli
nation to unite with the whites as the whites would have to unite with the blacks.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 57
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 3, 1866.
Alexander Dunlop (colored) sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. How old are you?
Answer. Forty-eight years.
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Williainsburg, Virginia. I was born there.
Question. Have you ever been a slave ?
Answer. Never, sir.
Question. Are you able to read and write ?
Answer. No, sir; I can read some. That was not allowed me there.
Question. Can you read the Bible?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you belong to a church?
Answer. Yes ; I belong to the First Baptist church of Williamsburg. I am one of the
leading men and trustees.
Question. About how many are included in the church?
Answer. Our minutes show seven hundred and thirty-six.
Question. Do you own the church building?
Answer. We do.
Question. Are you a delegate to the President of the United States ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I was sent by my people convened at a large mass meeting.
Question. For what purpose?
Answer. My purpose was to let the government know our situation, and what we desire
the government to do for us if it can do it. We feel down there without any protection.
Question. Do you feel any danger?
Answer. We do.
Question. Danger of what ?
Answer. We feel in danger of our lives, of our property, and of everything else.
Question. Why do you feel so?
Answer. From the spirit which we see existing there every day toward us as freedmen.
Question. On the part of whom ?
Answer. On the part of the rebels. I have a great chance to find out these people. I
have been with them before the war. They used to look upon me as one of the leading men
there. I have suffered in this war ; I wTas driven away from my place by Wise's raid ;
and so far as I, myself, am concerned, I do not feel safe ; and if the military were removed
from there I would not stay in \Villiamsburg one hour, although what little property I pos
sess is there.
Question. In case of the removal of the military, what would you anticipate ?
Answer. Nothing shorter than death ; that has been promised to me by the rebels.
Question. Do they entertain a similar feeling toward all the freedmen there?
Answer. I believe, sir, that that is a general feeling. I ask them, sometimes, "Why is
it ? we have done .you no harm." " Well," they say, " the Yankees freed you, and now let
the Yankees take care of you: we want to have nothing to do with you." I say to them,
" You have always been making laws to keep us here, and now you want to drive us away —
for what?" They say, "We want to bring foreign immigration here, and drive every
scoundrel of you away from here." I tell them that I was born in Virginia, and that I am
going to die in Virginia. "There is but one thing that will make me leave Virginia," I say,
" and that is, for the government to withdraw the military and leave me in your hands ; when
it does that, I will go."
Question. Has your property been destroyed by the rebels ?
Answer. I had not much, except my blacksmith's shop. I carried on a large business
there. The rebels and the northern men destroyed everything I had ; what the one did not
take, the other did ; they did not leave me even a hammer.
Question. Have you a family ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; a wife, but no children ; I bought my wife.
Question. How much did you give for her ?
Answer. I gave four hundred and fifty dollars for my wife, and seven hundred dollars for
my wife's sister. After I bought my wife, they would not let me set her free. I paid the
money, and got the bill of sale.
Question. What hindered her being free?
Answer. It was the law, they said. She had to stand as my slave.
Question. How extensive is this feeling of danger on the part of colored people there ?
Answer. I believe, sincerely, that it is the general feeling.
Question. Did you ever see a black rebel, or hear of one ?
Answer. I must be honest about that. I believe that we have had some as big rebel black
men as ever were white.
Question. Many?
58 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. No, sir; they are "few and far between;" but I believe that any man who,
through this great trouble that we have had, would do anything to stop the progress of the
Union army, was a rebel. When Wise made his raid into Williamsburg, I just had time to
leave my house and make my escape. They broke up everything I had ; they took their
bayonets and tore my beds all to pieces. All they wanted was Aleck Dunlop ; they wanted
to hang him before his own door. One day, since the fall of Richmond, I met General
Henry A. Wise at Norfolk. He spoke to me, and asked me how I was. I said, "I am
doing a little better than could be expected." Said he, " Why ?" Said I, " Them devils of
yours did not catch me ; I was too smart for them that morning." "Do you think," said he,
"they would have hurt you ? " " No," said I, " I don't think so, but I know it ; they had
orders to hang me."
Question. Did Wise admit it ?
Answer. He did not say so ; but he turned and went off. The day that Wise's men were
there, my wife asked them what had I done that they wanted to hang me in preference to
anybody else? They said it was because I was a Union man. 1 had worked for the
rebels from the time the war broke out until General McClellan moved up ; and then they
concocted a scheme to get me to Richmond ; but when I saw the wagon coming for me, I
went off in the opposite direction. When General Hooker and General Kearney came there,
they sent for me, within three hours of their arrival, and asked me about the country,
and what I knew. I gave them all the information I could ; that, through a colored friend,
got to the secessionists and imbittered them against me. The next Union officer who came
there was Colonel Campbell, of the 5th Pennsylvania cavalry ; and I believe he was as
great a rebel as Jeff. Davis. He was governor there for a long time. They captused him,
and carried him to Richmond.
Question. The rebels never caught you ?
Answer. They have never caught me yet.
Question. How do the black people down there feel about education?
Answer. They want it, and they have a desire to get it ; but the rebels use every exertion
to keep teachers from them. WTe have got two white teachers in Williamsburg, and have
got to put them in a room over a colored family.
Question. Do the black people contribute liberally to the support of their own schools ?
Answer. They are not able, sir. The rebels made many raids there, and destroyed every
thing they could get their hands on belonging to colored people — beds and clothing.
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
Thomas Bain (colored) sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Norfolk, Virginia.
Question. How old are you ?
Answer. I think about forty.
Question. Have you ever been a slave ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. When were you made free ?
Answer. When emancipation came, I was in Massachusetts ; I had got there on the under
ground railroad. I went back to Virginia after the proclamation, and sent my child away to
Massachusetts ; I have been down there ever since.
Question. Can you read and write?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Can you write a letter on business ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Can you read the Bible ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And newspapers?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I subscribe to newspapers.
Question. What is your business?
Answer. Dentist.
Question. Did you ever start to be a dentist ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I was raised in the business.
Question. Where?
Answer. In Norfolk. I spent ten years at it in Norfolk, and ten years in Massachusetts.
Question. Have you a family ?
Answer. My wife died some time after I was married ; I have one child — a daughter.
Question. Are you here as a delegate from the colored people of Norfolk ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. To make representations to the President ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 59
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have you had an interview with him ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. What is the feeling on the part of white rebels at Norfolk towards the colored
people ?
Answer. Their feelings are very hard — terrible. I have had a chance to travel around
some, preaching.
Question. Do you preach ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I am a volunteer missionary — a self-sustaining one. The church, under
whose auspices I act, is not taxed for my services ; neither are the people ; I make my prac
tice as I go along; just enough to support me; I can reach most of them in that way;
I have a permanent office ; and then I travel about the State and preach.
Question. To what denomination do you belong ?
Answer. The Wesleyan Methodist.
Question. You preach to the colored people ?
Answer. Yes; I have had occasion, of course, to visit a great many.
Question. How are the black people treated in Virginia by the whites since the close of
hostilities ?
Answer. The only hope the colored people have is in Uncle Sam's bayonets ; without
them, they would not feel any security; and what is true of the colored people in that re
spect, is also true of the Union men ; the secessionists do not seem to discriminate between
them ; they do not seem to care whether a northern man is with us or not with us ; if he is a
Yankee, that is enough ; they hardly wait to examine what his views are ; it is not uncom
mon to hear such threats as this: "We will kill one negro, at least, for every rebel soldier
killed by them."
Question. Did you, yourself, ever hear such a threat as that made ?
Answer. I have heard it at night, in the streets of Norfolk. (Witness related some inci
dents going to show how much afraid the colored people there are of ill treatment from the
whites. ) Last June there was a threat by a white citizen of Norfolk to get up a riot.
Question. Did he get one up ?
Answer. Yes ; they got one up.
Question. What did it result in?
Answer. It resulted in three colored men being shot. One white man got shot through
the shoulder; had his arm amputated, and died. It was got up to attack the colored people,
and clear all the negroes out of the city.
Question. Are the colored people whipped now as they used to be ?
Answer. Not in my vicinity ; I only hear reports of that.
Question. Have you heard of cases of whipping by white men ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. During the summer ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Many cases ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and it is not so much that the colored people are afraid of the white
people, as it is that they are a law-abiding people.
Question. Do they submit to be whipped ?
Answer. They do, in places near where there are military men. They, fool the colored
people into believing that the military ordered them to be whipped; they do not want to
resist the government.
Question. Are the black people down there fond of education ?
Answer. I think that they are excelled by no people in an eagerness to learn.
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
Edmund Parsons (colored) sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. How old are you?
Answer. A little over fifty.
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Williamsburg, Virginia.
Question. Can you read and write ?
Answer. I can read a little. I have been a regular house-servant, and I had a chance to
turn my attention to it.
Question. Have you ever been a slave ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I have been a slave from my childhood up to the time I was set free
by the emancipation proclamation.
Question. How do the black people in your neighborhood feel toward the rebels ?
60 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I did think myself always secure with the whites ; but it is very different now
sir, very different.
Question. Do you stand in fear of them ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What have you to be afraid of?
Answer. When the Union forces came there first a good many officers became attached
to me and my wife, and we felt perfectly secure ; but now the rebels use the officers that are
there "to pull the chestnuts out of the fire."
Question. Have you heard threats of violence by white rebels against the blacks ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. What do they threaten to do ?
Answer. They threaten to do everything they can. My wife died about a year ago. I
had a house, where I had been living for twenty years. A lawyer there went and got the
provost marshal to send a guard and put me out of my house. They broke my things up,
and pitched them out, and stole a part of .them.
Question. The Union guard ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; it is a positive fact. They put me out of my own house. That was
January, 1865.
Question. What was the pretext for putting you out ?
Answer. My wife had been left free. She had a half-sister and a half-brother ; and they
pretended to be owners of the property where I had been living all my lifetime.
Question. Who was the provost marshal?
Answer. Reynolds.
Question. Do the returned rebels threaten to commit violence on the colored people there ?
Answer. I can hear people complaining of that ; but I have really been so mortified at the
bad treatment I received, that I have not paid much attention.
Question. How do the colored people feel in regard to education ?
Answer. They are very anxious to get education, and feel grateful for it.
Question. Are you a member of a church ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I have been deacon of the Baptist church for years. It is pretty much
my living.
Question. Are you willing to go away and leave old Virginia ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Why not ?
Answer. I would rather stay in Virginia.
WASHINGTON, February 6, 1866.
D. B. White sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Of what State are you a native ?
Answer. Of the State of New York.
Question. Are' you in the public employment now ?
Answer. I am not.
Question. Have you been ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. In what capacity ?
Answer. I have been an officer in the army for nearly four years.
Question. What commission did you hold ?
Answer. I held the commissions of captain, major, lieutenant colonel, and colonel.
Question. In what States have you passed the most of your time during that period ?
Answer. In the States of Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina.
Question. State whether you have had command of troops there.
Answer. Yes, sir. I had command of a regiment a portion of the time. The best oppor
tunity I had to observe the state of things in the country was in the winter of 1863, when I
spent most of the time south of Norfolk, on the line between Virginia and North Carolina,
and went out on scouting parties through Cainden and Currituck counties.
Question. Have you been situated since the close of the war so as to acquaint yourself
with the condition of things in those counties ?
Answer. Since the close of the war I have been more particularly acquainted in Virginia.
Question. Have you been stationed in Richmond ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have been stationed near Richmond, at Manchester, and at Williams-
burg, Newport News, and at Hampton, after the war.
Question. While thus stationed did you mingle freely with the people in Virginia?
Answer. Yes, sir. I had considerable opportunities. As our regiment was isolated at
times from other troops, we were brought in contact very much with the citizens.
Question. How long did you thus remain in command in Virginia ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 61
Answer. From the 3d of April, when Richmond was taken, until the 31st of August, when
I was mustered out.
Question. You then left the State, I suppose ?
Answer. I am living in the State now, at Hampton. My family moved there, and that is
my residence.
Question. When did you go to live at Hampton 1
Answer. About the 5th of October, 1865.
Question. Are you well acquainted with the feeling of the rebel people of Virginia towards
the federal government and towards the loyal people ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have had quite an opportunity of becoming acquainted, and I have
some knowledge of the facts.
Question. What is that feeling, so far as you know ?
Answer. So far as I have been able to learn, it is very bitter. The feeling is not only
bitter, but frequent manifestations of hostility are made. I would not be understood as say
ing that I have seen any manifestations of a desire to take up arms.
Question. Has that feeling exhibited itself in scenes of violence ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. State any incident that may have come under your observation.
Answer. The first incident that comes to my mind is this : A man near Richmond, after
the closeof the war, in my presence and in the presence of one or two officers of my regiment,
declared his intention ever to resist the government of the United States whenever an oppor
tunity presented itself.
Question. Had this man been a rebel officer ?
Answer. He had been connected with the rebel service in some way, I am not positive
that he was an officer. I rather think, upon second thought, he was.
Question. State whether you have heard the like declaration from any other persons of
condition and influence in Virginia.
Answer. The person who is now deputy sheriff of Elizabeth City county, residing at
Hampton, expressed his wish to organize what he could of the remaining forces of Virginia,
or the people of the community, to drive out of that part of the country every Union man,
whether of the south or of the north. He made some considerable threats.
Question. Was this in your hearing ?
Answer. No, sir ; but it came to me by the best of evidence. I was one day crossing
Hampton roads in a steamboat, when I overheard a conversation between two persons
whom I judged to be southerners from their appearance and style, and their manner of talk,
and from the subject on which they talked. They talked very bitterly, and expressed them
selves with a great deal of vehemence, not only towards me but towards all the Union peo
ple. The conversation commenced upon Yankees, as they termed them, who came from
the north ; and then they spoke about all the Union people. They said that those who had
been unfaithful to the State ought to be treated in a similar manner.
Question. What kind of treatment had they been speaking of?
Answer. They had been speaking of myself personally, about throwing me overboard, and
speaking of my Union sentiments.
Question. Had they been threatening to throw you overboard ?
Answer. They did not threaten me, but made the remark that I should be thrown over
board ; they made the remark that such a man ought to be hung. I am publishing a Union
newspaper at Hampton. These two individuals were talking together and I overheard them.
I did not pretend to notice it, because it might lead to a difficulty, which I wished to avoid.
The colored people are often assailed and treated badly by that class of persons, and, but for
the Freedmen's Bureau, I think they would have no protection at all.
Question. Suppose the protection of the Freedmen's Bureau was withdrawn, and the Union
troops were withdrawn, what would be the treatment of the whites towards the freed blacks ?
Answer. In my candid opinion, the condition of the blacks would be worse than slavery.
That may-seem an extravagant expression, but I have thought of it a good deal. The op
pression they would endure would be worse than the former state of things. In many in
stances it is now. The protection of the Freedmen's Bureau does not extend as generally
throughout the country as it is hoped it will ; and in some of these places where the bureau
does not extend these people are treated very badly. They are employed, and, when their
time expires, they are turned off without clothing or any remuneration, and very often the
vagrant laws, as they are termed, have been attempted to be enforced, and have been to
some extent, although I think the Freedmen's Bureau are looking up these matters so as to
extend protection to the freedmen.
Question. Are the whites who employ freedmen in the habit of whipping them ?
Answer. There have been frequent instances of that. A few days before I left Hampton
I heard of an instance of the kind where two persons were whipped, one of them with an
unaccountable number of stripes — over a hundred.
Question. What effect has President Johnson's liberality in granting pardons and amnes
ties had upon the temper of the rebels where you have been 1
Answer. It has never in my estimation mollified them in the least. They have been just
as much imbittered towards the colored people and toward the Union people, both northern
62 RECONSTRUCTION.
and native southern, as they were before. In fact, as far as my observation extends, before
Congress met, and when they were quite sanguine in the expectation that the States were
going to be admitted to Congress, and when everything was moving favorably, they were ex
ceedingly triumphant and overbearing, and often used haughty expressions to the effect that
they were going to have the matters in their own hands and have things their own way ;
and they indulged in threats to Union men of the chances and opportunities they would have
under the new state of things.
Question. Have you ever heard among any influential and intelligent rebels any conver
sation respecting a war between the United States and a foreign country, and what the rebels
would do in such an event 1
Answer. 1 do not know that I have heard any such conversation recently.
Question. How does Governor Peirpoint's government in Virginia, so to speak, affect the
minds of the Virginians generally ; do they like or dislike it ?
Answer. I guess that his administration is becoming extremely unpopular on all sides.
I speak of the Union people. They are decidedly unfavorable to Governor Peirpoint.
Question. What, in their minds, is the great defect in his administration ?
Answer. They think he has been forgetful of the Union people and of the principles of the
Union, and that he has succumbed or yielded to the dictation and wishes of the old confed
erates. In all his appointments he has shown his partiality to rebels.
Question. Has that been the cause of much discontent among the loyal people of Virginia?
Answer. It has been the cause of much dissatisfaction. There was a time when the Union
people of the State of Virginia were very much disheartened and discouraged, but recently
they have been looking up with more hope and a brighter expectation.
Question. Have you heard anything said by the rebels about the payment of the war
debt?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have in some instances.
Question. What do they say ?
Answer. They speak in favor of a repudiation of the national debt. I heard one man say
at Hampton (although he has since denied the interpretation given to the remark) that his
expectation was, that if they were going now to establish the Union they should repudiate
both debts or pay both debts.
Question. Is he a man of influence?
Answer. He is a man of a great deal of influence. He is a physician, and is quite popu
lar, although he ran for office and was defeated. I think he was not in the war, although I
cannot say positively. He is quite an influential man.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that feeling is very general in Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think it is.
Question. Would a majority of the people of Virginia vote to-day, if they had the oppor
tunity, to repudiate both debts, or one debt?
Answer. I think they would repudiate the national debt by a vote, and a very strong vote,
too.
Question. And would there be a like vote given for the payment of the rebel war debt ?
Answer. I do not think they would go so strongly for that. It is not natural to suppose
they would. But if they repudiate the one they would repudiate both. If the northern debt
was paid they would insist upon assuming the rebel debt.
Question. How is it with the blacks in Virginia ; are they generally friendly to the govern
ment of the United States ?
Answer. Very. I never saw any people more faithful than they have been. They are
quiet and peaceable. Just before the holidays there were a great many reports that they
were getting up an insurrection, and they felt very much aggrieved about it. It worried
them that there should be such reports. They had mass meetings in which they passed res
olutions and expressed themselves very strongly upon it, denouncing any colored people
who should ever think or speak of an insurrection. They were very strong in denunciations
of anything of the kind. •
Question. State whether there is generally a fear or apprehension of danger on the part of
the freedmen from their old rebel masters or from the whites generally.
Answer. There is, in some instances, in Surrey county. There are some colored people
living at Hampton and Newport News who dare not go to Surrey county, although their
families are there, and there are colored people in Surrey county who dare not go away from
there. Some have got away, and that is how we are made aware of the facts. They try to
enforce the vagrant laws without having it come to the knowledge of the Freedmen's Bureau.
Captain Flagg is an agent of the Freedmen's Bureau, stationed at Norfolk. Several in
stances have occurred where officers of the State attempted to enforce the vagrant laws, and
sold colored people for the coming year — sold them to service. I made a statement to that
effect. Captain Flagg denied the statement, as he thought it could not be the case. But
he afterwards ascertained that the facts did exist, and he wrote to me stating the circum
stances.
Question. What is the general feeling among the white Virginians in respect to southern
independence 1
Answer. I am confident they would all prefer a state of independence. I have never heard
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 63
any expressions otherwise. They speak of the Union now and say, "We will make the
best of it. We have taken the oath now, and must make the best of it." They claim to be
loyal, but they express their regret that they are not independent and could not succeed.
They speak of "folding- away the flag of their country in tears;" complaining about the
loyal people plundering and spoiling and robbing their country.
Question. How do they treat, socially, persons coming from the north to settle or to trans
act business with them ?
Answer. So far as I have an opportunity to know, they are very indifferent and treat them
coldly. In Hampton the northern men who are doing any business, so far as I know, are
doing it with the colored people and Union wrhites. I speak of the loyal whites as a class,
bat they are a very limited class. Since the war it is much easier to know who is a loyal
man than it was during the war, because the rebels assisted in drawing the line of demarca
tion, and in some instances they knew wheie our forces did not know.
Question. Would the masses of white Virginians be better pleased to be separated politi
cally from the north ?
Answer. I think they would. I think they would vote by a very large majority — almost
unanimously — to accomplish it, if they could.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that they still entertain schemes of separation
and independence ?
Answer. I do not think they have any immediate plan of organizing. Yet I have fre
quently thought, and so expressed myself to friends, that they entertain the hope now just as
they did formerly. In and about Norfolk the secessionists almost all have arms. Through
out the country they have arms. When they go to market they put arms in their wagons.
Question. What kind of arms ?
Answer. Muskets and pistols. There are a great many muskets scattered throughout the
country.
Question. What chance has a northern man or a Unionist for justice in the State courts of
Virginia ?
Answer. He has not any chance at all. I would not go before one of those courts, if I
could avoid it, under any circumstances, because there is no justice there at all.
Question. When you say there is no chance, do you mean to say that the bias and ill
feeling on the part of court and jury are-so great against the Unionists north and south that
they would not be able to obtain their rights ?
^ Answer. Yes, sir. The bias is so great that they could not even entertain a hope of get
ting justice according to their interpretation of their own State laws.
Question. Are northern immigrants welcome among them, or are they regarded as unwel
come visitors ?
Answer. They are very unwelcome ; expressions of that kind are very frequent.
Question. In case a northern man should purchase real estate among them, /would he be
safe in the enjoyment of his property ?
Answer. I think he would not. A man bought a farm near Hampton under a confiscation
sale ; he was down at Hampton a month or so ago ; two of his neighbors came in who had
had a claim upon the farm formerly ; very evidently, from the manner of their talk and the
way they told their story, they came there for the purpose of making trouble with this man.
Both of them were armed, and if the man had not had assistance, I do not know but that they
would have killed him. I wrote an application for that Union man to General Miles to attend
to the matter and give him protection.
Question. What are you by profession ?
Answer. A minister ; when the war commenced I was preaching in the Methodist Episco
pal church.
Question. State whether the old connexions between the Methodists of the south and of
the north have been dissolved ?
Answer. They were dissolved before the war, and have not been reunited.
Question. Has any effort been made to reunite them ?
Answer. There has been some talk of it ; I do not know that there has been any special ef
fort made ; that is, some people have spoken of it. but I have never seen any indication par-
times. The feeling of the church seemed to be about the same in regard to the abolition
preachers, as they call the preachers in the northern church ; they had a bitter feeling towards
what they called the abolitionists.
Question. Do you regard it as likely that the Methodist church north and south will be
soon reunited ?
Answer. I do not ; I think it is impossible to accomplish that.
Question. Is there any manifestation of willingness on the part of southern Methodists ?
Answer. No, sir ; there is not. I think there is generally an unwillingness.
Question. Do you think of any other circumstance that you wish to relate 1
Answer. I do not think of anything more now.
64 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, February 7, 1866.
Charles Douglas Gray sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside?
Answer. In Augusta county, Virginia.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And have always resided in the State ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You have been a loyalist during the war?
Answer. Yes, sir ; uniformly so. I, however, voted for the ratification of the ordinance of
secession. That is the only act I am ashamed of in the whole transaction ; I was forced to do
it, by the pressure of the moment.
Question. Have you been so situated as to be tolerably well acquainted with the state of
public feeling among the white people of Virginia since the close of hostilities ?
Answer. I have not ; I have stayed very closely at home on my farm, and have mingled
very little with the people.
Question. Are you well acquainted with the state of public feeling in Augusta county ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think I am.
Question. Have you been holding any public position there since the war ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Nor during the war ?
Answer. No, sir ; none at all.
Question. State what is the general feeling among the ex-rebels, the once disloyal people
of that county, towards the government of the United States.
Answer. I would say that the majority of the people of Augusta county accept the result
of the war in a spirit of resignation and submission ; they are resigned to the result. There
is a large portion of the population of Augusta who were thoroughly loyal men all the time ;
we always believed that more than one-half of them were loyal, but in the elections we have
had we have been largely out-voted. We have a Dunker population — a religious denomina
tion, non-combatants — which we were not able to get to the polls, and the consequence was
that there was a smaller Union vote than there were Union voters in the county.
Question. Why did the Dunkers refuse to go to the polls ?
Answer. Immediately after the surrender they did go to the polls to make an effort to elect
little local Union officers, and were defeated, and we could not get them to the polls again,
when we had the congressional election. Mr. Lewis was candidate of the Union party in our
district, and Mr. Alexander H. H. Stuart the candidate of the other party. I do not mean to
be understood as saying that Mr. Stuart is not a loyal man ; I think that a majority of the
people of Augusta county are now loyal to the government of the United States.
Question. Have the goodness to explain a little more fully what is understood by the
phrase "accepting the situation."
Answer. It is a phrase that is used by the secessionists. The Union men never use it. As
I understand it, they mean by that phrase this : that they appealed^to arms, to the arbitra
ment of the sword, as they say ; that the decision was against them,*and that now they sub
mit to the authority of the United States, forced by the military power of the government.
That is what I understand by the term.
Question. Is not that the way they understand it ?
Answer. I cannot say ; that is the way I understand it ; they acknowledge that they are
whipped, and soundly whipped.
Question. Do they not feel better for it?
Answer. Not so much as they ought to do, but I think they will ultimately. That is as
near as I can describe it.
Question. Since the close of hostilities, do they appear to entertain feelings of respect and
attachment to the government of the United States ?
Answer. I would rather you would ask them in regard to that.
Question. I ask how they appear.
Answer. Well, they are submissive, and that is about as far as I know. They grumble a
good deal ; they complain of the taxes ; and they are very much in favor of the President's
policy ; they extol that ; they think that the test-oath is an unconstitutional outrage. I
think that the people are a great deal sounder than the politickins — a great deal. I believe
in the loyalty of a large majority of the people of Augusta county. There are a great many
individuals in the county who, no doubt, deeply regret the result; but, seeing now that it
was inevitable, they are going now to obey the laws, and I have no doubt that in a year or
two they will be a great deal happier than they ever were, and will love the Union and the
government of the country. You may remember that Augusta county was one of the
strongest Union counties in the State ; that it was an old Henry Clay whig county, and that
it stuck to the Union— not so long as, I think, it ought to have done — but it stuck to it until
their State pride induced them to go over ; they thought it was their duty to stand by their
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 65
State. It is a Scotch-Irish population, and you know the temper of that population : when
their blood is heated, there is not a more tenacious population in the world. They were the
last to go into the war and they were the last to give it up. They did not lose a great many
slaves. In old Virginia, where they lost most heavily in the slave population, they were
more overwhelmed by the result than were the people in the valley. In old Virginia they
thought the loss of slavery was the loss of everything worth living for; but we had few
slave's. Then Sheridan's burnings exasperated them very much, although there was always
more Unionism in Augusta and in the valley than in eastern Virginia.
Question. Do you think that those persons in the county who took up arms against the
United States are beginning to regret that they struck at Uncle Sam ?
Answer. I cannot say hat. In a general way they say that it would have been better not
to have begun it, as it ended as it has : but if it had ended differently I do not think they
would have regretted it.
Question. What is your profession?
: Answer. I am a farmer now. I have been a lawyer.
Question. What chance does a Unionist, either a Virginian or a northern man, stand in
the State courts there for justice?
Answer. I believe that I could get justice in any of the courts in Augusta county. I
would not be at all afraid to go before a jury even of secessionists. There would be preju
dices if it were a question connecting itself in any way with politics ; but I would not, in
an ordinary case, fear injustice. I would not feel at all insecure.
Question. How would it be with a man from one of the northern States ?
Answer. I believe that he would get justice.
Question. Would he stand as good a chance as you would ?
Answer. I believe so. There is a prejudice existing among the secessionists against Yan
kees, as they are called — a strong prejudice; but, nevertheless, I believe they could get
justice.
Question. Is there much immigration from the north into that part of the valley ?
Answer. There is a disposition, I think, in our section to encourage the introduction of
northern capital.
Question. Suppose a northern man, of very decided anti-slavery feelings, who had been
an advocate for the prosecution of the war to put down the rebellion, should go there to set
tle, and buy land and become a permanent resident, how would he be treated ?
Answer. I think that at the start he would be treated with reserve. It would take some
time for him to get on social terms with his neighbors ; but they would not molest him.
Question. You have no apprehensions of that kind ?
Answer. None at all.
Question. How do the secessionists there feel generally toward the emancipated blacks ?
Answer. Well, the prejudice is pretty strong against the blacks. However, they want
black labor, and they hire them readily, pay them their wages, and treat them well.
Question. Do you know of any combinations existing in the county to keep down the
wages of the freedmen ?
Answer. None at all. I think that they can get good wrages and can get employment as
much as they like.
Question. You are acquainted with the state of public feeling in Virginia in other locali
ties, to some extent ?
Answer. Yes, to some extent ; but I cannot speak with any confidence or with any per
sonal knowledge.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that the secessionists still harbor, directly or
indirectly, the project of secession or southern independence ?
Answer. I do not believe there is such a project harbored in any section of the State.
Question. Suppose the United States were engaged in a war with a foreign power, such
a* England or France, in a close hand-to-hand contest, as it probably would be, how wrould
you regard the secession people of Virginia in relation to the United States ?
Answer. Well, sir, I will give you my view upon that subject. The secessionists were
very angry with England for not recognizing them. I think they were more dissatisfied with
England's course than the United States were. There would be a great many secessionists
who would like to avenge themselves upon England. I believe that if there were a war of the
character you describe, a great many would stand by the government, not from any very great
love for the United States, but because they hate England for the course she pursued — for
her duplicity — for her not recognizing and helping them. There are others who, very proba
bly, if they had an opportunity, would join the British arms. I think there are very few men
of that character in the State — very few who would join the enemy, at least until they saw
very plainly that England was going to whip ; I doubt whether any of them would.
Question. You think that a few would join the enemy, especially if they imagined that the
enemy was going to be successful ? « -
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How large a proportion is there of that class of persons?
Answer. I think that they constitute a very small portion. I do not believe they consti
tute one-twentieth or one-fiftieth of the population. Indeed I do not know that any of them
5 V Nn go
66 RECONSTRUCTION.
would ; it is merely a surmise. I am giving my best impressions of the feeling in the State.
I have heard a great many of them say that they would like to have an opportunity of fighting
England. •
Question. But suppose this exigency should present itself; suppose the old secession party
in Virginia and in other rebel States should imagine that this war presented an occasion which
might enable them to secure their own national independence, what course would they pur
sue then ?
Answer. In answer to that question, I would say that, in my opinion, if the real feelings
and sentiments and inclinations of the majority of the people of Virginia to-day could be ascer
tained in a quiet way, not by a public election, but in a quiet way, by going to their firesides,
a majority would be found in favor of remaining in the Union in preference to having their
independence.
Question. And do you think that feeling is gradually being strengthened ?
Answer. I think so. I think that that feeling is gradually increasing in the State.
Question. How do they regard their leaders in the rebellion, such as General Lee and other
distinguished men ?
Answer. There is a great disposition to reward them ; a decided disposition to reward the
men who have fought for their country.
Question. What does this feeling rest upon more particularly — the admiration of the voters
for the gallantry and bravery of the leader for whom they are asked to vote, or their love for
the old lost cause ?
Answer. I think it is the feeling of respect and admiration for the man who fought for the
State, although he was wrong in doing so.
Question. For his display of gallantry and skill ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; for his display of gallantry in defence of the soil of the State.
Question. Depending more on that feeling than on dislike to the United States ?
Answer. I think so.
Question. How is Jefferson Davis regarded down there by the secessionists ?
Answer. He is very bitterly denounced and accused by the secessionists, more so, I think,
than he ought to be.
Question. Was he ever very popular in Virginia ?
Answer. No, sir. After the State seceded Mr. Davis started with great popularity ; but
now they must have a scapegoat, and the disposition is to make Mr. Davis that scapegoat.
They attribute to him the failure of the cause— to his blindness ; his stubbornness ; his inter
ference with officers ; his self-will, and all that. I always say that I do not think it was Mr.
Davis who ruined the confederate cause at all ; that it would have been ruined anyhow. I
think that few men could have kept it on its feet as long as he did. I think that if we had
kept McClellan they would have kept up the war a year or two longer. There is another
feeling — a feeling of great bitterness toward the republican party ; to the black republicans.
The secessionists in Virginia are very bitter toward the men and measures which saved the
Union ; to what we understand as the Union party of the country. But that is politics ; they
want to see the republican party thrown out of power.
Question. What, so far as you know, appears to be their ulterior political designs ?
Answer. I think they only want the offices.
Question. What is their idea of proceeding ? what alliance do they propose to form ?
Answer. They want to organize a great conservative party. That party will, of course,
embrace all the copperheads and a sufficient number of others to get into power.
Question. You have very little doubt about their entertaining that purpose ?
Answer. I have very little doubt about their wanting to get into power — not the least doubt
about that.
Question. What, in your judgment, has been t^e general effect of the liberality of President
Johnson towards the rebel community ?
Answer. It
Question. Has it increased or diminished the attachment of the people to the government
of the United States.
Answer. I do not think it has diminished the attachment of the people to the United States
government ?
Question. How do rebels, who have been pardoned there, generally speak of the government
of the United States — in terms of respect, or of contumely and defiance ?
Answer. They speak generally in terms of great respect for the President and his policy,
and of great denunciation of those who oppose him.
Question. Among the people at large in your vicinity, what is the feeling toward the freed-
man ? Is there a disposition to keep him under ; to withhold from him the ordinary rights
and privileges of a free man ; to constrain him to labor for under-wages, or for no wages ; to
treat him with contempt and injury, or with justice 1
Answer. I will endeavor to give you some idea of that. You must remember that the
relation has been suddenly and violently changed between the white man and the black
man. From a slave he has suddenly become a free man. Before the abolition of slavery,
and before the war, it was the policy of the slaveholders to make a free negro as despicable a
creature and as uncom Portable as possible. They did not want a free negro about at alL
They considered it an injury to the slave, as it undoubtedly was, creating discontent among
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 67
the slaves. The consequence was that there was always an intense prejudice against the
free negro. Now, very suddenly, all have become free negroes ; and that was not calculated
to allay that prejudice. But that feeling is in my section of the country gradually subsiding.
There is a great deal less feeling of that kind now than there was six or eight months ago.
They all predict, of course, that the negro will not work ; that some means will have to be
found by which he can be forced to work, or that he will not work. However, they hire
them, and I hear very little complaint. There is great dissatisfaction, of course, with the
abolition of slavery. We have not become reconciled to that.
Mr. HOWARD. The coat does not fit ?
WITNESS. The coat does not fit at all ; but I have no doubt that in course of time they will
be reconciled to it, and a better feeling will exist toward the negro.
Question. State whether you have noticed anything like a general repugnance on the part
of whites to the black man becoming the owner of lands, houses, and other property.
Answer. There was at the start. A great many houses were burned down in my neigh
borhood, which it was feared would be rented to negroes. They do not like negro families
to settle in the neighborhood if they can prevent it ; but that feeling, too, is not so strong
as it was six months ago. They are beginning to see that it was a mistaken policy. They
are beginning to see that they require and need the negro labor. I do not know (to be per
fectly frank and candid) but that the predominant feeling in the State is a disposition to get
rid of them at present. I think, however, that that feeling will change sooner or later.
Question. Must it not necessarily change ?
Answer. I think it must necessarily change.
Question. Must it not necessarily, in the end, change to a feeling which would retain the
black laboring man in the midst of the white people as a laborer?
Answer. I would think so. They are making a great effort to introduce foreigners. My
own opinion is that our negroes will be a great deal better laborers, and that the people will
see it. That was my view from the start.
Question. At the present time, of course, there is no great friendship for negro schools ?
Answer. No ; there is a disposition to laugh it down, to ridicule it, and make fun of it.
Question. Have you yourself noticed the capability of the black to acquire learning in the
ordinary elements of education?
Answer. I have not ; but I have no doubt at all of it.
Question. What do you hear said of it generally by those who have given attention to
that subject?
Answer. There has been very little attention given to that subject. There are a great
many negroes in our country who learned to read when it was against the law to teach them.
The children of the families would teach them their A, B, C's, arid they would go on from
that to learn to read. The children would sit upon their laps and teach them to read. At
present the negro himself is in a restless, unsettled condition, which is a very natural thing;
and there is a disposition on their part to congregate in the towns, which is a misfortune for
them.
Question. Do they congregate there for mutual protection?
Answer. I do not know, sir. There is a great deal of disposition on their part to go to house
keeping. Their idea of liberty and independence is to keep house ; and no matter what sort
of a shanty or shelter they can get up, they prefer that. But they will soon see that that is
not a wise course at all, and that they will starve if they congregate in towns where there is
no employment.
Question. What is the general susceptibility of the negro for religion ? Is he more or less
religious in His nature than the white man ?
Answer. He is very susceptible to religious impressions, and prefers the more emotional
forms of religion — the Methodist and the Baptist.
Question. Is he not inclined to be superstitious ?
Answer. Ye.«, sir, very.
Question. More than the white man ?
Answer. Well, I do not know that he would be. The ignorant white people are as super
stitious as the negroes.
Question. Do you think of any particular facts that you would wish to incorporate in
your statement, illustrating your ideas ?
Answer. No, sir ; I think that if the right course is pursued down south, we can have
the best peasantry in the world by securing the negro in all his civil rights. I do not mean
by that the right of suffrage at present ; I do not think they are in a condition at present to
exercise that right ; I think that in the course of a generation, when they have been educa
ted, it will be time enough to agitate that question. But let the negro understand that he is
a bona Jide free man, and that his wages will be paid, and let him understand the worth of
money, (he does not understand the worth of money now, and has no idea of the expenses
of housekeeping, ) and I think he will be industrious and frugal. I have known a great
many very successful negroes.
Question. Do you think that there is, as a general thing, a feeling of unkindness on the
part of the negroes toward the white people ?
Answer. I do not think there is at all ; in my section there is none at all
6 8 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Do you think there is any danger of negro insurrection in your neighborhood ?
Answer. We have no apprehension whatever. There are too few there, in the first place.
Question. So far as your knowledge extends in Virginia, have you any reason to appre
hend any danger from the negroes 1
Answer. I have none. I have heard some gentlemen express some apprehension, hut they
did not seem to be very serious at all.
Question. Have the negroes arms 1
Answer. Not that I know of.
Question. Have these secessionists, who have been in the rebellion, generally arms at their
dwellings 1
Answer. I do not know ; the officers retained their side-arms, and you may often see a
gentleman riding with pistols ; there are some few fowling-pieces and arms of that kind iu
the neighborhood. If there are arms I have no knowledge of them.
Question. You have no reason, so far as your observation extends, to apprehend a revival
of the rebellion 1
Answer. None, whatever. People are thinking about their private business ; they want togo
to work to repair their losses ; they do not wish any more war, domestic or foreign war, if it
can be avoided. They are tired of war. They knew nothing of what war wras before the re
bellion ; they had no idea at all of the kind of war they were engaging in ; they are heartily
sick of war. They are an afflicted people, terribly afflicted ; almost all of them have lost sons
or brothers ; the country is full of widows and orphans and destitute people. I think that,
on the whole, the people are bearing their misfortunes with cheerfulness and fortitude, and
are anxious now just to get the means of restoring their losses, and if politicians would let
them alone, I think there would be no trouble whatever.
Question. You have journeyed up and down the valley continually during and since the
war?
Answer. No, sir ; during the war I staid very close at home ; I was in a very critical
position all the time, and I never left home when I could help it.
Question. You did not think it necessary to leave home?
Answer. No, sir, not at all. The President's proclamation ordered me to go home and stay
there, and I obeyed that proclamation.
Question. Within the circle of your personal observation, what is the appearance of the
country where those armies have marched ?
Answer. From Harper's Ferry to New Market, which is about eighty miles, from one
mountain to the other, the country was almost a desert. There were no fences. Speaking of
the condition of the valley after General Sheridan retired, I described wheat-fields growing
without any enclosure ; some one asked me whether the stock would not destroy the wheat.
I said ''Certainly, if General Sheridan had not taken the precaution of removing all the
stock." We could cultivate grain without fences, as we had no cattle, hogs, sheep or horses,
or anything else. The fences were all gone ; some of the orchards wrere very much injured,
but the fruit trees had not b,een, as a general thing, destroyed. The barns were all burned ;
a great many of the pfivate dwellings were burned ; chimneys standing without houses, and
houses standing without roof, or door, or window ; a most desolate state of affairs ; bridges all
destroyed, roads badly cut up. Large armies, whether friendly or hostile, are devouring ani
mals. There is no question about that. The damage was not all done by the federals.
Question. The general appearance of the valley was desolate ?
Answer. Very much so.
Question. Probably no section of the country has suffered so severely as the valley of the
Shenandoah ?
Answer. Except, perhaps, from Alexandria to the Rapidan ; that has suffered perhaps as
much as the valley.
Question. Almost every proprietor suffered in some degree ?
Answer. Oh, certainly, every farmer ; I suffered less myself, I believe, than any fanner.
Tltere was not a federal soldier on my farm during the war. That was owing to the happy
location of my property. It was not in a good military position. The battle of Piedmont
was fought two and a half miles from my aoor; but I had a blessed little river running iu
front of my house, which happened not to be fordable at the time, and so I escaped.
Question. Were you ever arrested by either party?
Answer. No, sir ; I never was arrested. I was sometimes in very great apprehension of
being arrested.
Question. Was your house molested ?
Answer. Never, sir. I lived most of the time in tbe town of Harrisonburg. While I
was there, my house and yard were filled alternately with federal soldiers and confederate
soldiers, all hungry, and 1 fed them all as long^ as I had a mouthful of bread in my house.
I never had the slightest reason to complain ot the soldiers of either army.
Question. And you have seen the play ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have seen the whole of it.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 69
WASHINGTON, February 7, 1866.
John F. Lewis sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Rockingham county, Virginia.
Question. What is your profession or occupation ?
Answer. Farmer.
Question. How long have you resided in Rockingham county ?
Answer. I was born there and have lived there ever since. I have never resided anywhere
else.
Question. Are you well acquainted with the state of public feeling in your vicinity ?
Answer. I think I am pretty well.
Question. Do you hold any official position ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. What is the general feeling on the part of secessionists there towards the gov
eminent of the United States?
Answer. I do not believe that a majority of the people there are loyal according to my un
derstanding of the term. They profess to be loyal. My understanding of the term " loyal'
is respect, love, devotion. These feelings do not exist to any great extent in any portion ot
the State where I have been. But I believe if not interfered with by the political aspirants
and newspaper editors, they could soon be induced to cultivate love and devotion to the gov
eminent of the United States.
Question. Has a large proportion of them engaged in the war against the government ?
Answer. Yes ; a large proportion of them either voluntarily or involuntarily engaged in the
rebellion. I suppose that in the latter part of the war a majority of them were conscripts.
Question. Are you prepared to say that a majority of the people of that county are, in
feeling, friendly to the United States?
Answer. I have had no means of ascertaining that except in the elections that have taken
place ; and they have indicated no friendly feeling to the government.
Question. How do you explain that indication — what is it ?
Answer. I do not believe that a man who had been an uncompromising Union man through
out the rebellion can be elected to any position either of trust or profit.
Question. What description of persons have generally been elected in that county ?
Answer. Men who have been in the rebel army. There were some restrictions placed upon
them by the law, but they have been removed by the present legislature.
Question. What were those restrictions ?
Answer. The Alexandria constitution, as it was called, restricted the elective franchise to
persons who had been loyal during the war. That restriction has been removed by the leg
islature now in session at Richmond. The clause in the constitution imposing restrictions
upon voters on account of disloyalty was so framed as that the legislature might, if it saw
fit, repeal it. That repeal was submitted to the voters of the State at the last election, inclu
ding loyal as well as disloyal ; and they almost unanimously decided in its favor, so that the
restriction was taken off.
Question. Would an out-and-out Union man stand any chance of being elected in that
county now ?
Answer. I think not.
Question. Do the secessionists there entertain any desire or any purpose to renew the war
for southern independence ?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not think they do. I believe the impression is universal, almost, that
they are powerless to renew the war.
Question. Suppose they had the power and the means to renew the war, what course do you
think they would take ?
Answer. I think a great majority of them would bejieutral ; would not take either side.
Some of them would take sides against the United States, and some of them for, but a ma
jority would, I think, be neutral.
Question. You have heard the question I have put to Mr. Gray respecting the course that
would be pursued by the secessionists there in the event of a war between the United States
and a foreign power?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You heard his answer?
Answer. I did not concur fully with Mr. Gray in that.
Question. Give your own views.
Answer. I think a great many of them would take part against the United States. I often
hear the secessionists there — (they are all termed secessionists now with very few excep
tions) — I often hear that class of persons who were in the army say that they would rejoice to see
the United States well thrashed by England and France ; and I think that in the event of a
war there would be some apprehension of trouble. I have some apprehension there would be
trouble in the State. I know one thing — that if there was a war between the United State
70 RECONSTRUCTION.
and any foreign power of any considerable magnitude, I should endeavor to get north of the
Potomac. I should not feel safe in remaining where I am.
Question. How extensive is that feeling among the Union people in your vicinity ?
Answer. I think if they were satisfied that there was to be a war between the United
States and any foreign power of any considerable magnitude, the feeling to get away would
be pretty general among the Union people. I do not think they would feel secure.
Question. Have you any reason to apprehend that the secessionists in your part of the
State, and where you are acquainted, still entertain projects of secession or southern inde
pendence ?
Answer. No, sir ; I think not. I think they have abandoned all such ideas. If they have
any such they are kept a profound secret. I was a member of the convention which passed
the ordinance of secession. I refused to vote for the ordinance of secession throughout, and
I refused to sign the ordinance after it was passed. I was the only member of the conven
tion east of the Alleghany mountains who refused to sign the ordinance of secession, for which
I was threatened repeatedly. They threatened to hang me several times, and I had some
little apprehension at one time that they would do it. But I remained there throughout, and,
beyond some denunciation and abuse, I was not molested.
Question. You felt constrained to keep a pretty close mouth during the war ?
Answer. I was not as prudent probably as I ought to have been. I was so ardent and de
voted a Union man that I could not keep prudent all the time.
Question. We have had accounts of the secret session of the secession convention in Vir
ginia — were you in the convention at that time ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
* Question. Are you at liberty to state anything about it ?
Answer. Oh yes, sir ; the restriction has been removed.
Question. Did all the members of the convention attend that secret session ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; the body met in secret session for some days previous to the passage of
the ordinance of secession.
Question. What was the object of the secrecy, to discuss the question more freely ?
Answer. I always believed that the object was to impose upon the Union sentiment of the
country, and prevent the people from knowing anything that was doing there.
Question. You were not in the secret of the secrecy ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Was Governor Wise a member of that convention ?
Answer. Yes, sir; he was the leader of the secession party?
Question. Did he attend the secret sittings ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; all the members attended. I do not think that any member of the con
vention refused to attend the secret session. Most of the business was transacted in the latter
part in secret session.
Question. State how prominent Wise was in his advocacy of secession.
Answer. Well, sir, he was generally conceded to be the leader of the secession party there,
although he professed to be a Union man. Ho said to me on one occasion, ''Lewis, you
help to save the negro, and I will help you to save the Union." He was endeavoring to
persuade me at his desk to adopt his views; I remarked to him that I was not an abolitionist,
and I went on to argue the question with him. He caught at that idea, and said "You help
me to save the negro, and I will help you to save the Union." My impression was that his
plan would destroy both ; he went on to prove to me that I was mistaken.
Question. I suppose he was perfectly confident of success in the enterprise ?
Answer. I think so.
Question. His idea was, that by seceding and gettirg np a southern confederacy, slavery
would be perpetuated and placed beyond the reach of black republicans and abolitionists ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I think that was the idea, although Mr. Wise has written a letter since
the surrender of the rebel army, saying that he was convinced long before the close of the
war that slavery was an evil, and that if the south had been successful he had intended to
canvass the State for the abolition of slavery. I do not think that that is generally believed
by the people of Virginia.
Question. Was Mr. James M. Mason a member of that convention?
Answer. No. sir.
Question. Was Alexander H. H. Stuart?
Answer. Yes, sir, he was.
Question/ How did he vote on the question of secession?
Answer. He voted against the ordinance of secession. The final vote stood 88 to 55. The
ordinance was passed by 33 majority, but finally Mr. Stuart signed the ordinance.
Question. I suppose that that was a mere authentication of the paper ?
Answer. Yes, sir. He said he regarded it in that light. Mr. Stuart was a Union man.
Question. Was George W. Summers, from the Kanawha district, a member of that con
vention ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How did he vote ?
Answer. He voted against the ordinance. He did not return to the convention, and I am
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 71
not able to say whether he signed the ordinance or not. He took no part in the war, I
believe. I heard him roundly abused for not taking the southern side. While the conven
tion was still in session, I went to the house of Mr. John Minor Botts, in Richmond, on the
16th of April, 1861, and he informed me that he had been to Washington a few days before,
and had had an interview with Mr. Lincoln, in which interview Mr. Lincoln informed him
that he had sent a special messepger to Richmond for George W. Summers to come to
Washington ; and in the event of his not being able to come, to send some reliable Union
man to consult with him on important matters. Mr. Summers, from some cause or other,
did not go, but sent Colonel John B. Baldwin, of Augusta county, Virginia. Mr. Lincoln
informed Mr. Botts that he had made this proposition to Colonel Baldwin: that if that con
vention would adjourn without passing an ordinance of secession, he (Mr. Lincoln) would
take the responsibility of withdrawing the troops from Fort Sumter. Colonel Baldwin de
clined to accede to it, and no such proposition was ever made or communicated to the con
vention. Next morning I took Colonel Baldwin to the house of Mr. Botts, who told him he
was informed that such an interview had taken place. Colonel Baldwin did not deny it. In
answer to Mr. Botts's question of how, in the name of God, he could take the responsibility
of withholding the knowledge of such an interview from the convention, Colonel Baldwin
remarked that it was then near the hour for the meeting of the convention, and that he was
compelled to be there, but would see him again. No such communication was ever made,
to the best of my knowledge and belief, to any large portion even of the members of the
convention, and a large number of them are to this day ignorant of the fact.
At the same time a party of secessionists met together at Richmond — a self-constituted
convention — for the purpose of forcing this convention to pass an ordinance of secession, or
of turning them out of doors, and deposing Governor Letcher. And I believe that if it had
not been for the fear of that body, the ordinance of secession could not have been passed. A
large portion of the people of Virginia at that time were utterly opposed to the passage of an
ordinance of secession.
Question. How does the secession party in your county feel towards the freedmen ?
Answer. I think there is generally a kind feeling. The former owner of the slave is, I
think, his best friend. There is very little prejudice against the negro, except among the
class whose labor conies in competition with him — that is, in our county.
Question. You suppose that the higher classes in Virginia feel more kindly toward the
negro than the lower classes ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think so, as a general thing. In Eastern Virginia there is a different
feeling. There they were pro-slavery people. In our country there were comparatively few
slaves. In Eastern Virginia there is, I think, a great deal of prejudice against the negro,
and a worse feeling exists there than in our section.
Question. Do you think that President Johnson's policy in granting pardons and amnesties
to the rebels has increased or diminished the respect of the rebel community for the govern
ment of the United States ?
Answer. I have been convinced for some time that the policy of Mr. Johnson was a bad
one. I was one of those who took an active part, immediately after the surrender of General
Lee, in getting pardons for these people. I believe, as a general thing, they have failed to
comprehend or appreciate the magnanimity of tue government shown towards them ; and I
think there is a worse feeling there now than there was at the time of the surrender of
General Lee's army. A great number of persons who have received their pardons are now
acting in a way that they would not have done if the pardons had been withheld a few
months longer.
Question. Do I understand you to be of opinion that that liberality has rather tended to
increase the insolence of the secessionists than to abate it ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and I have heard that question discussed a greal deal. I have been
travelling about somewhat; I have been to Richmond very frequently, meeting the members
of the legislature there from different parts of the State, and conversing with persons from
different portions of the State ; and that, I think, is the general impression among the Union
men— among the men who are really Union men. There are a great many men, I was going
to say, who now profess to have been Union men all the time, but who were not known as
guch during the war. Of them I did not speak ; I spoke of those who were known to be
uncompromising Union men throughout. There were very few such persons in the State.
The Dunkard population, of whom Mr. Gray spoke, were generally loyal, and are still loyal ;
but they are a timid set of men, who take very little part in politics, and their influence is
pretty much lost to the State. Leave that element out of the question, and the Union men
axe in a very meagre minority.
Question. Are Union people in your vicinity secure in their possessions and rights of
property and person ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think they are. I do not apprehend any danger. I feel no appre
hension at all myself; and I suppose I am as obnoxious there as anybody can be, having
been one of the very few men in the valley of Virginia who always, and under all circum
stances, expressed themselves in favor of the Union.
Question. Does this security, of which you speak, depend in any degree, in your judg
ment, upon the presence of federal troops in the State ?
72 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I am not prepared to say that it does, nor am I prepared to say that it does not.
I think that the sending of troops to our country immediately after the surrender of General
Lee's army was a great protection and security to the Union people there and to the whole
people. There were a parcel of marauders in the country who were giving a great deal of
trouble, and the sending of Union troops there is regarded, I think, by secessionists and
Union people as being very epportune. I have no doubt.tlmt we would have had very con
siderable trouble there if this had not been done.
Question. Trouble consisting of turbulence and riot ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they were fighting and squabbling over government property, and driv
ing stock from one farm to another; and there was horse-thieving going on. They had re
duced horse-thieving to a science in our country during the ,war. It was almost impossible
to recover a stolen horse. I frequently had to keep a guard in my stable.
Question. Do the people of that section generally feel willing to accord to the freedmen
the rights of property and of family ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; as a general thing, they do.
Question. To what extent would family rights, especially the marital rights of husband
and wife, be respected by the freedmen among themselves if they were allowed, as they now
are, to enter into those relations and enjoy those rights?
Answer. I cannot answer that question, because the system and practice of slavery in
Virginia were in violation of all those rights, and the negro generally felt very little com
punction at leaving his wife, or his wife at leaving him, and taking up with some one else.
They were liable to be separated by their masters, or by either of their masters, when they
were owned by different persons. Either master could sell and separate them at pleasure;
that had the tendency of weakening the attachment of the negroes to their famiries ; they
felt an insecurity. I suppose there would be a very different feeling now. Most of the ne
groes were not married legally. There was no such thing as legal marriage between them.
They generally just took up with each other, and lived in a state of adultery as long as it
suited their convenience, and then broke off.
Question. Do you think that the feeling growing out of that sort of license will become
improved by protecting marriage by law ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think so.
Question. Is there any other fact which you desire to state ?
Answer. No, sir; I do not think of any. I intended to say, in speaking of the loyalty or
the people of Virginia, that I arn induced to doubt their loyalty from this circumstance : the
legislature, now in session in Virginia, seems to be afraid to elect, and has not elected, any
man to any of the offices within its gift who has had Union proclivities. They seem to have
a distrust of their constituents ; and that has led me to the belief that there is less loyalty in
the State than is supposed by a good many of us. I have been observing very closely these
things, feeling a deep interest in them : and, in travelling through the State, as I have done
a great deal, I have heard a great many disloyal sentiments expressed.
Question. How do the secessionists generally treat northern men who travel through the
country ?
Answer. I have not heard of any violence offered to any person passing through. I think
northern men are generally very prudent, when travelling, not to express their sentiments
openly. I have observed that frequently in travelling on the Orange and Alexandria road.
I have met with northern persons on the cars, and found them out by their coming to me
after hearing me discuss these subjects with southern people. I have several times observed
that there was a great deal of apprehension felt by these northern people in travelling; and
they are generally very prudent until they find out whom they are talking to.
Question. Do you think it would be safe for members of this committee to repair to Rich
mond for the purpose of prosecuting their inquiries there?
Answer. On yes, sir. I should not apprehend the slightest danger. I think that the
press of Virginia is doing a vast, deal of mischief, and that the tendency of the press is to
weaken the love of the people there for the government of the United States. I know of but
one loyal paper in the city of Richmond, the Republic, and that has a very small circulation,
as I understand. I was told in Richmond by a gentleman who was well informed that the
press there is not supported generally by the people of Virginia, but that the secession papers
are kept up principally by funds raised in New York and elsewhere.
Question. By funds contributed at the north?
Answer. Yes, sir, by the copperheads. I heard it stated there that the Ne w York News
had probably a larger circulation in the State of Virginia than any other paper, and that that
class of persons at the north were subscribing to the secession papers at Richmond. I was
inquiring how those papers could be supported there, as there is very little money in our
country. There are more newspapers in Richmond than were ever there before ; and I did
not suppose they could be supported by the people of Virginia. I made the inquiry and
was told that they were supported by northern capital.
Question. Are the people in Richmond and other intelligent people who read the New
York News aware that that paper was subsidized by money directly contributed by rebel
agents in Canada during the war ?
Answer. I never heard before that it was. I acknowledge (and it is probably as well for
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 73
me to say so) that I am very bitter in my feelings toward the secession party. I have always
been so. I always hated them as I hated the devil himself; but there is a class of persons
that I hate more than the secessionists ; that is the northern copperheads ; and I have
regarded the New York News as being one of our worst enemies. I never read it or
encouraged it. I see it sold by the newsboys in our country. I see a great many people
in Staunton and the villages coming out of the post offices with the News in their hands. I
think it has a very large circulation, and is doing a great deal of mischief in our country.
Question. Are you aware of the fact that a rebel agent in Canada sent during the war a
draft for twenty -five thousand dollars in gold direct to Ben. Wood, proprietor of that News ?
Answer. I saw some statement of that sort in one of the papers since the surrender.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you desire to state?
Answer. No, sir.
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
M. D. Corse sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Alexandria, Virginia.
Question. How long have you resided there ?
Answer. I was born there and have lived there all my life, with an interval of seven years
in California.
Question. What is your profession or occupation?
Answer. I am a money-broker. That was my business before the war.
Question. Were you a resident of Alexandria during the war?
Answer. No, sir. I was in the service of the Confederate States.
(The witness was cautioned that he was not bound to state anything that might criminate
himself.)
Question In what capacity were you in the rebel service ?
Answer. I was brigadier general.
Question. You served under General Lee ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. In what battles were you engaged ?
Answer. I was engaged in nearly all of them. I was in the first battle of Bull Run, the
battle of Williamsburg, Manassas, Sharpsburg, Fredericksburg, and the last battle of Five
Forks. I was taken pris6ner at the last battle, four days before the surrender of General
Lee. I was sent to Fort Warren and there discharged.
Question. Have you been pardoned by the President ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. You are the subject of no pardon or amnesty that you are aware of?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance with the people of Virginia ?
Auswrer. My acquaintance does not extend very far ; it is very limited. I know a good
many people in the adjoining counties. I know the people who served with me, and I know
a good many citizens in Fauquier and Fairfax counties.
Question. You are well acquainted, of course, with the secessionists ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You are well acquainted with their political feelings ?
Answer. Yes, sir; but my intercourse has been very limited indeed. My business was
prostrated when I came back, arid I. had to go to work to make something for the support of
my family. The consequence is that I have been confined pretty much to my business as a
broker in town.
Question. What is the general feeling among the secessionists of Virginia, so far as your
acquaintance extends, towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. So far as my knowledge extends they seem to be willing to accept the issue, and
I think that those who have taken the oath seem to be all in good faith disposed to uphold
the government oo far as they can. That is my own feeling. We weut to war and
attempted to establish another government. It has gone against us, and I accept the issue.
I have taken the oath of allegiance, and am disposed to keep it in good faith ; and I think
that is the feeling all through the State.
Question. Do you know of any disposition among the secessionists to renew the war ?
Answer. I do not know any. I never heard any expression of that kind.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that there is any plan on foot among the
secessionists again to embark in rebellion against the government?
Answer. None in the world, sir. I have no knowledge of the kind. I have no reason to
believe that there is any. I think the people want to be let alone and protected.
Question. How do they feel in the State in reference to the abolition of slavery ?
74 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. As a general tiling I think they take it as it has been given. Some, of course,
do not like it — think it a mistake on the part of the government, and think the colored
people better in the condition of slaves. They do not like, I would say, negro suffrage.
Question. In your judgment what would be the effect of giving suffrage to the negroes, or
to the more intelligent class of negroes ?
Answer. I do not know, indeed, what would be the effect.
Question. What effect would it have on the minds of the whites?
Answer. As far as I can judge, I think it would have very little effect upon them. They
would not like it. I do not think it would produce any feeling of rebellion or resistance.
Question. Would you not fear scenes of violence between the whites and blacks ?
Answer. No, sir, I do not think so ; it might cause at the polls, occasionally, a little
drunken row or something of the kind. I think, among the better classes, the thinking people
of the community, they would let it pass.
Question. Has not the result of the war left a very deep-seated feeling of disappointment
in the hearts of the people who were engaged in it on the rebel side ?
Answer. I think there is generally a feeling of disappointment, but I do not think it as
strong as it was. I think the people seem to be disposed just to go on, accept the issue, and
make the best of it. Sometimes there is a feeling of disappointment ; but that, I suppose, is
the most natural feeling in the world. When men embark everything they have on earth,
their lives and estates, and fail, it is perfectly natural that they should be disappointed : but
I think they are a people who, if left alone, would support and build up and give their aid
to the government.
Question. You think they feel that they have had fighting enough ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think that is the general feeling throughout the community, and I
believe.that the men who fought the most are the best
Ques'tion. Are you not in the habit of hearing expressions of contempt and contumely
against the government of the United States on the part of secessionists ?
Answer. Sometimes they will speak against the government just as much as they did
before I suppose I may have heard such expressions, but I cannot mention any one in
particular.
Question. To use a common expression, do you think that the secessionists generally love
the government of the United States ?
Answer. Well, sir, I do not think they do ; it is too near to their discomfiture ; their defeat is
too close at hand for them to fall in love immediately with the government. The wound is
rather too fresh, but I think that if let alone it will heal over.
Question. Do you not think that, if the secessionists should now have an opportunity to go
out of the Union and establish a southern government independent of the United States, they
would do so ?
Answer. I do not know as to that ; it is a difficult question to answer ; but, to answer it
in all candor, I should think they would ; still, I think there would be no difficulty of that
kind ; I cannot say that I think they would join with any other government. If they were
let alone and peaceably allowed to have governments of their own, I think they would not be
disposed to go to war again.
Question. Suppose the government of the, United States were involved in war with a
foreign power, such as England or France, and we should have a hard pull at it; what would
probably be the course taken by the secessionists of Virginia, and other places south, with
whom you are acquainted ?
Answer. I think that as many, and perhaps more, would take sides with the government
of the United States as against it.
Question. Do you think that any considerable portion of the secessionists would join the
enemy if they had the opportunity ?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not think that any considerable portion would. I do not see any
reason why they should be in love with France or England.
Question. Suppose they saw, or thought they saw, a prospect of southern independence by
taking such a course ?
Answer. That might be a very tempting bait.
Question. Do you think it would be so strong a temptation that some of them would not be
able to resist it ?
Answer. I think it is probable, with the present feeling.
Question. How do the secessionists generally feel towards the freedmen?
Answer. Kindly, I think. I am sure I have no feeling against them.
Question. How do they feel on the subject of negro education ?
Answer. I am sure they are perfectly satisfied with it; they would give their aid, most of
them, to the education of the negro. I am sure I would myself ; I always thought it should be.
Question. How are northern men treated who purchase property among them and settle ?
Answer. For aught I know, very well ; I never heard of anybody being maltreated. I
think they have a better feeling towards northern people than towards their own people who
have been against them in the war. As far as the northern man is concerned, I do not think
there is a bad feeling towards him.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 75
Question. Do they feel a willingness to contribute their share in the payment of the federal
debt contracted in the prosecution of the war?
Answer. I think so ; they know they have to do it, I suppose ; they think it very hard, to
Question. If they had an opportunity would they not vote against the payment of the
federal debt ?
Answer. I really do not know how I can answer that.
Question. Suppose it was left to their free election, to be decided by their votes, would they
repudiate the United States debt ?
Answer. I think they would.
Question. Suppose it was left to their votes whether or not the confederate debt contracted
in the prosecution of the war should be repudiated, rejected, and annulled, would they vote to
annul it ?
Answer. I do not know, really ; I never thought about that. I do not know that I can
give a fair answer to that.
Question. Is there not in your mind some ground to apprehend that they would vote to
repudiate it?
Answer. Yes ; in my opinion there are many who would vote to repudiate it.
Question. Have you any idea as to what that debt is ?
Answer. I have not ; it is enormous.
Question. What are the confederate bonds worth now in the market in Alexandria, or the
confederate currency ?
Answer. There are frequent applications at my office by little negroes and negro women
to know if I will buy rebel money, but no one offers to buy any.
Question. It is not selling for anything in the market ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Have you any further observation that you wish to make to this committee?
Answer. No, sir, I do not know of any. I do not think it would be wise to force negro
suffrage upon the people now in their present condition ; it might lead to difficulties ; I don't
mean any serious public difficulties, but difficulties between negroes and white men coming
together at the polls ; there might be broils and disturbances.
Question. In case the negroes should be given the right of suffrage in Virginia, would
they, or not, be likely to be induced by their old masters, or the party embracing their old
masters, to vote for them and for their interests generally ; in short, could they be led away
like a herd to vote as they should be dictated to by their old masters?
Answer. I do not think they could now. I think that the feeling of liberty has permeated
through the country. I do not think that they have the same confidence or feeling in their
old masters which they had some time ago.
Question. Would they not be rather likely to vote the other way ?
Answer. They might. I know that they are very easily controlled, but their mixture with
the army and with northern people, and with soldiers at military posts, has broken up the
old feeling.
Question. In your military service did you ever encounter any of the black troops on the
field ?
Answer. No, sir ; I never encountered any black troops at all ; I have had them in front
of me on picket.
Question. So far as you know, or have been informed, what is their quality as troops ?
Answer. As far as my own belief is concerned, I think they are capable of being made
valuable troops. I think it was a very great mistake that we did not put them into the
service of the Confederate States in the beginning.
Question. Why did not your confederacy give them their freedom ?
Answer. That is what I say. We should have gone to work, given them their freedom,
and made soldiers of them ; we ought to have held up their freedom as a bait and mustered
them all into the service, making their freedom the reward.
Question. Suppose that, instead of putting them into the confederate service, the confed
eracy had emancipated the entire race and then used them as soldiers ?
Answer. That would have been better; we then would have had a prospect of success ;
but the people were not prepared for it.
WASHINGTON, February 8, 1866.
Dr. M. M. Lewis sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Alexandria, Virginia.
Question. What is your occupation ?
Answer. Physician.
76
RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia 7
Answer. I am.
Question. How long have you resided in Alexandria ?
Answer. Since 1847, when that portion of Virginia was retroceded to Virginia.
Question. What have been your political connexions during the war ?
Answer. I was with the confederate army.
(The witness was cautioned that he was not bound to state anything that might criminate
himself. )
Question. How extensively are you acquainted with the people in your vicinity ?
Answer. I have been a practitioner there for some time, and have quite an extensive
practice in Alexandria, but my intercourse is altogether of a professional character. I
never was a politician in my life, and have less disposition to be one now than ever.
Question. Do you know the state of public feeling in that county ?
Answer. I know the feeling, pretty much, of my immediate circle of intimate friends. We
discuss these questions very little now.
Question. What is the feeling towards the government of the United States on the part of
secessionists ?
Answer. I believe that the feeling of those with whom I conversed is very friendly. I do
not know anything to the contrary. I believe they are perfectly willing to be restored to
their former condition, and to remain as good citizens as any north of Mason and Dixon's
line. I believe that is the determination of pretty much everybody that I have conversed
with.
Question. Is there not a feeling of deep disappointment as to the result of the war ?
Answer. They were disappointed in this respect — that they thought they would be restored
to their position in the Union sooner than has been done. They are anxious to resume their
relations, and to be again represented in Congress.
Question. What has been the effect upon the minds of secessionists in your vicinity or
President Johnson's liberality in extending pardons and amnesties to the rebels ?
Answer. I do not know, more than that they appreciate it. I have had no conversation
with many who have been pardoned. I have been so exclusively and entirely devoted to
my profession, from necessity, since I came back, that I have conversed very little with
these persons; but in all conversations in regard to the President they have always spoken
most cordially of his course, and they are very anxious and willing to sustain him in the
administration of the government. I really think that the resolutions passed by the Vir
ginia legislature the other day embody very completely the sentiments and tone of the people
of Virginia. I believe that every man in Virginia, of any sense or standing, subscribes to
those resolutions heartily and cheerfully.
Witness produces a copy of the resolutions referred to, which are as follows :
" Resolved, 8fc., That the people of this commonwealth, and their representatives here as
sembled, cordially approve the policy pursued by Andrew Johnson, President of the United
States, in the reorganization of the Union. We accept the result of the late contest, and do
not desire to renew what has been so conclusively determined, nor do we mean to permit any
one subject to our control to attempt its renewal or to violate any of our obligations to the
United States government. We mean to co-operate in the wise, just, and firm policy adopted
by the President, with all the energy and power we can devote to that object.
"2d. That the above declaration expresses the sentiments and purposes of all our people,
and we denounce the efforts of those who represent our views and intentions to be different,
as cruel and criminal assaults upon our character and interests. It is one of the misfortunes
of our present political condition that we have among us persons whose interests are tempo
rarily promoted by such false representations; but we rely on the intelligence and integrity
of those who wield the powers of the United States government for our safeguard against
such malign influences.
*' 3d. That involuntary servitude, except for crime, is abolished, and ought not to be re
established; and that the negro race among us should be treated with justice, humanity, and
good faith, and every means that the wisdom of the legislature can devise should be use- to
make them useful and intelligent members of society.
"4th. That Virginia will not voluntarily consent to change the adjustment of political
power as affixed by the Constitution of the United States ; and to constrain her to do so in
her present prostrate and helpless condition, with no voice in the councils of the nation,
would be an unjustifiable breach of faith ; and that her earnest thanks are due to the Presi
dent for the firm stand he has taken against amendments of the Constitution, forced through
in the present condition of affairs."
Question. You think these resolutions embody, generally, the feeling of the secession peo
ple of Virginia?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How do they regard the freedrnen ?
Answer. I believe they would treat them more kindly if they were left to them, and not
trammelled or bothered, than they are treated now. They do not have any enmity towards
them. There is a feeling of indifference towards them. The people would rather get rid of
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 77
them if there were any possible means of doing so. They are a nuisance, in the present
state of affairs. They will not work.
Question Will they not work if they are paid for their labor ?
Answer. They will not even do that, unless you give them exorbitant wages, more than
you could get the labor done for by others.
Question. Have they been demanding higher wages than white laborers ?
Answer. That is what I hear from the farmers. They also complain that they will not
work for them more than a month or two.
Question. Is there not, generally, among their employers a disposition to constrain the
freedmen to work at low wages ?
Answer. I rather think not. Like everybody else, they like to get labor as cheap as they
can. That is the disposition pretty much everywhere.
Question. Do you know of any combinations among employers to keep down the wages
of freedmen ?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not.
Question. There is no general understanding to that effect ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the education of the freedmen ?
Answer. That I never heard anybody talk about I do not suppose they would object to
it if it did not interfere with them or tax them too much. Our communities hare never been
taxed much for educating our white poor, and I suppose they wrould not like to be taxed
much to educate the negroes, especially in the present state of poverty in the south ; but I
believe the disposition on the part of the people there would be to treat them kindly, and
give them every justice that they are entitled to, and all the rights they are competent to
exercise.
Question. Suppose the negro should be allowed to vote ?
Answer. Well, of course, there would be opposition to it ; but the opposition would not
amount to resistance to any law.
Question. You think not ?
Answer. I should think not.
Question. Would it not be likely to lead to scenes of violence and riot ?
Answer. No more than in any election — in the city of Baltimore for instance — where there
might be some drunken rowdies righting at the polls. I do not think there would be any
concert of action on the part of the intelligent and respectable portion of the community to
interfere with the negroes' voting.
Question. How do the negroes generally behave ; are they orderly and submissive to the
law?
Answer. They are very respectful to me, and I cannot say that I have seen any bad mis
behavior on the part of the negroes in Alexandria. The trouble on Christmas day was more
of a drunken frolic than anything else. I do not think there was any concert of action or
purpose on either side.
Question. How did this violence at Alexandria break out ?
Answer. My impression is, that it arose from drunken parties meeting each other in the
street.
Question. Did the blacks give any provocation, so far as you know ?
Answer. I do not know who gave the provocation. I suppose that it just arose from
drunken people meeting on the street. I think it was whiskey, not design, on the part of
either party. I have seen just as much disturbance in Alexandria on other Christmas days;
certainly I have dressed as many wounded men on other Christmas days as on that day.
Down at Fishtown I have dressed more wounds in a day in the fishing season. There used
to be always rows there. There was some alarm expressed by white persons in regard to
negroes breaking out in insurrection that day ; but I had no apprehension of it. I am very
certain there was no intention on the part of the whites to make any disturbance that day.
In a community there will, of course, be some men fond of kicking up a fuss or disturbance.
I believe the people of the south would be better citizens than ever they were if they were
just allowed to assume their old position under the government. Of course they have feel
ings which they cannot divest themselves of as yet ; but those feelings would be soothed
down very much by a restoration to their former relations with the government.
Question. What are your personal feelings now towards the government of the United
States?
Answer. My personal feelings are for the success and prosperity of the government. I
have no unkind feeling towards the government, and never had any, so far as that is con
cerned.
Question. Suppose the United States should have a war with some foreign power, such as
England or France, do you not fancy that a considerable portion of the secessionists would
be ready to embrace the cause of the common enemy ?
Answer. That is a question which I have often thought of, but which I am not prepared
to answer. I think it is very doubtful. Of course there would be some who would do so.
As to my own feeling, I would be very willing to be let alone, to stay at home, or to accept
a position in the United States as in the confederate army.
78 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. You would be willing to fight the common enemy 7
Answer. Yes, sir ; as a surgeon, in my profession. But I believe that feeling would dis
sipate very thoroughly, or certainly very quickly, by a speedy acceptance, on the part of
the federal government, of the States back into the Union. I think they are harassed a
little.
Question. Was there not, during the rebellion, a very strong desire to have the govern
ment involved in a war with France or England ?
Answer. Oh, certainly there was.
Question. Was there not a pretty prevalent feeling that, rather than submit to the govern
ment of the United States, they would prefer to be under the protection of France ?
Answer. That was expressed by a good many persons ; not that the objection was so much
to the government of the United States under its Constitution, but to being under the con
trol of the black republican party.
Question. They did not like that party at all ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How do they feel towards the black republican party now ?
Answer. I do not know that they have any very kind feeling towards them.
Question. How do they feel towards the majority of both houses of Congress ?
Answer. I think they would rather see the black republican party out of power, and some
other party in power.
Question. You think it probable they have more respect and attachment for President
Johnson than they have for the majority in Congress ?
Answer. Probably they may, simply from the fact that President Johnson is disposed to
view their present condition more leniently, and is more anxious to restore them to their
original rights ; whereas the black republican party is not disposed to do so.
Question. Have they not an idea that Mr. Johnson is willing to have them readmitted to
both houses of Congress without any further delay ?
Answer. So far as my information goes, I should suppose that they may be under that
impression ; that President Johnson is somewhat anxious to have them restored immediately.
Question. And they suppose that the black republican party is opposed to that ?
Answer. I suppose so. They think this : that when they went out of the Union, as they
thought legally and constitutionally, and as they submitted that to the arbitration of the
sword, which arbitration has been decided against them, they are willing to abide by the
decision ; and as the republican party never acknowledged that they were out of the Union,
they do not see now why they should be compelled to bring about another war to fight their
way back into the Union. That party never admitted that they were out of the Union.
Question. It is a very general impression among the secessionists, is it not, that they were
out of the Union ?
Answer. There were certain men who believed in the doctrine of secession, and certain
men who did not believe in it. Those who believed in the right of secession believed, of
course, that they were legally and constitutionally out of the Union, and were no longer sub
ject to the authority of the United States.
Question. Did you belong to that school ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I belonged to that school. I believed we had a perfect right to go out.
I went out, not because I objected to the government of the United States, but because I was
engaged with that party. I belonged to that school and entertained that opinion.
Question. Have you changed that opinion now ?
Answer. I have changed it so far as the practicability of it-
Question. Have you changed it as a legal principle .'
Answer. I believe, sir, that the States, according to their understanding of the constitution,
had a right to go out.
Question. Do you hold also that the people of a county in Virginia have a right to secede ?
Answer. No, sir ; that is a different proposition altogether.
Question. Different in what respect ?
Answer. The States have delegated to a government certain powers. Beyond those pow
ers the government has no control.
Question. Did not the county also delegate powers to the State government ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How did the State government obtain its powers except from the counties ?
Answer. The State government organized the counties. The States were organized before
the Union, and the State was organized before the counties. The States created the Union,
but the counties did not create the State.
Question. Who created the State ?
Answer. The people created the State. The people voted in mass.
Question. At the time the people created the State, to what government did they belong ?
Answer. The old States belonged to themselves.
Question. Did they not belong to England ?
Answer. They belonged to England ; but when they achieved their independence they
were acknowledged as sovereign and independent States.
Question. Who achieved their independence ?
Answer. They did it jointly.
VIRGINIA— NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 79
Question. Then they all achieved the independence of each ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. And hence you derive the right of each to secede from the rest ?
Answer. Yes ; there was no Union at that time. The Union existed for the accomplish
ment of a certain purpose.
Question. Do you think of anything else you want to say on this examination ?
Answer. No, sir. As far as my individual self is concerned, I am anxious, and I believe
everybody is anxious, to get back and to go into the old routine and condition of affairs. I
believe that if the southern States were restored they wrould be as loyal and true and as obe
dient to the laws of the country as any State in the Union. So far as the negroes are con
cerned, I expect the people would like to get rid of them. The south is in a verv bad condi
tion now to take care of so large a population, but I believe she would give them just as much
rights as any other class of people.
Question. How do the secessionists look upon the copperhead party of the north ?
Answer. I suppose they look upon them more favorably, as being disposed to sympathize
with them more than the other party.
Question. Do they not generally look to the copperhead party for support and encourage
ment?
Answer. They look to what we call the democratic party, I suppose.
Question. Do they not look toward a reunion of the democratic party for success in politics ?
Answer. I suppose that politicians generally look to their friends for support, but I do not
pretend to say what politicians intend to do.
Question. Do not secessionists entertain a very peculiar respect for that class of northern
men, now known as copperheads, who discouraged the war on the part of the government ?
Answer. It would be natural for them to do so ; I suppose they do.
WASHINGTON, February 8, 1866.
Dr. J. B. Johnson sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD:
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Alexandria, Virginia.
Question. Are you a practicing physician in Alexandria ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. How long have you resided in Virginia?
Answer. I am a native of Virginia.
Question. What was your occupation during the war ?
Answer. That of a physician.
Question. Were you practicing at Alexandria ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. What political party were you connected with during the war or since the war?
Answer. The States-rights party.
Question. Did you take any part in the war 7
Answer. No, sir, none.
Question. Are you well acquainted with the state of public feeling in Virginia toward the
government of the United States ?
Answer. I have had opportunities since the cessation of hostilities of observing the temper
and character of the people.
Question. Does the secession part of the people generally feel kindly toward the government
of the United States?
Answer. They manifest no opposition. They show perfect obedience to the laws, procla
mations, and orders of the government ; that is, among that class of the people whom we ex
pect, of course, to be law-abiding and good citizens.
Question. Do you not, habitually or occasionally, hear contemptuous expressions towards
the government ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I do sometimes.
Question. Have any instances of violence come within your notice growing out of differ
ences of political opinion since the war ?
Answer. Nothing of any consequence, except those little street disturbances, which are
always liable to occur — mere matters of police.
Question. Is there not a deep feeling of disappointment and chagrin on the part of seces
sionists at the result of the war ?
Answer. I do not observe it. They all seem to be cheerful, and to take the result as a mat
ter of course. They seem to be perfectly reconciled, and to be returning to habits of peace
as rapidly as they can. I see no bitterness about their disappointment.
Question. Do they generally regard the question of the right of secession as having been
settled by the sword ?
80 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. It seems to me so. That is the expression of the majority of those with whom I
have conversed.
Question. Do they generally hold, at present, that a State has the right to secede from the
Union?
Answer. I have heard no expressions of such an opinion, either public or private.
Question. You think that practically the result of the war has decided that question in
their minds ?
Answer. I do think so, from my observation.
Question. How do this class of people generally feel toward the freedmen ?
Answer. Very kindly. We have had no difficulty there or dispute with the negroes,
except on one occasion, on Christmas day. A crowd of drunken white people got into a
miscellaneous row with negroes ; but the negroes are generally treated kindly. My own
negroes, with the exception of one, have returned to me. My own negro boy, whom I have
owned since infancy, has returned to me after having been employed in the commissary de
partment in Alexandria, at the rate of thirty-five dollars a month and rations. He has
returned to his old status. The feeling between the negroes and their former masters seems
to be perfectly kind ; I see the negroes working as usual.
Question. From what you know of the feeling in Virginia, have you any reason to sup
pose that a majority of Virginians would now, if left to their free choice, decide in favor of
a southern independent government?
Answer. I cannot say ; I am in that position of life that does not justify me in giving
expression to what public sentiment would be ; I do not feel able to answer the question
satisfactorily, because I am not informed on the subject ; but I may say that I have scarcely
met a single person among the secessionists who does not really accept the matter as settled,
and seem to be satisfied with it.
Question. How do they regard the Freedmen's Bureau?
Answer. We really have very little to do with the Freedmen's Bureau.
Question. You do not like it much ?
Answer: Well, we do not object to it ; we have but very little difficulty with the negro.
A negro occasionally commits a theft, and is handed over to the Freedmen's Bureau and tried,
and that is the end of it.
Question. Are negroes more thievish than white men of about that condition ?
Answer. I think not. I really do think that the negroes of the south, (and, indeed, it has
been the experience of a great many strangers among us,) as a class of sen-ants, really enjoy
a higher morality than any other class of the kind on the face of the earth ; that is my im
pression. Situated as they have been in slavery, they have never had the temptation to
steal ; if they did steal, or take from their masters, as a matter of course it would be noticed.
Question. Are they not generally as veracious, as truth-telling, as the like condition of
whites ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I must say that they are; there is as much honesty and veracity
among them. Since the war I have tried both white and black servants, but I declare that
I did not see any difference in morality ; my experience is, that the negroes are a great deal
better than the same class of whites ; I must really decide in favor of the negroes.
Question. Is there any other statement that you desire to make to the committee?
Answer. No, sir, I believe not.
WASHINGTON, February 9, 1866.
Dr. Arthur Watson sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What is your occupation, and where is your residence ?
Answer. I have a temporary residence at this time at Petersburg, Virginia ; I am a col
lector of the United States direct tax at that place ; my permanent residence is in Accomac
county, Virginia.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. I am.
Question. What are you by profession T
Answer. I am a physician.
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance in Virginia ?
Answer. I am acquainted with a great many persons in Richmond, having been a member
of the legislature some four or five years before the war. I am acquainted with a great many
persons in Norfolk, and pretty extensively acquainted on the eastern shore of Virginia, in
Accomac and Northampton counties ; I have also some acquaintance in other parts of the
State ; I have a great many acquaintances in Alexandria, having been a member of the
State constitutional convention that sat there in 1864 ; and I have been there frequently
other times.
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 81
Question. So far as yon know, what is the general feeling among the secessionists of Yir
ginia towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. So far as I know, the feeling of the secession population of Virginia is hostile to
the government of the United States ; equally as much so, I think, as it was just previous to
and during the rebellion.
Question. Do you think that President Johnson's liberality in granting pardons and am
nesties has had any effect in either increasing or diminishing their feelings of unfriendliness
towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. The policy of President Johnson has had a tendency to increase the opposition to
the government.
Question. What has been the effect, in your judgment, of his liberal policy upon the minds
of the people ?
Answer. Directly subsequent to the surrender of the confederate forces, the secessionists
were all claiming to be very loyal to the government; that having been subdued, they felt it
their duty to acquiesce in the demands of the government, and the idea was, that they in
tended to be strictly loyal ; but the policy of President Johnson has induced them to think
that their punishment, if any at all is inflicted upon them, will be very light ; and my im
pression is, that, in consequence of that, they have become more defiant and hostile to the
government in their expressions and acts.
Question. What are their expressions towards the government in their ordinary conversa
tion, so far as you have observed — respectful or contemptuous 1
Answer. Contemptuous ; going so far as to say that they are ready at any moment, if the
opportunity presents itself, to take up arms against the government ; that expression was
used by one secessionist in Richmond, Virginia.
•Question. In your presence ?
Answer. No, sir; but it was told me by the gentleman who had just heard it, but a few
moments afterwards — a gentleman upon whose statement I could rely.
Question. A man of credit and of good character?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have you reason to believe that such expressions are frequent among the seces
sionists '?
Answer. I am under the impression that they are among themselves ; I do not think they
are frequent before loyal men.
Question. Do they express any unwillingness to take office under the government of the
United States ?
Answer. 'I have heard no such expressions recently
Question. You have not ?
Answer. No, sir, not recently.
Question. Have you the slightest idea that those leading secessionists would take office
tinder the government of the United States, if they had an opportunity ?
Answer. I think some of them would ; some of them, I think, would not.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the federal debt, contracted for the prosecution of
the war, and the suppression of the rebellion ?
Answer. In my presence, when coming before me to pay the direct tax which I have been
collecting, they have appeared to pay it very willingly; but, outside, I have heard expres
sions used in regard to the matter, different from what they express before me. In my pres
ence they seem to be perfectly willing to pay the tax.
Question. I refer to the general feeling of t
the secession party on the subject.
Answer. I would add, that I was in the office of the editor of the Richmond Enquirer
one day, and I heard him say that he was opposed to the assumption of the direct tax by
the State of Virginia, for the reason that they had no representation in Congress, and there
fore ought not to be taxed. Governor Wise was present at the time and acquiesced ; not by
using such expressions himself, but he appeared to acquiesce in the sentiments advanced by
Mr. Tyler, the editor of the Enquirer.
Question. Did Governor Wise evince any anxiety to have the State of Virginia again
represented in Congress, and immediately ?
Answer. I never heard him express himself on that point.
Question. He has not been pardoned yet ?
Answer. I think not ; he has never taken the oath, I believe. When addressing the State
guard, now forming in Virginia — now reviving the one in existence before the war — he is
represented in the papers as saying that he had not taken the oath, and never intended to
take the oath of allegiance to the government of the United States; that was his public
declaration as published in the papers of Richmond.
Question. What is the object and purpose of this State guard, of which you have made
mention ?
Answer. I believe it is for the purpose of protection to the capitol and the public property
in Richmond principally. The fetate has always had a guard there.
Question, lias there been a statute enacted by the legislature of Virginia to keep up this
guard, or is it only in contemplation /
6 V MC SC
82 y: RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I have seen no act of the legislature during the present session for that purpose.
Question. Upon what ground does it stand?
Answer. I presume there is a law for the purpose of keeping a State guard.
Question. Have you any idea when that law was passed ?
Answer. I have not.
Question. Was it an act passed by the secession legislature or convention ?
Answer. I think that in all probability the act was in existence before the war.
Question. What is the danger to be guarded against by this State guard ?
Answer. I do not know of any particular danger, except that we all know that depreda
tions may be committed upon public as well as private property without some protection
over it. The guard was probably intended to protect the public property in Richmond from
depredations of any kind.
Question. Of what class of persons does the guard chiefly consist — of rebels or of Union
men?
Answer. I cannot say ; I presume they are reconstructed rebels, those who have been
secessionists, but I do not know their character. I believe the guard has not yet been fully
organized; it is in process of formation.
Question. How numerous is the guard to be ?
Answer. I think the legislature lias the naming of the number; there have been various
numbers named, if I am not mistaken ; what number has actually been fixed upon I cannot
say ; it seems to me it was sixty to seventy — somewhere in that neighborhood.
Question. 'Does that organization extend over the State, or is it confined to the city of
Richmond ?
Answer. I do not think it extends any further than the city of Richmond ; I think it is
intended principally for the protection of the public property there.
Question. It was this guard that Governor Wise addressed ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Was the remark of his, which you have referred to, received by that guard with
cheers, or in silence ?
Answer. I do not know ; I was not present when it was made ; I only saw the account
published in the newspapers.
Question. How do the rebels feel in regard to the payment of the rebel debt ?
Answer. I have heard no expression of opinion in regard to that matter ; they are not
disposed to express themselves freely before me, knowing my position; therefore, 1 have no
positive evidence of their feelings, but I have my opinion about it.
Question. What is the confederate scrip now worth in the city of Richmond?
Answer. Nothing.
Question. Nothing at all ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Is it an article of traffic ?
Answer. I think not.
Qiiestion. When is that scrip payable ? ,
Answer. I really cannot answer that question; I do not recollect that I have examined
into that matter, for I have felt very little interest in it, and cannot tell when it is made
payable.
Question. Was it not made payable within a certain time after the conclusion of a treaty
of peace between the government of the United States and the confederate government ?
Answer. I think that is so, now that you have recalled it to my recollection.
Question. You have no idea, I suppose, that the secessionists of Virginia are really anxious
to pay that rebel debt ?
Answer. I have no evidence that they are anxious to pay it.
Question. In your opinion, would they take it very hard if they should be absolutely pro
hibited from paying that rebel debt, or any part of it?
Answer. If 1 were to give my impressions about the matter — I do not know that they are
based upon any reasonable and positive foundation — I would say that they desire that that
rebel debt should be paid, and that the federal debt should not be paid. But that is only an
opinion of mine, from the fact, simply, that I know they are very disloyal, and opposed to
the federal government.
Question. In case of a war between the United States and any foreign power — say Eng
land or France, for instance — what would be the general feeling of the secessionists of Vir
ginia towards the government of the Tinted States?
Answer. My impression is, that if a favorable opportunity presented itself, when they
thought they might be successful, they would unite with France or England in opposition to
the federal government.
Question. Suppose we were thus engaged in a war, and the contest should become severe,
and the prospect of a favorable termination of the -Avar for the government of the United
States should become doubtful, what course would the secessionists of Virginia be likely to
take?
Answer. I am satisfied they would take part with any foreign power against the govern-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 83
ment of the United States ; or, if they thought they had the power to succeed, they would
again take up arms against the federal government in support of a government of their own.
Question. With reference to a conflict with a foreign power, do you regard the secession
ists of Virginia «s an element of strength or of weakness to the United States?
Answer. I should regard them as an element of weakness.
Question. You think there would be danger of their joining the enemy?
Answer. I do.
Question. How do they feel, generally, towards the freedinen, and towards the policy of
the government which has made the negro free ?
Answer. 1 think their feelings are those of hostility towards the negro, and that they are
opposed to the policy which has made him free.
Question. If they had the power, do you think they would again reduce the blacks to
slavery ?
Answer. My impression is that they would.
Question. How are the freed men generally treated by them ?
Answer. So far as my observation has extended, I have seen no acts of cruelty towards
the freed men.
Question. Have you heard of any acts of cruelty from authentic sources ?
Answer. I have heard of acts of cruelty from sources that I could rely upon.
Question. Such as scourging and torturing the blacks ?
Answer. I have heard of such only through the papers.
Question. Do you know of any combinations among the secessionists to keep down the
wages to be paid the blacks for their labor ?
Answer. There was a meeting held some weeks ago at a place called Turkey Neck, pre
sided over by a man named Hill Carter, pretty well known in Virginia. At that meeting
resolutions were passed fixing the wages of the blacks, and providing for their punishment
in case they did not come up to their contracts, by way of a reduction of wages, and in other
respects, of which I do not now recollect the particulars.
Question. Have you reason to believe that such combinations exist throughout the State
of Virginia ?
Answer. I have heard only of two instances — the one I have mentioned, and one other.
Question. What is the political character of the present legislature of Virginia?
Answer. Their political character is that of secessionists ; a large majority of them call .
themselves democrats. Indeed, I may say that a large majority of them were rebels during
the war. I know of but two or three members of that legislature who are considered every
where as unconditional Union men.
Question. What schemes do those men entertain in reference to the future ?
Answer. My impression is that their object is to obtain representation in Congress, and
then unite with the democratic party in the north, and thus obtain control of the government
of the United States.
Question. And what do you think they propose to accomplish in that event ?
Answer. In that, event I think they would endeavor to re-establish slavery and repudiate,
the national debt, if they had the power, and so legislate as to endanger the government of
the United States.
Question. Suppose that they should, by combination north and south, elect a President of
the United States Avho, like Mr. Buchanan, held that it was incompetent and unconstitutional
for the government of the United States to use the federal army and navy to coerce a State ;
what would they do ? — would they again attempt to go out of the Union ?
Answer. My impression is that they would.
Question. For in that event they would not anticipate any war ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Have you any doubt about that?
Answer. Not in my own mind.
Question. Do you think of anything else you deem it important to state ?
Answer. I would like to Taring to your notice the action of the present legislature. We
had a legislature which sat in June, 1665. That legislature was composed of less than thirty
members, embracing both houses ; although the constitution of Virginia requires that the
lower house of the legislature shall consist of not less than eighty nor more than one hundred
and four members, and the senate shall consist of not less than one-third nor more than one-
half of the number of the lower house, in order to compose a constitutional legislature. That
legislature in June last, composed of less than thirty members, passed an act enfranchising
those people of Virginia who had been disfranchised by the constitution as amended in Alex
andria in 1^64 ; that is, they submitted to the people of Virginia the proposition whether
the third article of that constitution should be amended. There was a majority of votes cast
in favor of amending that article of the constitution.
The legislature elected ih the fall of 1865 assembled in Richmond on the 1st of December,
1865, and they amended the third article of the constitution of Virginia so as to enfranchise
and give to themselves the right to hold office as members of that legislature ; whereas the
third article of the constitution of Virginia expressly provides that no man shall either vote
or hold office in Virginia who has ever held office under the government of th Confederate
84 RECONSTRUCTION.
States, or under any State government in rebellion against the government of the United
States. By that third article those very men were prohibited either from voting or holding
any office under the State of Virginia. But before amending that third article of the consti
tution of Virginia, which they claimed they had the right to do because of the people of Vir-
.ginia voting in favor of amending it, they took their seats and removed the prohibition which
• the constitution placed upon themselves.
Question. That was ail unconstitutional proceeding on their part ?
Answer. Certainly.
Question. Entirely revolutionary?
Answer. Yes, sir; and I claim that in consequence of that proceeding they have not ad-
iministered the government in a republican manner — that they were usurpers ; I have written
-•an article to that effect, which I intended to have published, but which I have not yet pub-
.lished. I also claim that Governor Peirpoint, in recognizing the illegal legislature of June,
1865, and in recognizing the present legislature before the constitutional prohibition was
removed, usurped power which was expressly prohibited to him.
Question. And the result is that the government of the State of Virginia is in the hands of
ithe rebels.
Answer. Entirely so ; by their own illegal and unconstitutional acts.
Question. Are you aware that President Lincoln interfered in any way in that respect I
Answer. I am not.
Question. Did Governor Peirpoint remonstrate or protest against any such proceeding?
Answer. He did not. I was told by a reliable gentleman that his attention was called to
the fact, but he made no remonstrance. Ho sent in his messages to that legislature as
though it was entirely legal. /
Question. He sent his messages to it, and received its acts for his signature as though it
"was the legal legislature of the State of Virginia 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
WASHINGTON, February 9, 1866.
. Jaqueliu M. "Wood sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
• -Question. Where do you reside?
Answer. Lynchburg, Virginia.
Question. What is your occupation?
Answer. United States assessor. I was formerly engaged in the boot and shoe business.
•Question. Are you a native of Virginia?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance in Virginia?
Answer. Not very extensive. It is confined to some two or three counties. I have
Tecently travelled through the western part of the State — for the last twelve mouths. I was
.•at one time deputy sheriff of the county of Culpeper.
Question. Are you acquainted with the state of public feeling on the part of the secession
people of Virginia where you have been?
Answer. I think I have formed some conclusions in reference to it.
Question. What is generally their feeling toward the government of the United States 7
Answer. I rather think that the general feeling is hostile ; that if they accept the situation
it is from necessity rather than choice. Of course there may be some exceptions.
Question. Are, you, in your intercourse with them, in the habit of hearing expressions of
contempt or hatred toward the government of the United States ?
Answer. Yes. I have heard such expressions more than once, sometimes, when persons
did not know my real sentiments. Probably they would have refrained from expressing
them if they had known. An instance of that sort occurred yesterday. A man said in my
hearing that if the State was properly organized and power restored ho was in favor of
d/iving out all such men as John C. Underwood and John Minor Botts.
Question. How do they feel towards northern men who come to settle among them and do
business ?
Answer. I do not think they favor them. They will tell you that they intend to fnvite
immigration; but, the real feeling of the people, in my opinion, is averse to it; and the
recent legislation at Richmond, in regard to the length of time required for residence in the
State before persons are allowed to vote, confirms me in that belief.
Question. Would a northern Union man be safe in attempting to reside among them and
to hold property, provided the military restraint was taken off ? .
Answer. That would depend altogether upon the locality he undertook to reside in. I
think that in some localities it would be unsafe for such a man, especially if he was firm and
expressed himself freely. If ho "sold out" to them, as they say, anil decided wirh them,
they might probably allow him to reuiuiu. I do not think any free-spoken, decidedly loyal
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 85
man would be very safe in some parts of the country if tlie people were not tinder restraint
on account of the troops. I should be very much pleased to see it otherwise-; but still facts
are facts.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the federal debt ?
Answer. That is like their loyalty. They pay their taxes apparently cheerfully in some
communities, but, of course, they do it because they think it is the best policy at this time,
not because of any particular love that they have for the government or its officers.
Question. Suppose the question were left to them to decide, would they consent to the
payment of the federal debt incurred in the prosecution of the war?
Answer. No, sir. I verily believe that if they had the power they would repudiate every
dollar of the public debt, and assume instead of it the confederate debt I think their feeling
is ripe for that thing. I do not know that they contemplate doing it, for they do not expect
to have the power ; but if they had the power they would do it. I believe it is entirely
unsafe to trust to these ex-rebels. I do not think that the interests of the government would
be safe in their hands. .
Question. It' they had an opportunity to do so, without danger, do you tnink they would
again go out of the Union ?
Answer. I believe that if they thought it would pay, as the saying is, to attempt the
thing, they woul'd be ready for another rebellion — that is, if they thought they possessed the
power and means. An expression was made use of the other day by a very honorable man,
of Irish birth. Some one asked him, playfully, if he was a Fenian. Ho said he was not;
that he did not want to weaken Great Britain, for he was in hopes that some time the British
would come and whip the Yankees like the devil. During the war the men who were
engaged in the rebellion would have been glad to see a rupture between the United States
and France or England ; and I believe that their sympathies, instead of being with their
country, would be on the other side.
Question. -If the United States should happen to be engaged in war with England or
France, and the prospect should become somewhat nattering to them of a failure on the part
of the government of the United States in the war, what course would they be likely to
take ?
Answer. I believe they would go against us. That is my judgment. In fact, some of
them have said so. There is no concealment of it. Several of the influential rebel generals
have gone to Mexico, and have shown by their acts that that was their feeling. I have no
doubt they would have followers.
Question. Having in view such an event as a foreign war, would you regard the secession
people as an element of strength or of weakness to the United States ?
Answer. I do not know that I would be authorized to say they would be a weakness ; but
I would not like to say the contrary. There are exceptions. Some of them are sick and
tired of rebellion. But there is, I fear, a majority on the other side ; and the leading
people, the people who can and do control public sentiment, .would be in sympathy with
England or France, or any other government that could break up the government of the
United States. Every one acquainted v?ith the southern people knows that during the rel>ei-
lion the constant way of expressing it was that they would rather be under any monarchical
power than under the power of the United States ; that they would sooner be attached to
any other government than have to come back as a part of the United States government.
They were in earnest then just as much as they are now when they say they have recon
structed and are loyal.
Question. Do any considerable portion of the people of Virginia entertain a preference for
a monarchical form of government ? m
Answer. They have not, in my presence, so expressed themselves recently ; but I often
hoard it during the rebellion, and I occasionally hear it now.
Question. Have you heard men of good condition and standing in society make such a
remark?
Answer. Only very seldom. That class is more prudent. They are not apt to make
observations of that sort if they know there is any person present who differs with them very
materially; but they occasionally mistake the party and make such observations.
Question. Is Jefferson Davis popular with the secession people ?
Answer. Oh, of course. They frequently make expressions like this: that he is no worse
than they ; that they elected him and indorsed him. I sometimes say to them that, if that he
the fact, I am in favor of their having their rights ; that if they claim to be equal with him
in every respect, and want to be hanged, I think they should have their rights. In that point
they do not exactly agree with me.
Question. What is the political character of the Virginia legislature — of what materials is
it made up ?
Answer. It is made up almost entirely of disloyal men — men who were disloyal. .
Question. Men who actually served in the rebellion ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; many of them were officers in the rebel army.
Question. What chance does a thorough out-and-out Union man stand to be elected to the
legislature of Virginia ?
Answer. None whatever, except it were in some border county. They take the broad
86 RECONSTRUCTION.
f round that no man who was a Union man is honest ; tlmt a man who did not go with his
tate is dishonest. Sometimes they hint that a man who is H Union man has no capacity,
that he is a weed upon the current, that he has no stability, and that there is nothing honor
able attached to him.
Question. They regard him rather as a poor devil ?
Answer. Yes ; they regard him rather as a poor devil, and one who ought to be banished
from the State as soon as circumstances justify it. /"They have not so expressed themselves,
but the conclusion I have come to is that the leading class in Virginia, the former slaveholders,
the class that really produced this revolution, intend — while they cannot reorganize slavery
exactly as it was, and call it slavery, and buy and sell as they did before — by a hocuspocus
arrangement to get the service of their former slaves, and tyrannize over them and the poor
white people as formerly. They intend to do so by legislation, by declaring every man who
will not make a contract at $4 a month a vagrant, and selling out his services as such.
Under the general idea that a good deal of thefts are committed by them, they will organize
patrol companies as formerly, and then the negro will have to go and put himself under the
protection of some white man who will take him as a sort of master.
Question. Are those gentlemen who entertain these schemes generally remarkable for their
own industry and love of industrial habits?
Answer. Certainly not. There is nothing said about a white man being a vagrant if he
stands around and begs for drinks; but for a black man there is a great deal of legislation
necessary. I have generally told them that it seemed to me, when they were making so
much to do about the idleness of negroes, I could see others who did not claim to be negroes
doing the same thing, and I did not know that either of them had much capital in bank. In
my judgment there is more labor performed by the colored people than by the oti
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that there are combinations among the negroes
for any unlawful purpose?
Answer. ] have seen nothing of the sort in my part of the, country. The negroes there
are not so intelligent as a class as they are in the parts of the State nearer Washington.
They hardly realize up there that they are free. In the towns where they are protected by
the Freedmen'a Bureau it is a little different.
Question. Have you heard of ill treatment and violence by the secessionists toward freed-
men?
Answer. In many instances. Thousands of such instances -come up in that section.
Question. How do the secessionists feel in regard to the establishment of colored schools
among them ?
Answer. In Lynchburg General Curtis got up rather a good state of feeling in regard to
them. He gave them to understand that if they did not co-operate, others would come in ;
that it should be done any how, and that they might as well be a party to it as not. They
consented. But at Harrisonburg, and other parts of the district, rooms could not be obtained
for colored schools. The papers came out and said that rooms for that purpose could not be
procured. On one occasion I heard a man, who did not know who I was, make a remark
in reply to something that had been said about esfablishing a school at Wytheville for tlae
teaching of colored children. He said he hoped that the damned* rascal who attempted to
teach niggers would be shot.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that that feeling prevails very generally ?
Answer. I do not know but that the feeling does ; but the expression of it is rare, because
prudent men would not so express-themselves even if they thought so.
Question. How do the secessionists generally treat Union men who are citizens of the
Suite of Virginia?
Answer. For a time they were rather disposed, and are yet, to turn a cold shoulder to them.
They have treated me well where I have been, but it is because they think it is policy to do
so. I do not think it is from any particular love for me or for the government, but they
think it is the best policy to be civil. There are quite a number of men in tin- western part
of the State who have never had anything to do with the rebellion, and, for all practical
purposes, were probably loyal, or would be if not ruled by others. But they are not loyal
according to our standard. They do not believe that a colored man is fit to vote or to be a
citizen. They do not think him fit for anything except to perform subordinate serv'uvs.
That is the sentiment of a great many people who claim to be loyal, and who would be very
much offended if it was hinted that they were not loyal.
Question. Suppose the Constitution of the United States should be so amended as to give
to the negro race, or certain classes of them, the right to vote, would that amendment be
acceptable to the secessionists of Virginia?
Answer. By no means.
Question. What effect would it be likely to produce among them ?
Answer. I think they would submit to it under protest, as they do to everything else, as
they do to paying the internal revenue tax. I do not think there would be any particular
difficulty about it, because the thing is so just that I think after a while it will commend
itself even to them, after they have had time to reflect.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the confederate debt?
Answer. They pretend that they have repudiated it by legislation ; but they did not do it
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA 87
o£ their own choice, but because it was necessary For them to do it in order to have the State
reconstructed. That was one of the terms. They sometimes say that as the rebellion failed,
everything1 connected with it necessarily failed. But I think that, if not prevented by 'the
g-eneral government, they will force the people of the counties to be taxed for the liabilities
of those counties in arming and equipping recruits. At this time the bonds issued for that
purpose are being held by the citizens of the several counties. The legislature has already
authorized the several counties to borrow money, and I have no doubt that it is to liquidate
these very debts. The money to be borrowed will be appropriated to pay the bonds now
held by parties: — the county bonds.
Question. Do you know anything about the State guard at Richmond — the Richmond
Blues ?
Answer. I do not know anything about them, except that there is such a military organi
zation. I understand they had a meeting recently, and that Ex-Governor Henry A. Wise
addressed them.
Question. What did the ex-governor condescend to say to them ?
Answer. The report I had of it was that he recalled all the deeds of valor performed by
them during the rebellion, and praised them very much for their constancy and bravery.
Question. Did you get this information from a reliable source ?
Answer. I thought so.
Question. Did Wise speak of the cause itself in which they had been fighting?
Answer. That was the impression I had from the report I had of it — that he spoke of it
as a holy and just cause; that they had fought bravely for it, and stood firmly up to it. He
praised them very much. He referred to the fact, wherever he went they followed.
Question. Did he inform them particularly of his performances in western Virginia as a
military commander?
Answer. I do not know that he referred to them in particular ; but he did speak of wher
ever he was and where they \were with him. There have been quite a number of concerts
given and debates had in Lynchlmrg for the benefit of Stonewall Jackson's widow. They
say she is not as rich as she ought to be; that the State owes a great debt to her as the
widow of Stonewall Jackson.
Question. Do the secessionists appear to contribute liberally to the fund ?
Answer. The papers say that the fund is quite a success.
Question. Do the newspapers speak approvingly of that mode of raising money for that
purpose ?
Answer. Oh yes, most assuredly ; they make stong appeals to the people to encourage
it as a debt of gratitude.
Question. Did you know Stonewall Jackson?
Answer. No, sir; I never saw him, although I have seen all the other rebel generals who
have figured in that region.
Question. How do they regard Robert E. Lee?
Answer. They look upon him as the greatest man of the nation, and the best man. That
is the common expression. They often say that they were conquered by numbers, by the
influence of foreigners. They do not admit at any time that their cause was a bad one.
They always claim superiority both in the field and elsewhere; but they say that numbers
were against them and that they had to yield.
Question. Do they seem to be disappointed in reference to the number of loyal troops that
came against them?
Answer. Yes ; there was more than they calculated upon in the first place. They account
for it by saying that foreigners re-enforced the Yankees, and that their resources gave out.
Consequently they came under. Sometimes their manner looks as if they thought it was
not hopeless yet; that something might turn up out of it; that war between the United States
and another nation might realize the much wished for event at last.
Question. What is the confederate scrip worth in your neighborhood ?
Answer. They have been buying it there, but I never could ascertain for what purpose.
They have been buying it at a small price.
Question. It is not regarded as a security of superlative value, I suppose ?
Answer. No, sir; it is not considered as currency at all. I do not think that anybody
who has it considers it of any real value at this time.
Question. Do you recollect at what time that scrip was made payable on its face ?
Answer. Yes; all of it that I ever read said that it was payable in six months after the
ratification of a treaty of peace between the Confederate States and the United States. It is
not due till then.
Question. So that there is none of it due yet?
Answer. There is none of it due, and never will be, I suppose.
Question. The treaty has not yet been ratified ?
Answer. No, sir, and they say that they cannot ratify such a treaty on account of the
radicals.
Question. They have an affection for the copperheads, have they not?
Answer. Oh, 'yes ; and they are very fond of Mr. Johnson's policy of reconstruction, p.cd
very much in the hope that there will be a wonderful breach between him and Congress ;
88 RECONSTRUCTION.
that is their song now. They want to see something like a split take place which will destroy
the power of the radical party.
Question. Do they seoin to look upon that contemplated breach as a case in which rogues
fall out and honest men get their own ?
Answer. I think they are hoping something of that sort. I suppose they think that of
two evils, President Johnson is the least. They do not exactly like him, but they think he
is better than the radicals, and they think that by uniting with him they will throw out of
power the radicals.
Question. So that, comparatively speaking, Mr. Johnson is popular among them ?
Answer. Yes, for the time being, just as Governor Pierpoint was when they intended to
use him ; but when the time oame that it suited their interests they abused him. I think
they will do the same with President Johnson — use him first, and abuse him afterwards.
Question. What has been the general effect of Mr. Johnson's liberal policy in granting
amnesties and pardons to rebels : has it increased the respect of those people for the govern
ment of the United States, or has it diminished it?
Answer. I cannot say. Judging of the future by the past, they think that as they have
got so much in the past, they may probably get more in the future. I think it has had a ten
dency to make them more impudent and exacting. They were very humble at first, before
any pardons were granted. They felt that they deserved severe punishment, and that con
fiscation and other penalties would be inflicted. But as soon as they found a more lenient
policy adopted, and that they were safe in their persons and property, they began to express
themselves pretty freely. They are very much pleased, I suppose, with the policy of the
President in pardoning them, and not confiscating their property ; but they insist *upon it
that they should get the power over the negroes, and that their State rights should be
recognixed. They do not feel as though they had been treated properly at all. They call it
humiliating if they do not get everything they claim. I suppose they are Union men if you
let them have their own way. I have no doubt that Jefferson Davis is a Union man if he
had his own way of thinking. Let his views be carried out in every particular, and I would
not wonder if he was a good Union man.
Question. The Union to consist of a government subject to his power ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Is there anything else which you wish to state to the committee ?
Answer. No, sir.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 10, 1866.
Rev. Dr. Robert McMurdy sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Alexandria, Virginia. *
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. No, sir; I am a native of Kentucky. I have lived in Virginia during the war
for the most part in the service of the government. I am. now ofiiciating at Christ church
Alexandria. I am an Episcopal clergyman.
Question. Have you a pretty extensive acquaintance with the state of public feeling in
Virginia ?
Answer. I do not know how extensive it is ; I am thrown more or less among the people
from my vocation and position.
Question. Are you in the habit of travelling a good deal about the State?
AnsAver. No, sir ; I car*not say that I am. My acquaintance does not extend over the
State, except through persons from various parts of it. As an editor of a paper I am brought
more or less in connexion with people in all parts of the country.
Question. What, generally, is the feeling among the Episcopal clergy of Virginia towards
the government of the United States ?
Answer. Well, sir, from my connexion with Christ church, I have had no personal inter
course with any clergymen of the church in Virginia, and therefore cannot answer the ques
tion from conversation with them. I should judge not favorably of it, however, from the
action of the diocese in failing to do as Bishop Gregg, of Texas, did — that is, to act upon the
theory of a de facto government, on the church theory that the church, as a church, or the
clergy as clergy, cannot interfere with the question of government. Church people consider
the government as de facto, and as such it is their duty to pray for that government, and to
sustain it in their official and ecclesiastical relations. Bishop Gregg remarked to me a few
days ago, in conversation on the subject: "I consulted nobody in regard to my action in
forming a southern church, when I supposed that the confederate government was a de facto
government ; but the moment that the confederate government ceased to be fi]de facto govern
ment, I did not wait to consult the authorities of the southern church, but notified the pre
siding bishop of the Episcopal church in the United States that we were again in harmony
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 89
with the national church." The fact that the diocese of Virginia has failed to act on tins
the church theory, on which the bishop of Texas acted, and on which the diocese of Virginia
acted in leaving the national church, and on which every clergyman ought to act — the faci
that the diocese of Virginia has failed to put itself in connexion with the national church,
(the last that has failed to do so with the exception, perhaps, of South Carolina,) convinces
me that there is a good deal of very decided feeling among the clergy and laity against har
monizing with the government, and cordially sustaining the same. It indicates strong feel
ing and sentiment among the people. This is the inference which I draw. I am told that
the bishop of the diocese has been for an immediate Union, and I am satisfied that he would
act promptly and decidedly were it not that he is hampered by the express action of the diocese
of Virginia in convention assembled. The convention is composed of the clergymen of the
diocese, and three lay delegates from each parish, so that the diocesan convention gives a fair
representation of the sentiment of the church.
Question. Has there been a meeting of that convention recently ?
Answer. There was a meeting at the close of last September ; since that time there has
been a meeting of the council, as it is called, of the Episcopal [church of the Confederate
States. At that council, the position of the clergy of Virginia, I am informed, was the most
decided in sustaining the continuing of the council, and most opposed to any union with the
national church. There is a series of articles publishing in the Southern Churchman, (is
sued at Alexandria, Virginia, and the main paper of the southern church,) which are vindi
catory of the southern church. The southern church is not satisfied with the general con
vention of the Protestant Episcopal church in the United States being- entirely silent con
cerning the past, but appears to be desirous of creating a sentiment sustaining their own
action. The laity of the church, particularly those who have suffered by the war, widow
ladies and others who have lost their children, have, in a few instances, begun to show a
change of feeling, and seem now like looking at things in their true light. As an evidence
of this improved feeling, some of them come to our church now ; (it is the Union church of
the place, the gathering point for the Union people, and has been open during the whole
war.) The fact that there are some who attend that church now, is, perhaps, a pretty good
evidence of a change of feeling ; but they are very few, and besides the other influences to
produce it, the fact that I am from Kentucky has possibly some little effect. But while this
is the effect upon a fe\v, they who are politicians, and desire to be poli ticians and the leaders
of social life, manifest a more intensified feeling. The females, those especially whose pride
has been humbled, are more intense in their bitterness and endeavor to keep up a social os
tracism against Union and northern people. They who are gentlemen, and who have hu
mane feelings, are disposed, I think, to treat the negroes with kindness, and really to con
sider what is best for them ; but they are so few, as in every community, and are so over
powered by others', that their voice can scarcely be heard, and is not heard to any extent.
The great trouble about proper composition of matters is the extensively prevailing and
operative sentiment that the cause of the Union and the supporters of the Union are not
respectable. The mass, for fear of losing social caste, speak and act "southern," so far as
they may safely.
Question. Have you formed any opinion as to the effect of President Johnson's liberality
in granting pardons and amnesties to rebels?
Answer. 1 think it has had, in all probability, a very injurious effect. I think that while
in some cases, with the generous and open-hearted, it has had the right effect generally,
men being selfish, it has had the reverse effect from that which was intended or expected by
the President. I am also inclined to think that the southern people are disposed to respect
power and the exercise of power, and too often mistake leniency as an evidence of weakness
and not an evidence of generosity.
Question. And you think that that has been rather the prevailing influence of Mr. John
son's liberality?
Answer. Yes, on the minds of the masses, but with some noble exceptions. When Gen
eral Lee surrendered, and for a brief period thereafter, the southern people were willing to
submit to any terms, short of expatriation and death, that might have been proclaimed.
Question. Can you speak in regard to the feeling generally among the other protestant
clergy in Virginia ?
Answer. The Baptists appear, as a whole, to be, perhaps, the most bitter, and the southern
Methodists possibly come next. The southern Methodists in Virginia are modified by the
leaven of the Baltimore Conference, which conference extended over the free States, and the
preachers of which were in connexion with northern churches till 1861, when they formed a
separate body, as it were. The Baltimore Conference of the Methodist Episcopal church
north, within the last few days, in conference at Alexandria, have united formally with tlue
church south. Bishop Early, of the southern Methodist church, is now presiding. "While
the effect of that union will be, of course, to magnify the southern church, there is another
influence that will necessarily result from ;t, namely: that that leaven will, perhaps, modify
the feeling again so as to make it less intense. That will be so, except with those indi-
v4duals who, forsaking one position and going to another, are generally in advance in zeal
for their newly espoused cause, just as northern men at the south, who are disunion men,
are generally intensely so. This, perhaps, applies to the present state of things among the
90 RECONSTRUCTION.
Methodists in Virginia. There is a small body of Presbyterians in Alexandria who are true
Union people ; but such has been the feeling1 in the church that perhaps a majority of the
former whole body of the old church have left the church in which they have been baptized
and educated, and have associated themselves with what is called now the Second Presby
terian church — a New School Presbyterian church, reputed to bo intensely disloyal — thus
giving evidence of their willingness, for the sake of their notions in matters in issue for the
last four years, to sacrifice even their ecclesiastical connexions. This feeling of sympathy
with the south has been even shown by some of the Quakers at Alexandria, to my perfect
Mtonishment, I learn that they are about as decided in regard to the 'respectability of se
cession as any other class of people. The Protestant Methodist church, I am told, is equally
divided. The Roman Catholic church I know very little about. I think, however, that
the perfect quietness of the priests, and their entire ignoring of the questions at issue, has
brought out no development at all in that quarter.
Question. Do you think that, in the main, the Roman Catholic clergy of the rebel States
can be called friendly to the government of the Uuited States 1
Answer. I should not like to say. My opposition to know-nothingism, as a principle,
whether political or religious, led me to investigate this subject a good deal in former days.
I am satisfied that the Roman Catholic clergy, as a whole, are exceedingly friendly to our
institutions ; but that they are so because they imagine our country affords to those who
have been oppressed in Ireland a theatre in which they can best serve their church. If you
mean to put the question to me, whether they would be devoted to the government as against
the papal authorities
Question. I put the question in that form.
Answer. I should say decidedly, no ; because their vows, as well as their education, make
obedience to the papal government their first duty. They have no home ; they have no resi
dence ; the priests are the creatures of the bishops, the bishops of the archbishops, and the
archbishops of the Pope ; and thus the clergy are the creatures of the Pope.
Question. Suppose a contest should arise between the United States and any papal foreign
power, such as Spain or France, what would be the feeling of the Catholic church ?
Answer. I think that, in that case, the Catholic clergy, if there was no positive dictum
from the Pope, would be for the government of the country, because the people would be,
and they like to be sustained by the people where official authority does not interfere.
Question. Suppose there should be a dictum from the Pope?
Answer. I should think they would obey the papal dictum.
Question. They are very likely to obey orders from headquarters ?
Answer. I think so ; but at the same time I cannot conceive of such an issue.
Question. Had we not something of that kind, during the war, from the Pope, in his
encyclical letter to the church in America 1
Answer. That was designed for consumption in the Confederate States ; that was papal
buncombe — the Pope supposing the confederacy would become a nation. The papacy, how
ever, is unquestionably opposed to human liberty and a free government ; but there is yet
much Catholic verity and the old Catholic love of liberty among the people in the Romish
church. When the question was asked me, whether I thought the Roman Catholic clergy
were friendly to the government of the United States, I did not hear the modification of the
question confining it to the rebel States. I answer that the Roman Catholic clergy were, in
my opinion, very unfriendly to the government of the United States, and are now, in por
tions of the south, proposing a monumental church, at Memphis, Tennessee, to General
Polk, once a Protestant bishop.
Question. To return to the Episcopal clergy and the Episcopal church in Virginia, how
do they feel in reference to the education of the freedruen ?
Answer. The convention of the diocese of Virginia, embracing the clergy of the diocese,
which met on the 2Uth of September, unanimously adopted resolutions, the purport of which
was as follows :
1st. Resolved, That, as a diocese of the church, we recognize the relations which we now
sustain to the colored people, and that we call on our people everywhere to do their full duty.
2d. Resolved, That to that end our parishes and clergy be requested and urged at the ear
liest possible moment to organize Sunday schools for them, and parochial schools, that they
may be taught to read, and that churches bo organized for their benefit everywhere. Thie
resolutions were full, going as far as could be wished. I also know the fact that Bishop Johns
is very favorable to the education of the colored people. So was Bishop Meade, his prede
cessor. Dr. Sparrow, of the seminary, rejoices in the abolition of slavery, although he is a
strong southern man. The churches are, however, so poor that they are incapable at present,
and will be so perhaps for years, to do anything for the colored people. I ought also to state
that it is impossible to induce the colored people at present to put themselves under the tuition
of the churches of their former masters. Bishop Gregg remarked to mo that it was the same
in Texas. The entire Episcopal church of the United States, in general convention assembled,
have resolved themselves unanimously into a freedmen's commission, so that they have their
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 91
fostering care of the church, especially the poor, whether white or black. It has nothing to
do with the <|iirstions that have grown up lately.
Question. You speak of the indisposition of the freedmen to submit themselves to the in
struction of the church ; do you mean of the Episcopal church particularly 1
Answer. No, sir; not particularly.
Question. What does that indisposition arise from ?
Answer. I suppose it is a prejudice created in their minds by the previous state of things.
They do not think that these churches and bodies have voluntarily and earnestly gone into
the advocacy of 'their rights. They suppose it is simply a matter growing out of church ideas,
and riot growing out of a heartfelt desire to advance their interests, beyond their interests in
a religious point of view, and poor people are especially disposed to regard their minds and
souls through the body.
Question. You think that the colored people rather prefer to have their own churches and
their own religious instructors ?
Answer. While I think they do so at present, I think there is a disposition to advance. I
have a service myself on Friday nights for colored people, a special service for them, although
they are welcome to my church at all times, and I have met with some encouragement. On
Sunday afternoons at 3 o'clock I go out occasionally to the Soldiers' Rest, in connexion with
agents sent from the north, and address the colored people, and I always find them very much
disposed to learn, docile and remarkably anxious to do right. I have seen a great disposition
011 their part to improve.
Question. You have always lived in the midst of blacks, have you not?
Answer. I have, sir. for nearly thirty years.
Question. And, of course, you have observed them in all their comings and doings?
Answer. Yes ; I was in the empire of Brazil for two years. I have also been in the West
India islands, and in the south.
Question. You have endeavored to notice what amount of capacity they possess for the ac
quisition of knowledge generally ; have you given especial attention to that?
Answer. I have had more or less to do with education all my life.
Question. So that you are able to present some comparison between the capacity of blacks
and that of whites for the acquisition of knowledge ?
Answer. Possibly so.
Question. I wish you to state your ideas on that subject ?
Answer. In regard to pursuits where imitation is concerned the blacks excel the whites.
Question. You think so ?
Answer. Yes ; most unquestionably. They learn to read more rapidly, they learn to write
more rapidly, and they make better writers. They learn music by ear more rapidly. In
sliort, they acquire everything more rapidly than whites where imitativeness is brought into
requisition. But where ratiocination is concerned, where the powers of logic or the powers
of induction are concerned, where reasoning is concerned, where mathematics come in, and
not mere arithmetic, they are very inferior to the whites. Where mere arithmetic is concerned,
adding more rapidly, subtracting, and simple operations, they perform them more accurately
than the whites, and their results are more reliable, but are less so where there is complexity
and where the logical powers of mind are brought to bear. The slighter association is vastly
superior in the black, but the severer association is vastly inferior.
Question. And the result in your opinion would be that they are probably not so far-seeing
as the whites ?
Answer. No ; certainly not.
Question. Are they as provident in their nature ?
Answer. No, sir ; necessarily not ; of course they are not ; the blacks are docile. John
Wesley, speaking of the blacks in connexion with slavery, said that, were it not for their
remarkable docility, they could not be kept in slavery. Their very physical succession, the
circumstances under which they have been always placed, their education, all combined, have
made them improvident and careless. The black had no motive to save ; his motive was to eat
and drink and wear out all that he could, provided there was prospect of more, and to have
overythingjie could in the way of enjoyment; he thought it perfectly right to steal from his
master, because he regarded it as partly his own, although he Avould be conscientious about
objecting to others stealing from his master ; he would protect his master's interests so far as
others were concerned, but not so far as he himself was concerned.
Question. He would steal his master's pigs and chickens when he got hungry?
Answer. Yes ; the blacks are necessarily improvident, but I see no reason why they may
not grow into a provident people under care and protection.
Question. Do they seem to possess a love of money and property to a degree as high as
that which characterizes white men ?
Answer. No, sir ; they appear to love enjoyment, and I think ttiey love spiritual enjoyment
first; I use that word in its liberal, not in its theological, sense. I think they 'love the
" spirituelle, " as the French say.
Question. They love mental emotions ?
Answer. Yes, sir. Dividing the human being into three parts — mind, body, and spirit — I
will say in regard to the mind, that they are exceedingly anxious to learn, like children ; and
RECONSTRUCTION.
my idea is that all children are anxious to learn ; and it requires teachers and parents, by
their ignorance and want of knowledge of the human mind, to repress ajl that desire for
knowledge which now freshly springs up in their infantile minds; they ar.' really dispose*!,
like children, to learn, and are very anxious to do so. Government and the chord) and
community may, by injudicious measures, repress this.
Question. Are they possessed of much of that quality which wo call political ambition?
Answer. I think not; I think they are perfectly regardless of it; as a very raie exception,
there are those who possess it. I think they desire to be citizens, as a matter of growing
self-respect, as securing their domestic and personal rights, and as calculated to elevate them
in the scale of society ; they would like to say who shall control their destiny, but they do
not care to control it themselves if they have good agents to control it for them. Free negroes
voted in North Carolina up to^!835, and it was said that those districts in Avhich there were
most blacks always sent the brightest minds to Congress. I found the same to be the case
in Brazil, where blacks hold office. It is provided in their constitution that no black man
can hold office, yet the public sentiment has actually changed the meaning of the word so
that the word "black" means "slave," and "white" means "free," whether a man be
black or white. Here there is a fair illustration of the whole question. There is no prejudice
against mere color now. You find black men holding the office of juiz do puz, or justice of
the peace, an officer having more extensive duties to perform than a justice of the peace in
this country. Black men are favorite priests there, and they are becoming the mental power
of the nation, simply because they are disposed (especially the mulattoes) to do more work
than the whites. It is not because they are ambitious, but because the whites put the mental
work upon them just as they put their physical work upon slaves. That, I think, is the true
point of the matter.
Question. Do you discover often among them what we call the governing power, the
capacity to control men ?
Answer. Occasionally ; it is developing ; it does not occur often. But the best persons to
manage the blacks of the south are those blacks who have the capacity to control, for they
have so much suavity, so much gentleness with them, and their effort to govern is not so
much by force as by expedients and tact ; blacks have always succeeded most handsomely
when they had that power. On the old plantations in Kentucky and Virginia- the blacks
Lave never been governed by the rod ; they have been governed by tact and stratagem on
the part of the whites ; it has been a struggle of stratagem against stratagem ; it has been a
strategic warfare going on all the time in the more northerly of the slave States — those nearest
to the border. This has cultivated, on the part of the blacks, stratagem and cunning to
the extent we find it there ; and this shows how little danger there is from their desire to
govern.
Question. You know, of course, to a certain extent, what is the general feeling among the
masses of the secession people of Virginia. What would they be likely to do in the event of
a foreign Avar between the United States and such a government as England or France,
provided they saw, or thought they saw, a good opportunity to establish southern independ
ence?
Answer. In that case, especially if they could secure their independence, I do not think
there is any doubt at all about the course they would take. I think they would do anything
in the world by which that could be secured. I do not think, however, that the southern
people have any idea that there is any possibility, even the remotest, of anything occurring
through which they can do anything but submit. I think it is universal !y the feeling that
there is no hope and no help for them in this regard. Physically, they are perfectly humbled.
It is impossible to make their physical humiliation more complete than it is. A lady recently
remarked to a friend of mine, "You cannot expect us to treat the northern people well wlto
come here, or to have any intercourse with them. They have humiliated us, and we cannoi
buy, or sell, or have any intercourse with them." I can see no hope of an improvement in
that respect except by the gradual operation of those causes which are above all opposition —
commercial causes, the operation of trade, the demand for capital to come from the north, the
emigration of persons from the north moving southward, the moving of southern people to
distant points and colonizing and getting into new scenes and under new eirciim^auces. I
look for the gradual operation, of these causes. I do not see why the south should witness
any different results than those which Italy witnessed in the case of her northern conquerors,
and which England witnessed in the case of the Normans. The Norman? were the better
people and went in with the Saxons, controlling the language and institutions of the people;
but the masses of the people adhered to the Saxon, and it took many years to effect the
coalescing. So with the south. The people of the south esteem themselves a superior peo
ple. Northern men going among them with more activity, more business relations, with less
luxury, will control in sonm departments; and there will be dissimilarity until time and the
various causes, that are operating m spite of everything, produce homogeneity. There is no
miracle to be wrought in this case. Time and nature's laws, not mere legislation of any
kind, can effect it. There must be patient waiting. If I were a secessionist ; if I had gone
with the people of the south ; if I had taken the same view of matters which they took ; if my
judgment, conviction, and conscience had not been all against them; if my church education
and my education by my forefathers had not influenced mo against them ; if, in short, I had
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 93
taken the course they adopted, I would do just precisely as they are doing ; if it were a matter
of principle, I should, of course, abide by the principle, and should esteem it something more
£h;tn even dollars and cents, and political power, and home, and everything else.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you wish to state to the committee ?
Answer. I do not know what you wish to find out. If my testimony is to be printed, I
Should like to have it full enough, so that one part may explain the other. Therefore, while
I am not anxious to testify, except so far as may do good, I should be glad to have you probe
the matter further.
Question. Doctor, you are a man of reflection, thought, education, and experience. What
is your idea as to the ultimate condition of the blacks at the south ? What will be their destiny
and fate, taking into consideration all the causes that now exist and those that you may
foresee ?
Answer. Giving my opinion off-hand, I am inclined to think that the immediate result will
be a great struggle, which struggle, on the part of the blacks, will have the effect of giving
them more character. God designs that people shall grow strong through suffering. This
suffering will make the blacks strong and vigorous ; will give them a different position from
fliat winch they could possibly have had if they were taken care of as mere children. As
slaves they would be always children. They have got to grow into men by being allowed,
to a great extent, to work .out their own destiny. I conceive that the great policy of the gov
ernment should be simply to protect these people in their rights, and let them be perfectly
free to work out the results just as white people work out results. I think that there is danger
to them in doing too much for them. I think that the effect of it will be to keep them children.
I think that the great policy of the Freedmen's Bureau should be to keep its eye on that point,
not to do so much itself, but to help the blacks to do for themselves. I believe that this strug
gle will be gone through with. I then reason that, after the struggle is passed, and after
these blacks are prepared by God's providence, through this very process for their own legiti
mate work, they will then find their way over to the islands, by the laws of commercial colo
nization, and from the islands to Africa, and I think I see through it all the regeneration and
salvation of a continent. I prepared some views on commercial colonization, which were
published at the commencement of the war. I then said :
"Commercial colonization we think preferable to any other, because it relies upon the im
mutable law of demand and supply — that to the point of demand for laborers will laborers
be attracted. It will save the government of the United States the expense of transporting
the blacks ; it will permit direct intercourse and treaty with the States, as well as with the
general government ; it will save the expense of maintaining colonies and protectorates ; it
will cause the coalescing of the blacks of our country with those of their own race living
under laws long tested and adapted to their condition.
' ' The laws of political economy and the considerations suggested point strongly to the West
Indies, for a brief period, as the home of the greater part of the blacks, forming a mighty
breakwater of an island empire against the attacks upon us from the Old World, if we majie
the colored race our friends.
"The northern States are not inclined to receive the negroes. They cannot go in great
numbers to Africa, for Africa is not prepared to receive them, and humanity would revolt at
flieir being left to perish on her ill-fated shore, or to retrograde into barbarism. To maintain
many governments or colonial protectorates would be burdensome.
"Central America,, while transportation to this point would be cheaper than to Africa, is
on the highway for the whites from the east to the west, and the blacks ought to be removed
from their incursions and example. Territory must also be here purchased, a government
created, laws made, and all the incidents of pioneer colonization again and again repeated.
" To send them to the West Indies would cost infinitely less in transportation and less in
early subsistence. It would involve the purchase of no territory and the creation of no pro
tectorate. They would, in their island home, be freer from incursions, in a climate more sa
lubrious, and in a more favorable commercial locality.
"The governments of the islands are'better suited to the negroes in their infantile condition,
and, being distributed among the islands, they would readily coalesce and become a homo
geneous people, without the evils attendant upon colonization in a new country.
***#***** ***
"Immigration to America in 1851 amounted to 500,000 souls for that year, and to I860
varied from this number to 150,000 per annum. It will take but a few years to transport all
fho slaves to the islands and replenish them with fiee white laborers at this rate.
" Hay ti has a population of 34 to a square mile ; Jamaica, 75 ; Trinidad, 30 ; the Windward
islands, 265 ; the Leeward islands, 230 ; the French, 300 ; the Dutch islands, 500 ; the Danish
islands, 30 ; the Swedish island, 350 persons to a square mile. Among the Windward
islands, Barbadocs has 900 persons to a square mile ; the others, with nearly equal capacity,
only 100 to a square mile. In the Leeward islands, Bahamas have only 5 to a square mile,
yet with a capacity for hundreds. Jamaica has 75 to a square mile, and wants more laborers.
Massachusetts lias J70 persons to a square mile ; Rhode Island, 150 ; New Jersey, 100. Leav
ing out of consideration the superior fertility of the islands, their tropical character, and their
capacity for population, to an extent not to be equalled in the northern States, according to
the ratio above, llayti can take 1 J million more, and then only be equal to Jamaica — take
ail our blacks, and then not equal Massachusetts or New Jersey in density of population ; coa>
94 RECONSTRUCTION.
pared with the Wind ward islands, it could take 7,000, 000. According to the estimate above, the
West Indies can take 12,000,000 colonists, and then not equal Maryland, with 65 persons to
a square mile.
"New York has a population of 3,100,000, and 47,000 square miles; the islands, 100,000
square miles, and a population of 3,500,000. The islands contain more than twice as many
square miles as New York, with but one-half of her population. Thus they can take all our
blacks, and then not equal New York in population.
"In the foregoing remarks we must not be understood to have any but the most friendly
feeling's to the colonies of Africa or the American Colonization Society. Let the colonies
have all they can take care of, the 2,000 specified by one of the secretaries, this year, and
the 5,000 for next year, and so on. Africa must be redeemed, and West India colonization will
only help on the work. The remark of the great William Pitt will be realized, lie said:
'We may live to behold the nations of Africa engaged in the calm occupations of industry,
and in the pursuit of a just and legitimate commerce. We may behold the beams of science
and philosophy breaking in upon their land, which at some happier period, instill later times,
may blaze with full lustre, and joining their influence to that of pure religion, may illuminate
and invigorate the most distant extremities of that immense continent.'
"It has been by commercial colonization that the Germans and Irish came to our shores,
not by being sent over here by the governments of the Old World. There was a greater
demand here for their labor and less competition in labor. So when we do not need the
labor of the blacks, when there is greater demand elsewhere, as there soon will be in the
Wast Indies and in Africa, the blacks will defray their own colonization there, and just as
fast as. there is such demand. God's laws obeyed by all, all wrill be at peace and happy and
prosperous."
These views were adopted and printed by the Committee on Emancipation in the
House of Representatives, and I was appointed by the President to go to ilayti for the
purpose of carrying out these views in the islands, arid to open negotiations with the south
ern States directly. It was not that I expected anything from it except to show the
people that there was an outlet for the blacks, and that they might be taken off if necessary,
(not that I desired or favored it, but as a political idea.) I have no doubt that that is to be
the result. I have been in Africa, and in the West India islands, and in Brazil, and
although I was a mere boy, comparatively, when in Brazil, I kept a record of all the slave
vessels coming in with slaves and going out in ballast. My attention was early called to
these matters, and I am inclined to think that that will be the result, though it is not a
result that I would attempt to secure.
Question. Then you rather look to a gradual exodus of the black race from the country ?
Answer. Yes, sir, by its own voluntary act. I should not favor that exodus at present. I
should prefer to retain the blacks. I regard them as essential to the present prosperity of
the country. It is to me a beautiful idea of the results of God's providence in this whole
matter, not justifying the ways of man, but justifying the ways of God. I think there should
be a kind feeling kept up everywhere. While any forced colonization should be opposed
by the government, still I think there should bo an entente cordiale created between all the
black peoples of this country and the world, as a matter of elevated and statesmanlike
diplomacy. I may remark in this connexion that the President eventually appointed Mr,
Hale, of New Hampshire, as commissioner, and the matter hung in the Senate. This
whole matter can be adjusted to the interests and feeling of all without the intervention,
of Congress, and without the expenditure of public money. The principles of commercial
colonization will regulate it. While it is desirable that the blacks should remain here for
many years, on account of their importance to the industrial interests of the country, still
causes in operation, commercial causes, will eventually lead them to seek homes elsewhere.
These causes tire aided by the temperament and habits of the blacks, which it will take many
years to eradicate and change. Being brought into competition with the more active,
energetic labor of the nervous whites, the blacks will naturally find egress to homes where
they will have less nervous competition. Thus will the prejudice of the white man bo re
lieved, and the whole conduce to the development of the. islands of the ocean and the waste
places of Africa. It appears to mo that God designs in his providence that the colored
people shall remain here longer and free until they have become, thus aided by the sufferings
through which they must pass, valuable and useful to the immense African world lying in
darkness. The colored people of the south ought to be simply protected in the exercise of
their full personal righto, but should be inured jko struggle and labor as the natural antece-
dents of strength and success. It is impossible, even if it were desirable, to make of the
north a grand elemosynary institution. The immediate sufferings of the south should be
alleviated by philosophical, Christian, earnest minds, who understand the people of the
south and the blacks of the south, and who at the same time are their devoted friends, and
are unquestioned in their loyalty to the government.
Question. What is your idea in reference to the willingness of the people at the south to
pay the national debt?
Answer. I answer, that the south will not consent, if they can help it, to pay any portion
of the public debt created to humble them, as they say. Not only that, but they will en
deavor, as far as they are able, some way or other, to have the country pay all their debt,
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 95
whether State or confederate. Their struggle now is to preserve as much of the respecta
bility of secession as they can, and they will do it in every way they can, without bringing
themselves into conflict with the government. They will do all they can for themselves,
and as little as possible for the north. This is human nature. This is to be expected. They
do not profess conversion to the principles and cause of the federal government. They do
not profess to be sorry for their course in the war. They regret that they did not succeed.
They submit to the laws as far as is necessary, and mean to have these laws as palatable as
possible to them. All they can effect politically, socially, and ecclesiastically, they will.
They have no more use for bullets. They henceforth use the social, the ecclesiastical, and
the political ballot.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 10, 1866.
Lieutenant W. L, Chase sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What is your official position?
Answer. I am on duty as assistant superintendent of the Freedmeti's Bureau, in Cul
peper county, Virginia.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia?
Answer. No, sir ; of the State of New York.
Question. How long have you been on duty in Culpeper county ?
Answer. Since the '20th of December last.
Question. Have you been in command there ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. How do the secessionists down there feel toward the government of the United
States?
Answer. They feel very bitter and very sore.
Question. How do they treat you ?
Answer. Officially they treat me very politely ; but behind my back they are very dif
ferent ; they are two-faced.
Question. You think they look one way and row another way sometimes ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; that is it exactly.
Question. How do they treat the freedmen ?
Answer. They do not want to give the freedmen much of a chance ; and if it were not
for some of us being there I do not think the freedmen would have any show of justice at all.
Question. Would not the Unionists down there be perfectly tranquil and happy in case
the troops were withdrawn ?
Answer. There are very few Unionists there.
Question. Would the withdrawal of troops increase their security and tranquillity ?
Answer. No, sir; it is just the opposite, in my experience.
Question. In case of the withdrawal of the troops, would.you anticipate scenes of violence
towards the Unionists, towards the people who are loyal ?
Answer. I only know of one or two who are loyal.
Question. Do you mean to say that, substantially, the whole of the white people down
there are secessionists and rebels ?
Answer. From my experience I believe they are just as strong rebels to-day as they were
&t the beginning of the war. A few of them are disposed to take the thing as it is.
Question. State whether you hear any expressions of disloyalty or discontent against the
government of the United States.
Answer. I have had a good many conversations with citizens. I had one gentleman tell
me that if the government of the United States went to war with any foreign country the
south wrould go with that foreign country in preference to the Union. I would like to say
that on my arrival at Culpeper I found twelve men of the llth Maine. They have since
been withdrawn, and mustered out. Since that time the people, as a general thing — certain
classes of them — have grown very turbulent, and threaten sometimes ; but their threats do
not amount to much.
Question. Do they use insolent expressions towards you and your little force ?
Answer. I have no force there now. I am entirely alone. I hear of them. I have been
insulted twice. Both parties were drunk. The first time the party came and apologized.
The next time the man was of such a low character that I paid no attention to it. An offi
cer without troops is liable to insult at any time. I have sometimes gone out of my way to
avoid collisions. There is a class of young men, returned from the army, and who have
been with Mosby, who are very bitter against the government, and who are lying around
bar-rooms.
Question. They are not a very industrious portion of the population ?
Answer. No ; there are very few people there who are industrious.
96 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Is it not chiefly that kind of persons who cry out against the negro, and protest
that he will not work ?
Answer. Yes, sir; there are a great many farmers who tell me that; but there are others
who tell me differently. I cannot place a great deal of confidence in what any one tells me,
because they are all apparently of one opinion there.
Question. I suppose they all say that they "accept the situation ?"
Answer. Yes ; they often come to me and want to have a confidential talk with me.
They say, ." We are good Union people. We never voted for secession. We were forced
into this." Still they will go right away and talk differently with their own people.
Question. And glory in having taken part in the rebellion ?
Answer. Yes; glory in having assisted the rebellion.
Question. What has become of Mosby?
Answer. The last I heard of him was at Warrenton, where he was practicing law.
Question. In case of war between the United States and a foreign power, what side would
these men espouse, do you think ?
Answer. I think that a great many of those who entertain these bitter sentiments would
go with the foreign country in preference to the United States. My views were in accord
ance with those of Mr. Johnson when I went there, believing that his policy in reference to
reconstruction of the States was just; but, from my experience, I am. inclined to be very
radical.
Question. What do you think has really been the effect of that liberal policy on the mintb
and hearts of secessionists there ?
Answer. I think it has been the cause of their demanding what they had no right to de
mand, and of making them more bitter towards the government generally, especially to the
people of the north.
Question. Does it make them more outspoken and insolent in their language towards the
government of the United States ?
Answer. Yes ; I believe it does, from what I can learn. After the fall of Richmond and
the surrender of Lee's army, people were in a state of terror. They expected almost total
annihilation. They found out that nothing of that kind was going to happen ; and they
turned right around.
Question. Do they not respect the laws of the United States down there?
Answer. They do not like to if they can avoid it. Anything in the shape of military au
thority they do not like to obey.
Question. Still they have a certain degree of respect for the northern bayonet?
Answer. They are very much afraid of the military ?
Question. How do they feel towards the freedmen?
Answer. Certain classes feel very bitter towards them ; but the farmers, who cannot get
labor otherwise, are very desirous of retaining them. It is policy with them. They use
policy, of course, but they are not willing to give them their just rights as laborers. I would
state, in extenuation for these people, that the country has been very much devastated.
While General Meade's army wintered there in 1863-'b'4, the timber was cut down, and a
great many houses burned and torn down.
Question. His encampment down there, I suppose, was evidenced afterwards by numerous
chimney stacks ? •
Answer. Yes, sir ; a great many.
Question. How do these fellows down there talk about the war?
Answer. They glory in the success which they did have — that with a small army they held
out so long. A good many of them deprecate the idea of ever giving up. Others — quite a
number of Jroung men who have never taken the amnesty oath — feel very sore towards the
north, and believe still that they were right in fighting for the south.
Question. Do you think that a great many of them would, if they hud a chance, fight
again against the United States ?.
Answer. Not so many ; a great many have got tired of facing the music.
Question. They do not think that war is quite as jolly a sport as they did at the beginning
of it .'
Answer. Not exactly. There is a very bitter feeling, though, against the government
They tell ine that they are willing to come in under President Johnson's ideas. They sny
that they have done ail that the government required of them, and now they want to come in
and have representation. They are taxed, and they want representation with taxation.
Question. Suppose it were left to these people down there, to say whether the confederate
rebel debt should lie paid ; how would they vote upon that question ?
Answer. I believe they would vote to pay it.
Question. Suppose the question was submitted to them whether or not they would pay the
federal debt contracted in the prosecution of the war; how would they vote on that question ?
Answer. They would not want to pay it. As an instance. Mr. Stiles, the collector, was
there collecting the direct tax of 1863 ; they were very much opposed to paying it, and a
great many refused to pay it, saying that the government had no right to tax them for the
year J SK!. They claimed that they were not under the control of the government of the
United States at that time.
VIRGINIA— NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA 97
Question. Well, they paid their taxes, did they not?
Answer. Yes, sir, a great many of them paid ; but it was a very sore thing for them to do.
A northern man is not called anything respectable there.
Question. He is not received into society, is he ?
Answer. Well, to a certain extent he is.
Question. Is he invited into good families on social occasions ?
Answer. I cannot complain of my treatment there. I have had invitations to go to some
of the first families, as they call themselves, -but I have not availed myself of the privilege,
because my duties require my attendance.
Question. How much force have you at Culpeper ?
Answer. None at all ; I am alone.
Question. You constitute the army stationed at Culpeper ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; the force has been taken away from all the counties. The nearest force
to me is, I believe, one company of regulars at Charlottes ville, about fifty miles below, on
the Orange and Alexandria railroad.
Question. Do they seem to feel in terror of so formidable an army of occupation as Lieu
tenant Chase composes dowrn there ?
Answer. They are afraid, because I let them know that they must do so-and-so, and must
obey the instructions I receive, or else I should report them. But they still do a great many
things which I do not know anything about, and which are kept from my ears. I believe
that a military force is absolutely necessary down there. There is one loyal man there who
is a resident and landholder, but who left when Meade's army left. He is looked down upon
by the citizens, and is persecuted to some extent. He is a bricklayer and builder. He was
a bachelor, and had a colored woman as housekeeper. The people claim that he is living
openly with that woman. He defies them to prove anything of the kind, and I do not be
lieve myself that he is. He is a man thirty-five or forty years of age, a very industrious man,
a Swiss by birth, and who refused to take the oath of allegiance to the rebel confederacy, and
was obliged to leave when Meade's army left. He is the only resident*! know who is truly
Union. A great many of them take the oath of allegiance, but I do not think that the oath
amounts to much with a great many of them. Some have taken it in good faith.
Question. Are the whites inclined to go to work and repair their fortunes ?
Answer. Some are, but others are lying around and bewailing their lot and cursing the
Yankees.
Question. Is the latter class very numerous ?
Answer. I think they predominate over the other class.
Question. Do you think of anything else which you wish to state to the committee ?
Answer. No ; except it is that I think it is necessary to have troops to carry out the in
structions imposed upon officers by the Freedmen's Bureau, and to keep the peace and pre
serve order. I had a shooting case in my county the week before last. I bound the parties
over to appear before such court as the commanding officer of the State of Virginia might
designate. A woman was shot. It was a very peculiar case. She had slandered the family
of the man, and in the excitement of the moment, being a very passionate man, he had shot
her in the head. His son came in two hours afterwards intoxicated and beat the woman with
a pistol on the head and stabbed her. That is her own statement. I took the testimony and
forwarded it to the proper authority.
Question. Was any question of Unionism or secessionism connected with that case?
Answer. The woman was a freedwoman — a black woman. She had been a servant in the
family, and had said something which was very bad about the family, but it was through
jealousy of the servants that it came to the ears of the ladies of the house.
Question. Was the man who shot her a white man ?
Answer. The person who shot her was one of the citizens of the county — a very prominent
citizen — Dr. Perry.
Question. Are not the civil rights of the people there protected in the State courts ?
Answer. I do not think that a loyal man could get his rights in the courts, there is such a
prejudice against refugees and against the northern men.
Question. Do you think that prejudice would affect the mind of the court and jury ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I think it would.
Question. Do they like to have northern men come and settle among them ?
Answer. They tell me that they would like it; but on inquiry I find that northern men
have been there to buy land, and that the people refuse to sell because they do not want any
Yankees, as they call us, among them. They think that after awhile we might gain the
balance of power. I read Carl Schurz's report to the President, and I thought it came
nearer the true state of affairs than anything I had seen. Persons travelling there from the
north, officially, are very apt to have smooth tales told them.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you wish to say ?
Answer. No. sir; except that I believe the rebellion is not crushed yet.
Question. You believe that there wasn't fighting enough after all.
Answer. I believe more in subjugation now than I did ever before.
Question. What were your politics before you went into the army?
Answer. I was a Lincoln man ; that is, I believed in Mr. Lincoln's ideas of republicanism.
7 V NC SC
9 8 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Were you ever an abolitionist?
Answer. No, sir ; never.
Question. You were an old democrat.
Answer. I inherited from my father what is called the old Hunker democratic principles ,
but after I became old enough to think for myself I cast them aside. I became what is called
a Native American, and attached myself to that party. I was in Illinois at the time that Mr.
Lincoln and Mr. Douglas were canvassing the State, and I then became a supporter of Mr.
Lincoln's.
Question. Are you a citizen of Illinois now?"
Answer. No, sir ; New York is my native State.
WASHINGTON, February 10, 1866.
Dale Carter sworn and examined :
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Russell county, Virginia, in the extreme southwest part of the State, between
Tennessee and Kentucky.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I was born there, and have remained there a great part of the time
since.
Question. Do you hold any public office in Virginia ?
Answer. I am the senator from that district in the Virginia senate.
Question. Have you a pretty general acquaintance with the people of Virginia?
Answer. I was in the convention assembled to frame the constitution in 185U-'51, which
formed the constitution of the State previous to the Alexandria constitution ; then I have been
in the legislature of Virginia ; I was in the legislature in 1857-'58 ; I was then in the heuse
of delegates ; I am now in the senate. I can say that I have a tolerable acquaintance with
the people of Virginia.
Question. What is the general feeling among that class of the people of Virginia who
have been hitherto known as secessionists (I call them secessionists for brevity's sake)
towards the government of the United States 1
Answer. So far as I am informed on that subject I know of no man anywhere in that
quarter who desires to encourage anything like the doctrine of secession. On the contrary,
1 think that all are heartily tired of any resistance to the government of the United States in
any form or shape.
Question. Do they generally feel friendly to the government of the United States ?
Answer. I think so, except this fact — that the people, those who pretend to examine into
and know anything about the matter at all, complain some that they are not allowed into
the possession of their original rights, the right of representation, &c. They think, as they
say, that they are at present toward the government of the United States as they should be,
and that they ought to be reinstated, and that the government ought not to suspect theni
from anything they have done at all since the surrender.
Question. How are the Unionists proper — I mean those who have been steadfast in their
attachment to the government of the United States during the war and before the war — how
are they treated generally by the secessionists ?
Answer. The offices are nearly all filled by Unionists; that is, by men who incline that
way, and who never gave sanction to the rebellion, but who were opposed to it very often.
Out of prudence, men said nothing ; I was one of that description myself, I said little and
had very little to do with the matter. I was over age. I have been a whig since 1824. Still,
when the south went off in mass in that way, men were compelled to join in the movement
or be silent.
Question. Have you heard of any scenes of violence that have occurred between old
Unionists and secessionists since the war, growing out of disputatious about politics?
Answer. I have heard of nothing of the kind, except this: I live in the vicinity of where
that class of men who were called secessionists have almost all been banished by the original
Union men. There was a good deal of violence at one time in East Tennessee on the part
of secessionists, and that made some bitter enemies among the Unionists, because they
banished some of them. I believe they, did ; at any rate this thing reverted in the other
direction, and these Union men have got possession of the country again, and have expelled
a great many of those who were once secessionists. However, there is no taking up of arms
or anything of that kind, because these secessionists have pretty generally left there or tried
to conceal themselves. In the State of Kentucky, on the other side of me, where, except
those who came out and joined the army, they attempted to be neutral, and did not want to
have anything to do with the war at all, in any way, they are perfectly quiet. In the State
of Virginia, however, we have had nothing of that kind. 1 am very well acquainted with
the State of Virginia, from where I live to Cumberland Gap. Whenever the war ceased every-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 99
body seemed to want to get rid of it, to be done with it, and to return to the Union ; when I
say everybody, I think I may use that strong expression, almost everybody, at least, desired
it. The truth is, that the war was gotten up and forced upon the masses of the people in
that region by a few persons. That region of country is not, or was not, a very slaveholdiug
region. They cared very little about slaves, except a few men. Therefore the masses
regarding the war as a war somewhat about slavery, were not disposed to join the movement
at all, if they could help it. A great many were brought into it in that way, and a great
many were not brought into it at all. I live in a district which was not very loyal to seces-
sionism.
Question. How are nothern men treated in that part of Virginia who come there to settle ?
Answer. I do not think any have come there; if they have, I do not recollect it; but I
will say more : if they were to come there they would be received and treated kindly. There
are large landholders'in that part of the country who are anxious to encourage immigration.
I am one of them ; I am trying to get northern men to come into my neighborhood. There
is no hostility towards northern men there ; I can say that in truth.
Question. How do they regard the abolition of slavery ?
Answer. I can say in truth that they have given up slavery.
Question. And do not expect to reinstate it ?
Answer. Never, sir ; I can say most positively, so far as my acquaintance goes, that they
have no hopes or desires at all ever again to make an effort of the kind in any way.
Question. How do they generally treat the emancipated blacks ?
Answer. I was a slaveholder to the amount of about thirty-eight or thirty-nine slaves.
My neighbors and myself, so far as my acquaintance went, had a sort of common understanding,
perhaps owing to the proclamation issued by Governor Peirpoint, that the negroes were free,
and we kept our negroes in this way a long while, until they became so thoroughly aware of
their condition, and until everybody became so well informed of their condition that they
were told, "Here you are as free as I am. I will keep you as you have been living with
me, if you stay." Some would say, "If you stay with me I will pay you wages." Others
would say, " If you do not stay with me as you have been staying I cannot keep you at all."
A great many did leave their old homes. The negroes seemed to get it into their heads that
they would not be free unless they left where they had been living; they seemed to regard it
that they were only then free. None of my acquantances have since had any slaves. About
the 1st of August my negroes and myself had a sort of treaty on the subject, and they agreed
to stay with me until the harvest was over; they told me that they would lease my lands; I
did lease land to three of them ; they were going on to prepare houses, and I was to aid them
in preparing log-cabins to live in and in fencing some land to cultivate, which was clear, and
other laud which they could clear and open up ; but an acquaintance of mine induced my
negroes to believe that they could do better about fifteen miles up the country, and they left
and went up there ; they are now leasing lands up there and intend to farm it. In fact, it
was a brother-in-law of my own to whose lands they went : he had a large tract of country
and owned slaves, about as many as I did ; I do not know whether his own negroes rented
land from him, but mine went up there and rented land from him, and are there yet. I have
one old woman and two small children (colored) who have staid at my house, and are there
yet ; but they are as free as I am, and are so treated.
Question. The rest will probably come back to you ?
Answer. I believe so ; I think they will come back whenever they can better their condi
tion by doing so.
Question. How do the whites feel in that section of the country in reference to the education
of freedmen — is there any repugnance to it ?
Answer. None at all, if it could be done without expense to them. If the blacks could do
it themselves, or if it could be done by any other authority, the whites have no objection to
it ; but at the same time the country is so ground down that they cannot educate their own
children.
Question. And they would therefore feel an unwillingness to contribute out of their own
funds to educate the freedmen ?
Answer. They would, I think, because they do not consider themselves able to do it.
Question. Suppose that particular difficulty were removed, and that they were in possession
of their property, as ordinarily, would they be willing then to assist in the education of the
freedmeu by a general tax upon property?
Answer. Well, now, sir, 1 cannot answer that question whether they would or not ; per
haps if the tax were a general one — one on whites and blacks both.
Question. Suppose it were imposed on whites and blacks both?
Answer. I do not know ; I cannot say what change that might produce, nor can I say
that the whites are opposed to educating them at all, except, asl said before, they do not feel
able to educate even their own children. There are no schools in the country, and there is
very little personal property in the country ; fences are burned a great deal and destroyed ;
the country is in a desolate and unproductive condition everywhere.
Question. Would a person who should come among them and undertake to become an
instructor of the freedmeu be treated with respect by the whites, provided his character was
good?
100 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Well, now, I cannot answer that either. As I said before, if a teacher was sent there
to teach them in a free school, I do not think there would be any objection to it by the people.
Question. Would they receive the teacher of a colored school into society, provided he was
worthy of it in other respects ?
Answer. I cannot say about that.
Question. You think there is some doubt about it?
Answer. There might be. I dare say that, in some places, remarks would be made about
it, particularly if the expenses of the schools had to be defrayed by the white men of the
country. If it could be done by taxes levied upon property common to whites and blacks,
I do not think they would make any objection. As to the fact that the man was a teacher
of colored people, I do not think that would make much difference to the people. However,
I live where there never have been a great many slaves, and I am speaking now of what I
know about the sentiments of my own acquaintances in my own district.
Question. Have not a large proportion of the members of the Virginia legislature, now in
session, been elected by the votes of secessionists ?
Answer. Well, sir, I suppose that a majority of them were so elected. I suppose that they
were almost all elected by a majority of secession votes, because there were a majority of
secession voters almost everywhere in the State. But although the voters themselves were
once secessionists, they were not so when they voted for members of the present legislature.
Question. Have you not actually in the legislature of Virginia a large proportion
of secessionists?
Answer. I do not think so at all.
Question. I mean men whose political proclivities were decidedly in favor of southern in
dependence at any time ?
Answer. I do not know that I can answer that. I can say this— that so far as my
acquaintance goes in the Virginia legislature the members are pietry much of the character
of men which I described myself to be — men who were not actively engaged in the war at
all, and who kept out of it as much as they could.
Question. Have you not in the legislature some members, either in the senate or house of
delegates, who actually took part in the rebellion on behalf of the rebels ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; but they took the oaths required by the reformed government of
Virginia.
Question. What proportion of such members do you fancy are in the legislature?
Answer. There are very few of them. I do not know so much about the lower ho.use ;
but I know that in the senate the members are men who were principally over age, and did
not take any part any way in the war. As to the house of delegates, so far a^l know, I
cannot say that a majority of them were men who took an active part at any time in the
rebellion. I can say that some of them were, and that some of them were men who took an
active part the other way.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that any portion of the people of Virginia, of
the influential classes, still entertain the project of southern independence and ultimate
secession?
Answer. I have not any such impression. I do not believe any such idea is enter
tained in the south. I have no idea of it. I have been in the legislature since the first Mon
day in December, and I have no thought that the remotest idea of that sort exists in
Virginia anywhere. You hear it from the speakers on all occasions, and you hear it in con
versation everywhere, that slavery is at an end, and that secessionism is at an end, that the
south has been badly whipped, and that they give it up, and are determined to be loyal.
Question. They consider that the question has been settled by the sword ?
Answer. Yes, sir. These are the sentiments I hear uttered.
Question. How do they talk — I mean those who were advocates of secession, the
preachers of the doctrine, and the dialecticians who have talked to the people on the subject?
How do they regard now the abstract question of the right of a State to secede and with
draw ?
Answer. That is a question which you hardly ever hear discussed. Men say nothing
about it, because no issue can be ever made about it again, as they think, and never will.
Question. You do not think it ever will be?
Answer. I do not believe it ever will be in the United States. There is no other matter of
controversy which can, as it seems to me, bring up any such state of things, the slavery
question being disposed of. It seems to me that there is no other question which can pro
duce any very material difference in the various sections of the country. And when I say
that men seceded and advocated the doctrine of secession I must be permitted to say that at
the time a great many of them thought it was right ; they thought that the State had the
.power to secede; they had heard so much of their State-rights doctrine preached to them
that they believed it, and they believed that the government itself had not given them their
rights under the Constitution, and therefore thej went into the movement. But those dis
putes about what the government had done and was doing were almost altogether in relation
to slaves, so that when you give up slavery the whole thing is at an end ; and that we are
willing to do, I think.
Question. You have, of course, given a great deal of thought and reflection to the causes
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CARO.LINA. 101
of the rebellion on the part of the south. Do you think that the great cause of making war
upon the United States was a fear on the part of the southern people that they should lose
their slaves by the action of Congress ?
Answer. I do, sir, think so, and I will tell you why I think so. Politicians would argue
in this way: the government has done this, and the government has done that, and this
thing will be carried on to an extreme which will amount to this. For instance, these per
sonal liberty bills that were passed in the States all over the country had a powerful effect in
producing that impression. I would say further, in relation to that matter, that I believe
that it was that almost alone that made them go into the movement at the time they did.
Question. They intended to save slavery by withdrawing from the Union 1
Answer. I have no doubt that the south did.
Question. Suppose this contemplated amendment to the Constitution should pass which
fixes the basis of representation according to the number of persons in each State, but de
clares that where a State shall refuse the right of suffrage to any person on account of race
or color, then the whole number of people of that race shall be deducted from the number
which forms the basis of representation, is it your opinion that the people of Virginia would
ever grant the right of suffrage to the Slacks ?
Answer. That is a question which I cannot answer, for it would be really giving an
opinion without the data. I think, however, that a great many of the people of Virginia do
not believe that the present generation of negroes in the State are sufficiently intelligent to be
intrusted with the right of suffrage. In fact, that is the sentiment prevailing in the State of
Virginia pretty extensively at this day in relation to a great many white people; but as to
the effect this regulation would have if engrafted upon the Constitution I cannot say. I be
lieve, however, that if the sentiment of the country should at any future time change in that
respect from some material change in the condition of the negro, in order to gain this addi
tional share of representation which that ratio would entitle them to, they would grant suf
frage to the negroes. They would be inclined, I suppose, to get all the representation they
could. I imagine, however, that it would depend upon the fact whether colored people
should become improved to the extent that some people think they will improve. I do not
think there will then be a disposition in Virginia to pay so. dearly for excluding colored men
from the polls — that is, to pay by losing that portion of the representation.
Question. Would not the enactment of that amendment imposing this necessity upon the
once slaveholding communities create great discontent and dissatisfaction with the federal
government ?
Answer. So far as I can answer that question I will. I think that having for our first
object to limit the right of suffrage to those who have some pretensions to exercise it, and
guarding it somewhat, would have an influence no doubt. I think that if the government
of the United States were to exclude a part of the representation in that way, it is probable
that some portions of the south would regard it as an improper exclusion, because it has
generally been the doctrine that the basis of representation is upon all the people together :
but still, in regard to the right of suffrage, the States have generally looked, to some extent,
to qualifications of some sort or other. I cannot say how they would consider it; I think it
probable they would object to it, of course ; they Would go for the old doctrine, basing repre
sentation on the entire population.
Question. They would gain several members by extending the right of suffrage to all ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; but I do not see that In order to get that they Avould give up their pro
visions in regard to the qualifications of the voters ; I do not know what they would do
about that.
Question. This very amendment, in its very nature, would operate as a sort of constraint
upon the southern States to give the right of suffrage to the negro ; would not that produce
heartburnings, as being an exercise of absolute power without reason and without necessity ?
Answer. In that way it would. The political sentiment is, that the basis of representa
tion ought to be, as I think, upon all the people of the State. At the same time, whenever
you begin to fix the right of suffrage, the States, having that matter to regulate, ought to
have the power to say who of their people shall have the right to vote, and who shall not
have the right ; this would be a setting aside of that doctrine, and it might be regarded as an
unkind imposition ; I think it would.
Question. Do you not think that the Henry A. Wises and that class of speakers would
make a noise about it on the stump 1
Answer. I dare say they would.
Question. Do you think of anything else you desire to state to the committee?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not.
1 02 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 10, 1866.
John B. Baldwin sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD:
Question. You are now speaker of the Virginia house of delegates ?
Answer. I am.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia?
Answer. I am.
Question. Have you resided in Virginia during the war?
Answer. Yes, sir; I have resided all my life in Stauuton, Augusta county.
Question. I think you were an original Union man?
Answer. I was ; the most thorough-going I ever knew.
Question. Were you a member of the so-called secession convention in Virginia ?
Answer. I was.
Question. Did you attend all its sittings ?
Answer. I- did.
Question. Open as well as secret ?
Answer. I did attend its sessions, except after the ordinance of secession had passed ; I
was withdrawn by other duties a good deal from the session ; but I was kept advised, and
aware substantially of all that passed.
Question. Did you sign that ordinance?
Answer. I did.
Question. Can you tell what has become of it,- or where it is now deposited?
Answer. I have understood that it is in the city of Washington, in the possession of the
government, having been taken when the Union troops entered Richmond.
Question. Did you make a journey to Washington before the firing on Fort Sumter?
Answer. I did. I came here on the night of the 3d of April, 1861 ; I was here on the 4th
day of April, 1861.
Question. Did you have an interview with President Lincoln ?
Answer. I did have a private interview with him, lasting perhaps an hour.
Question. Do you fed at liberty to state what transpired at that interview?
Answer. I do, sir ; I know of no reason why I should not.
Question. Have the goodness to state it.
Answer. On the 3d of April, 1861, I was in the convention. I was called out by Judge
Summers, a member of the convention, who informed me that there was a messenger in Rich
mond, sent by Mr. Seward, asking him (Summers) to come on to Washington, as the President
wanted to have an interview with him, and stating that if for any reason he was unable to
come, he would be glad if the Union men of the convention would select and send on some
one of their number who enjoyed their confidence, and who would be regarded as a repre
sentative man, competent to speak their sentiments, as the President wished to have some
communication with them. Mr. Summers told me that he and a number of other members
of the convention, Union men, (calling their names over, ) had concurred in the opinion that
I was the proper man to go, and that he wanted me immediately to get ready and return with
the special messenger. I consented to come. A Mr. Allen B. Magruder, who was at that
time a lawyer in the city of Washington, turned out to be the messenger. We came to
Washington, and arrived here about breakfast time. I went to Mr. Magruder's house.
About 10 or 11 o'clock we called at the Department of State, and I was introduced to Mr.
Seward Mr. Magnider informed him that I was the gentleman selected by the members of
the Virginia convention — the Union men — in accordance with his request, and that I came
indorsed by them as a person authorized to speak their sentiments. Mr. Seward said he
would not anticipate at till what the President desired to say to me, but would take me im
mediately to his house. We went to the President's house, and I was taken to the audience
chamber. The President was engaged for some time; and at last Mr. Seward, when the Presi
dent became disengaged, took me up and introduced me to him in a whisper, indicating, as I
thought, that it was a perfectly confidential affair. As nearly as I can recollect, the language
In used was — "Mr. Baldwin, of the Virginia convention." Mr. Lincoln received me very
cordially, and almost immediately arose and said that he desired to have some private con
versation with me ; he started through into the backroom, opening into the other room ; but
on getting in there, we found two gentlemen sitting there engaged in writing, and he seemed
to think that that would not do, and passed across the hall into a corresponding small room
opposite, and through that into a large front room — immediately corresponding with the pri
vate audience hall — in which there was a bed; he locked the door, and stepping around into
a space behind the bed, drew up two chairs, and asked me to take a seat. Mr. Seward did
not go in with us. As I was about sitting down, said he, "Mr. Baldwin, I am afraid you
have come too late." "Too late for what? " said I. Said he, " I am afraid you have come
too late; I wish you could have been here three or four days ago." "Why," said I, "Mr.
President, allow me to say I do not understand your remark ; you sent a special messenger
to Richmond"
Question. You got the request to Mr. Summers on tho 3d of April?
Answer. Yes, sir.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 103
Question. And you started
Answer. Within three hours.
Question. And you arrived on the morning of the 4th f
Answer. Yes; and my interview with Mr. Lincoln was about 11 o'clock that day. Said I,
** I do not understand you ; you sent a special messenger to Richmond, who arrived there
yesterday; I returned with him by the shortest and most expeditious mode of travel known ;
it was physically impossible that I or any one else, answering to your summons, could have
got here sooner than I have arrived ; I do not understand what you mean by saying that I
have come too late." Said he, "Why do you not all adjourn the Virginia convention?"
Said I, "Adjourn it! — how ? do you mean sine die? " "Yes," said he, "sine die; why do
you not adjourn it; it is a standing menace to me, which embarrasses me very much." Of
course you will understand that I do not pretend to recollect the language at all, but this is
about the substance of it. Said I, " Sir, I am very much surprised to hear you express that
opinion; the Virginia convention is in the hands of Union men; we have in it a clear and
controlling majority of nearly three to one ; we are controlling it for conservative results ;
we can do it with perfect certainty, if you will uphold our hands by a conservative policy
here. I do not understand why you want a body thus in the hands of Union men to be dis
persed, or why you should look upon their sessions as in any respect a menace to you ; we
regard ourselves as co-operating with you in the objects which you express to seek ; besides,"
said I, "I would call your attention to this view : If we were to adjourn that convention
sine rfte, leaving these questions unsettled in the midst of all the trouble that is on us, it
would place tho Union men of Virginia in the attitude of confessing an inability to meet the
occasion ; the result would be, that another convention would be called as soon as legisla
tion could be put through for the purpose."
Question. Was the legislature of Virginia then in session in the same city, Richmond ?
Answer. Yes, sir; that is my impression. Said I, "As soon as the necessary legislation
can be gotten through, another convention would be called, and the Union men of Virginia
could not, with a proper self-respect, offer themselves as members of that convention; having
had the full control of one, and having adjourned without having brought about any sort of
settlement of the troubles upon us. The result would be that the next convention would be
exclusively under the control of secessionists, and that an ordinance of secession would be
passed in less than six weeks. Now, said I, sir, it seems to me that our true policy is to hold
the position that we have, and for you to uphold our hands by a conservative, conciliatory,
national course. We can control the matter, and will control it if you help us. And, sir, it
is but right for me to say another thing to you, that the Union men of Virginia, of whom I
am one, would not be willing to adjourn that convention until we either effect some settlement
of this matter or ascertain that it cannot be done. As an original proposition, the Union men
of Virginia did not desire amendments to the Constitution of the United States ; we were per
fectly satisfied with the constitutional guarantees that we had, and thought our rights and in
terests perfectly safe. But circumstances have changed : seven States of the south, the cotton
States, have withdrawn from us and have left us in an extremely altered condition in reference
to the safe-guards of the Constitution. As things stand now, we are helpless in the bauds of
the north. The balance of power which we had before for our protection against constitu
tional amendment is gone. And we think now that we of the border States who have adhered
to you against all the obligations of association and sympathy with the southern States have
a claim on the States of the north which is of a high and very peculiar character. You all
say that you do not mean to injure us in our peculiar rights. If you are in earnest about it
there can be no objection to your saying so in such an authentic form as will give us the force
of constitutional protection. And we think you ought to do it, not grudgingly, not reluctantly,
but in such a way as that it would be a fitting recognition of our fidelity in standing by you
under all circumstances — fully, and generously, and promptly. If you will do it in accord
ance with what we regard as due to our position, it will give us a stand-point from which we
can bring back the seceded States." I cannot follow the conversation through ; but he asked
me the question. "What is your plan?" Said I, "Mr. President, if I had the control of your
thumb and forefinger five minutes I could settle the whole question." "Well," said' lie,
"that would seem to be a simple process." Said I, "I can settle it as surely as that there is
a God in heaven, if you just give me the control of your thumb and forefinger five minutes.
To let you understand how earnestly I believe it, as God is my judge, if I could get the con
trol of that thumb and forefinger for five minutes, I would be willing, unless my weak flesh
would fail me, that you should take me out within the next five minutes and knock me on
the head on Pennsylvania avenue." "Well," said he, " what is your plan ?" Said I, "Sir,
if I were in your place I would issue a proclamation to the American people, somewhat after
this style: I would state the fact that you had become President ot the United States as the
result of a partisan struggle partaking of more bitterness than had usually marked such
struggle ; that, in the progress of that struggle, there had naturally arisen a great deal of
misunderstanding and misrepresentation of the motives and intentions of both sides ; that you
had no doubt you had been represented, and to a large extent believed, to be inimical to the
institutions and interests and rights of a large portion of the United States, but that, however,
you might, in the midst of a partisan struggle, have been more or less (as all men) excited at
times, occupying the position of President of the United States, you had determined to take
1 04 RECONSTRUCTION.
your stand on the broad platform of the general Constitution, and to do equal and exact fus
tice to all, without regard to party or section; and that, recognizing the fact without admit
ting the right, but protesting against the right, that seven States had undertaken to withdraw
themselves from the Union, you had determined to appeal to the American people to settle
the question in the spirit in which the Constitution was made— American fashion — by consul
tation and votes instead of by appeal to arms. And I would call a national convention of
the people of the United States and urge upon them to come together and settle this thing.
Arid in order to prevent the possibility of any collision or clash of arms interfering with this
effort at a pacific settlement, I would declare the purpose (not in any admission of want of
right at all, but with a distinct protest of the right, to place the forces of the United States
wherever in her territory you choose) to withdraw the forces from Sumter and Pickens, de
claring that it was done for the sake of peace, in effort to settle this thing; and that you were
determined, if the seceded States chose to make a collision, that they should come clear out
of their way and do it. Sir, said I, if you take that position there is national feeling enough
in the seceded States themselves and all over the country to rally to your support', and you
would gather more friends than any man in the country has ever had." He said something
or other, I do not recollect what, but it created the impression upon me that he was looking
with some apprehension to the idea that his friends would not be pleased with such a step,
and I said to him, " Mr. President, for every one of your friends whom you would lose by
1 national standard of
am thinking about,
not care whether peo-
rmow of you as a poli-
tiave fallen into the error of addressing you by
the motives which are generally potent with politicians, the motive of gaining friends. I
thank you that you have recalled to me the higher and better motive, the motive of being
right; and I assure you that, from now out, I will address you only by the motives that
ought to influence a gentleman." •
Question. You drew a distinction between a politician and a gentleman?
Answer. Yes, sir ; he laughed a little at that. He said something about the withdrawal of the
troops from Sumter on the ground of military necessity. Said I, " That will never do, under
heaven. You have been President a month to-day, and if you intended to hold that position
you ought to have strengthened it, so as to make it impregnable. To hold it in the present
condition of force there is an invitation to assault. Go upon higher ground than that. The
better ground than that is to make a concession of an asserted right in the interest of peace."
'J Well," said he, " what about the revenue? "What would I do about the collection of du
ties ?" Said I, " Sir, how much do you expect to collect in a year?" Said he, "Fifty or
sixty millions." "Why, sir," said J, "four times sixty is two hundred and forty. Say
$'250,000,000 would be the revenue of your term of the presidency ; what is that but a drop
in the bucket compared with the cost of such a war as we are threatened with ? Let it all go,
if necessary ; but I do not believe that it will be necessary, because I believe that you can
settle it on the basis I suggest." He said something or 'other about feeding the troops at
Sumter I told him that would not do. Said I, " You know perfectly well that the people
of Charleston have been feeding them already. That is not what they are at. They are as
serting a right. They will feed the troops, and fight them while they are feeding them. They
are after the assertion of a right. Nowr, the only way that you can manage them is to with
draw from them the means of making a blow until time for reflection, time for influence which
can be brought to bear, can be gained, and settle the matter. If you do not take this course,
if there is a gun fired at Sumter — I do not care on which side it is fired — the thing is gone."
"Oh," said he, "sir, that is impossible." Said I, "Sir, if there is a gun fired at Fort Sumter,
as sure as there is a God in heaven the thing is gone. Virginia herself, strong as the Union
majority in the convention is now, will be out, in forty-eight hours." " Oh," said he, " sir,
that is impossible." Said I, "Mr. President, I did not come here to argue with you; I am
here as a witness. I know the sentiments of the people of Virginia, and you do not. I un
derstood that I was to come here to give you information of the sentiments of the people, and
especially of the sentiments of the Union men of the convention. I wish to know before we
go any further in this matter, for it is of too grave importance to have any doubt of it, whether
I am accredited to you in such a way as that what I tell you is worthy of credence." Said
he, "You come to me introduced as a gentleman of high standing and talent in your State."
Said I, "That is not the point I am on. Do I come to you vouched for as an honest man,
who will tell you the truth ?" Said he, " You do." " Then," said I, " sir, I tell you, before
God and man, that if there is a gun fired at Sumter this thing is gone. And I wish to say to
you, Mr. President, with all the solemnity that I can possiblv summon, that if you intend to
do anything to settle this matter you must do it promptly. I think another fortnight will bo
too late. You have the power now to settle it. You have the choice to make, and you have
got to make it very soon. You have, I believe, the power to place yourself up by the side of
Washington himself, as the savior of your country, or, by taking a different course of policy,
to send down your name on the page of history notorious forever as a man so odious to the
American people that, rather than submit to his domination, they would overthrow the best
government that God ever allowed to exist. You have the choice to make, aud you have,
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 105
in QIT judgment, no more than a fortnight to make it in." That is about as much as I can
gather out of the conversation now. I went to Alexandria that night, where I had telegraphed
an acceptance of an invitation to make a Union speech, and made a speech to a large audi
ence, which, I believe, was the last Union speech made in Virginia before the war ; and I
went on to Richmond and reported to these gentlemen.
Question. You received from Mr. Lincoln no letter or memorandum in writing ?
Answer. Nothing whatever.
Question. No pledge ? no undertaking?
Answer. No pledge : no undertaking ; no offer; no promise of any sort. I went back to
Mr. Reward's from the President's house that afternoon and had a long talk with him. I
found Mr. Seward extremely earnest, as far as mortal man could judge from his manifesta
tions, in the desire to settle the matter. He seemed to have a shrinking from the idea of a
clash of arms, and the impression that he made upon me was, that he thought the days ot
philosophic statesmanship about to give way to the mailed glove of the warrior, and that he
was earnestly engaged in the effort to secure peace and union, as the means of averting the
military era which he thought he saw dawning upon the country. I had a good deal of in
teresting conversation with him that evening. I was about to state that I have reason to be
lieve that Mr. Lincoln himself has given an account of this conversation, which has been
understood — but, lam sure, misunderstood — by the persons to whom he talked, as giving the
representation of it that he had offered to me, that if the Virginia convention would adjourn
sine die he would withdraw the troops from Sumter and Pickens. I am as clear in my recol
lection as it is possible to be under the circumstances that he made no such suggestion, as I
understood it, and said nothing from which I could infer it, for I was so earnest and so excited —
the matter involving what I thought would give a promise of settlement to the country — that
I am sure no opening of that sort, (although I would not have thought it a practicable scheme, )
no overture of any sort could have escaped me. I am sure that I would have made it the
foundation, if not of direct negotiation, at least of temporizing, in connexion with others.
But I have reason to believe that persons have derived that impression from conversation with
Mr. Lincoln. Whether Mr. Lincoln intended to convey that impression to them or not, of
course I have no means of judging.
Question. Did Mr. Seward send by you any letter or memorandum in writing ?
Answer. None whatever — no letter or memorandum in writing, nor any message to any
body, except his respects and compliments to Judge Summers.
Question. One object of your visit to the President was to obtain from him some assurance
that he would take some step in the interest of peace, or to prevent a collision of arms ?
Answer. No, sir. That was one of the objects of the interview; but my visit there was
at the instance of the President himself, who, without at all indicating the purpose of con
ference, expressed a desire to have a conference with some gentleman who would be a recog
nized exponent of the Union sentiment .in the Virginia convention.
Question. You entertained the hope, at that interview, of getting from him some assur
ance, some encouragement, by which the collision of arms might be prevented?
Answer. That was my object and purpose earnestly.
Question. Was it not your main object and purpose ?
Answer. It was the only object that I had. The object I had in going on was to meet what
I regarded, and what our friends in the convention regarded, as an overture to what we had
long desired — an understanding with Mr. Lincoln. We thought that if we could get into
communication with him, and could convey to him a clear and honest exposition of the sen
timents prevailing in Virginia, we could influence his policy in such a way as to enable us
to bring about a settlement of the affair. At the time I was here I saw, and was intro
duced to, in the President's room, a number of governors of States. It was at the time the
nine governors had the talk here with the President — the time when there was an immense
outside pressure brought to bear upon the President. We thought in Virginia that if we
could only present fairly to the mind of Mr. Lincoln the necessities of our situation, the dif
ficulties with which we were surrounded, and the prospect of success on the line of policy
which we could suggest, that we could accomplish something towards settling the question.
I came on to Washington, not with any denned purpose at all, but with the general purpose
of trying to establish a good understanding with him, and inducing him, as far as possible,
to take the views which universally prevailed among Union men in the Richmond conven
tion.
Question. Do you possess a good memory ?
Answer. My literal memory is not good. I cannot say that it is peculiarly bad ; but, in
reference to results, as bearing on a line of policy or argument which I pursued, I think my
memory is unusually good.
Question. You are by profession a counsellor-at-law ?
Answer. Yes,
Question. Accustomed to listen to the details of testimony?
Answer. I am, sir. My habit is to take no notes of testimony at all: and I habitually
conduct cases with forty or fifty witnesses, taking no minute whatever except of the name
of the witness. My memory is sufficiently accurate, and is so recognized by my associates
at the bar, that when a bill of exceptions in regard to facts developed on the trial is tu be
106 RECONSTRUCTION.
made, they very often call upon me to write the testimony from my memory in preference
to writing1 it from such notes as were taken by the bar. But I do not recollect it iri the way
the witnesses gave it. I recollect it as it clusters around the course of argument which I am
preparing in my own mind during the case as it fits upon the line of my own thought. I
recollect all that a number of witnesses said on the same subject, and not a continuous
recollection of what each witness said.
Question. You recollect the substance and the result ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; the substance and result.
Question. Is it, in your opinion, in any degree likely that in this narrative you are mis
taken as to any material fact that transpired in the conversation?
Answer. I think not. I may have omitted entire branches of what occurred. It may be
that entire subjects which I have not mentioned at all might be brought to my mind ; but as
to the subjects which I have touched I have as much confidence in the recollection which I
have of them as I can have in my recollection of anything transpiring that far off. It was
a subject of more interest to me than anything that ever happened to me, and when I re
turned I repeated it over and over again to the gentlemen who had concurred iu sending
me, and it impressed itself deeply on my mind.
Question. You think you cannot be mistaken when you say that Mr. Lincoln did not
assure you, in any form, that it was his purpose to withdraw the garrison from Sumter and
Pickens at that time ?
Answer. Of course I would not be willing to say, if I heard that Mr. Lincoln had given
a different representation of it, that it was impossible he should have done so. I have
no reason to believe that Mr. Lincoln' was a man capable of intentional misrepresentation in
a matter of that sort ; therefore I would not, of course, undertake to say that it was impos
sible he could have intended to convey that impression. If I were certified that Mr. Lincoln
had said he intended to give me that impression I should be bound to concede it, although
at the same time I should be bound to say that the idea never occurred to me, and that when
I first heard that such an idea had been suggested I was as much surprised as I was ever in
my life?
Question. What is the state of feeling on the part of the secessionists of Virginia towards
the government of the United States ?
Answer. Well, sir, I believe the feeling that it is and is to be our government is universal.
If there is any feeling of dissatisfaction, (and there is a feeling of dissatisfaction in refer
ence to the dela}7" and the refusal of representation,) it is more like the feeling which a po
litical party out of power has toward the political party in power, in a government recog
nized by both and intended to be recognized by both, than anything else. It has no kinship
whatever with the idea of resisting or overthrowing the government.
Question. You have no ground to suspect any combination as still existing in Virginia,
having in view the overthrow of the government ?
Answer. Not only have I no ground to suspect it, but I think I can say I know it is not
so, because I have been in intercourse with the most bitter, determined, obstinate, and violent
of all the men in Virginia who were concerned in the whole affair, and I not only do not
know of such a thing, and do not suspect it, but anybody who would tell me that he did
know it I would suspect of being a liar.
Question. You understand the contemplated amendment of the Constitution relating to
the basis of representation now pending in the United States Senate.
Answer. Yes, sir; I think I do.
Question. If that amendment should be ratified, and become a part of the Constitution ot
the United States, would the people of Virginia, in your apprehension, ever be willing to
grant the blacks the right of voting ?
Answer. Of course no man can tell what would be the wearing effect of generation, or
agitation of a subject of that sort ; but I think it is clear as any proposition in the world,
that if you place the people of Virginia in the attitude that they arc to oe diminished in con
sideration and in influence, and in their due power in the government, because of their
unwillingness to place the negro on the ground of political equality, it will plant a root of
bitterness such as has not been known even in the bitterness of the war. That is my judg
ment and belief. It would lead to political combinations of every sort. We would have
advocates of suffrage of women, of minors, and foreigners, and negroes, in every shade of
combination and confusion. I would regard it as being the entering Avedge of more mischief,
more trouble, more ill Avill, more dissatisfaction and disloyalty to the government of the
United States, than all other causes that have ever combined together.
Question. So that you are fully of opinion that, instead of being a measure of peace,
conciliation, and tranquillity, it would be a renewal of the agitation in another form still
more bitter than that which existed before the war?
Answer. So thorough is my conviction on that subject that, while I believe I have local
attachment and State attachment as strong as any man living, the moment that amendment
was adopted I should feel bound, as a matter of ordinary self-protection, to quit Virginia, to
avoid every southern State as I would a pest house, and to seek to make my living some
where else.
Question. Would not the State, in case of such a ratification, evade, in some degree, the
effect of it by prescribing property qualification for voters, or the qualification of intelligence ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 107
Answer. I have no doubt at all that if that constitutional amendment were adopted, all
the expedients which ingenuity and chicane could suggest would be resorted to to get around
it and evade it in every possible way ; and I do consider that one of, by no means the least
of, the objections to it.
Question. Do you think that in old Virginia a convention or legislature could be assembled
which would restrict the right of suffrage, narrow it from what it is now, in the case of
whites ?
Answer. I do not think there could. After the passage of the ordinance of secession,
when the people were all engaged in war, the convention went on and tried that thing to
some extent, not so much in reference to suffrage as in reference to elections, &c. — at all
events going back on the track — and it failed, even with all the advantages they had then.
I do not believe that, if you give fair notice, you can go back of universal suffrage. The fact
is that a great many of the most conservative men in Virginia, as far as I know, are universal
sujTrage men, as a conservative idea — the idea of getting to the bottom and knowing what is
under you. I am one of them myself. I have been always a universal suffrage man.
Question. Has therje ever existed any considerable party at the south that has favored the
establishment of a monarchical form of government at the south ?
Answer. I do not think I ever saw more than one or two men — and they were generally
these old fellows with ruffled shirts and knee-breeches — who were of that opinion, until
during the war. During the war we could hear a great many suggest monarchy and every
thing else, as a means of escaping from the Yankees. They were fighting us, and the idea
was if we could not whip them we would dodge them ; do anything in the world for that
purpose. I heard that sort of talk, but I never regarded it as anything serious, because I
suppose that a monarchy would be just as easily planted in this country as you could get a
cactus to grow in Canada.
Question. Have you not an idea that Jefferson Davis rather contemplated to make himself
a monarch ?
Answer. Not the least in the world. Jefferson Davis is one of the most curious men I
ever studied. I never was intimate with him, but I had opportunities of observing him a
good deal. He was a thorough tyrant in the sense that he exercised to the full extent every
power that he thought he had. But he was the least of a usurper of any man I ever saw.
He had no desire to extend his powers ; on the contrary, he rather desired that they should
be diminished. I think he was a conscientious man ; a man of rather narrow, (as I thought, )
contracted views of constitutional construction. A straw of construction across his path
would stop him from the most darling wish of his heart.
Question. In his temper I suppose he was arbitrary ?
Answer. I think he was. I do not know his personal peculiarities on that point. I have
had very little personal intercourse with him. You (Mr. Howard) take the distinction I draw
between a man who exercises what he believes to be his powers, fully, and the man who
seeks to have other powers.
Question. Do you think he could be convicted of treason in Virginia?
Answer. Well, sir, I do not see why he could not be convicted of treason in Virginia just
as well as any other man could be convicted of any other offence, if the law is laid down
distinctly to the jury, and if you happen to get an honest jury. I do not see why not. In
Virginia 999 out of every ],000 people, at least, were in the same boat with Jefferson Davis.
I do not exaggerate when I say 999 out of every 1,000. And, of course, you would find it
difficult to get any confederates of his, those who were with him, and fighting for him, and
hurrahing for him all the time, to desire to convict him. They would not do it if they could
help it ; but that you can find enough honest men in Virginia or any other southern State to
respond to a question of fact, I am as well satisfied as I am of anything. Take my own
case : I never believed in the right of secession. I do not believe in it now. I always
looked upon the whole thing as an absurdity and humbug. I always believed, and believe
now, that, as a question of law, right, and pOAver, the government had a right to hang Jeff.
Davis and me too. The question of power and the question of policy are different questions.
If I were to sit as a juror on Jeff. Davis' s case, or my own, or Keen's, I would not need any
instructions from a judge to make me say that he ought to be hanged — not a bit. These are
my views of the law and of the facts. There are a great many people in Virginia of the
same way of thinking. I went into the rebellion as a rebel, with my eyes wide open, to
take the consequences. I was not a secessionist. I never acknowledged the name of seces
sionist. I was a rebel.
Question. You never set up the right of a State to secede ?
Answer. I never thought of it.
Question. You put it simply on the ground of revolution ?
Answer. Of revolution. I thought if we succeeded that it would bo all right ; and if not,
expected to have a hard road to travel.
Question. You really found a much easier one than you expected ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I expected to be hanged ; and all that I have saved over and above
that 1 consider as clear profit.
Question. Please make a statement to the committee in reference to the acts of your legis
lature.
108 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. There is a general feeling manifested in the legislature to go over our laws and
to strike out the peculiar distinctive features separating the black and white races before the
law. That is the tendency of the legislature. For instance, the other day the subject of
apprentices was brought up, and apprentices, white and black, were placed on the same
footing, and in respect to both the employer is required to have them taught reading,
writing, and arithmetic, including the rule of three. There is no discrimination at all. In
reference to rape, abduction, and offences of that sort, all discrimination has been withdrawn
as between offences committed on persons of one or the other color. And so, as you go on,
we are wiping out gradually all distinctions ; they are not very numerous in our laws. You
would be surprised, in going over our legislation, to find how thoroughly the free negro has
been the equal of the white man before the law in Virginia. He has always had the same
right to sue, to sue as a pauper or as a paying suitor. His cases have been all tried in tlie
same way. He has always had the same right to call witnesses as a white man. He has
had the same right to acquire property, except in slaves ; and it is only of late years that he
has been prohibited from acquiring slaves. That was one of those retaliatory or preventive
measures that were adopted.
Question. Did the right of inheritance attach to the colored man ?
Answer. Yes, sir; there was no distinction whatever. The free negro had all the rights
pf a free man. There was some difference in regard to the mode of trying minor offences
committed by a free negro ; but the distinction was in favor of the negro. As, for instance,
it requires the verdict of a jury to acquit a white man of an offence in a capital case ; but
in the case of a negro, slave or free, tried before the court of oyer and termiuer, the dissent
of one magistrate out of five cleared him. It is a matter perfectly well understood by law
yers, who have practiced as criminal lawyers in Virginia, that a slave or a free negro had
always the decided advantage over a white man in criminal defences. //
[Mr. W. T. Joynes, heretofore examined as a witness, mentioned here, as an illustration
of this fact, that in a capital case which he once tried, and where one of the magistrates
refused to find a verdict of guilty, he had sentenced the accused, a colored man, to transpor
tation, and that the court of appeals had set aside the sentence, and discharged the prisoner.]
Witness: A white man, who is tried before a jmy, in case the jury disagree, is tried over
again; but a negro, tried before the court of oyer and terminer, where one of the five judges
dissents, is acquitted. / Wherever you come to a class of offences in regard to tampering
with slaves, or withdrawing them from their obligations to their masters, or anything of that
kind, the laws were severe, and the free negro was placed, in some respects, in a worse con
dition than a white man, but those cases are very few ; and now the universal sentiment and
feeling of the people is to give to the negro, in law, all the results of the fact of his freedom.
In regard to negro testimony there is a diversity of sentiment among our people. I believe
everybody agrees that one of the effects of freedom will be, sooner or later, to place the ne
gro and the white man, in this matter of testimony, on a perfect equality before the law, and
that this ought, and necessarily will be so ; but there is a diversity of opinion in reference
to the expediency and safety of undertaking to do that thing all at one job. I think tire
more prudent of our people are disposed to do that gradually, taking a step at the time, and
ascertaining how it works. I think the feeling now is to place in the hands of the negro
the right to testify in all matters affecting his person, his property, or his family ; to testify
in his own case, as a white man would do ; and to testify in criminal prosecutions for of
fences against his person, his property, or his family. I think that the disposition is to let
that be the first step, and to go on gradually. ' You, gentlemen of the north, who have not
a mass of 300,000 or 400,000 suddenly emancipated negroes in your midst, can hardly appre
ciate the caution which we feel to be necessary in dealing with any of these problems.
However much we may be determined to do them justice, there are questions of safety and
expediency which nwst be considered by prudent and discreet men. I have no hesitation in
saying that the desire and determination is, as rapidly as possible, to remove all those dif
ferences before the law, and to place the blacks on an equal footing of equality before the
law. That is my judgment and the temper of the legislature — to allow them all the civil
rights, the same as white men. There are several things to be taken into consideration. In
the first place, we must let^the public feeling of the white people mature. Our local govern
ment must conform to the judgment and opinion of our own people, and they must have
time to make up their mind to this thing. If you attempt to force the matter, you will see
that it will bring about an enmity between the races. There is, as Mr. Grattan remarked,
no unkind feeling towards the negro in a position where he is not asserting an equality ; but
the best friend a negro ever had in the world, the kindest friend he ever had, a young boy
or girl raised by a negro mammy, and devotedly attached to her, would become ferociously
indignant if the old mammy were to claim equality for a moment. This feeling is found in
the northern people as well as in the southern people. The idea that this equality was now
to be asserted and claimed would have a bad effect ; but go on gradually to remove these
different distinctions, and the people will find that it amounts to nothing in the end but what
is just and right in itself, and they will come to it without any shock to their feelings. I
think I can say with perfect confidence that our people will deal with the negro in all
respects as kindly, and extend privileges to him as rapidly, as if he had been manumitted
by the judgment of our own people, without any foreign influence at all : that is my belief.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 109
I do not like the negro as well free as I did as a slave, for the reason that there is now be
tween us an antagonism of interest to some extent, while, before, his interest and mine were
identical. Then, I was always thinking of how I could fix him comfortably. Now, I find
myself driving a hard bargain with him for wrages ; and I find that sort of feeling suggested
directly by motives of interest coming in between the employer and the employed.
Question. You find the negro loves money as well as the white man ?
Answer. Certainly; he loves money ; but he knows nothing about taking care of it. My
negroes, when they draw their month's wages now, give a blow-out and have a dance in my
kitchen, and we find it necessary to put a clause in our contracts with them, giving the
employer the right to procure them decent clothes out of their wages.
(Mr. W. T. Joynes here stated as a remarkable fact that when negroes get money they
cease working till their money is all spent. Hence they flock into towns, where they can
work by the job. They have not got the idea of laying up anything for a rain}- day, and
they always spend their wages before their next wages come due, to which the witness
assented.)
Question. Do you think that this results in a great degree from the fact that they have
been slaves ?
Answer. It is to some extent the intrinsic character of the animal. It is characteristic of
the free negroes as a class, although there are here and there exceptions.
Question. In the case of a compulsory change in the constitution or laws, by which the
right of suffrage should be given to the blacks of Virginia, would you anticipate scenes of
violence between the two races there?
Answer. It is very difficult to anticipate. I think that in the absence of interference from
the government there is not much prospect of anything like armed collision betwen the two
races. I think that the white and black races are so intermingled in the business of life that
the black race is under the influence of the white, and I think that as a result they like the
white people better than they do their own. I think it would be hard to unite the blacks
together as a race. I think the greatest danger they are in is that they will be oppressed by
the keenness of competition for employment, and by the superior sharpness of white persons in
individual cases getting the advantage of them. I do not think there is any prospect of armed
collisions, except the negroes are organized for some aggressive movement from without. If ,
that is the case I believe there would be.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that any such organization exists in Virginia
oil the part of the blacks ?
Answer. There are organizations of a benevolent character ; but I have no reason to believe
that they have any organization for any sinister purpose.
Question. Have you any idea that they have collected arms together for protection?
Answer. I have not the least idea of anything of the sort. I think they would be very
slow to do it. They are the best and kindest people I know of.
Question. Is not the negro, after all, in the main, submissive to authority and inclined to
be orderly ? Is he not as truthful as the same class of whites ?
Answer. It is extremely hard to compare classes. fMy own impression is that in the
moral and affectionate dispositions the negro is, perhaps, the equal of the white person up to
a certain point and under similar circumstances. As, for instance, the negro nurse is more
affectionate, more attached, and more devoted than the white. The negro servant is,
perhaps, more faithful and has less thought of self in his devotion to his master and em
ployer. I believe that in reading, and writing, and spelling, negroes learn almost as quickly
as whites; but I believe that when you have said that, you have given them about the highest
position they can get. I do not believe that, as a race, they will ever have the persistence
of purpose, or the energy, or the intellectual vigor to rise to anything like intellectual
equality with the white race. I think that they will get along very well in the ordinary
domestic relations, as servants and inferiors.
Question. You think, then, that in point of intellect they are inferior to the white race?
Answer. I do, decidedly ; that is, in certain qualities of the mind, the qualities which go
to build up a government, or to build up' a race, or to accomplish any great results requiring
persistent effort and combinations, I believe they are greatly inferior to the white race. But
in the little affectionate and moral attributes which go to make them amiable in their inter
course, kind, indulgent, obedient to the orders of other persons, I think they are just as good
as white men.
Question. What is their capacity tor acquiring a knowledge of music and painting?
Answer. I do not know about painting ; but a negro is a born musician, after a certain
fashion. I have rarely known a negro who ever acquired any great excellence as a
musician. They learn to play the fiddle by ear and to pick the barijo, and they do it re
markably well ; but I never knew a negro who made a really fine musician, except Blind
Tom, who wras an idiot. Blind Tom is the best performer I ever heard on the piano, except
Thalberg himself; but that is an exception, for Blind Tom has not sense enough to take
care of himself. He is blind and idiotic. I do not think negroes have intellect enough to
acquire superiority in any art requiring continuity of purpose.
110 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 14, 1866.
William J. Dews sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. State your residence and occupation.
Answer. Staunton, Virginia; professor of music.
Question. Are you a native Virginian ?
Answer. Yes ; I was bom in Isle of Wight county, near Richmond.
Question. Have you been a secessionist ?
Answer. No, sir ; thank Heaven.
Question. You have been uniformly a Union man ?
Answer. I have.
Question. What hare been your opportunities for observing the state of feeling in that
part of Virginia where you reside, during the war and since the war ?
Answer. I remained in the south until July, 1864, when I left Richmond and got through
the lines into West Virginia.
Question. And since the close of hostilities you have been residing at Staunton ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I went there as soon as communication was open.
Question. What is the feeling among the ex-rebels there towards the government of the
United States ?
Answer. As a general thing, the feeling is one of opposition, as far as my knowledge extends.
Question. How are they in the habit of speaking of the government ?
Answer. Disrespectfully. Of course there are exceptions.
Question. Are they understood as speaking against the present administration, or against
the government as a government ?
Answer. I understand that it is against the United States government. Some have refer
ence to the present administration ; but generally — my impression is from observation — it is
directed against the United States government.
Question. Do you hear expressions among them indicating their wish for a renewal of the
war?
Answer. Well, sir ; I cannot say that.
Question. Or a wish for southern independence ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Are such expressions frequent among them ?
Answer. They are not very frequent in my presence. A good many things of that
character do reach rny ears from those who are bold enough to say what they think on all
occasions, but from others I hear them indirectly..
Question. How do they feel in regard to the emancipation of their slaves ?
Answer. Generally speaking, they do not recognize it, only just so far as they are com
pelled. Some few do.
Question. How do the ex-rebels treat Union men ?
Answer. As a general tiling, they look upon them with contempt.
Question. Do they exhibit in their intercourse bitterness and hostility towards the Union
men?
Answer. They do.
Question. Are you aware of any scenes of violence recently growing out of feelings of
Unionism and rebelism ?
Answer. I am ; of attempted violence and of direct violence.
Question. Narrate such circumstances as occur to you as illustrations of the state of feeling.
Answer. A gentleman named Davis, a returned refugee and well-known Union man, was
insulted on the cars about three weeks ago, near the village of Mount Sydney, and a tight got
up. Two Union men were attacked at Mount Sydney (quite a strong Union place too) on the
day of an election for magistrates, and an attempt was made to put them out of the hotel.
They had been both in the federal army and had been discharged. But they drew their
revolvers and held their assailants at bay. Some government officers who were passing at
the time (the assistant superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau among them) were insulted.
Some of them were for stopping and settling it then, but better counsels prevailed. Several
other cases have been reported to me, but the names have escaped my memory. I have not
heard a complaint against a Union man for having attempted reviling against secessionists,
or anything of that sort.
Question. How is it in regard to social intercourse between ex-rebels and Unionists ?
Answer. There is not much. There, is some. Where ex-rebels regard a Union man as
having simply exercised his judgment and acted conseieutiotisly, they look at the matter fairly.
Question. State whether the ex-rebels in your vicinity outnumber the Unionists?
Answer. Yes, sir; probably eight or ten to one in the county.
Question. The Unionists are in a very small minority ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Can Unionists be elected to any office in that county ?
Answer. Oh no, sir; on the occasion when the difficulty occured at Mount Sydney the
magistrates who were elected were, as I was informed, ex-rebela.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. Ill
Question. How are northern men treated in that vicinity by ex-rebels ?
Answer. They are regarded pretty much in the same light as Union men of the county ;
perhaps the latter are thought even less of.
Question. Are northern men welcome as settlers down there, when they go to transact
business or to purchase property ?
Answer. They are, to a certain extent, as a matter of ^business.
Question. What chance does a Unionist stand to get justice in the State courts ?
Answer. I should not suppose, with perhaps a few exceptions, that he would have any
chance ; that is the impression of all the Union men. Union men are preparing a petition to
Congress to have all their lawsuits, of every description, referred to a military court or some
other tribunal, because they are convinced that they cannot have justice done them on
account of the prejudice against them ; probably two hundred and fifty persons in the county
have already signed the petition.
Question. Is that feeling very extensive among the Union people there ?
Answer. Yes, sir; it is universal. I learn that there are only two Union men in the
county who refuse to sign the petition, and they decline from a fear of being interfered with.
Question. What effect has the President's liberality in granting amnesties and pardons to
rebels had upon their minds generally ?
Answer. So far as my knowledge extends, I cannot say that it has had any good effect; it
has made them more contemptuous, if anything.
Question. How do they generally regard the oath of amnesty, when they take it?
Answer. With some few exceptions they feel as if they were simply constrained to do it,
just as a man might be compelled to give his money to a robber to save his life.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that there exists in Virginia, or elsewhere in
the rebel region, any secret society or combination having in view southern independence, in
any future contingency ?
Answer. I have no positive reason to suppose that such exists in the form of combinations
or associations, although I have heard such intimations.
Question. That such clubs did exist?
Answer. No ; but that such was the feeling in individual cases ; for instance, speaking of
the probable disagreement of the north in relation to acts of Congress, and hoping that such
differences might arise and might produce an appeal to arms in the north.
Question. L)o you mean to say that the apprehension is entertained by anybody in the
south that there is to be an appeal to arms at the north ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; that it is to eventuate in that, from disagreement between the republican
party and the President.
Question. And in that case, the secessionists are going to do what ?
Answer. They would then havp a chance for another trial for independence. Such an
opinion was advanced to me by the corporation attorney of Staunton, not two weeks since ;
he avowed himself as a secessionist, and that he was proud of it.
Question. What do they say generally in reference to a war between the United States and
some foreign power ?
Answer. In many cases they intimate their desire for it.
Question. From what you know of their temper and inclinations, have you reason to
apprehend that, in the case of a foreign war, many of them would join the common enemy
of the United States ?
Answer. My opinion is, that very many would ; but as to what proportion of them I am
not prepared to state ; I think that a great many of the thinking men would discourage it.
Question. Suppose it should become apparent that the rebel States stood a pretty good
chance to succeed in establishing their independence by allying themselves with a foreign
enemy, in the course of a foreign war, what would they do ?
Answer. I am of opinion that many of them would ally themselves with, the foreign
enemy. I do not know what feeling might arise when such a contingency occurred ; the
feeling might change, and all might rally around the flag.
Question. How do they feel toward the freedmeu ?
Answer. Very bitter ; but, to use their own terms, they regard the Union man about as
they do the nigger. Since I went back to Stauutou I have been invited to act as a commis
sioner in the bureau of refugees, in my leisure time. Some 'five days since, Mr. Tukey,
assistant superintendent, was absent in Kichmond on business, and the business of the
office was left in my charge. I had some difficulty with a magistrate there, an ex-rebel, who
interfered with me ; I threatened him with the military if he did not desist ; he refused to
desist, and I went to the mayor and requested him to do what I wanted, and he instantly did
so; it was to take a man out of jail, who had been put in without a hearing; there was
nothing at all against the man, and he was simply held in a small amount to keep the peace ;
the same corporation council appeared there, and argued that they should arrest me for in
terfering ; the town sergeant, who is a loyal man, spoke up and said, that I had done nothing
in the world but my duty ; the corporation attorney suggested that I should be arrested first
and examined afterwards ; the magistrate, after hearing the town sergeant, said there was
nothing against me ; the attorney seemed very much chopfallen, and used some insolent
language towards me, which stirred up my anger ; he offered to make a test case of it in
RECONSTRUCTION.
some other manner, and I told him just walk out of the office and make a test case of it in
any way he chose, which settled the matter.
Question. Whereupon he did not walk out?
Answer. He did not, Another man, named Bunch, a well-known rebel, also appealed
disturb the peace, me anair [jiuuuc "* •«— — -• — rr~-
commander of the troops at Charlottesville, asking him whether if it became necessary he
would be prepared to start some troops up to Staunton by the tram. tely
answered that he was prepared.
Question. The ex-rebels have no special fondness for the Union troops in their rnids
QoMtton. Would the whites in that part of Virginia willingly contribute for the educa
tion of all classes, blacks and whites ?
Answer. My impression is that they would not. The papers discountenance it, and make
fun of the negro schools and school teachers and Freedmen's Bureau.
Question How are teachers of colored schools treated by ex-rebels ?
Answer. They are not treated with any respect, with some few exceptions ; tl
probably not more than one or two families where they visit.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the education of the blacks ? Are they willing to
promote it, or do they discourage it ?
Answer. They discourage it. A collection was being made to build a church for the
blacks ; Mr. Sandy (Alex. H. H. ) Stuart subscribed five dollars, but remarked to the colored
man that he would give five dollars toward building the church, and would give nve dollars
niore if the bureau would leave, and if Mr. Tukey would leave; it was either Mr. Stuart or
Mr John B. Baldwin who said this ; I believe it was Mr. Stuart.
Question. Mr. Stuart ran for Congress on the secession ticket ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Who was his competitor?
Answer. Mr. Lewis, a Union man.
Question. Which was elected ?
Question. Did Mr. Stuart issue a card during the canvass in reference to the test oath ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What did he say in that card ?
Answer. He said, in substance, that he could not and would not take t
Question. That was before the election?
Answer. -Yes, sir, if I am not mistaken.
Question. By the oath, you refer to what!
Answer. To the test oath.
Question. Contained in the President's proclamation?
Answer. I presume so.
Question. By what majority was Stuart elected over Lewis?
Answer. I am not aware ; but if my memory serves me right, it was a pretty goo
J°lQuestion. Are you able to say whether or not Mr. Stuart took any part in the war, on the
nart of the rebels, encouraged, aided, or abetted it ?
Answer. I do not think he was in the army, because his age kept him out; he was re-
eavded as a tolerably good Union man during the war; but the Union men were ieartu
him ; they did not give him their confidence entirely, but he was looked upon as a li
friendly to the.Union men.
Question. Was he trusted by either party?
Answer. I cannot say positively.
Question. Did either party look upon him with any reliance ?
Answer. My impression is, that men who changed, like him, were not looked upon witl
confidence, except they took up arms direct in defence of secessionism ; they wen
upon with such respect as if they had.
Question. Do you think a jury could be got together in that county that would convict a
ringleader traitor of making war against the United States ?
Answer. I do not think so.
Question. Is your opinion founded on your knowledge of public feeling »
Answer. Yes, sir, on my knowledge and on.what I hear daily. I was told of a man the
other day in the country who said he would not sit as juror in a case between a Union n
and an ex-rebel, because he would be prejudiced against the Union man.
Question. Does any-other matter occur to your mind which you wish to stat .
Answer. I may state that the signers of the petition of which I spoke feel so tully c«
dent that thoy can get no justice in the State courts that they refuse to take any case there,
waitino- for something to turn up in their favor. Knowing the position that I hold, I have
received hundreds of messages from Dunkards and other Union men to that effect.
Question. Are the Duukards numerous in that county ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 113
Answer. Yes ; they are quite numerous ; and, possibly, ninety-nine out of every hundred
of them are Union men, except that they paid $500 each to the confederate government for ex
emption from military service ; they were required to pay it.
Question. How do the ex-rebels feel down there towards General Lee?
Answer. They regard him as a saint, so far as my knowledge extends.
Question. How do they feel towards Jefferson Davis ?
Answer. They regard him as a persecuted friend, as a general thing. I do not know that
I ever heard one say he was justly punished.
Question. Did you ever hear anything said about his connexion with the assassination of
Mr. Lincoln?
Answer. I have not, further than what I saw in the newspapers.
Question. How do the most pronounced among the secessionists feel in regard to the
assassination of Mr. Lincoln? Do they think it was an atrocious act or a justifiable act?
Answer. So far as my knowledge extends, they consider it an atrocious act generally ; it
would be exceedingly dangerous to express any different feeling, if they felt it ; I am not
prepared to say whether they mean what they say, or not. I heard a few say that they had
no regret about it, but the generality of them denounce the act. A lawyer named Hill, from
Highland county, came into the office recently and made a complaint that a white man who
had been arrested for theft, tried, found guilty, and punished by the provost marshal, and
who had received a certificate of the fact, had been brought before one of the civil courts on
the same charge, and that the court had refused to recognize the certificate of the provost
marshal, indorsed by Colonel Clay, commanding the post. The corporation counsel got up
and asked, contemptuously, who Colonel Clay was ; and he treated the certificate with the
utmost contempt. The trial is in progress now. The man managed to get bail, and his
lawyer applied to the office of the Freedmen's Bureau.
Question. What was the ruling of the court?
Answer. Mr. Hill, the counsel for the prisoner, said that the certificate was disregarded
entirely.
Question. Is Mr. Hill a credible, respectable man ?
Answer. Yes, so far as my knowledge extends. The facts are now being laid before General
Terry. In reference to the popular feeling I will give another illustration : After my return
to Staunton, about a month or six weeks since an article appeared in the Staunton Spectator,
copied from the Metropolitan Record, in reference to Union men, returned refugees, &c. —
very bitter and outrageous. Several Union men applied to me to reply to it. The editor of
the Spectator reluctantly agreed to publish my reply, and in the same number of the paper
he came out with a violent editorial in regard to the petition of which I have spoken. The
other two papers took it up and pitched into'me in regard to the petition and other matters.
I waited upon the editors of those papers and requested permission to reply to their articles,
which permission they accorded me ; but the editor of the Spectator refused me the same priv
ilege, treating my letter with contempt, and telling the bearer that he would receive nothing
from me.
Question. Is the Spectator a secession journal ?
Answer. It is ; and probably the most bitter in Staunton.
Question. How large a place is Staunton ?
Answer. A place of probably seven thousand inhabitants. The other day a flour inspector
remarked to a white man, who had appealed to the Freedmen's Bureau against an unjust im
prisonment, that any white man who would go to the bureau was no better than a nigger,
nor so good. This man holds the position of flour inspector at Staunton under the State
government, and is known as a notorious rebel.
Question. By whom was he appointed ?
Answer. By Governor Peirpoint.
Question. What is the political character of the Virginia legislature ?
Answer. From all I can learn they seem to be rebels — inclined that way.
Question. What public service has Mr. John B. Baldwin rendered'?
Answer. He was a member of the rebel Congress.
Question. House of representatives or senate ?
Answer. I cannot say.
Question. How long did he serve ?
Answer. I presume he served all the time. He was serving when I left the confederacy.
Question. Did he serve in the rebel army at all ?
Answer. I do not think he did. I may state in this connexion, that during General Hun
ter's raid I was within ten miles of Staunton, hiding, and happened to be in the vicinity of
the battle-field at Piedmont. When the wagon train came along I made the acquaintance of a
colonel and stated my position. He advised me to go to the mountains, as they would probably
have a heavy fight at Lynchburg. I went to Staunton with him, and rode in front of the
column into the town, where my little boy was. Next morning Mr. Baldwin came down out of
the mountains, coming from Richmond, and harangued the people in Stauntou, advising them
to resistance, and to make all efforts to rally. He said that the President had told him that the
valley should be held at all hazards ; that the people should have no fear of Hunter or any one
else. A large crowd had gathered around him. He was on horseback near the hotel. He
did not make any loud speech, but it was conversation. This was in the summer of 1864.
8 V NC SC
114 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 15, 1866.
Jolin Minor Botts sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In the county of Culpeper, State of Virginia.
Question. Were you a member of the secession convention of Virginia?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Where were you at the time?
Answer. I was ran for the convention as a Union candidate, but was beaten by a secession
candidate, the late rebel secretary of war, G. W. Randolph.
Question. Where were you during the session of that convention?
Answer. I was in Richmond.
Question. Were you well acquainted with their proceedings ?
Answer. I was tolerably familiar with them. I very seldom attended their discussions,
but I had a good deal of intercourse — constant intercourse — with the Union members of the
convention.
Question. Are you acquainted with George W. Summers, of Virginia?
Answer. Very well.
Question. Was he a member of the convention?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Was he a Union member?
Answer. He was.
Question. Have you any recollection of John B. Baldwin, of Virginia, who was a member
ol that convention, paying a visit to President Lincoln just before the firing on Fort Sumter?
Answer. I know nothing of it except what I derived from Mr. Lincoln himself, and from a
subsequent interview with, and admission on the part of, Mr. Baldwin, of the material por
tions of Mr. Lincoln's statement to me.
Question. Go on and state the substance of Mr. Lincoln's statement to you.
Answer. I arrived in Washington on the 5th day of April, 1 861. On Sunday afternoon, the
7th, I received a note from Mr. Lincoln, saying he would be glad to see me during the evening.
I went up to his house and spent from seven o'clock until eleven o'clock in company with
Mr. Lincoln, during which time we had a great deal of conversation upon the general affairs
of the country, and especially in reference to the condition of things in Virginia. During the
conversation Mr. Lincoln said to me that he had, about a week or ten days before that, pos
sibly a fortnight, written to Mr. Summers, with whom we had both served in Congress to
gether, asking him to come to Washington without delay, as he had a most important prop
osition to make to him, and that if he could not come himself he would send some other
prominent influential Union man of the convention to him ; that he had not heard from Mr.
Summers until the Friday preceding, which was the 5th ; that on that day Mr. John B.
Baldwin, a member of the convention, had presented himself to him as having been sent up
by Mr. Summers on the invitation of Mr. Lincoln ; that when he made this announcement
Mr. Lincoln said to him: "Ah, Mr. Baldwin, why did you not come here sooner? I have
been waiting and expecting some of you gentlemen of that convention to come to me for
more than a week past. I had a most important proposition to make to you. I am afraid
you have come too late. However, I will make the proposition now." Said he, " Mr. Bald
win, we have in Fort Sumter with Major Anderson about eighty men, and I learn from Ma
jor Anderson that his provisions are nearly exhausted — that he has so much beef, so much
pork, so many bushels of beans, potatoes, &c., but that his bread will not last longer than ti
particular day. I forget whether he said the next Wednesday or the Wednesday after, but
at that time his bread would give out. I have not only written to Governor Pickens, but I
Lave sent a special messenger to him to say that if he will allow Major Anderson to obtain
his marketing at the (Jharleston market, or if he objects to allowing our people to land at
Charleston, if he will 'have it sent to him, that I will make no effort to provision the fort ;
but that if he does not do that, I will not permit these people to starve, and that I shall send
provisions down — that I shall send a vessel loaded with bread," (that was his expression, by
which, of course, I understood provisions generally,) "and that if he tires on that vessel he
will fire upon an unarmed vessel loaded with nothing but bread ; but I shall at the same time
send a fleet along with her, with instructions not to enter the harbor of Charleston unless
that vessel is fired into ; and if she is, then the fleet is to enter the harbor and protect her.
Now," said he, " Mr. Baldwin, that fleet is now lying in the harbor of New York, and will
be ready to sail this afternoon at five o'clock ; and although I fear it is almost too late, yet I
will submit, anyway, the proposition which I intended when I sent for Mr. Summers. Your
convention in Richmond, Mr. Baldwin, has been sitting now nearly two months, and all
that they have done has been to shake the rod over my head. You have recently taken a
vote in the Virginia convention on the right of secession, which was rejected by ninety to
forty-five, a majority of two-thirds, showing the strength of the Union party in that conven
tion ; and if you will go back to Richmond and get that Union majority to adjourn and go
home without passing the ordinance of secession, so^auxious am I for the preservation of the
peace of this country, and to save Virginia and the 'other border States from going out, that
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 115
I will take the responsibility of evacuating Fort Sumter, and take the chance of negotiating
with the cotton States which have already gone out." "Well," said I, "Mr. Lincoln, how
did Mr. Baldwin receive that proposition ?" Raising his hands up in this way, (illustrating, )
he said : " Sir, he would not listen to it for a moment ; he hardly treated me with civility.
He asked me what I meant by an adjournment ; did I mean an adjournment sine die. ' Why,
of course, Mr. Baldwin,' said I, 'I mean an adjournment sine die. I do not mean to assume
such a responsibility as that of surrendering that fort to the people of Charleston upon your
adjournment, and then for you to return in a week or ten days and pass your ordinance of
secession after I have given up the fort.' "
As a matter of course I felt very much incensed that Mr. Baldwin should have rejected a
proposition which, it was manifest, as I thought at that time, would be the only means of saving
the country from the calamities through which it has passed; and I said at once: "Mr.
Lincoln, will you authorize me to make that proposition to the Union men of the convention ?
I will take the steamboat to-morrow morning and have a meeting of the Union men to-mor
row night, and I will guarantee, with my head, that they will adopt your proposition, and
adopt it willingly and cheerfully." "Oh," said Mr. Lincoln, " it is too late; the fleet has
sailed, and I have no means of communicating with it." "Well," said I, "will you au
thorize me to mention this circumstance for your own benefit ? because the attempt will be
made by all the demagogues in the southern country to impose the responsibilities of this war
upon your shoulders ; and they will say that you have come here for the purpose of making
war upon the institutions of the south, and that you cannot be driven from it." His reply
was: "Well, not just now, Botts; after awhile you may." The inference I drew from it
was this : that Mr. Lincoln was assuming a responsibility which would, at that day, have
been extremely distasteful to those who had elevated him to the presidency, but which I
think it is due now to history and to the character of Mr. Lincoln to make known, for it
should elevate him in the minds of all men, to see how anxious he was, and what personal
sacrifices he was prepared to make, in order to save the countiy from that ruinous and de
structive war which he foresaw.
Question. Did you take any memorandum of that conversation ?
Answer. I did not. There was no necessity for it. It was impressed so strongly upon
my mind that it could never be obliterated.
Question. Was anybody else present at that conversation ?
Answer. There was not ; but Mr. Lincoln has made the same statement to others, whose
names I will give you before I conclude.
Question. Did Mr. Lincoln say anything about issuing a proclamation, calling a conven
tion of the States, with a view to settle these difficulties ?
Answer. He did not.
Question. Are you quite sure of that ?
Answer. I am quite sure he did not.
Question. Are you perfectly sure, according to your best recollection, that Mis, Lincoln
told you that he had made that proposition to Mr. Baldwin to evacuate Fort Suniter on this
condition ?
Answer. I know it as well as I know you are standing before me and that I am answering
your question.
Question. Are you blessed with a good, retentive memory ?
Answer. I think that is pretty generally conceded by those who know me best ; but it
needs no distinct recollection on that subject, for I will proceed to show that the truth of this
conversation was admitted to me in the presence of another gentleman. Although there
was no person present when Mr. Lincoln made this communication to me, there was another
gentleman present when Mr. Baldwin admitted iU
Question. Go on with your narrative.
Answer. Of course, as Mr. Lincoln had declined to give me authority
Question. He did not wifih you to mention the conversation just then ?
Answer. Just at that time ; after awhile I might. I was very much surprised that, after
we got into the war, he did not make it known. I thought Mr. Lincoln would introduce
the subject, and make that representation in his first communication to Congress. I thought
it was due to himself that he should. Inasmuch as Mr. Lincoln expressed a desire that I
should not say anything about it at that time, of course I did not, in a general way. I re
mained in Washington until Monday morning, the 15th day of April, which was the day his
proclamation was issued. The next evening — my house in Richmond being, as it were,
something like the headquarters of the Union party when I was at home — quite a number
of gentlemen called upon me. In the course of conversation I mentioned it in rather a pri
vate way, because I did not feel myself at liberty then to make it a general communication
to the gentlemen in the room. I mentioned, in a private way, to Mr. J. F. Lewis, of Eock-
ingham county, who was a very warm and zealous friend of Mr. Baldwin, and who had the
most unlimited confidence in his loyalty and patriotism, this conversation that I had with
Mr. Lincoln, and I asked Mr. Lewis if he had heard anything of it. He said he had not
heard a word of it, and "moreover," said he, "I do not believe it. I would not believe
any man that I was not entirely familiar with, who would charge that John Baldwin had
taken upon himself such a responsibility as to have rejected the proposition, or to have with-
116 RECONSTRUCTION
held it from his Union colleagues ifi the convention, who would most gladly have adopted
it. And," said he, "if you do not object to it, I would like to ask Mr. Baldwin about it."
Said I, "so far from my objecting to it, I prefer that you would ask him, as you have inti
mated a doubt of the veracity of Mr. Lincoln." Mr. Lewis left my house at the usual bed
hour, and I think he visited Mr. Baldwin that night ; whether it was that night or the next
morning, I am not prepared to say ; but before I was out of bed the next morning Mr. Lewis
came to my room and told me that' he had seen Mr. Baldwin, and that Mr. Baldwin had
acknowledged to him that the proposition was made, and that, Upon his telling him that I
felt very much concerned about his having taken such a responsibility upon himself, Mr.
Baldwin said he would like to see Mr. Botts and make an explanation on the subject, and
of the reason why he had rejected it. " And," said Mr. Lewis, "he has consented to come
up with me immediately after breakfast, and as soon as I can have breakfast I shall bring
him up here in a hack." Shortly after I had finished my breakfast, Mr. Lewis and Mr.
Baldwin were announced. I went into the front room, and Mr. Lewis, Mr. Baldwin being
present, said to me, after the exchange of salutations, "Well, Mr. Botts, Mr. Baldwin has
come up here to make some explanation to you about the circumstances connected with the
conversation with Mr. Lincoln, and why he declined to accept the proposition." "Well,"
said I, " Mr. Baldwin, is it true that Mr. Lincoln did propose to you that if the convention
would adjourn and go home without passing the ordinance of secession, he would evacuate
Fort Sumter?" "Yes," said Mr. Baldwin, "he did." "My God," said I, "Mr. Baldwin,
wiry did you reject such a proposition as that?" The only answer he made me was by
taking out his watch and saying, "it only wants twenty minutes of the hour of meeting of
the convention, when a most important vote is to be taken," (which I knew to be the vote on
the ordinance of secession ;) " I arn obliged to be there punctually at the hour, and I have not
time to make the explanation I desire, but I will avail myself of the earliest opportunity to
make a full explanation of the whole of it." From that day to this I have not laid my eyes
on Mr. Baldwin, nor have I heard any explanation from him, nor have I had directly any
communication from him. I have been informed that Mr. Baldwin gets very much excited
whenever the subject is mentioned in his presence; and I have also been told that his
brother-in-law, Mr. Robert Gray, of Rockinghaui county, has said that, on one occasion,
when he spoke to Mr. Baldwin about it, he became very much excited indeed, and threat
ened what he would do towards Mr. Botts if Mr. Botts should attempt to use that against
him. It was not until about two or three weeks ago that I ever heard of any denial on the
part of Mr. Baldwin. Mr. Alexander Rives was at my house and communicated the fact to me
that Mr. Baldwin's friends, in his neighborhood, (Charlottesville,) were saying that Mr. Bald
win denied this conversation between Mr. Lincoln and himself, when I replied, "I do not be
lieve it. I believe that John Baldwin is too honorable a man to make a denial of anything so
palpable and so true, and which he knows could be proved upon him." But on hearing this
from Mr. Rives, I immediately wrote to Mr. Lewis, saying to him, in substance, "You
know, Lewis, that I have written a history of this war for thirty years before it broke out,
and that I have given this circumstance as an incident connected with the war, as due to
history and due to the memory of Mr. Lincoln, which I think will go to elevate him in the
eyes of all good men for the sacrifice he was willing to make for the good of his country ;
and you are the only person by whom I can prove Mr. Baldwin's admission; therefore I
want to fortify myself with the proof in the event that hereafter Mr. Baldwin may deny it.
You must write me a letter giving me substantially everything that you recollect about it.''
Mr. Lewis promised me to do it ; but he has never done it. I have met with him once or
twice since, and have said to him, " You have forgotten to write me that letter, and I must
be fortified with proof." One day during last week I met with Mr. Lewis at Willard's
hotel, and in the course of our conversation I said, "Lewis, you have never written me
coming
tain me, I am now coming here to sustain Mr. Lewis. I want to mention further, that there
was some other gentleman whom I met here during the winter, whose name I blame myself
very much for forgetting, (names and figures I never can recollect, but circumstances and
conversations that come under my observation, if they leave an impression upon my mind
at all, are very distinct, and are as fresh in my memory, I believe, for forty years past, as
they would have been had they occurred yesterday, ) and who told me that Mr. Lincoln had
mentioned the same thing to him. Within the last four weeks, in conversation with Gov
ernor Peirpoiut on this subject, expressing my surprise at having it intimated that Mr.
Baldwin denied it, Governor Peirpoiut remarked to me that Mr. Lincoln made the same
statement to him. I may have confounded the conversation of Governor Peirpoint with that
of the gentleman who spoke to rue at Willard's; but it was one or the other of them, and I
think Governor Peirnoint, who said that Mr. Lincoln communicated the same facts to him,
with this addition, that Mr. Baldwin also demanded the surrender of Fortress Monroe; to
which I replied, "Mr. Lincoln made no such communication as that to me."
Question. There are two circumstances, then, tending to corroborate your statement —
that made by the gentleman at the hotel, and that made by Governor Peirpoint. Is there
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 117
any other circumstance of a corroborative nature ? Did Mr. Lincoln repeat this conversa
tion to anybody else?
Answer". Not that I am aware of. I have talked very little about this thing, There was
no occasion for it during- the existence of the rebellion. I always intended— for the book
which I have written was written in 1861 — communicating it in that history of the war, or
the antecedents of the war, and there has been little opportunity to do it since. I have con
versed with very few persons on the subject.
Question. If there be any other circumstance connected with that particular transaction
going to corroborate the statement Avhich you have made, will you relate it ?
Answer. I do not recollect any, except I believe that the fleet did sail about that time,
and it can be readily ascertained whether Mr. Lincoln did send a messenger to Governor
Pickens with that communication, which would be a corroborating circumstance.
Question. Have you ever heard of the existence of such a communication?
Answer. I think I have seen some mention of it in the papers ; but I do not recollect
exactly when or by whom. There is another circumstance which is partially corroborative.
In an interview which I had with Mr. Chase, then Secretary of the Treasury, now Chief
Justice of the United States, I made some allusion to Mr. Lincoln's proposition, and Mr.
Chase asked me what proposition I alluded to. I said "his proposition relative to the
action of the Virginia convention." Said he, "I do not know what that is; what is it?"
To which I replied, "Well, Mr. Chase, if you don't know it, it is not forme to communi
cate it." I had taken it for granted that it had been mentioned ; but I suppose that Mr.
Lincoln had forbore to mention it to his cabinet until he ascertained whether it would be suc
cessful or not. Another circumstance presents itself at this moment to my mind which does
serve to corroborate this statement. Mr. John Lewis was the colleague in the convention
of Mr. Algernon S. Gray, and they occupied the same room. Mr. Lewis told me that when
he mentioned to Mr. Gray the conversation which had passed between him and myself in
reference to Mr. Lincoln's proposition to Mr. Baldwin, Mr. Gray exhibited the most extra
ordinary surprise, that he sprang out of bed and said, "Where in -the world did you get that
from?" Mr. Lewis told him that Mr. Botts had just returned from Washington, and had
communicated it to him that night, to which Mr. Gray replied, "I did not suppose there
were more than three men in the city of Richmond who knew of it." Mr. Gray has
informed me that he has been summoned to appear before this committee, and that would be
a very proper subject of interrogation. You asked me if I were certain that Mr. Lincoln
said nothing about a proclamation calling a national convention. I am sure of it, because
it was a proposition which I had myself submitted to Mr. Lincoln at an early day. I came
here — I do not recollect the date — during the agony under which we were laboring every
where, and I submitted to Mr. Bates, the Attorney General, with whom I was very intimate,
a proposition which he requested me to submit at once to Mr. Seward. I submitted it to
Mr. Seward, and Mr. Seward requested me at once to lay it before the President, and he
gave me a note to the President, saying that I had a most important suggestion to make to
him. I went at once to Mr. Lincoln, and I made the suggestion. It was this : that he
should issue his proclamation calling a national convention so to amend the Constitution as
to give to the cotton States that had already seceded leave to go out, and thereby to save the
question of the right of secession ; the object of which was, as I explained to Mr. Lincoln,
to make this a foreign and not a civil war, to save Virginia, and the other border States
wrhich would be influenced by her action, to the Union, and that if they did not come to
their senses and ask for readmission within a certain limited time, it would be a capital occa
sion to apply the principle of the Monroe doctrine or the doctrine of the Ostend manifesto
to them, to give them a little of their own physic, to conquer them and hold them as con
quered provinces until they were fit to come in again as States. This I afterwards sub
mitted in a correspondence to Mr. Bates. Therefore, if Mr. Lincoln had said anything
about the proclamation, it would have been so -entirely in accordance with the proposition
submitted by me to him that I could not have forgotten it. When I mentioned the
matter to Mr. Lincoln he said that it was a proposition worthy of the highest consideration,
and that it should have his attention.
[The testimony of John B. Baldwin, hitherto taken before this committee, in reference to
his interview with President Lincoln, was here read to the witness.]
Question. Do you wish to say anything in reference to the statement of Mr. Baldwin?
Answer. I cannot undertake to account for the discrepancy between Mr. Baldwin's recol
lection and Mr. Lincoln's, or between Mr. Baldwin's recollection and that of Mr. Lewis
and myself; nor will I undertake to express an opinion on the question of veracity which
would be raised between Mr. Lincoln's statement and Mr. Baldwin's admission, about
which I do not think it is possible that either Mr. Lewis or myself can be mistaken. I have
had so little disposition to do Mr. Baldwin an injury by making a public statement of this
terrible responsibility, which I have always felt rested on his shoulders, that in the historical
account I have given of it I had left the name of Mr. Baldwin in blank, and should not have
given the name, as it was not material to the truth of history that the name should be given,
until I heard that Mr. Baldwin had denied it, and then I determined to give Mr. Baldwin the
benefit of a public denial by inserting his name, which I have doue,
Question. You then resided in Richmond ?
118 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You were personally known, perhaps, to every member of the convention ; they
w ere your acquaintances, were they not ?
Answer. I was living- in Richmond, and I suppose that, either personally or politically, I
was known to every member of the body, although 1 think that tbere were perhaps some
members in the convention with whom I had formed no particular personal acquaintance,
but my acquaintance with both parties was very general.
Question. If Mr. Baldwin had returned to Richmond, arid, as he remarks in his testimony,
had reported the interview which he had with President Lincoln to many persons, members
of the convention, is it not likely you would Have known of that report ?
Answer. If he had reported it as Mr. Lincoln had reported it to me, I unquestionably
should have known it ; and I think there is no doubt whatever that if it had been mentioned
to those gentlemen with whom I had communication, the Union men of the convention, it is
scarcely possible it would have been withheld from me. But Mr. Gray's declaration, who
was on terms of as close intimacy with Mr. Baldwin as any gentleman in the convention,
shows, I think, that it could not have been mentioned, as Mr. Gray expressed the supposition
that it had not been known to more than three persons in the city of Richmond.
Question. And if the report of that interview of Mr. Baldwin with President Lincoln had
been made, as he has given it here in his testimony, would you not have been just as likely
to have known it?
Answer. I think that in the event of any communication of that kind being made to the
Union men I was obliged to have heard it, because they came to my house every night to
consult and confer together as to the condition of things in the convention, and as to the
course to be pursued in reference to the various questions constantly arising. It is hardly
possible to suppose that some one or more of them would not have mentioned the interview.
But I never have heard any member of that convention speak of the interview, except Mr.
Lewis, Mr. Gray, and Mr. Baldwin himself, that I recollect.
Question. Can you fix the date on which you first heard of Mr. Baldwin having had an
interview with President Lincoln ?
Answer. Most distinctly ; it was on Sunday night, the 7th of April, 1861.
Question. Then you first heard of it ?
Answer. Then I first heard of it.
Question. From Mr. Lincoln ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. You had not heard of it before ?
Answer I had not heard of it before. I knew that Mr. Baldwin was here to see Mr.
Lincoln, but under what circumstances and for what purpose I did not know.
Question. You heard it on the 7th ?
Answer. Yes
Question. Mr. Baldwin testified that the interview took place on the 4th of April ; where
were you on the 5th and 6th ?
Answer. I reached the city of Washington on the morning of the 5th or the evening of the
5th, I cannot recollect which ; but my impression is that I left home on the night of the 4th,
and reached here on the morning of the 5th.
Question. Suppose that proposition had been made fairly and openly to the Unionists of
the Virginia convention, what effect would it have had — I mean Mr. Lincoln's proposition as
stated to you ?
Answer. I have no hesitation in saying that it would have met with, in my opinion, the
very general concurrence of the Union men, with whom I was in constant association ; and
that the democratic members themselves, not knowing the cause of the movement to adjourn,
would all have voted for an adjournment, for the very reason that they had just been beaten
so very badly on the resolution touching the right of secession that they 'were themselves
anxious for an adjournment, having despaired of being able to carry an ordinance of seces
sion through the convention.
Question. Do you apprehend that the adjournment of that convention would have pre
vented the State of Virginia from going out of the Union and joining' the southern con
federacy ?
Answer. Most unquestionably. I have no idea that a majority, or anything approximating
a majority, of the people of Virginia, were, at the time of the passage of the ordinance of
secession in convention, in favor of it.
Question. Suppose that proposition had been made, and suppose the convention had ad
journed sine die, do you think that the calling of a national convention by the President
would have prevented war ?
Answer. 1 do, sir. I do not know that it would have prevented it ultimately between the
United States and the States which had already seceded; but I think it would have pre
vented Virginia from going 6ut, iind I think that the action of North Carolina, Tennessee,
Kentucky, Arkansas, and Missouri all depended in a very material degree on the action of
Virginia.
Question. If this whole proposition had been communicated to the Unionists of the Vir-
VIRGINIA — NORTH. CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 119
ginia convention, together with a call for a national convention, would that have prevented
the breaking out of civil war?
Answer. I think it would, for the reason that, although the democracy, which never meant
to be satisfied with anything but war, despairing of being able to carry the ordinance, would
have voted for the adjournment ; whilst the Union men, who wanted peace, would also have
voted for an adjournment.
Question. You are well acquainted with Mr. Baldwin ?
Answer. I never had any personal intimacy with Mr. Baldwin. I have known him for a
number of years, but we have had no particular personal intimacy.
Question. How did he vote in the convention upon the final question of secession?
Answer. On the first vote on the ordinance of secession he voted against it.
Question. State what his general course was ?
Answer. Mr. Baldwin voted against the ordinance of secession on the 17th of April, 1861.
Within some two or three days after the passage of the ordinance, and before the ordinance
had been submitted to the people, (who had reserved to themselves the right to pass upon
any ordinance of the convention touching the organic law of the land, by a vote of 56,OuO
majority,) which did not take place till some five weeks afterwards, Mr. Baldwin, as I al
ways understood, accepted a military commission in the service of the confederate govern
ment, which he retained till the close of the war. He subsequently signed his name to the
ordinance of secession, which was characterized at that day as a second declaration of inde
pendence, and which I had always characterized as a declaration of war against the United
States. He also, I believe, voted for the ordinance when it was submitted to the people, and
he was then elected to the confederate congress, and was, as I learned, by a special act of the
confederate congress, permitted to occupy that seat without surrendering his military com
mission.
Question. Did he serve in the congress during the war ?
Answer. Throughout the war, from that time until the close of it. I think he was elected
in 1861 a member of congress, and occupied that position until the end of the war.
Question. What post did he occupy on committees in congress ?
Answer. I did not pay sufficient attention to the matter to know.
Question. Do you know what his general course was as a member of that congress ?
Answer. As far as I saw or heard anything about it, I always considered him as being as
ultra in his hostility to a restoration of peace without its being accompanied by a recogni
tion of the independence of the southern States, as any gentleman in the body.
Question. Such was his reputation ?
Answer. That was the position he occupied, so far as I could draw an inference from the
proceedings in congress when I saw them; and I think it Avas his general reputation among
the loyal and disloyal men in Virginia. At the time of the passage of the ordinance of seces
sion by the convention, I thought a large majority of the people were utterly opposed to seces
sion, while it was voted for five weeks afterwards. If you would like to know the reason of
the change in public sentiment between the passage of the ordinance by the convention and
its being submitted to the people, I will state it.
Mr. HOWARD. Certainly, sir, proceed.
WITNESS. Notwithstanding the people had decided, by a majority of 56,000, to make this
a convention of limited powers, over which they reserved a revisory power, the authorities —
whether by direction of the convention or the State authorities I am not informed — proceeded
next day after the passage of the ordinance by the convention to involve the State of Virginia
in actual and active war with the United States by seizing Harper's Ferry, the post office
and custom-house in Richmond, the custom-house and post office in Norfolk and Portsmouth,
the Gosport navy yard and all the material of war therein contained, and by sinking vessels
in the channel of Elizabeth river to prevent the escape of United States vessels then lying at
or near Gosport navy yard, and thereby securing them to their own purposes, and then by in
troducing a large number of troops from other southern States and making a general camping
ground throughout Eastern Virginia. They then very quietly turned to the people, when
they had to vote on the ordinance, and said: "Now we are involved in war, and the rejection
of the ordinance will not stop the war ; so you can vote for the ordinance of secession or
against it, as you like. But, in the language of the Emperor Napoleon's friends, we advise"
you to vote for the Emperor." You know that expression was made use of when Louis
Napoleon was voted an imperial diadem. The people found that it would be utterly useless,
and at the same time extremely dangerous for them to exercise the privilege of freemen ; and
there was a general and almost universal acquiescence in what they could not prevent.
Question. Was the final vote of the people on the ordinance as large as usual ?
Answer. I never saw the vote, and I have often inquired why the vote was not published.
If it ever was published I have not seen it.
Question. Where are the returns kept?
Answer. Among the select few, I suppose.
Question. They never have been published ?
Answer. I do not say that. I have never seen the vote, nor have I seen anybody who
has seen it. I have no doubt that a large majority of those who did vote voted for the ordi
nance ; but whether that vote constituted a majority of the legal voters of the State of Vir-
120 RECONSTRUCTION.
ginia I have never had any means of ascertaining. I know that the vote against it was
very small, because in the city of Richmond, which had given me some seventeen or
eighteen hundred votes against my competitor, and could therefore, I suppose, have given
some fifteen or sixteen hundred votes against the ordinance of secession, actually gave only
two votes against it. To illustrate the farce and mockery of the vote taken at that time, I
will mention that there were assembled at that time a large body of troops at and around
Norfolk, among them a regiment then commanded by Colonel Roger A. Pryor. This regi
ment was composed principally, if not entirely, of Union men, and when it was found they
were voting against the ordinance, they were disbanded and not allowed to vote. This was
the statement frequently made, and I have never heard contradicted, and I believe it to be
true.
Question. What is the present feeling of the ex-rebels in Virginia generally towards the
government of the United States?
Answer. At the time of the surrender of General Lee's army and the restoration of peace I
think there was, not only a general, but an almost universal, acquiescence and congratulation
among the people that the war had terminated, and a large majority of them were at least
contented, if not gratified, that it had terminated by a restoration of the State to the Union.
At that time the leadtrs, too, seemed to have been entirely subdued. They had become
satisfied that Mr. Lincoln was a noble, kind-hearted, generous man, from whom they had
little to fear ; but when he was assassinated, and Mr. Johnson took his place, they remem
bered Mr. Johnson's declarations in the Senate of the United States before the war, his own
treatment during the war by the secession party, and his declarations after he came to Wash-
ton as the Vice-President of the United States, in one or more speeches, but especially in a
speech in which he declared that treason was a crime which must be punished. They felt
exceedingly apprehensive for the security of their property, as well as for the security of
their lives ; and a more humble, unpretending set of gentlemen I never saw than they were
at that time. But from the time that Mr. Johnson commenced his indiscriminate system of
pardoning all who made application, and from impositions which, I have no doubt, were
practiced upon Mr. Johnson in pardoning the worst class of secessionists among the first,
they became bold, insolent, and defiant ; arid this was increased to a very large extent by
the permission which was, immediately after the evacuation of Richmond, given by General
Patrick, the democratic copperhead provost marshal of the army of the Potomac, to the
original conductors of the public press before the rebellion to re-establish their papers, I be
lieve, without restriction or limitation, upon any of the proprietors ; since which time, I
think, the spirit of disloyalty and disaffection has gone on increasing day by day, and hour
by hour, until among the leaders generally there is as much disaffection and disloyalty as
there was at any time during the war, and a hundred-fold more than there was immediately
after the evacuation and the surrender of the army. This is the conclusion to which my
mind has been brought by the licentiousness of the press, and by communications which are
made to me from all parts of the State, either verbally or by letter, from the most prominent
and reliable Union sources. If I were to judge from anything I have ever heard personally
from these gentlemen, I should not think there was any very great difference between their
loyalty and yours or mine; but I hear of it elsewhere, and I see evidence of it daily, not only
in the public press, but in the proceedings of the so-called legislature of the State. It is no
more a body of legislature than we compose one here now. I believe if the leaders and the
public press could be restrained in their expressions and inculcations of disloyalty, with the
masses of the people we should have no trouble whatever. As indicative of the character of
the letters I often receive, I give you the following extract of a letter from a prominent Union
man of the State, received last night :
"As an individual, and I think not a very timid one, I have no hopes of future loyalty
unless the President and Congress can relieve the masses of the political incubus now w'eigh-
ing them to the ground. Hour after hour the democracy here are becoming more bold, more
intolerant, more prescriptive. Was the war in all its horrid consequences designed to
establish a democratic oligarchy here in the south and eventually turn over the general
government with all its patronage and power to this pack of bloodhounds? Or was it de
signed to preserve the Union, maintain liberty, and wipe out forever all sectional parties? If
for the former, then the prevailing policy will soon effect it; and when it does, I pray that God
will cause a universal earthquake and blot out that portion of his footstool comprised within
the United States. Under democratic rule again, hell would be a garden of Eden com
pared to the southern States, and I should assuredly select it as a permanent place of abode
if forced to choose between the two."
In this latter conclusion I think I should rather dissent from my friend. Bad as democratic
rule is, I would rather bear the ills we have than fly to others that we know not of. But it
is bad enough in all conscience; and from the tone of that and other letters, of a similar
character to a great extent, received from different parts of the State, and conversations which
I have had with gentlemen from every portion of the State, whose opinions are reliable and
trustworthy, there must be, I conclude, a very intolerable state of things existing.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that there are in existence now, among the
leaders of the late rebellion, any schemes, secret or open, for renewing the war or agaiu
asserting the principle of secession ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 121
Answer. I have no idea that there is any purpose of renewing the war, without money,
without arms, without men, and without materials of war; but that there are many political
leaders who, in the event of a war with any foreign power, would throw every obstacle and
every impediment in the way of the success of the United States, if they did not join that
foreign power outright, I can entertain no doubt, from all the representations which have
been made to me by those who have heard such opinions expressed, although I have heard
no such opinion expressed in my presence.
Question. In the event of a war between the United States and any foreign power, such as
France or England, and under circumstances which would seem to hold out a fair hope of
success on the part of the rebels, would you anticipate that many of them would join the army
of the enemy against the United States ?
Answer. I have no reason to suppose that the enemy would be joined by any except some
of the more reckless and mortified, chagrined political leaders, and who claim that their
vocation exempts them from participating in the fight, and who would always be able to carry
with them a portion of the masses who have been for so many years under their influence, if
not under their absolute control ; but among the officers of the late rebel army, and among
the masses of the people, who do the fighting as a general thing, I have no reason to believe
that any such feeling exists. I believe that the most constant and earnest pi'ayer of many of
these political leaders is that the United States shall be involved in a foreign war; and they
hope for it from some indiscretion on the part of the civil authorities in Washington, or from
some inadvertent step that may be taken by the military authorities on the Rio Grande.
Question. You would regard the southern States in their present condition and with their
present feeling towards the United States as a source of weakness to the government, and not
of strength, in the event of a foreign war ?
Answer. I should consider those who manage the affairs of state, generally, as very unsafe
custodians of the public liberty or the public interests, and that you would be a great deal
better off if they, were in France instead of in this country.
Question. You are acquainted with the proposed amendment of the Constitution now pending
in the Senate of the United States ?
Answer. I understand it.
Question. What is your opinion about any of the southern States ever adopting that
amendment by their legislature ?
Answer. I have no idea that any one of them would in the present temper of the public
mind.
Question. Is it probable that they would during future ages ?
Answer. Oh, yes; 1 think that the fact of the slaves being emancipated will lead to their
ultimate education and improvement and fit them for the exercise of qualified suffrage in the
course of years, and that then the States would be very glad to avail themselves of the in
creased representation which could be based on that population, but not uo\v.
Question. Is it practicable in Virginia, either by act of legislation or by an amendment of
her constitution, to restrict the right of suffrage in the case of white persons ; for instance, to
introduce a property qualification or an intelligence qualification ?
Answer. I think there is a very general desire to do it, and for the reason that I think
that class of voters which would be excluded constitutes by far the most loyal portion of the
State — the men who have seen service and have had enough of war.
Question. Would those who might be excluded vote for it ?
Answer. No : but the leaders would adopt a constitution without submitting it to the people
in order to get rid of them.
Question. How would it be in regard to numbers; would they have numbers enough to
adopt such a restriction ?
Answer. Of course a very large majority of the people have been involved in the rebellion.
Question. Is there any contemplated purpose to hold a convention in Virginia?
Answer. I have been informed by many persons, embracing members of the present so-
called legislature of Virginia, that if was the purpose of some leaders of that body, before
they adjourned, to call a convention which would, under regulations to be adopte'd by the
legislature, insure an overwhelming majority of those persons who sympathized with or
participated in the war, Avhich would lead to the most violent proscription that they dared to
practice toward all Union and loyal men who had not participated in the war, as has been
exhibited by the action of that body now in session, in removing from office every loyal man
whom they could reach, and putting in their places men who had no other recommendation
than their sympathy for, or participation in, the rebellion. Their purpose is supposed to be,
if he has not more wisdom than to lend his assent to it, to place General Robert E. Lee, who
was at the head of the rebellion, in the gubernatorial chair. This was indicated by an ex
pression of Mr. John B. Baldwin, of whom we have been speaking, and who is now speaker
of the house of delegates, when he descended from his chair a shor? time back, on the election
of a subordinate officer, and declared that he hoped the day was near at hand when General
Robert E. Lee would fill that position ; which, the papers stated, was received with great
applause, both in the galleries and on the floor.
Question. How are Unionists treated generally in the State, whether native Unionists or
parties from other States which have come there?
122 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. During the war they were treated generally with great unkindness by the govern
ment, and there were a great many political prisoners kept in the same prison house, or negro
jail, with me; they were treated very harshly and unkindly, Since the rebellion, I have
known of no instance of actual violence having been resorted to on the part of any portion
of our people towards any Union man, whether of northern or southern birth; but there is a
social ban put upon them ; there is scarcely a recognition of acquaintanceship, to^say nothing
of friendly feeling, on the part of secessionists and their families towards the Union people
in the cities. And when the officers now stationed at Richmond, under command of General
Terry, have, on several occasions, given social parties, or "hops" as they are called, with
the hope and for the purpose of introducing a better state of feeling among these two classes
of people, the parties were not only not attended by the ladies of Richmond generally, but
even those of Union families seemed to be apprehensive of presenting themselves at such
places, because of the effect it would produce on their social position, and because it was the
custom of a part of the press of the city to attach ridicule and discredit to every lady who
attended these parties, and who were mentioned by name. There is a good deal more of this
feeling in the cities than in the country. In my immediate neighborhood there is not a great
deal of it.
Question. How much chance does a Union man stand in your State courts to obtain
justice ?
Answer. Well, sir, I have no reason, from anything that has yet transpired there, to think
that the courts would not do justice to a Union man. I think it would create a decidedly
unfavorable effect upon the standing and character of any magistrate upon the bench who
would be supposed to be influenced by such a consideration.
Question. How would it be with the juries ?
Answer. Well, sir, I have nothing to do with the courts, and cannot speak with any cer
tainty on that subject further than this : I received a letter from a gentleman a short time
since, who was not personally known to me, but who represented himself to T>e a native
Virginian, a refugee during the war, and to be now connected with the Freedmen's Bureau
in Stauriton, saying that they had gotten up a memorial in Augusta county, which had been
signed by some five hundred of the most respectable people of the county, asking that Con
gress should require that, in all cases coming before the courts in which Union men were
concerned, they should be transferred to a military court, for the reason that a Union man
could not obtain justice in the State courts, and asking me whether, if that memorial was sent
to me, I would indorse it ; to which I replied that I could not promise my indorsement to a
paper which I had not seen, and without knowing the character of the "persons who had
signed the memorial; but that, if he thought proper to send his memorial to me, I would
give it the proper direction, and let the parties to whom it was sent make those inquiries for
themselves.
Question. What is the political character of the present legislature of Virginia ?
Answer. My opinion is, from observations made during my recent visit to Richmond, that
that body is composed of a majority of respectable, orderly, intelligent farmers, and others
who have not heretofore had any experience in legislation, who are wholly unaccustomed to
meeting in debate with practiced politicians and lawyers of reputation, and that, although
they constitute, if they had any organization among themselves, a majority of conservative
men, yet from the want of that organization, and from the want of a leader, they suffer them
selves to be carried away on every question of party interest by a few leading and designing
politicians on the other side. I found gentlemen, when I went there, sitting side by^side,
day by day, who knew nothing of the political sentiments of each other. I think that if the
people at the elections in October last meant any one thing more particularly than another,
it was that they were tired of the misrule to which they had been so long subjected, and for
which they had paid so dearly by the results of the war, and were determined, so far as their
action was concerned, to place the control of the government in safer and better hands, but
that their views and desires had been entirely frustrated, from the causes I have already
mentioned.
Question. What is the general feeling of the white people of Virginia in regard to the edu
cation of the blacks ?
Answer. I think that the more intelligent classes of the people would be very glad to see
information and education diffused among the blacks, as being calculated not only to beiient
their own condition, but to make them better citizens among themselves.
Question. Would they consent to contribute of their own means to educate the blacks?
Answer. There are a great many who would, and a great many who would not. I think,
as a general thing, however, that it would be a difficult matter to get up a very large sub
scription for that purpose.
Question. I mean in the form of legislation and taxation.
Answer. That comes in a different shape, and men do not feel it so sensibly as when it
comes directly out of their pockets.
Question. Do they generally feel kindly towards the freedmen, and willing to allow mm
the privileges of his industry ?
Answer. I think that among the educated, well-informed, and better classes of the people
there is a disposition to do them justice. But there are other classes with whom, as u mat-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 123
ter of course, there are very strong prejudices existing, which time alone can probably cure,
and which may be increased or diminished according to circumstances. I think that one of
the great difficulties in Virginia, in regard to the colored people, arises from the organization
of the Freedmeu's Bureau — not that the Freedmen's Bureau is not in itself a proper, and
perhaps in some localities an indispensable institution, but that it stands very greatly in need
of reformation.
Question. In its administration ?
Answer. In its administration, and in its officers. I have heard of a great many difficult
ies and outrages which have proceeded in some instances, if the truth has been represented
to me, from the ignorance and fanaticism of persons connected with the Freedmen's Bureau,
who do not understand anything of the true relation of the original master to the slave, and
who have, in many instances, held out promises and inducements which can never be real
ized to the negroes, which have made them entirely indifferent to work, and sometimes ill-
behaved. On the other hand, there are many of the persons connected with the Freedmen's
Bureau who have conducted themselves with great propriety ; and where that has been so^'
there has been no difficulty between the whites and blacks that I know of.
Question. Do you think that the liberality of President Johnson, in granting pardons and
amnesties, and using other measures, which appertain to him personally, towards the rebel
community, has had a greater tendency to restore peace and harmony there, than the con
trary ?
Answer. Very far from it. I think that if Mr. Johnson had held his pardons up until the
State was reorganized and placed in the hands of the loyal men of the State, there would
have been no difficulty; but they have seemed to think, when they got the pardons, that
they not only had the penalties of death and confiscation of property remitted to them, but
that they were resjtored to all their political rights, State constitution and congressional en
actments to the contrary notwithstanding, which were all overridden and trampled down by
Mr. Johnson's pardons, Mr. Johnson has said, in his recent interview with the delegation
from the Virginia legislature, that he thought if there were five thousand loyal men, or even
a smaller number, in a State, they were entitled to exercise a controlling influence over that
State in its legislation, in which I entirely concur with him. But Mr. Johnson's opinions
on that subject do not help the loyal men much unless he will help to put them on the track »
when they will keep the machinery in motion.
Question. The difference being the difference between saying and doing ?
Answer. If he will carry that view into effect, to the extent of his civil and military power,
they will bring the State back to its proper moorings, but they can do nothing without either
the aid of Mr. Johnson or of the law-making power of the United States.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you wish to state to the committee ?
Answer. I should like to say that I think Mr. Johnson has been actuated in his policy by
too much confidence and liberality towards people who did not appreciate it, and did not
meet it in the spirit in which his liberality was tendered, and that the sooner he retraces his
steps, so far as is possible, in that particular, in holding out hopes of aid from him to thos e
who have brought all these calamities upon the country, the better it will be for himself, the
better for the south, and the better for the nation.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 15, 1866.
Colonel Orlando Brown sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside?
Answer. My home is in Massachusetts.
Question. Where have you been recently residing?
Answer. I have been residing since the 15th of June in Richmond, Virginia. Previous to
that time I had resided in Norfolk. I had been on duty in Norfolk since February, 1862.
Question. What official position do you hold?
Answer. Assistant commissioner in the Bureau of Freedmen, Refugees, and Abandoned
Lands.
Question. And as such you have been stationed at Richmond ?
Answer. Yes.
Question How do you find the state of feeling in Richmond towards the freedmen? How
are they treated ?
Answer. There is a disposition on the part of citizens to secure, as far as possible, the
same control over the freedmen by contracts which they possessed when they held them as
slaves.
Question. Is there much ill-feeling towards the freedmen in that vicinity?
Answer. I hardly know how to answer that question. It seems to me more a feeling of
irritation, perhaps, than of hatred. They seemed disposed to regard the freedmen almost
universally as unfit to care for themselves. They think that a wrong has been done them in
124 RECONSTRUCTION.
taking their slaves. They have not lost the feeling that they have a right to hold slaves,
and they are not disposed — a large number of them — to forgive the negro for being free.
But, on the other hand, there is a class— numerically small, but comprising some of the
ablest and best men in the State — who are disposed to acknowledge them as free and to treat
them as free men.
Question. Do they entertain generally an expectation that they will get pay for their
slaves ?
Answer. No, sir; I think not. In a few instances I have heard men who have been loyal
throughout express that expectation, that they were entitled to compensation for their slaves.
Question. Are the freedinen willing to work generally for fair wages ?
Answer. Yes, sir; for what any northern man would consider fair wages.
Question. Is there a disposition on the part of their white employers to allow them fair,
living wages ?
Answer. That disposition might exist if they had the means. They have not the means to
allow them what would be considered living wages — wages to support a man and his family.
It is unnecessary to say that they are wholly exhausted. A great deal of the land in Vir
ginia is very poor, and on that poor land the farmer cannot afford to pay more than ten dol
lars per month to a laborer, even with the disposition to pay more. There is little other
business in the State than agriculture.
Question. Do you find an abundance of money and personal -property down there in Vir
ginia among the secessionists ?
Answer. No, sir.
^Question. What is the state of things in that respect?
- Answer. Most of the State having been overrun by our troops, the fences destroyed, the
farming utensils used up during the war, the currency that they had worthless, and not being
able to collect their notes, they have not the means to carry on agricultural pursuits so as to
afford to pay the freedmen.
Question. Are they sufficiently supplied with horses, mules, &c. ?
Answer. No, sir ; they are not, although large numbers have been supplied by our army.
Question. Do you not find there great destitution in point of stock?
Answer. Yes, sir. Some of the best laud on the James river will remain uncultivated this
season because the owners have not the means to buy stock, hire laborers, buy tools, seeds,
&c., and put the land under cultivation.
Question. How is it with the whites ? Do they go to work individually and try to retrieve
their fortunes, or do they lead a lazy, idle life ?
Answer. I do not think they have fully settled yet what they will do.
Question. Do they go to work as our people at the north do ?
Answer. No, sir ; it is not in them to go to work as our people at the north. They have
not so much energy.
Question. As a general thing, they and work do not particularly agree ?
Answer. No, sir. As for manual labor, that is out of the question. The owners of planta
tions are not disposed to go to work with their hands; but they are being forced to do it, and
they do it very unwillingly. They choose that rather than suffer.
Question. Is that generally the case wherever you have been acquainted among the farm
ing community?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How much loyalty is there down there in Richmond, and how are loyal people
treated ?
Answer. If you mean a willing submission to the government
Question. I mean loyalty in its general acceptation, a friendship for the government under
which they live, and a disposition to uphold and maintain it.
Answer. They consider themselves in the Union by compulsion. A majority of them
think that the cause they fought for was just ; that in failing to accomplish their object they
have been defrauded of their just rights, and that they had a right to secede. That sentiment
has been expressed to me a great many times.
Question. Do you hear among them many regrets for having taken up arms against Uncle
Sain ?
Answer. Not so much as regret at the result. That seems to be the cause of regret.
Governor Wise says he has been for the Union all through, and he adds: " Had we suc
ceeded, we would have shown you what the Union was." He said to me a day or two ago,
" I never fought under the confederate flag. It may have been carried in my brigade; but
I have gone under the Virginia flag." And he showed me his buttons, Virginia buttons,
which he said he had worn ail through the war.
Question. Is there generally prevalent down there a feeling of disaffection or dislike
towards the government of the United States?
Answer. Yes, sir, I think there is.
Question. In what class is it strongest ?
Answer. I think in the higher class. The lower classes, I think, are thankful to be out of
the war under any consideration.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 125
Question. Have you any reason to believe that there are any combinations among the seces
sionists there to renew the war or to make another attempt to secure southern independence ?
Answer. No, sir, I have not. A conversation was repeated to me on the cars last night of
Mr. Pollard's, whose paper has just been suppressed in Richmond. He stated that three
hundred men had wished to drive the guard from his office and take possession of it, but that
he dissuaded them from the attempt. This is hearsay evidence. It was reported to me by
a gentleman from Philadelphia.
Question. Of what paper was he the editor ?
Answer. The Richmond Examiner.
Question. What is, or has been, the political character of that paper?
Answer. Violent and saucy against the government of the United States ; insolent, defiant,
and false. It has carried along this vein of submission — that they submitted to the govern
ment.
Question. Is its editor related to the historian Pollard?
Answer. He is a brother.
Question. Do you know whether both, or either of them, served in the rebel army ?
Answer. I do not.
Question. Both of them have been traitors, I suppose ?
Answer. I think there is no doubt about that.
Question. What was the Examiner stopped for?
Answer. I heard here to-day that it was stopped by orders from General Grant for its dis
loyalty.
"Question. Has that paper a large circulation?
Answer. I am unable to say what its circulation is. The true feeling in Virginia is well
illustrated by an interview which I had with a gentleman in Richmond. I had received a
letter from a gentleman in Boston, Mr. Stearns, in regard to the purchase of real estate in
Virginia. I called upon a gentleman belonging to a very wealthy firm in Richmond, which
held a large quantity of real estate, and inquired of him whether he had such property for
sale He said yes, and that he was obliged to sell it. I said that northern capital was look
ing for investment in Virginia ; and I added that I thought that it would be for the best good
of the country to get northern capital down there, as northern men would come with it ; and
that, from constant business intercourse, the feeling of hostility caused by the war would
more readily pass away. He replied : "That can never be, sir ; we have suffered too much.
The atrocities and barbarities practiced by your army can never be forgotten by any true
southern man. I have on file now a copy of one of Sheridan's official reports, and I expect
when my children grow up they will read it, and will feel toward you northern men just as
1 do." It was shortly after the publication of Mr. Beecher's sermon, taking conservative
ground. I referred him to that, showing him what the feeling of the men who had been con
sidered radical in the north was. Said he, " Were I drowning in the most filthy ditch, and
were Henry Ward Beecher to hold out his hand to draw me out I would not take it."
Question. He was the " last-ditch" man?
Answrer. No ; I think Ruffin was the only " last-ditch" man — the only consistent one.
Question. Did this person refuse to sell land to you ?
Answer. No, sir, he did not. Their necessities were such that they were obliged to sell.
Question. How are northern men treated in Virginia?
Answer. Northern men are treated better than Union Virginians. I do not think they would
be well treated if the troops were withdrawn.
Question. Would they not be generally driven out by threats, violence, and mobs?
Answer. I think they would in isolated localities. I might refer you to Norfolk, which has
been for a long time in our possession. A great many northern men had come down there
and commenced business. After the surrender of General Lee the owners of property imme
diately put up their rents so high that nearly all the Union men were compelled to leave.
Question. Did the owners afterwards rent their premises to southern persons ?
Answer. The premises then fell into the hands of southern men.
Question. At lower rates ?
Answer. Perhaps at lower rates, but I cannot say. The feeling among the northern men
seemed to be that this was a plan to get rid of them ; otherwise I can hardly conceive that
the owners would be so blind to their own interests. Still it may have been simply an at
tempt at extortion.
Question. Are northern men and ladies, who happen to be visiting at Richmond, invited
into society' by the residents ?
Answer. I think not to any extent.
Question. Have you ever been invited to visit a secession family?
Answer. I cannot say that I have.
Question. And you have been there how long?
Answer. I have been there eight months. I am not inclined to go much into society under
any circumstances. I am not aware that the officers generally have been invited into fami
lies. I think they have not been.
Question. You think, so far as your observation goes, that there is a feeling of unfriendliness
toward the government of the United States among the people of Virginia ?
126 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you hear anything said among them in regard to a foreign war ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And as to what they would do in that case ?
Answer. I recollect that one gentleman, Captain Pegram, formerly of our navy, who com
manded the Nashville and some other rebel vessels, seemed to think that a foreign war would
cement the relations between the two sections. I think that, in case of a foreign war, they
would take up arms with the federal government, unless there was a chance of securing their
independence.
Question. But suppose there were such a chance ?
Answer. Well, sir, they would avail themselves of it. I do not think their sentiments
are at all changed in that respect. They are loyal by compulsion.
Question. What effect has President Johnson's liberal policy in giving pardons and amnes
ties to them had upon their minds and hearts?
Answer. It has had the effect of making them admire President Johnson.
Question. Has it made them more, or less, friendly to the government of the United States ?
Answer. They are disposed to think that Mr. Johnson stands between them and the Con
gress of the United States.
Question. They look to him ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do they talk about running him for the next presidency ?
Answer. I have not heard talk of that.
Question. How do they seem to regard General Lee?
Answer. With the hignest affection. I know no man who has more fully the hearts of a
people than he has the hearts of Virginians.
•s Question. Suppose the Freedmen's Bureau were discontinued and the troops withdrawn,
what would be the treatment of the secessionists towards the black people ?
ble to them; I hear the expression frequently that they would prefer, now that the blacks
are free, that they should remain so ; there maybe something that smacks of dollars and
cents in that. The slave system in Virginia has been such as to exhaust very largely the
able-bodied laborers ; I have been informed that twenty thousand of that class were annually
sold from Virginia ; consequently, a very large proportion of the colored population there is
composed of the aged, infirm, women and children, and the being freed from the necessity
of supporting them is really a great relief in the present poverty of the people— a relief to
their former owners.
Question. Do they appear to be willing that the negro should acquire property, and have
houses and homes, and school-houses ?
Answer. I think they are coming to feel that the negro will make a better citizen educated ;
that is not generally the sentiment, but it is improving in that direction. We have now
some fifteen thousand children in school, and there is very little hostility evinced to the
teachers ; occasionally there are unpleasant remarks made about them, but still there is
comparatively little hostility. We have schools now in localities remote from troops which
are not broken up. They recognize the freedom of the negro as a fixed fact.
Question. If they had an opportunity, would they reduce the negro again to slavery ?
Answer. If I can believe their assertions, I should hardly think they would ; I think they
would prefer to hold him, by their laws, &c., in a situation which would be slavery in effect
but not in name, so as to have the benefit of his labor without the responsibility of support
ing him.
Question. That smacks of a piece of Yankee ingenuity?
Answer. Why, sir, in that respect, they out-Herod Herod.
Question. How do the secessionists feel in regard to the payment of the debt of the United
States contracted in prosecuting the war?
Answer. I have not heard them express any opinion in that regard, nor have 1
them on that subject.
Question. Are they nervously anxious to pay the confederate debt contracted m the prose
cution of the rebellion ?
Answer. I think not in Virginia.
Question. You do not think it would distress them much if they should be relieved from
payment of that debt ?
Answer. I think not, I do not think that repudiation would trouble any of these southern
men ; I think that they would prefer to pay the southern debt rather than the northern debt.
Question. Do you hear frequent complaints among them that they are not admitted to
participation in the political power of the government ?
Answer. Yes ; they attribute that to your radical Congress ; they seem to hope for a more
conservative state of things hereafter— what they term "conservative."
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 127
Question. They seem to regard themselves as entirely fit for readmission into the govern
ment which they have been endeavoring to overthrow ?
Answer. I think they do ; I have heard of no case in which the ministers who preached
secession during the war have publicly acknowledged the error.
Question. Do their ministers pray for the President of the United States, or for Congress,
or for any other functionary of the government?
Answer. I have not attended their churches, because there is not one of their ministers, to
my knowledge, who has publicly renounced his error as publicly as he has preached it.
Question. Do you hear, in your intercourse with secessionists, expressions of dislike and
contempt towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. No sir.
Question. Do you hear of them ?
Answer. I hear of them.
Question. Frequently?
Answer. Perhaps I may say frequently.
Question. How are they pleased with the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. I think they are anxious to have it out of the way.
Question. Would they be likely to oppress the freedmen if that bureau were removed and
the troops were removed ?
. Answer. I think they would.
Question. Would the negro stand any chance of obtaining justice in the courts ?
Answer. I have the assurance of one of the first lawyers in the city of Richmond that
his opinion is that the negroes could not obtain justice before a Virginia jury ?
Question. Justice to the negro and justice to the white man are different articles, I sup
pose ; it changes with the complexion ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Your bureau exercises jurisdiction over cases in which freedmen are parties ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; in all cases where his rights are involved.
Question. Is much of the time of the bureau at Richmond occupied in settling these con
troversies ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; it is occupied most of the time in every county in the State in settling
controversies and aiding the negroes to make contracts ; but it is very largely occupied in
settling controversies.
Question. Have you heard of any cases of violence between whites and blacks down there ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I have.
Question. Are they of frequent occurrence ?
Answer. Of nearly every day occurrence in the State
Question. Can you relate some instances of violence .on the part of whites towards the
blacks?
Answer. A case came before me yesterday. A negro was shot through the head and killed
while sitting by his fire in his cabin, near Suffolk; circumstantial evidence points very
strongly toward a white man with whom he had had an altercation, and who had shot at
him before.
Question. Was the white man arrested ?
Answer. I sent officers for him at once. A few weeks ago, near Fredericksburg, a
negro, who had been a soldier, wTas making some remarks in a boasting manner of his having
served in the federal army ; he was overheard by a citizen, who said he would not allow him
to boast of having served in the federal army — that he considered it an insult. The negro
said he had served, and was not ashamed to say so ; that he felt it something to be proud of.
The man drew a revolver and fired at him, the ball going through the negro's clothing ; then
he overtook him and struck him over the head writh the but end of the revolver, laying the
skull bare. A physician who was sent for said, in the preliminary examination before the
Freedmen's Bureau, that he considered the insult strong enough to justify the outrage ; we
have arrested the physician, but have not been able to catch the other yet.
Question. Was the physician a secessionist ?
Answer. Oh ! of course, yes. 1 might multiply instances of the kind to any extent. Out
rages have increased very much since the diminution of our troops in the State; perhaps
there is a little holding up 'now as they find that, even with few troops, we are determined to
reach them ; the bureau has not the power to reach all cases that occur ; it wants more men ;
it wants the opportunity of selecting its officers, which it now has not ; it has to take such
as it can get.
Question. In case of the removal of that bureau, would you apprehend a great increase of
those scenes of violence towards the blacks ?
Answer. I should.
Question. What would it result in ?
Answer. I think it would eventually result in an insurrection on the part of the blacks ;
the black troops that are about being mustered out, and those that have been mustered out,
will all provide themselves with arms ; probably most of them will purchase their arms ; and
they will not endure those outrages, without any protection except that which they obtain
128 RECONSTRUCTION.
from Virginia ; they have not confidence in their old masters, notwithstanding their great
love for them, in which they have tried to make us believe.
Question. Are there many arms among the blacks ?
Answer. Yes, sir; attempts have been made, in many instances, to disarm them.
Question. Who have made the attempts?
Answer. The citizens, by organizing what they call "patrols" — combinations of citizens.
Question. Has that arrangement pervaded the State generally ?
Answer. No, sir ; it has not been allowed ; they would disarm the negroes at once if they
could.
Question. 1^ that feeling extensive?
Answer. I may say it is universal ; they have no confidence in the negroes, and they have
every reason for not having it. They apprehended very much an insurrection during the
holidays; I was called on by gentlemen from every section of the State about it, but there
was at that time no disposition at all on the part of the negroes to make any difficulty.
Question. Have you reason to believe that there have been combinations among the
negroes with a view to insurrection ?
Answer. No, sir, I am satisfied there were no such combinations ; there have been combi
nations to secure their suffrage, and other things of that kind, but nothing farther. They
have a great disposition to form secret combinations for very trivial objects ; for instance, I
recollect one charitable association called "The Holy Sons of God ;" they get up such names*
Their object was simply to take care of the sick and helpless, bury the dead, &c. ; their
meetings were all secret.
Question. Have you ever seen negro troops under fire ?
Answrer. No, sir, I have not.
Question. What is your idea about their courage in active operations in the field ?
Answer. I can only base my opinion on what I have heard and read; I think they make
good soldiers ; 1 think that in case of insurrection, they would fight desperately.
Question. How would they fight the Union troops, in case Union troops were brought
against them to put down an insurrection ?
Answer. They were examined on that subject by my officers when there was talk of an
insurrection at the holidays, fearing that they might have such ideas, although we had no
confidence in the report ; but there was so much alarm expressed that we took occasion to
talk to them on that subject, and told them that federal troops would be brought against
them if any such attempt were made. I think that a regiment of federal troops would create
more demoralization among them than a brigade of confederates would — far more.
"^ Question. Do you hear anything said among the whites in Virginia about expelling the
blacks from their midst?
Answer. No, sir ; I think, though, they would prefer to have them away ; they would
not expel them, but it would be their fancy to have theai away.
Question. With what kind of people would they supply their places?
Answer. An attempt was made a few months ago to introduce foreign labor, but, from the
best evidence I can get, it proved a failure ; those who employed foreigners were perfectly
willing to go back to the negroes ; still the feeling was very general when they were first
freed, and is not done away with yet, that "if we cannot have them as slaves, take them
away ; we don't want them."
Question. Is not that rather the result of a feeling of mortification that the negroes are
made free — mere spite ?
Answer. 1 do not know how to analyze the feeling they seem to have; they have been
always in the habit of having this control over them, and now the negro comes and asserts
his rights and says, " I am free as well as you ;" that creates an irritation, a dislike ; I hardly
know what it is.
Question. And they think they would be glad to get rid of the negro ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And when they think of the labor which they find it necessary to have per
formed, they want the negro to stay with them ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; that is it.
Question, So that really, between the twro motives — the motive of spite, ill-will, and disap
pointment, and the other, a sort of respect for him because he is a good laborer — they are
divided .'
Answer. That is it, sir.
Question. They do not propose to do the labor themselves?
Answer. No, sir; and they do not propose to break up their large estates if they can help
it. That is one thing which keeps them back; they seem indisposed to sell their real estate;
they do not like to part with it. I remember seeing an editorial article in one of the Rich
nioud papers containing such an expression as this: "If the estates were to be broken up
so as to destroy the old Virginia gentleman, Virginia would cease to be Virginia."
Question. " One of the olden time? "
Answer. "One of the olden time."
Question. Do you think of anything else that you wish to state ?
Answer. No, sir.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 129
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 17, 1866.
Robert E. Lee sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where is your present residence ?
Answer. Lexington, Virginia.
Question. How long have you resided at Lexington?
Answer. Since the first of October last ; nearly five months.
Question. Are you acquainted with the state of feeling among what we call secessionists
in Virginia, at present, toward the government of the United States 1
Answer. I do not know that I am. I have been living very retired, and have had but
little communication with politicians. I know nothing more than from my observation, and
from such facts as have come to my knowledge.
Question. From your observation, what is your opinion as to the feeling of loyalty towards
the government of the United States among the secession portion of the people of that State
at this time 1
Answer. So far as has come to my knowledge, I do not know of a single person who either
feels or contemplates any resistance to the government of the United States, or, indeed, any
opposition to it. No word has reached me to either purpose.
Question. From what you have observed among them, is it your opinion ^tliat they are
friendly toward the government of the United States, and that they will co-operate to sustain
and uphold the government for the future ?
Answer. I believe that they entirely acquiesce in the government of the United States,
and, so far as I have heard any one express an opinion, they are for co-operating with Presi
dent Johnson in his policy.
Question. In his policy in regard to what ?
Answer. His policy in regard to the restoration of the whole country. I have heard per
sons with whom I have conversed express great confidence in the wisdom of his policy of
restoration, and they seem to look forward to it as a hope of restoration.
Question. How do they feel in regard to that portion of the people of the United States
who have been forward and zealous in the prosecution of the war against the rebellion ?
Answer. Well, I do not know. I have heard nobody express any opinion in regard to it.
As 1 said before, I have not had much communication with politicians iu the country, if there
are any. Every one seems to be engaged in his own affairs, and endeavoring to restore the
civil government of the State. I have heard no expression of a sentiment toward any par
ticular portion of the country.
Question. How do the secessionists feel in regard to the payment of the debt of the United
States contracted in the prosecution of the war /
Answer. I have never heard any one speak on the subject. I suppose they must expect to
pay the taxes levied by the government. I have heard them speak in reference to the pay
ment of taxes, and of their efforts to raise money to pay the taxes, which I suppose are for
their share of the debt. I have never heard any one speak in opposition to the payment of
taxes, or of resistance to their payment. Their whole effort has been to try and raise the
money for the payment of the taxes.
Question. From your knowledge of the state of public feeling in Virginia, is it your opinion
that the people would, if ttoe question were left to them, repudiate and reject that debt /
Answer. I never heard any one spe^,k on that subject, but from my knowledge of the
people I believe that they would be in tavor of the payment of all just debts.
Question. Do they, in your opinion, regard that as a jiut debt?
Answer. I do not know what their opinion is on the subject of the particular debt. I have
never heard any opinion expressed, but I have never heard any expressed contrary to it.
Indeed, as I said in the beginning, I have had very little discussion or intercourse with the
people. I believe that the people would pay the debts they are called upon to pay. I say
that from my knowledge of the people generally.
Question. Would they pay that debt, or their portion of it, with as much alacrity as people
ordinarily pay their taxes to their government ?
Answer. I do not know that they would make any distinction between the two. The
taxes laid by the government, so far as I know, they are prepared to pay to the best of their
ability. I never heard them make any distinction.
Question. What is the feeliug of that portion of the people of Virginia in regard to the
payment of the so-called confederate debt?
Answer. I believe, so far as my opinion goes, (I have no facts to go upon, but merely base
my opinion on the knowledge I have of the people,) they would be willing to pay the con
federate debt too.
Question. You think they would?
Answer. I think they would if they had the power and ability to do it. I have never heard
any one in the State with whom I have conversed speak of repudiating any debt.
Question. I suppose the confederate debt is almost entirely valueless, even in the market
of Virgiuia ?
9 V NC SC
130 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Entirely, as far as I know. I believe the people generally look upon it as lost
entirely. I never heard any question on the subject.
Question. Do you recollect the terms of the confederate bonds — when they were made
payable ?
Answer. I think I have a general recollection that they were made payable six months
after a declaration of peace.
Question. Six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace between the United States
and the confederate government?
Answer. I think they ran in that way. m •
Question. So that the bonds are not due yet by their terms ?
Answer. I suppose, unless it is considered that there is peace now, they are not due.
Question. How do the people in Virginia, the secessionists more particularly, feel toward
the freedmen?
Answer. Every one with whom I associate expresses kind feelings towards the freedmen.
They wish to see them get on in the world, and particularly to take up some occupation for a
living arid to turn their hands to some work. I know that efforts have been made among
the farmers, near where I live, to induce them to engage for the year at regular wages.
Question. Do you think there is a willingness on the part of their old masters to give them
fair, living wages for their labor?
Answer. I believe it is so. The farmers generally prefer those servants who have been
living with them before. I have heard them express their preference for the men whom they
know, who h*ad lived with them before, and their wish to get them to return to work.
Question. Are you aware of the existence of any combination among the whites to keep
down the wages of the negroes ?
Answer. I arn not. I have heard that, in several counties, land owners have met in order
to establish a uniform rate of wages ; but I never heard, nor do I know, of any combination
to keep down wages, or establish any rate which they did not think fair. The means of pay
ing wages in Virginia are very limited now, ahd there is a difference of opinion as to how
much each person is able to pay.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the education of the blacks ? Is there a general
willingness or a general unwillingness to have them educated?
Answer. Where I am, and have been, the people have exhibited a willingness that the
blacks should be educated, and they express an opinion that that would be better for the
blacks and better for the whites.
Question. General, you are very competent to judge of the capacity of black men for ac
quiring knowledge : I want your opinion on that capacity, as compared with the capacity of
white men?
Answer. I do not know that I am particularly qualified to speak on that subject, as you
seem to intimate ; but I do not think that he is as capable of acquiring knowledge as the
white man is. There are some more apt than others. I have known some to acquire knowl
edge and skill in" their trade or profession. I have had servants of my own who learned to
read and write very well.
Question. Do they show a capacity to obtain knowledge of mathematics and the exact
sciences ?
Answer. I have no knowledge on that subject. I am merely acquainted with those who
have learned the common rudiments of education.
Question. General, are you aware of the existence among the blacks of Virginia, any
where within the limits of the State, of combinations having in view the disturbance of the
peace, or any improper and unlawful acts?
Answer I am not. I have seen no evidence of it, and have heard of none. Wherever I
have been they have been quiet and orderly, not disposed to work, or rather not disposed to
any continuous engagement to work, but just very short jobs, to provide them with the im
mediate meajjs of subsistence.
Question. Has the colored race generally as great a love of money and property as the
white race possesses ?
Answer. I do not think it has. The blacks with whom I am acquainted look more to the
present time than to the future ?
Question. Does that absence of a lust of money and property arise more from the nature of
the negro than from his former servile condition?
Answer. WTell, it may be, in some measure;, attributable to his former condition. They
are an amiable, social race. They like their ease and comfort, and, I think, look more to
their present than to their future condition.
Question. In the event of a war between the United States and any foreign power, such as
England or France, if there should be held out to the secession portion of the people of Vir
ginia, or the other recently rebel States, a fair prospect of gaming their huli-pi-mlt-iav, and
shaking off the government of the United States, is it, or is it not, your opinion that they
would avail themselves of that opportunity ?
Answer. I cannot speak with any certainty on that point. I do not know how far they
might be actuated by their(feelings. I have nothing whatever to base an opinion upon. So
far as I know, they contemplate nothing of the kind now. What may happen in the future
I cannot say.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 131
Question. Do you not frequently hear, in your intercourse with secessionists in Virginia,
expressions of a hope that such a war may break out ?
Answer. I cannot say that I have heard it. On the contrary, I have heard persons (I do
not know whether you would .call them secessionists or not — I mean those people in Virginia
with whom I associate) express a hope that the country may not be led into a war.
Question. In such an event, do you not think that many of that class of persons whom I
call secessionists would join the common enemy?
Answer. It is possible. It depends upon the feelings of the individual.
Question. If it is a fair question, (you may answer it, or not, as you choose,) what, in
such an event, might be your own choice?
Answer. I have no disposition now to do it, and I never have had.
Question. And you cannot foresee that such would be your inclination in such an event ?
Answer. No. I can only judge by the past. I do not know what circumstances may
produce. I cannot pretend to foresee events. So far as I know the feeling of the people of
Virginia, they wish for peace.
Question. During the civil war, was it not contemplated by the government of the con
federacy to form an alliance with some foreign nation, if possible?
Answer. I believe it was their wish to do so if they could. It was their wish so have the
confederate government recognized as an independent government. I have no doubt that, if
it could have made favorable treaties, it would have done so. But I knew nothing of the
policy of the government. I had no hand or part in it. I merely express my own opinion.
Question. The question I am about to put to you you may answer, or not, as you choose:
Did you take an oath of fidelity or allegiance to the confederate government ?
Arswer. I do not recollect having done so; but it is possible that, when I was commis
sioned, I did. I do not recollect whether it was required. If it was required, I took it; or,
if it had been required^! would have taken it ; but I do not recollect whether it wa or not.
By Mr. BLOW:
Question. In reference to the effect of President Johnson's policy, if it were adopted,
would there be anything like a return of the old feeling? I ask that because you used the ex
pression "acquiescing in the result."
Answer. I believe it would take time for the feelings of the people to be of that cordial
nature to the government that they were formerly.
Question. Do you think that their preference for that policy arises from a desire to have
peace and good feeling in the country, or from, the probability of their regaining political
power ?
Answer. So far as I know the desire of the people of the south, it is for the restoration of
their civil government, and they look upon the policy of President Johnson as the one which
would most clearly and most surely re-establish it.
Question. Do you see any change among the poorer classes in Virginia in reference to in
dustry ? Are they as much, or more, interested in developing their material interests than
they were ?
Answer. I have not observed any change. Every one now has to attend to his business
for his support.
Question. The poorer classes are generally hard at work, are they ?
Answer. So far as I know, they are ; I know nothing to the contrary.
Question. Is there any difference in their relations to the colored people — is their prejudice
increased or diminished?
Answer. I have noticed no change. So far as I do know the feelings of all the people of
Virginia, they are kind to the colored people. I have never heard any blame attributed to
them as to the present condition of things, or any responsibility.
Question. There are very few colored laborers employed, I suppose?
Answer. Those who own farms have employed them more or less — one or two. Some are
so poor that they have to work themselves.
Question. Can capitalists and workiugmen from the north go into any portion of Virginia
with which you are familiar and go to work among the people?
Answer. 1 do not know anything to prevent them. Their peace and pleasure there would
depend very much on their conduct. If they confined themselves to their own business, and
did not interfere to provoke controversies with their neighbors, I do not believe they would
be molested.
Question. There is no desire to keep out labor and capital ?
Answer. Not that I know of. On the contrary, they are very anxious to get capital into
the State.
Question. You see nothing of a disposition to prevent such a thing?
Answer. I have seen nothing, and do not know of anything. As I said before, the manner
in which they would be received would depend entirely upon the individuals themselves.
They might make themselves obnoxious, as you can understand.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Is there not a general dislike of northern men among secessionists ?
132 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I suppose they would prefer not to associate with them. I do not know that they
would .select them as associates.
Question. Do they avoid and ostracise them socially ?
Answer. They might avoid them. They would not select them as associates, unless there
was some reason for it. I do not know that they would associate with them until they became
acquainted. I think it probable they would not admit them into their social circles.
By Mr. BLOW :
Question. What is the position of the colored men in Virginia with reference to the persons
they work for ? Do you think they would prefer to work for northern men or for southern
men?
Answer. I think it very probable that they would prefer the northern man, although I have
no tacts to go upon.
Question. That having been stated very frequently in reference to the cotton States, does
it result from a fear of bad treatment on the part of the resident population, or from the idea
that they will be more fairly treated by the new-comers ? What is your observation in that
respect in regard to Virginia?
Answer. I have no means of forming an opinion ; I do not know any such case in Virginia ;
I know of numbers of the blacks engaging with their old masters, and I know of a good
many who prefer to go off and look for new homes. Whether it is from any dislike of their
former masters, or from a desire of change, or that they feel more free and independent, I do
not know.
Question. What is your opinion in regard to the material interests of Virginia? Do you
think they will be equal to what they were before the rebellion under the changed aspect of
affairs >
Answer. It will take a long time for them to reach their former standard. I think that after
some years they will reach it, and I hope exceed it ; but it cannot be immediately, in my
opinion.
Question. It will take a number of years ?
Answer. It will take a number of years, I think.
Question. On the whole, the' condition of things in Virginia is hopeful, both in regard to its
material interests and the future peace of the country?
Answer. I have heard great hope expressed, and there is great cheerfulness and willingness
to labor.
Question. Suppose that this policy of President Johnson should be all that you anticipate,
and that you should also realize all that you expect in the improvement of your material in
terests, do you think that the result of'that would be the gradual restoration of the old feeling ?
Answer. That would be the natural result, I think, and I see no other way in which that
result can be brought about.
Question. There is a fear in the public mind that the friends of the policy in the south
adopt it because they see in it the means of regaining the political position which they lost
in the recent contest: do you think that that is the main idea with them, or that they really
look to it, as you say, as the best means of restoring civil government and the peace and
prosperity of their respective States ?
Answer. As to the first point you make, I do not know that I ever heard any person speak
upon it. I never heard the points separated. I have heard them speak generally as to the
eftect of the policy of President .Johnson. The feeling, so far as I know, now is that there
is not that equality extended to the southern States as is enjoyed by the north.
Question. You do not feel down there that while you accept the result, that we are as gen
erous as we ought to be under the circumstances ?
Answer. They think that the north can atford to be generous.
Question. That is the feeling down there ?
Answer. Yes, and they think it is the best policy — those who reflect upon the subject and
are able fo judge.
Question. 1 understand it to be your opinion that generosity and liberality towards the en
tire south would be the surest means of regaining their good opinion ?
Answer. Yes, and the speediest.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. I understood you to say, generally, that you had no apprehension of any combi
nation among the leading secessionists to renew the war, or anything of the kind?
Answer. 1 have no reason in the world to think so.
Question. Have you heard that subject talked oveij among any of the politicians ?
Answer. No, sir ; I have not. I have not heard that matter even suggested.
Question. Let me put another hypothetical state of things: Suppose the executive gov
ernment of the United States should be held by a President who, l;ke Mr. Buchanan,'
rejected the right of coercion, so-called, and suppose a Congress should exist heie ei.tertain
ing the same political opinions, thus presenting to the once rebel States the opportunity
again to secede from the Union, would they or not, in your opinion, avail themselves of that
opportunity, or some of them ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 133
Answer. I suppose it would depend upon the circumstances existing at the time. If their
feelings should remain embittered, and their affections alienated from the rest of the States, I
think it very probable they might do so, provided they thought it was to their interest.
Question.' Do you not think that at the present time there is a deep-seated feeling1 of dislike
towards the government of the United States on the part of the masses of the secessionists >
Answer. I do not know that there is any deep-seated dislike. I think it is probable there
may be some animosity still existing among some of the people at the south.
Question. Is there not a deep-seated feeling of disappointment and chagrin at the result of
the war ?
Answer. I think that, at the time, they were disappointed at the result of the war.
Question. Do you mean to be understood as saying that there is not a condition of discon
tent against the government of the United States among the secessionists generally ?
Answer. I know of none.
Question. Are you prepared to say that they respect the government of the United States
and the loyal people of the United States so much, at the present time, as to perform their
duties as citizens ^of the United States and of the States faithfully and well ?
Answer. I believe that they will perform all the duties that they are required to perform.
I think that is the general feeling, so far as I know.
Question. Do you think that it would be practicable to convict a man in Virginia of
treason for having taken part in this rebellion against the government, by a Virginia jury,
without packing it with direct reference to a verdict of gnilty ?
Answer. On that point I have no knowledge, and I do not know what they would con
sider treason against the United States. If you mean past acts
Mr. HOWARD. Yes, sir.
WITNESS. I have no knowledge as to what their views on that subject in .the past are.
Question. You understand my question : Suppose a jury was impanelled in your own
neighborhood, taken up by lot; would it be practicable to convict, for instance, Jefferson
Davis for having levied war upon the United States, and thus having committed the crime
of treason ?
Answer. I think it is very probable that they would^ not consider he had committed
treason.
Question. Suppose the jury should be clearly and plainly instructed by the court that
such an act of war upon the United States, on the part of Mr. Davis, or any other leading
man, constituted in itself the crime of treason under the Constitution of the United States ;
would the jury be likely to heed that instruction, and if the facts were plainly in proof
before them, convict the offender?
Answer. I do not kno\v, sir, what they would do on that question.
Question. They do not generally suppose that it was treason against the United States, do
they?
Answer. I do not think that they so consider it.
Question. In what light would they view it? What would be their excuse or justifica
tion? How would they escape in their own mind? I refer to the past.
Answer. I am referring to the past and as to the feelings they would have. So far as I
know, they look upon the action of the State, in withdrawing itself from the government of
the United States, as carrying the individuals of the State along with it; that the State was
responsible for the act, not the individual.
Question. And that the ordinance of secession, so-called, or those acts of the State which
recognized a condition of war between the State and the general government, stood as their
justification for their bearing arms against the government of the United States?
Answer. Yes, sir. I think they considered the act of the State as legitimate ; that they
were merely using the reserved right which they had a right to do.
Question. State, if you please, (and if you are disinclined to answer the question you need
not do so, ) what your own personal view^ on that question were ?
Answer. That was my view; that the act of Virginia, in withdrawing herself •from the
United States, carried me along as a citizen of Virginia, and that her laws and her acts were
binding on me.
Question. And that you felt to be your justification in taking the course you did?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. I have been told, general, that you have remarked to some of your friends in
conversation that you were rather wheedled or cheated into that course by politicians?
Answer. I do not recollect making any such remark. I do not think I ever made it.
Question. If there be any other matter about which you wish to speak on this occasion,
do so freely.
Answer. Only in reference to that last question you put to me. I may have said, and I
may have believed, that the position of the two sections which they held to each other was
brought about by the politicians of the country ; that the great masses of the people, if they
understood the real question, Avould have avoided it ; but not that I had been individually
wheedled by the politicians.
Question. That is probably the origin of the whole thing ?
Answer. I may have said that ; but I do not even recollect that. But I did believe at the
134 RECONSTRUCTION.
time that it was an unncessary condition of affairs, and might have been avoided if forbear
ance and wisdom had been practiced on both sides.
Question. You say that you do not recollect having sworn allegiance and fidelity to the
confederate government?
Answer. I do not recollect it, nor do I know that it was ever required. I was regularly
commissioned in the army of the Confederate States, but I really do not recollect that that
oath was required. If it was required, I have no doubt I took it ; or if it had been required,
I would have taken it.
Question. Is there any other matter which you desire to state to the committee ?
Answer. No, sir ; I am ready 'to answer any question which you think proper to put to
me.
Question. How would an amendment to the Constitution be received by the secessionists,
or by the people at large, allowing the colored people or certain classes of them to exercise
the right of voting at elections ?
Answer. I think, so far as I can form an opinion, in such an event they would object.
Question. They would object to such an amendment?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Suppose an amendment should, nevertheless, be adopted, conferring on the
blacks the right of suffrage, would that, in your opinion, lead to scenes of violence and
breaches of the peace between the two races in Virginia?
Answer. I think it would excite unfriendly feelings between the two races. I cannot pre
tend to say to what extent it would go, but that would be the result.
Question, Are you acquainted with the proposed amendment now pending in the Senate
of the United States ?
Answer. No, sir ; I am not. I scarcely ever read a paper. [The substance of the pro
posed amendment was here explained to the witness by Mr. CONKLING. ] So far as I can
see, I do not think the State ot Virginia would object to it.
Question. Would she consent, under any circumstances, to allow the black people to vote,
even if she were to gain a larger number of representatives in Congress ?
Answer. That would depend upon her interests. If she had the right of determining that,
I do not see why she should object. If it were to her interest to admit these people to vote,
that might overrule any other objection that she had to it.
Question. "What, in your opinion, would be the practical result? Do you think that Vir
ginia would consent to allow the negro to vote ?
Answer. I think that, at present, she would accept the smaller representation. I do not
know what the future may develop. If it should be plain to her that these persons will vote
properly and understandingly, she might admit them to vote.
By Mr. BLOW :
Question. Do you not think it would turn a good deal, in the cotton States, upon the
value of the labor of the black people — upon the amount which they produce?
Answer. In a good many States in the south, and in a good many counties in Virginia,
if the black people now were allowed to vote, it would, I think, exclude proper representa
tion ; that is, proper, intelligent people would not be elected ; and rather than suffer that
injury they would not let them vote at all.
Question. Do you not think that the question, as to whether any southern State would
allow the colored people the right of suffrage in order to increase representation, would de
pend a good deal on the amount which the colored people might contribute to the wealth of
the State in order to secure two things : first, the larger representation, and, second, the in
fluence derived from these persons voting?
Answer. I think they would determine the question more in reference to their opinion as
to the manner in which those votes would be exercised, whether they consider those people
qualified to vote. My own opinion is, that, at this time, they cannot vote intelligently, and
that giving them the right of suffrage would open the door to a great deal of deniagogism,
and lead to embarrassments in various ways. What the future may prove, how intelligent
they may become, with what eyes they may look upon the interests of the State in which
they may reside, I cannot say more than you can.
Question. Is there any sympathy felt in the south for those schemes of emigration to
Mexico?
Answer. I believe that the masses of the people have not any sympathy with them. There
are individuals who think that their interest would be benefited, and, touted, that their pros
pects at home are so poor now that it is like losing their lives to remain. That feeling was
stronger at the first cessation of hostilities than it is now. At this time it seems to be sub
siding.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. I will put one question to you to which you may respond cr not, as you please :
I wish to inquire whether you had any knowledge, while you were in command at Rich
mond, of the cruelties practiced towards the Union prisoners Tit Libby prison and Belle Isle?
Answer. I never knew that any cruelty was practiced, and I have no reason to believe
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA, 135
that it was practiced. I can believe, and I had reason to believe, that privations may have
been experienced among the prisoners, because I know that provisions and shelter could not
be provided them.
Question. Were you not aware that those prisoners were dying from cold and starvation ?
Answer. I was not.
Mr. HOWARD. I desire that you shall speak your mind fully and freely on this subject,
for it is useless to conceal from you the fact that those scenes have created a sad feeling in
the hearts of the people at the north.
Answer. As regards myself, I never had any control over the prisoners, except those that
were captured on the field of battle. Them it was my business to send to Richmond to the
proper officer, who was then the provost marshal general. In regard to their disposition
afterwards I had no control. I never gave an order about it. It was entirely in the hands
of the War Department.
Question. And not in your hands ?
Answer. Not in mine.
Question. Did these scenes come at all to your knowledge ?
Answer. Never. No report was ever made to me about them ; there was no call for any
to be made to me. I did hear (it was mere hearsay) that statements had been made to the
war department, and that everything had been done to relieve them that could be done ;
even, finally, so far as to offer to send them to some points (Charleston was one point named)
if they would be received by the United States authorities and taken to their homes ; but
whether that is true or not I do not know ; it was merely a report that I heard.
Question. Were you in the same ignorance of the scenes at Andersonville and Salisbury ?
Answer. I never knew who commanded at Andersonville until I saw by the papers, after
the cessation of hostilities, that Captain Wirz had been arrested on that account, nor do I
know now who commanded at Salisbury.
Question. And of course you knew nothing of the scenes of cruelty, about which complaints
have been made, at those places ?
Answer. Nothing in the world. As I said before, I suppose they suffered from the want of
ability on the part of the Confederate States to supply their wants. At the very beginning
of the war I knew that there were sufferings of prisoners on both sides, but, as far as I could,
I did everything in my power to relieve them, and urged the establishment of the cartel which
was established.
By Mr. BLOW :
Question. It has been frequently asserted that the confederate soldiers feel more kindly
toward the government of the United States 'fcan any other portion of the people of the
south. What is your observation on that point ?
Answer. From the confederate soldiers I haye heard no expression of any other opinion.
They looked upon the war as a necessary evil and went through it. I have seen them re
lieve the wants of federal soldiers on the field. The orders always were that the whole field
should be treated alike. Parties were sent out to take in the federal wounded as well as the
confederate, and the surgeons were told to treat the one as they did the other. These orders
have been given by me repeatedly on every field.
Question. Do you think: that the good feeling on their part toward the rest of the people
has continued since the close of the war?
Answer. I know nothing to the contrary. I made several efforts to exchange the prisoners
after the cartel was suspended ; I did not know why it was suspended ; I do not know to
this day which side took the initiative ; I knew that there were constant complaints made on
both sides ; I merely knew it from public rumor. I offered to General Grant, around ,
Richmond, that we should ourselves exchange all the prisoners in our hands. There was a
committee from the Christian Association, I think, which reached Petersburg and made an
application to me for a passport toj visit all the prisons at the south. My letter to them I
suppose they have. I told them that I had not that authority ; that it could be only ob
tained from the war department at Richmond, but that neither they nor I could relieve the
sufferings of the prisoners ; that the only thing to be done for them was to exchange them ;
and to show that I would do whatever was in my power, I offered then to send to City Point
all the prisoners in Virginia arid North Carolina, over which my command extended, pro
vided they returned an equal number of mine, man for man. I reported this to the war
department, and received an answer that they would place at my command all the prisoners
at the south, if the proposition was accepted. 1 heard nothing more on the subject.
Question. Has there been any considerable change in the number of the negro population
in Virginia during the I3st four years ?
Answer. I suppose it has diminished, but I do not know.
Question. Diminished in consequence of more negroes going south than was made up by
the natural increase ?
Answer. My general opinion is that the number has diminished, and for the reason you give.
Question. I suppose that the mass of the negroes in Virginia, at the present time, are able
to work ; that there are not many helpless ones among them ?
Answer. There are helpless ones, certainly, but I do not know to what extent.
136 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What is jour opinion about itn being an advantage to Virginia to keep them
there at all. Do you not think that Virginia would be better off if the colored population were
to go to Alabama, Louisiana, and the other .southern States .'
Answer. I think it would be better for Virginia if she could get rid of them. That is no
new opinion with me. I have always thought so, and have always been in favor of eman
cipation — gradual emancipation.
Question. As a question of labor alone, do you not think that the labor which would flow
into Virginia, if the negroes left it for the cotton States, would be far more advantageous to
the State and to its future prosperity ?
Answer. I think it would be for the benefit of Virginia, and I believe that everybody there
would be willing to aid it.
Question. Do you not think that the State of Virginia is absolutely injured and its future
impaired by the presence of the black population there ?
Answer. I think it is.
Question. And do you not think it is peculiarly adapted to the quality of labor which
would flow, into it, from its great natural resources, in case it- was rimde more' attractive by the
absence of the colored race ?
Answer. I do.
WASHINGTON, February 17, 1866.
Doctor Charles S. Mills sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside?
Answer. In Richmond, Virginia.
Question. Are you a native Virginian ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. How old are you ?
Answer. Fifty-three years.
Question. State whether you have been a Unionist or the opposite ?
Answer. I was opposed to secession.
Question. Have you taken any part in the war?
Answer. No, sir ; I have taken no part in it.
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance in Virginia ?
Answer. My acquaintance is principally local. It is not very extensive, having no con
nexion with politics in any manner. 1 was a. private citizen, a practitioner of medicine, up
to the commencement of the war, and I afterwards took charge, as president, of a large coal
mining company.
Question. State what is the feeling among the secessionists generally, so far as your ob
servation extends, towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. There is a feeling, as they express it, of acquiescence in the determination of the
war. I believe there is no disposition at all on their part to recommence hostilities. They
see, in the first place, the utter futility of such a thing. Their condition is such that there is
no hope of success, and no means to carry on the war. As to their feeling towards the
United States, so far as my acquaintance goes, they feel very sore on the subject. I think
they have no real love for the Union of the States.
Question. Suppose they had another opportunity to get out of the Union, would they
embrace it ?
Answer. With regard to the people generally, uninfluenced and unbiased by the politicians
who have had control of Virginia, I think they would not; and the politicians I think would
not, provided they had the control of the federal government. I believe they would be
satisfied under any circumstances, provided they had the control.
Question. They would consider that reasonable, I suppose ?
Aii.sAver. Yes, sir; but I believe that a great many of them would be glad of an oppor
tunity to rid themselves of their allegiance and obligations to the United States government.
Question. You heard the question put to General Lee on the subject of war between this
country and a foreign power ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. And you heard his answer ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. What is your idea about that ?
Answer. It is pretty much the same. I believe that many at the south would be very
glad to embrace an opportunity to go to war if there was a prospect of their throwing oft
their allegiance to the United States government. To what extent that feeling prevails
through the country I am unable to say, because for the last six years I have been confined
principally to Richmond and the immediate neighborhood.
Question. Have you reason to believe that that feeling is pretty extensive ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 137
Answer. It is pretty extensive, I think, in Richmond.
Question. Can a Union man be elected to office anywhere in Virginia?
Answer. I do not believe that a man who has occupied the position of a Union man during
the war can be elected to any office, either of profit or honor, in Virginia ; that is, if the people
are left entirely to exercise their own preference on the subject, unrestrained by any other
influence.
Question. How large a proportion of the people in that State are Unionists, so far as your
observation has extended — one out of a hundred ?
Answer. No, sir; I hardly think as many as that. -In Richmond I know a good many
who were Unionists, who were opposed to secession, but who were compelled from necessity
to be very quiet during the existence of the war, from prudential considerations. Still, they
knew each other and spoke their sentiments very freely to each other, and in that way I
knew most of those who were Union men. L-was in the habit of speaking more freely my
self than almost any one else during the war, and consequently I was generally known as a
Union man throughout. In 1861, having occupied some little position in Richmond, and
being personally popular there, I was, at the suggestion of some friends, brought out as a
Union candidate for the mayoralty of the city. I believe that up to that time, and on any
other issue, I could have been elected to almost any post in the city ; but I was, of course,
defeated. I knew that I would be on that issue.
Question. Were you defeated by a large majority?
Answer. Yes, sir ; by a very large majority. Those who voted for me were, I believe,
one-third of the whole number of voters. To show the extent of the feeling which existed
at that time, I may mention that a good many who voted against me were my warmest friends,
arid stated that on any other issue they would have voted for me.
Question. Is there any other fact or circumstance occurring to, your mind, and which you
would like to relate.
Answer. Nothing at all, sir.
Question. How do the secessionists in Virginia feel towards the freedmen?
Answer. I do not know that there is any feeling of hostility against them at all, although
they think that they have been at a very heavy loss in having their slaves taken from them.
Question. Is there an unwillingness among them to have the blacks educated ?
Answer. I am unable to say. There is a diversity of opinion on the subject. I believe
that the more intelligent portion of the community desire to have them educated.
Question. Would they consent to be taxed for that purpose ?
Answer. I would not like to say.
Question. You think not?
Answer. I think that they would not be willing to be taxed.
Question. Suppose they were taxed in common with the blacks, or suppose the blacks
should bear their fair proportion, and even more than their fair proportion, of the taxation
which might be necessary to promote education among the blacks, would they consent even
to that? .
Answer. I do not know that I can answer that question. I never had much conversation
on the subject. But I belie-ve there is a disposition generally among the former owners of the
blacks to have them educated. I say that from the fact that I know several members of
families who are now educating their former slaves, teaching them to read and write. It
generally devolves upon young ladies. They are now devoting a portion of their time, at
intervals, to this purpose.
Question. Do- you think it practicable to have a convention called in Virginia, and your
constitution and laws amended in such a way as to restrict the right of suffrage, as now
exercised among the whites, by imposing qualifications which would exclude portions of the
white population from the right of suffrage which they now enjoy?
Answer. I do not know. The question has been discussed to a limited extent with regard
to limiting the franchise ; and the disposition to do so is pretty extensive — to carry it back as
near as possible to the basis which prevailed previously to 1829.
Question. What was that ?
Answer. That was a freehold basis, I think, of twenty-five acres of land, or the value of
one hundred dollars. I am not sure in regard to that. It was in the first' constitution that
existed in Virginia up to 1829. It was then changed, and the franchise extended. I be
lieve there is a general disposition now among the people, not among the politicians, to limit
the franchise.
Question. Do you think the blacks can be allowed the privilege of voting in Virginia by
any convention or legislature that may be got together ?
Answer. No, sir. I do not think that any convention would ever extend the right of suffrage
to the blacks, of its own accord, voluntarily.
Question. Is that feeling of repugnance to the exercise of the right of suffrage by the
blacks apparently increasing or diminishing among the people of Virginia ?
^ Answer. I do not know that any change has taken place. There has always been oppo
sition to the right of suffrage being enjoyed by the blacks.
Question. Is that feeling apparently universal among the whites ?
Answer. Pretty universal. If the right were to be unirersal suffrage, I dare say the feel-
138 RECONSTRUCTION.
ing would be universal|; but if "there was a property qualification connected with it, I think
a great many would probably be willing to admit the blacks to vote on a property qualifica
tion.
Question. You think they would consent to that far more freely than to universal suffrage ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How would they regard a qualification based on education — for instance, on a
knowledge of reading and writing among the blacks?
Answer. I do not know. They would prefer that, of course, to universal suffrage among
the blacks ; but I think that they would prefer a propejty qualification. I think that if
there should be any limit put to the franchise it would be with a view rather of excluding the
blacks — that is, to raise the franchise so that very few blacks would obtain it, although a
good many whites might be excluded with them ; but I do not know that even that is prac
ticable in Virginia at present. I think that those who control the State are disposed to con
tinue the system of universal suffrage, at least so far as the whites are concerned, because,
by that system they keep in power.
Question. How are Union men generally treated among the secessionists in Virginia— I
mean the native Unionists ?
Answer. I do not know that any change has taken place at all with regard to them so
cially, excepting in a few instances.
Question. Are they not almost universally proscribed so far as political honors are con
cerned ?
Answer. Oh yes, completely.
Question. How are Unionists from the northern States treated there?
Answer. I can only tell you from what I know of the federal officers who are there. I
believe there is no social intercourse at all between them and the citizens. In the few instances
in which they have been admitted into families there has been a very bad feeling created
on the part of the rest of the citizens towards the members of those families. That I know
to exist to a great extent in the city of Richmond.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the settlement of northern people among them?
Answer. I think they would generally prefer any other settlers. They would have no
objection to them ; but I think that, generally, in many portions of Virginia, their situation
would be unpleasant.
Question. Would they be subjected to ill-treatment or violence ?
Answer. No, sir, not at all ; merely to social proscription.
Question. What degree of justice would northern people be likely to obtain in the State
courts ?
^ Answer. I think they would obtain justice.
Question. Can a jury be impanelled in Virginia which would convict a ringleader, who
had been a traitor during the past wary of treason ?
Answer. I think not.
Question. What schemes do the leading secessionists harbor down there ? What is their
idea ? What is their great object 1
Answer. I am not sufficiently acquainted with political men to say. I have very little in
tercourse with them. They profess to sustain President Johnson's policy, whatever that is.
Question. They like President Johnson much better than they do the loyal people of the
north ?
Answer. President Johnson states very distinctly that none but loyal men shall be elected
to office. I think he stated that in his interview with the Virginia committee that came on
recently ; and, of course, they sustain President Johnson in that opinion. At least they pro
fess to do so. But that depends on the interpretation put upon the word "loyal."
Question. What interpretation do they put upon it?
Answer. I think that they consider a man who has taken the oath of allegiance as not only
a reconstructed citizen of the United States, but a loyal man.
Question. And a Unionist who has not had occasion to take that oath at all, they consider
as what ?
Answer. I do not know. They proscribe him.
Question. They do not consider that he belongs to the category, do they?
Answer I do not' know that they would consider him disloyal at all.
Question. But they would not like him much /
Answer. I think the majority of them would not ; that is, they vrould not be willing to
confer upon him any post of honor or profit.
Question. You have observed something of the effect which Mr. Johnson's liberal policy
towards the rebels and the rebel States has had on the minds of the secessionists. State the
effect. Has it made them more, or less, respectful to the government of the United States ?
Answer. I have been so long observant of the course of the politicians of Virginia that I
expected it would have exactly the effect it has had. They are willing, I believe, to adopt
any policy, almost, that will keep them in power, and give them power. I think that it
would have been better (and I so stated to Governor Peirpoint and others) to have kept
things in abeyance, as it were, some time at least; to have withheld amnesty from those
who had been active in thrusting the State of Virginia out of the Union ; to have withheld
VIRGINIA— NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 139
their pardons until the State was restored. I think that they would have co-operated much
more cordially, would have worked more heartily, for a proper restoration of the State, than
they have done since, or will do since they obtained their pardons.
Question. Has this liberality made them more, or less, contemptuous towards the govern
ment and laws of the United States — not towards President Johnson?
Answer. I do not know that it has really changed their feelings at all. But the pardon
has given them an opportunity to give utterance to, and exhibt the true state of, their feelings,
more than they could have done or would have done had they not been pardoned.
Question. Have you any reason to apprehend that any portion of them still entertain the
scheme of secession from the United States, or the repudiation of the debt of the United States,
or the assumption and payment of the confederate debt ?
Answer. No, sir. I think there is no feeling in favor of secession now. They consider
that as a matter perfectly settled, unless probably the country were to become involved in a
foreign war. Then, I think, it is probable that a great many of them would like to embrace
the opportunity of throwing off their allegiance to the United States. To what extent that
feeling exists I cannot say. In my intercourse with the people I have heard it frequently
uttered. With regard to the repudiation of the debt, the people of the south are scarcely in a
condition to pay taxes at all at present. It is very burdensome on them. They have lost
nearly everything they had. I think they would be almost as willing to repudiate the con
federate debt as the United States debt.
Question. Would they get rid of them both if they could, think you ?
Answer. I think they would get rid of both if they could.
Question. Do you think that that is their ultimate aim ?
Answer. I have heard an expression of opinion to that effect, not among the men of influ •
ence but among the people, that if the south could manage to get control of the government
again they would repudiate both debts : that, as they had been forced to repudiate their own
debt, they would repudiate that of the United States.
Question. How do they propose to get possession of the government ? What is to be
the machinery by which they are to fasten themselves upon it as engineers ?
Answer. They expect to get control of it by getting back into the Congress of the United
States, and acting with that portion of northern citizens who have always been considered
natural allies of the south.
Question. What is the name commonly given to that portion of northern citizens ?
Answer. The democratic party of the north.
Question. Sometimes called copperheads 1
Answer. The reconstruction of the democratic party would probably give the south again
control of the government of the United States. I really believe that they think that by
sustaining President Johnson in his course they will re-establish the democratic party, and,
in that way, get control of the government of the United States.
Question. Will they be likely to take up President Johnson for re-election as the democratic
candidate ?
Answer. I suppose they would, sir.
Question. Do they appear to have an inclination in that direction?
Answer. I have heard no opinion expressed with reference to the future, and therefore I
am unable to say what they would do.
Question. Do they seem to regard him as their friend ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they consider him, in the south, as peculiarly their friend.
Question. How do they feel towards the majority in the two houses of Congress who com
monly go by the denomination of radicals 1
Answer. I think you get a good idea in regard to that feeling by the expressions and sen
timents of almost all our papers. They represent pretty extensively the feelings of the people
generally in regard to that.
Question. Describe that feeling in your own terms ?
Answer. I think it is a feeling of hostility against what is considered the dominant party
in Congress ?
Question. They would be glad to overthrow them?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you think of anything else which you desire to say ?
Answer. Nothing at all. It was very unexpected to me to be called before this committee.
I came to Washington on business, and found myself served with a summons. I did not
know that it was even known that I was in the city of Washington.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 17, 1866
John H. Anderson sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD : •
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Richmond, Virginia.
1 40 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. How old are you ?
Answer. Thirty-one.
Question. What is your position ?
Answer. I have been lately storekeeper and general agent in the Richmond penitentiary.
My business before the war was that ot tobacco manufacturer. I was appointed by Governor
Peirpoint, in July last, as general ajr«;nt and storekeeper in the penitentiary in Richmond,
and was turned out of office by the Virginia legislature, now in Cession.
Question. Were you turned out on any charge of misconduct on your part ?
Answer. None in the world, sir.
Question. Had you been a Union man during the war ?
Answer. Yes; 1 was one of the two men in the city of Richmond who voted against the
ordinance of secession. In 1864 I came here and got an appointment in the Quartermaster
General's office. When the city of Richmond was captured in April I went there, when- my
family lives. I found there was no chance of getting into business there, as most of my
property was destroyed by the fire. What I had left behind I had been robbed of by an old man,
a partner of mine, who was a secessionist. As soon as Governor Peirpoint came down there
I asked him for an office, and he gave me that one, which I held for seven months.
Question. Have you any idea why the patriotic legislature of Virginia turned you out of
office?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I know the reason.
Question. What was it?
Ans.wer. Because I was a Uuidn man.
Question. Are you able to say whether that was made a charge against you in the le^is-
lature ?
Answer. The members of the legislature perfectly understood it. I was a marked man in
Richmond for having voted against the ordinance of secession. I am well known there, as
my father and grandfather before me did business there, and my family is a well-known
family there.
Question. Has the legislature extended that kind of compliment to other officers who are
known as Union men ?
Answer. To all of them, sir. Only one of a party of five who were appointed by the gov
ernor was elected by the legislature. I allude to the first auditor, who was the only officer
retained, and he was appointed in the first instance and retained afterwards because he was
a competent man.
Question. He was not turned out by the legislature ?
Answer. No, sir ; he was unanimously elected.
Question. Have you heard the statement made by Dr. Mills on this occasion ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And you understood all the answers he has given?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What do you say in regard to the subjects about which he has testified ? Do
you concur with him or dissent ? . ,
Answer. I concur with him.
Question. In all the statements he has made ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I know that the secessionists in the city of Richmond would not asso
ciate with me on account only of my being a Union man. I know that they treat us Union
men in such a way as t(j make it very unpleasant for us to live there. I have been associ
ating while, I have been there with some few Union families and United States officers.
Question. Your family is a good family there, is it not ?
Answer. Yes, sir. My family has always been in the habit of associating with good
families in Richmond; but they did not recently associate with us on my account. 1 knew
the Union officers there very well, and the secessionists have been more bitter against me on
that account, for associating with United States officers. I have heard sneering remarks made
on the street and in public places about Union men associating with damned Yankees.
*' Question. Do they call you a damned Yankee ?
Answer. Certainly ; they call every Union man a Yankee.
Question. And commonly prefix the epithet "damned /"
Answer. Yes, sir. The feeling is getting more bitter every day. When I first went back
they all met me kindly and were very glad to see me ; but as soon as they found out the
policy of the President of the United States they turned, and then I was proscribed. I
agree with Dr. Mills, that no Union man stands a chance of being electee} to any othVf. I
do not think they can do any business with profit. I should be very sorry to go into busi
ness there to-morrow, dependent upon the citizens of Richmond for support.
Question. Suppose you had a suit for the recovery of a just claim in any of the State
courts of Virginia; would you be prejudiced before the court on account of your Unionism ?
Answer. I think so. I should fear it.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 141
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 20, 1866.
Major General Alfred H. Terry sworn and examined^
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What is your rank in the army ? N
Answer. I am major general of volunteers and brigadier general and brevet major general
in the United States army. ,
Question. Where are you now stationed ?
Answer. In Richmond, Virginia.
Question. How long have yon been in command there ?
Answer. Since about the middle of last June.
Question. What amount of force have you in yoiir department ?
Answer. By the last return there were, present and absent, 2,942 men. The number ac
tually present in the department, including officers of the Veteran Reserve Corps, reporting
to the freedmen's commissioner, is between 2,600 and 2,700.
Question. At what points are they chiefly stationed ?
Answer. At Richmond, Fredericksburg, Charlottesville, Lynchburg, Bristol, Danville,
Petersburg, City Point, Norfolk, Fort Monroe, Yorktown, and Williainsburg. These are
mostly one and two-company posts.
Question. What is the territorial extent of your department?
Answer. The State of Virginia, with the exception of Alexandria, Fairfax, and London
counties, and the northern part of the Shenandoah valley.
Question. Have you much to do with the Freedmen's Bureau in your department?
Answer. I have. A great deal of business comes to me from the bureau, and I am in con
stant communication with Colonel Brown, the assistant commissioner.
Question. What are your means of knowledge of the state of affairs in Virginia, or
throughout your department ?
Answer. I do not come in direct personal contact with the people of Virginia as much as
many of my subordinates do. I have no social intercourse with any except those known to
be Union people.
Question. Why not?
Answer. They do not seek me ; and it is neither becoming my position as the commanding
officer of the department, nor consistent with niy self-respect, to seek them first. My
knowledge of affairs is derived from the business that comes to me officially, from official re
ports of my subordinates, and from unofficial information of occurrences which I receive
from those of my own people in whom I have confidence. It is derived, also, from what I
see in the public press of Virginia, and from what is brought to my attention, officially and
unofficially, by the commissioner of freemen's affairs. I frequently see citizens on official
business, but not as frequently as my subordinates do. My business is done chiefly on
paper.
Question. What, generally, is the feeling on the part of the secession element towards the
Unionists, whether native Virginians or persons from other States ?
Answer. I think it is as hostile as it has ever been. As to the feeling towards the people
of the north, I do not think that it has essentially changed from what it was before the war
and during the war. There is still the same hatred of, and the same contempt for, them.
Question. How much social intercourse is there between them. .
Answer. Very little, so far as my knowledge goes; very little, indeed.
Question. Are you prepared to say that the state of feeling between secessionists and
Unionists is one of bitter hostility ?
Answer. I think it is.
Question. Are Unionists secure in the enjoyment of their rights in the midst of a secession
community there?
Answer. I do not think they are. •
Question. Can they safely rely on the State courts for justice to themselves and protection
to their rights ?
Answer. No, sir ; I think not.
Question. How would it be, for instance, in a suit between a strong Union man, whether
residing there or from a loyal State, and a secessionist ? Would you apprehend that a jury,
called in the regular way in Virginia, would be prejudiced against a Union man?
Answer. While I do not know of any such case, such is my impression in regard to the
feelings of secessionists towards Union men that I think that the rights of the latter, under
these circumstances, would not be secured. I know, from conversation with Union men,
that such is the general impression among them.
Question. What do the secessionists appear to desire ? What great object have they in
view ?
Answer. In the first place, having failed to maintain the separate nationality which they
asserted, they desire to keep themselves a separate people, and to prevent, by any means
in their power, our becoming a homogeneous nation ; secondly, they desire to make treason
honorable and loyalty infamous, and to secure, as far as they may be able, political power.
142 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. And, of course, the great object which they immediately have in view is the
possession of political power ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How do they regard President Johnson's liberal policy in reconstructing the
States and granting pardons and amnesties ?
Answer. They seem to be very much pleased with it. They would, of course, regard with
great favor any action tending to restore them to their former status.
Question. Do you hear any expressions of disloyalty among them towards President
Johnson?
Answer. I do not.
Question. Suppose they got into power again, with their full representation in Congress,
and with a President who, like Mr. Buchanan, should disavow the right of the government
of the United States to coerce a State, and should decline to use the military force of the
government to prevent secession ; would they or would they not, in your opinion, again
secede from the Union and attempt to set up an independent government?
Answer. If these or any other circumstances should occur, and they should be convinced
that, notwithstanding their former failure, they then would have a certainty of success, I
think they would attempt to secede again.
Question. State whether they are in the habit of speaking contemptuously of the govern
ment of the United States as a political institution?
Answer. They are.
Question. Do you know, or have you any reason to believe, that there are now existing in
your department, or elsewhere in the rebel States, any combinations or conspiracies among the
secessionists with a view to the ultimate establishment of southern independence, or a re
newal of the rebellion, directly or indirectly ?
Answer. I know of none.
Question. Have you any reason to believe in the existence of any?
Answer. I have none.
Question. In the event of a war between the United States and any foreign government,
such as England or France, and in the event of there being a prospect of the establishment
of southern independence, by an alliance between the secession element in the south and the
foreign enemy, have you any reason to suppose that that element would ally itself with the
foreign enemy, or take any part in the war against the United States?
Answer. I think that, such has been the punishment which they have received for their
recent attempt to throw off the authority of the government, unless there was a very strong
prospect of success, they would be reluctant to engage in anothef attempt of the kind, with
or without alliance ; but, should a powerful foreign enemy laud upon the southern coast, they
would receive some material aid and much sympathy, under all circumstances. Should the
circumstances be such as to promise them their independence, then a very large portion of
the people of the south would join the enemy.
Answer. And, in view of the contingency of a foreign war with a powerful nation, and
the occurrence of such an invasion of our territory, do you regard the rebel States, one or al
together, as an element of strength in the government of the United States at the present time ?
Answer. No, sir; on the contrary, most decidedly an element of weakness.
Question. This conclusion, I take it, you have drawn from a careful observation of the
sentiments and feelings of the southern people, so far as you have had an opportunity ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What is their treatment generally towards the freedmen?
Answer. It is very various. Many persons are treating the freedmen kindly and justly,
endeavoring to accommodate themselves to the changed cirri t instances of the times, and to
enter into the proper relations with them as between employers and employed. Many others,
on the contrary, treat them with great harshness and injustice, and seek to obtain their ser
vices without just compensation, and to reduce them to a condition which will give to the
former masters all the benefits of slavery, aud^throw upon them none of its responsibilities.
Question. So far as you can judge, which class is the more numerous, those who treat the
freedmen kindly, or those who treat them with injustice and severity?
Answer. The latter.
Question. Do you think they greatly predominate in numbers ?
Answer. I can hardly estimate the relative proportions; I think that they predominate.
Question. Do yon suppose, from what you have seen and heard, and from what you know,
that it would be safe to intrust the great body of freedmen in Virginia, or elsewhere in the
south, to the care of the local authorities or the local legislatures ?
Answer. I do not.
Question. Suppose this were done, what consequences, in your judgment, would be likely
to follow ? Would they not maltreat the black race, deprive them of their rights, embarrass
them in the enjoyment of their property, if they should have any, provoke them, goad them,
if necessary, to acts of vioiencv, which the blacks might suppose they were performing in
their own defence, and in their wn interests, and in this way, within some short time, bring
about an open bloody resistance on the part of the black population?
VIRGINIA— NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 143
Answer. I should say there would be danger that the blacks would commit those acts which
an oppressed people sooner or later commit against their oppressors.
Question. Have you reason to believe that the blacks possess arms to any extent at the
present time?
Answer. I have been told that they do. I have received that information from citizens of
Virginia, including State officials, who have entreated me to take the arms of the blacks
away from them.
Question. Who were those officials ?
Answer. Some were members of the present legislature. I have been also asked to do so
by a public meeting held in one of the counties.
Question. Have you, in any case, issued orders for disarming blacks?
Answer. I have not.
Question. The blacks, I suppose, are almost universally loyal ?
Answer. I think there is no question about that ?
Question. How do the Virginians feel in regard to the education of the blacks ?
Answer. There is great difference of opinion in that respect in different communities. In
some places the people approve of it cordially, and many have taken part in it. In other
places the reverse is the case. Cases have come to my knowledge where persons coming to
teach blacks were not permitted to rent a place either for a school or for their own personal
occupation ; and it has been reporteJ to me that teachers sent to teach the blacks have been
treated with great contempt, and in some places threatened. Then, again, ia the city of
Lynchburg, for instance, the city authorities cordially entered into the arrangements for teach
ing the blacks in connexion with the military authorities. There is this variation of feeling,
and what is the prevailing feeling I cannot tell.
Question. What is the political character of the present legislature of Virginia?
Answer. Judging by its actions, and by the language used by many of its members in de
bate, it is not a loyal legislature.
Question. In case of the withdrawal of military protection from Virginia, what would be
the condition of the loyal people in Virginia and of the blacks ? /
Answer. I think they would be in a lamentable condition. Such is the prejudice enter
tained, especially against those who were faithful to their obligations to the govern inent dur
ing the war, that I do not think they would receive any adequate protection for their rights
of person or property from the people or from the courts ; and I think that they would be per
secuted through the machinery of the courts as well as privately. Even now, when military
law prevails in the State, and when military authority is supreme, attempts are made in the
courts to punish Unionists for acts done by them under military authority during the war,
and 1 have been obliged to interfere and release from prison men thus prosecuted.
Question. Has that been of frequent occurrence ?
Answer. I have directed the cessation of proceedings in some five or six cases of this kind.
In some of them the parties had been admitted to bail; in some they were imprisoned. I
have released those in prison, and in all cases have taken possession of the indictments and
•warrants and, when bonds have been given, of the bonds.
Question. Would the Unionists be safe, so to speak, in case of the removal of the protect
ing troops ?
Answer. I think not ; and in that opinion I am supported by, as I think, the unanimous
feeling of the Unionists themselves, which has been frequently, and still continues to«be, ex
pressed to me.
Question. Has the liberal policy of President Johnson in granting pardons and amnesties
to the rebels had the effect, in your opinion, to increase or to decrease the feeling of respect
towards the government of the United States on the part of the people of Virginia ?
Answer. 1 am unable to trace results to their causes in that matter; but since the time
when I took command, especially since military restraint has been so much relaxed as it has
been during the last two or three months, disloyal utterances and disloyal publications have
very much increased. They seem to have increased in proportion to the relaxation of military
restraint.
Question The newspaper known as the Richmond Examiner has been recently suppressed
by an order emanating from General Grant?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. For the utterance of disloyal sentiments, and of language insulting to Unionists
and to the northern section of the country ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Has that paper a large circulation ?
Answer. I do not know its circulation.
Question. How is it regarded ? Is it regarded as one of the leading exponents of public
feeling and opinion in Virginia?
Answer. It seems to be an exponent of the secession feeling.
Question. Are you acquainted with its publisher or editor?
Answer. I have seen the editor and publisher once or twice.
Question. Did you execute the order of General Grant?
144 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I caused it to be executed. I gave the order to General Turner, who commands
in Richmond.
Question. And he executed it?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Has the order been revoked or modified in any way ?
Answer. It lias.
Question. By whose order, so far as you know?
Answer. So far as I know officially, by General Grant's order.
Question. Has it been revoked entirely ?
Answer. It has been revoked temporarily by order of General Grant, and, as I understand,
on condition that, in future, it will not pursue a course inimical to the government or to the
growth or expression, in acts and words, of Union sentiment among the people of the States
lately in rebellion, or to the cultivation of friendly relations between the people of those
States, or any of them, and the other States of the Union, and that it will not in any way
fail in its editorials, correspondence, or transfer of articles from other newspapers, to give
support, countenance, and friendship to acts and expressions of loyalty to the L iiiou and its
supporters.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you desire to state to the committee?
Answer. No, sir.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 21, 1866.
Charles H. Lewis sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Rockingham county, Virginia.
Question. Have you been occupying any public position in Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I was appointed secretary of the commonwealth by Governor Peirpoint
in Slay last, at Alexandria, under what is called the restored government.
Question* Did you enter upon the discharge of your duties ?
Answer. Yes, immediately upon my appointment.
Question. Where?
Answer. At Alexandria.
Question. How long did you remain there?
Answer. I remained until the latter end of May, and then I went to Richmond with
Governor Peirpoint when the restored government went there.
Question. On reaching Richmond what archives of the State government of Virginia djd
you find remaining ?
Answer. I think all the archives of the State government connected with my office were in
the office of the secretary of the commonwealth, with the exception of one box of papers.
The contents of that box I never learned. The chief clerk of the rebel secretary said that
they were important documents, but what they were I never was able to ascertain. In the
discharge of my duties I never found any papers missing that I had occasion to use.
Question Do you know what became of that box ?
Answer. I do not. I took measures to endeavor to recover it, but all the United States
officers to whom I applied reported to me that they never could find it.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that it was destroyed, with its contents?
Answer. The chief clerk of the secretary of the commonwealth under the rebel govern
ment informed me that it was taken possession of by order of General Weitzel ; but that was
a hearsay statement in the case. He did not know the fact that General Weit/el had pos
session of it. He had derived it from somebody else.
Question. How long did you exercise the functions of secretary of state of the common
wealth .'
Answer. From the time of my appointment in May until the 1 1th of January, 1866. It is
proper to state that I had discharged the duties of secretary of the commonwealth for some
time at Alexandria before I had a regular appointment.
Question. And in the mean time the legislature of Virginia had assembled?
Answer. Yes, sir. The legislature of Virginia assembled the first Monday in December,
1865 — that is, what claims to be the present legislature of Virginia.
Question. Composed, I suppose, of members elected under the laws of Virginia?
Answer. Yes, sir. They so claim.
Question. Were they elected under the laws passed by the rebel legislature of Virginia, or
under the old laws in force before the rebellion?
Answer. It is proper that I should give some explanation of that election. On our return
to Richmond, what is called the Alexandria constitution was in operation — that is, a
constitution adopted by the convention assembled at Alexandria in J864. That consti
tution was framed, of course, under what is called the restored goveu ment — I ineau the
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 145
government which was recognized by the government of the United States. It was called
the restored government of Virginia because it was restored at Wheeling by a loyal convention
assembled there. That Alexandria constitution was in operation and was recognized as the
constitution of Virginia. There was an article in that constitution which forbade all persons
from voting who did not take and subscribe an oath that they would be loyal to the govern
ment of the United States, that they recognized and would uphold and defend the govern
ment of Virginia as established at Wheeling in June, IbfiJ, and that since the 1st of Janu
ary, 1864, they had not been voluntarily engaged in the rebellion against the government of
the United States. That was the substance of the oath. That article of the constitution
further provided that no person should hold office who had held any office, military or civil,
except county offices, under the so-called government of the Confederate States, or under any
State government in rebellion against the government of the United States. The legislature
of Virginia, which was called the Alexandria legislature, was convened by Governor Peir-
point at Richmond in a called session in June, 18(55 That legislature provided that the gov
ernor should submit to the people at the next election for members of Congress and of the
general assembly the question whether the next legislature should have power to alter and
amend that third article of the constitution. At the same election at which this vote was
taken a number of persons were elected as members of the general assembly who were in
eligible under the third article of the constitution. On the day of the assembling of the
legislature at Richmond the house of delegates was organized without any reference to the
ineligibility of any person claiming to be a member under that third article of the constitu
tion. The legislature, after being organized, took measures to remove the restrictions,
although a number of the persons who voted for the removal of the restrictions were ineligi
ble under the constitution. Their first act was to elect a speaker who had been a member
of the confederate congress — Colonel John B. Baldwin.
Question. Were you turned out of office ?
Answer. I was not re-electedi^o the. office of secretary of the commonwealth.
Question. When would your term of office expire 1
Answer. The legislature proceeded to the election of a secretary of the commonwealth, by
joint ballot, under a resolution adopted by themselves ; but for that resolution my term of
office would not have expired until January, Irt67.
Question. Whom did they elect in your place ?
Answer. Mr. John M. Herndon.
Question. What was his political character ?
Answer. I do not know, further than that I have always heard and believed that he sym
pathized and acted with the secession party during the war.
Question. State whether the removal from office, by joint action of the legislature, was
general in Virginia ?
Answer. Every Union man who held office by Governor Peirpoint's appointment, whom
the legislature could reach, was removed.
Question. What is the present political complexion of the two houses of the Virginia
legislature ?
Answer. I believe that the majority of both houses is composed of men who sympathized
with the rebellion; a considerable majority.
Question. Can you state what proportion of them were actually engaged in the rebellion ?
Answer. I cannot.
Question, What proportion of them had been pardoned by the President ?
Answer. I cannot tell how many of them had been pardoned. I know that many of them
had been; but I cannot even approximate the number. I believe that all of them who
owned $20,000 worth of property had been pardoned. Those who did not own so much
property of course had no need to be pardoned. The speaker of the house of delegates, I
know, had been pardoned by the President. He came under a different clause, and I know
that a number of other members of the two houses had been pardoned by the President, be
cause their pardons went through my office.
Question. What is the feeling among the secessionists in Virginia toward the government
of the United States ?
Answer. My decided impression in regard to that matter is, that the masses of the people
(and by that term I do not mean only the laboring classes, but I mean all those persons who
are not politicians) were very favorably disposed toward the government of the United
Stnies at the time of Lee's surrender. I believe that very decided efforts have 'been made
by tlu> politicians to change that feeling since that time, and I am afraid that they have had
a great deal of success. I believe that the majority of the people of Virginia would still
be loyal to the government of the United States if it were not for the pressure of the press
and the politicians, who, to a great extent, control public opinion. I believe that many of
the old secession politicians are actively engaged in promoting dissatisfaction with the gov
ernment of the United States.
Question. How do these politicians feel toward President Johnson's policy in regard to
the reconstruction of the States /
Answer. They all profess to be decidedly in favor of President Johnson's policy of recon-
10 V NC SO
1 46 RECONSTRUCTION.
struction, which, they either believe or profess to believe, means the restoration to power of
the men who have been disloyal at the north and at the south.
Question. Do you think that President Johnson's liberal policy in granting: pardons and
amnesties has made the masses of the people more or less respectful to the government of
the United States than they were before ?
Answer. When the restored government first went back to Richmond, the politicians pro
fessed great anxiety to be pardoned in order that they might get their property back, resume
their avocations, and be released from the penalties of treason ; and they made very loud
professions of accepting the condition of things, and of being anxious to become true and
loyal subjects of the United States government. After most of them got pardons, I found
among the politicians a very decided change for the worse.
Question. Have you reason to apprehend that schemes are cherished by any of the late
rebels in Virginia for a renewal of the war, or for the establishment of what is known as
southern independence, in any event ?
Answer. I have no reason to believe that there is any organization in the State for that
purpose ; but, from the conversation of some of the most outspoken of the secessionists of
the State, I am inclined to think that a great many of them would be very glad to see the
country involved in a foreign war, in the hope that they could again get up a secession
party in the south ; but I have no idea that a majority or anything like a majority of the
people of Virginia entertain any such wish or desire now. I believe that feeling is entirely
confined to the most ultra secessionists.
Question. How do secessionists generally feel in regard to the payment of the federal debt
contracted in the prosecution of the war ; are they willing to pay it, or would they prefer to
repudiate and get rid of it?
Answer. I believe that the politicians would, if they were encouraged to do so, gladly
persuade the people to repudiate the national debt ; but it is not their policy to profess this
intention now ; most of them declare that they have no such wish or intention ; but I have
no confidence in them. The masses of the people would be^disposed to meet all their obliga
tions to the nation. As to the assumption of the confederate debt, I would say that I do not
believe that the leaders of the rebellion — I speak of the majority of them — ever contemplated
the payment of that debt even if the rebellion succeeded, I have no doubt the secessionists
of Virginia would gladly vote for the assumption of the confederate debt by the nation.
Question. You do not think that it would touch their consciences very deeply to be de
prived of the pleasure of paying the rebel debt contracted in the prosecution of the rebellion?
Answer. No, sir. I think that a great many of them, if the debt could be paid without
gaining unpopularity by taxing the people, would be glad to pay it ; but I do not think they
would be willing now to impose a tax upon the people. That would make them unpopular.
Question. Where is the great mass ot the confederate bonds and currency now?
Answer. Soon after we went to Richmond I saw a great number of them hawked about the
streets by the boys for sale, for whatever they could get for them. The United States officers,
soldiers, and others bought them as curiosities. For some time past I have not seen a con
federate note or bond. I do not know where they are now.
Question. Can you explain what are known as the cotton bonds?
Answer. No, sir, I cannot. I never knew what became of those cotton bonds. I pre
sume they are in the hands of capitalists in London and Paris. I never owned any confede
rate securities, and never had anything to do with the confederacy, except this : "When the
ordinance of secession passed, I was under forty -five years of age, and I was culled out with
the militia. . I could not get away, and of course I had to go out. I was adjutant of my
regiment. We did no fighting, and were only a short time in the service. If I had supposed
that our regiment would have done any harm to the United States, I should have endeavored
to keep out of the service; but, believing that we would not hurt anybody, and that nobody
would hurt us, I thought that it was best for us Union men to go into the militia. At that
time we were not without hopes that we might be able to induce the people to go back into
the Union, and we thought we would not make any open opposition nor produce any issue
just at that time, but wait our opportunity. I never held any confederate security, and
never voted at any election, under the confederate government, except county officers, believ
ing that to do so would be to recognize the confederate government.
Question Were you in Richmond at the time of the passage of the ordinance of secession?
Answer. I was not. I left Richmond a few days before the ordinance was passed.
Question. While you were there at that time, did you hear anything about President
Lincoln making a proposition to evacuate Fort Sumter or Fort Pickens?
Answer. I did not. My brother, who was a member of the convention, informed me, a
very considerable time after the convention adjourned, that he understood that such a pro
position had been made to Colonel Baldwin and had been withheld from the convention.
Question. What is the general feeling among the substantial classes of Virginia towards
the freedmen?
Answer. That depends on localities. I think that in some localities there is a disposition
to treat the freedmen with kindness and liberal it}': but I believe, from what I have learned,
that in other localities there is a disposition manifested to be illiberal to them. I do not by
any means believe that it would be entirely safe at present to leave the negroes to the local
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 147
officers in the State or to the legislature. I believe that if the masses of the people were let
alone, they would treat the negroes with, kindness and humanity; but the turblent portion
of the community would be anxious always to treat the negroes with unkindness, and would
try to create difficulties by endeavoring to raise rows, and to excite the white people against
them.
Question. Do you think that a great many of them would be willing to reduce the blacks
again to slavery 1
Answer. I believe that a large number of persons would be very glad to do so if they
could. I do not believe that among the intelligent people of Virginia there is any hope or
expectation of any such thing ; I have heard some persons who" were large slaveholders
say that they would not have slavery re-established in Virginia ; but I know that there is a
very large number of persons in Virginia who would be very glad, if they had any meaui
of doing so, to reduce the blacks to slavery again. I do not think, however, that they hav
any idea of attempting it, or hope or expectation of accomplishing it. My impression in re
gard to the condition of things in Virginia is about this : The design of the politicians and of
the disloyal press is, as far as possible, to create an alienation of feeling, and to inculcate a
spirit of bitterness among the southern people against the north. My decided impression is
that the politicians, and a portion of the clergy, and the disloyal press, are busily engaged
in that attempt.
Question. What does all that look to?
Answer. I think they have a double motive in it. They wish to impress the people with
the -sentiment that the secessionists are the only patriots inthe State; and they hope, by a
union with the disloyal people of the north, to be able to get control of the government.
Question. Suppose they should do that, and suppose they should have a President of the
United States who entertained the same political doctrines as James Buchanan entertained
in regard to the coercion of a State, renouncing for the United States all power to coerce
a rebel State, and suppose we should have a Congress of the same political stripe, what
would be the result in regard to secession ?
Answer. Then every intelligent loyal man would tremble for the safety of the nation ; I
believe the secessionist politicians of the south would eagerly avail themselves of such an
opportunity to dismember the republic. Whether the masses of the people of Virginia could
be persuaded into another rebellion is doubtful. When the restored government went to
Richmond in May last, Governor Peirpoint received assurances from every part of the State
of the earnest loyalty of the people. I am sure that the people were sincere ; I regret to
have to express the fear that very many of those who were active in promoting and sus
taining the rebellion were not. Every means in their power is used to induce the people to
regard those who made themselves conspicuous in their efforts to destroy the government of
the United States as patriots, and to render those who desired to restore the Union odious.
The secession leaders rely very much, as I gather from their conversations, on the sympathy
and assistance of the " peace democracy" of the north to enable them to get into power. I
have heard some of them say that Ben. Wood had promised them that the northern democ
racy would sustain them.
Question. Should you or not apprehend, in such an event, a reassertion of the doctrine
of secession practically ?
Answer. I should.
Question. Have you any doubt that the rebel States, including Virginia, would again go
out of the Union by secession ?
Answer. I am rather inclined to think that there would be a pretty hard fight in Virginia.
I do not think that the masses of our people want to go out of the Union any more ; I be-
~ ~ _ proper
all these politicians now profess loyalty ^o the Union, but I am very free to say that I dis
trust their professions very much.
Question. Have you ever had a conversation with any of the persons who were prominent
in the rebellion on the subject of the manner in which the oath of allegiance to the govern
ment of the United States, usually designated as the "amnesty oath," is regarded by the
secessionists in Virginia ?
Answer. I have heard Generals Wickam, Mahone, and some others repeatedly declare that
they had taken the oath in good faith and meant to keep it. I have, on the other hand, heard
other persons who were engaged in the rebellion speak of the oath as an oath taken under
compulsion, coupled with the intimation that it was not binding. I remember a conversation
I had with Governor Henry A. Wise, in my office in December last, whilst I was secretary
of the commonwealth of Virginia. A number of pardons by the President were lying on
enior Peirpoint would recommend it. He replied that we were much more kind to them
(meaning those who had been actively engaged in the rebellion) than they would have been
to us ; "lor," said he, " if / had caught Governor Peirpoint or yourself whilst I was in com-
148 RECONSTRUCTION.
mand, I would have hanged you, notwithstanding my respect for the honesty which I have
no doubt influenced your conduct. But, sir, I could not take that oath ; I feel for my old
friends when some of them tell me, with tears in their eyes, that they feel degraded at hav
ing taken it to save their property, and others laughingly refer to it as 'u mere custom-house
oath.' Now, sir, if I take un oath I will keep it." I do not pretend to give the precise words
of Governor Wise, but I have given the substance of what he said on this subject. I should
add that Governor Wise, whilst he complained of the treatment he had received from the
government of the United States, declared his intention to comply strictly with the terms of
his parole, and said that even now he loved the old Union better than most of those who
made loud professions of devotion to it. The conversation made a deep impression on my
mind, as it confirmed the misgivings I had felt for some time previous as to the sincerity of
many of those who had obtained their pardons by making professions of a determination to
be loyal for the future.
WASHINGTON, February 21, 1866.
Manasseh Blackburn SWtfffl and examined,
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside1?
Answer. Rockingham county, Virginia.
Question. How long have you resided there 1 9
Answer. I hav.e resided in the county since 1862, and in the valley since 1853.
Question. Have you taken, any part in the rebellion ?
Answer. No part, more than in connexion with Mr. Lewis— we were compelled to make
iron for the rebels. We were induced, through expediency, to make a contract with the
confederate government to make iron for it so as to keep hands out of the army. We made
a contract, 1 think, in the fall of 1863.
Question. Are -you an iron manufacturer ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; that is my profession. I moved there from Pennsylvania.
Question. You have been always a Union man ?
Answer. Yes, sir. We thought it better for us to hold the works than to let the rebel
government send people there themselves to work them. After consultation we thought that
we were doing less for the confederacy that way than if we let the government use the works
themselves.
Question. What is the feeling in your neighborhood, on the part of the secessionists,
towards the United States government?
Answer. I think it is right hostile. I do not think there is much change since the sur
render. They are speaking out more boldly now than they did in June or July.
Question. What is their tone now?
Answer. They think they are badly treated; that they are taxed without representation. I
heard a remark made on the cars yesterday, that only one scene of the play was over yet;
that the curtain had fallen when Lincoln was Assassinated, and that one similar scene was to
follow, unless their representatives were admitted, or unless there was a change in the policy
of the United States government.
Question. Did that person go on and inform you what the next scene was to be ?
Answer. No, sir; he stopped short at that.
Question. Did he seem to be a man of consequence ?
Answer. There were five or six men talking together, and they seemed to be men of char
acter. It is the general talk, that the people are more disaffected now than they were after
the surrender. 1 can see it, too, from their movements and conversation, but I believe that
the masses of the people, the working classes, in the valley are loyal — partly voluntarily,
and partly compulsorily.
Question. How do they feel towards the freedmen?
Answer. In the valley 1 think that, as a general thing, they treat the freedmen nearly right,
but in eastern Virginia I think that the feeling is rather against the freedmeu. I do not
think they would do justice to them. I am employing about one hundred and fifty hands,
and most of them are freedmen, and I find them very good bauds.
Question. Do you notice much idleness and vagabondage among the freedmen ?
Answer. None at all in our neighborhood.
Question. If they are liberally and fairly paid, will they not work and support themselves
us well as whikj men 7
Answer. My experience has been such. They all show a disposition to try and earn
something, and to get homes for their families. They come to me and say they want to get a
house and home and go to work. They work with energy, and seem anxious and rejoiced
that they are earning something and getting their pay. They show & disposition to be good
citizens.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA— SOUTH CAROLINA. 149
Question. Do you discover a disposition among the whites to allpw the blacks to own real
estate and personal property ? •
Answer. I have not heard anything said in the valley as regards that. East of the ridge
I have heard some gentlemen say that they should never be allowed to have a roof over their
heads, or should not have any countenance shown to them at all. But I believe that the
mass of the people in the valley would treat the freedrnen as they should be treated.
Question. Have you ever held any public office ?
Answer. No, sir ; I never have.
Question. Can you relate any incident going to show the feeling on the part of the whites
towards Union men or blacks ?
Answer. No ; I do not know that I can.
Question. What chance does a black man or a Unionist stand in the State courts for
justice and the protection of his rights ?
Answer. I would doubt whether a Unionist can get justice. He might in some pecuniary
matters get justice, but I doubt whether in other things he could. I think that, as far as the
blacks are concerned in the valley, they could in pecuniary matters get justice — they could
collect bills, or anything of that kind.
Question. What, generally, is the treatment shown by disunionists toward the Unionists
in your vicinity ?
Answer. They regard us as intruders — not their equals. Their families will not associate
with ours ; they consider us as rebels to their so-called government.
Question. Do they speak of you as traitors ?
Answer. Yes, sir, as traitors to the country ; and they curse a man who would not fight
for the country, and for the government which supports him — and such stuff. It has been
very frequently said, by neighbors who visited my family, that they were ridiculed for visit
ing "Union trash." They curse us as Yankees and intruders, and such things.
Question. Is that a general feeling, or merely occasional 1
Answer. That feeling, I think, has worn off, in regard to ourselves, since the failure of
the rebellion. It was the general feeling before ; but since they saw they could not drive us
away from the neighborhood they have given it up. In niy case I suppose it is a little dif
ferent, for I bring a good deal of money into the neighborhood, and they therefore court my
favor. I am putting up works and introducing a good deal of labor, and that seems to be
removing some of the antipathy to me.
Question. You are not a native of Virginia ?
Answer. No, sir ; I am a native of Chester county, Pennsylvania.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you wish to relate ?
Answer. No, sir; I think not. ,
Question. Are there any Union troops in your neighborhood ?
Answer. None nearer than Charlestown
WASHINGTON, February 21, 1866.
Rev. James W. Hunnicutt sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD:
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Fredericksburg, Virginia.
Question. What is your profession ?
Answer. I am a minister of the gospel, and edited a religious paper before the war.
Question. To what denomination do you belong?
Answer. To the Baptist.
Question. How long^have you resided in Fredericksburg ?
Answer. I came to Fredericksburg in April, 1847,
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. No, sir ; I am a native of Pendleton district, South Carolina.
Question. Are you acquainted writh the state of feeling in the neighborhood where you
reside toward the government of the United States ?
Answer. I think I am.
Question. Please state what appears to be the prevailing feeling there.
Answer. I think you have the religion of the place, as it is called, and the capital of the
place, and the politics of the place, and the social influence of the place, all against the
government and against Union men who are in favor of the government. The Union men
are virtually disfranchised.
Question. Would it be safe for a Union man to go to the polls and vote there at an elec
tion?
Answer. No, sir, not even with the military there. If the military and the Freedmen's
Bureau were removed from there, we could neither vote there nor stay there in peace and
safety. That is the honest conviction of my heart.
150 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What is the -feeling generally in your denomination ?
Answer. I have not visited any of my churches in the lower part of Virginia, but they are
generally secesh — I am sorry to inform you — so much so that I have not received an invita
tion to visit any church in Virginia since my return, and there are few members of my church
who visit me.
Question. Has there been a rupture in the Baptist church growing out of the late troubles ?
Answer. Before the war there was a Methodist Episcopal church and a Methodist church
south ; since the war Mr. Conway, who belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, took
possession of the parsonage, and Mr. Lanahan went down there to look after the property.
Mr. Couway, who was a member of his church before the war, refused to give up the
property to Mr. Lanahan, and would not let him into the church. Mr. Lanahan employed
a lawyer, who got an order from headquarters that the property should be given up to Dr.
Green, who is a -member of the Baltimore conference, taking it from that party which has
gone over to the Methodist Episcopal church south. Those who belonged to the church
before the war have gone over to the Methodist Episcopal church south. Any man who pro
fesses to be a Union man is ignored in the church. For instance, the Baptists employed a
local Methodist preacher named Lentner to preach for them. He was a drum-major in the
confederate army. I saw him myself. After the collapse of the rebellion the Baptists were
without a preacher, and this man went to their church and drummed them until they could
get a minister.
Question. He kept up his drumming in the pulpit?
Answer. Yes, sir. When I returned from the north, a week ago last Sabbath, I was in
formed that there was a colored free school in Fredericksburg, and a free school for whites.
I visited the teachers, and was told how difficult it was for them to get board. Myself and
wife and Dr. Smith paid them a visit on Tuesday. I visited the schools at the request of
the teachers, and was requested to address the scholars. I asked the children if any of the
preachers of the town had visited them. They said not. "Has the mayor visited you?"
" He has not." " Have any of the councilmen visited you?" " None.'' "Have any of
the citizens visited you?" "None." And if the Freedmen's Bureau were removed and the
military taken from Fredericksburg, that school would not continue in operation a week, and
northern men could not stay there a week.
Question. Do you think that Union men, whether from the north or residents in the neigh
borhood, are secure in the civil courts of justice of the State ?
Answer. I do not believe that any of us will get justice done. I hate to give such a bad
account of my fellow-citizens, but I have no faith in them. The preachers and the editors
are doing more injury now to the people of the south than any other class of men there.
Question. Do they not pray for the President of the United States occasionally ?
Answer. I do not know. I do not go to hear them pray. I have no faith in their prayers
or their churches.
Question. What is the effect of President Johnson's policy of reconstruction there?
Answer. They are all now for Johnson. They cursed him and Peirpoint and Brownlow
and Hunnicutt — that is myself — and all of us were alike until since he has pardoned every
body down there ; and they are now Johnson men. Peirpoint was their man, but they are
eursing him now. They are all in favor of President Johnson's policy of reconstruction.
As soon as they get their ends served by him they would not touch him, but he is their man
now. They say that in 1868 the south will be a unit, and that with the help of the copper
head party of the north they will elect a President. They do not care to have slavery back,
but they will try and make the federal government pay them for their slaves. A man from
Virginia told me to-day that they would be paid for their negroes. This gentleman lost forty
negroes. This is their idea ; they do not want slavery back, but they want to be paid for
their slaves. They say that unless you accept their debt they will repudiate yours. They
say they are not interested in this government.
Question. They would be glad to have Uncle Sam assume the payment of the confederate
debt?
Answer. Yes, sir, and to pay them for their negroes and to indemnify them for their loss of
property in the war. It is an impression of most of them, men, women and children, that
they are going to be paid for every rail burned, for every stick of timber destroyed, and for
every negro lost. One man told me in my house that as soon as they could get the reins of
government in their hands they would undo everything that this administration has done,
with an awful adjective prefixed to the word "administration." He said, "We have as
much right to' undo what the administration has done as they have to destroy the govern
ment of the Constitution" — as they claim the administration has done.
Question. They propose to get back into the Union for the purpose of restoring the Con
stitution ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and the testimony of the negroes will not be worth a snap of your fin
ger, and all this is done for policy. A negro can come and give his testimony, and it passes
for what it is worth with the courts. They can do what they please with it ; there are the
jhidges, the lawyers, and the jury against the negro, and perhaps every one of them is snig
gering and laughing while the negro is giving his testimony.
Question. Has not the liberal policy of President Johnson in granting pardons and amnes
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 151
ties rather tended to soothe and allay their feelings towards the government of the United
States ?
Answer. No, sir, not towards the government of the United States nor towards the Union
men.
Question. What effect has it had in that respect?
Answer. It has made them more impudent. They were once humble and felt that they had
done wrong, but this policy has emboldened them, and they are more impudent to-day, more
intolerant, and more prescriptive than they were in 1864. They say that we are the traitors
and went over to the damned Yankees. Our present mayor, Slaughter, had sixty men of
Grant's army, who were wounded in the wilderness and sent to Fredericks burg, forwarded to
General Lee as prisouers-of-war. When Fredericksburg fell into our hands Slaughter made
his escape. The federals arrested sixty citizens of Fredericksburg to be held as hostages for
these sixty soldiers whom Slaughter had sent to the enemy, and among them was my wife's
brother, who was living in Fredericksburg, and yet that same Slaughter was re-elected mayor
of Fredericksburg last summer after the collapse of the rebellion. Old Tom Barton, the com
monwealth's attorney, said in 1861 (and I suppose his feelings are the same still) that all
these Union shriekers ought to be hung as high as Hainan, and this old man was re-elected
commonwealth attorney by the people of the county. Every member of the rebel common
council was re-elected. One of the men who were elected members of the common council
from that district stated that none of the Union men who went over to the Yankees during
the* war should be allowed to return to Fredericksburg ; he was also appointed director of a
bank there. These are the men we have got over us, and what kind of justice can we expect
in the courts ?
Question. You will probably get pretty summary justice ?
Answer. I think so ; these are facts.
Question. Where is Slaughter now ?
Answer. He is now mayor of Fredericksburg and will be re-elected next mouth ; we need
not run a Union man there ; we are disfranchised.
Question4. Is not Slaughter a good Union man ?
Answer. Oh ! he has been notoriously Union all the time, as the papers say — notoriously
Union ! I saw that stated in a Fredericksburg paper; it stated that they had "been persecu
ting Mayor Slaughter, who had been notoriously Union all the time.
Question. You have not a great deal of confidence in the truthfulness of secession ?
Answer. No, sir ; I have not.
Question. Where their political standing is concerned ?
Answer. I used to have some confidence, not in secession, but in the people ; but it seems
to me that their whole nature and character has been changed, and that when treason enters
a man's heart, every virtue lie has departs.
Question. Could Jefferson Davis be convicted of treason in that part of Virginia ?
Answer. As I went home last Sunday week in the boat, I was in company with a delega
tion from the Virginia legislature which waited upon President Johnson, and I heard one of
them say that there could not be a jury obtained south of the Potomac who would convict
Jeff. Davis, and that the man who would write down there that Jeff. Davis should be punished
would be in danger. Jeff. Davis cannpt be punished down there, and they would elect Lee
to-morrow, if there were no difficulty in the way, governor of Virginia. There is no ques
tion about that in my mind. • »
Question. Do you think of anything that you wish to relate ?
Answer. No, sir ; I simply wish to state that I make these remarks conscientiously. I was
born and raised in the south ; my interests of every kind, social, financial, religious and po
litical, are in the south ; my church is in the south, and I am going soon to Richmond to edit
a paper. Nothing but the good of the country, my own safety, and the safety of my child
ren, and of Union men and or freedmen, could have induced me to come before you and make
this statement. I am a friend of the south. I have written for the south, and I shall write
in behalf of the south, but the south is one thing, and traitors and treason in the south are
different things.
Question. What is the political character of the Richmond Dispatch?
Answer. There are seven papers published in Richmond — seven of them ; and every one
of them is disloyal to the core, except the Republic, and you know the character of that.
The Dispatch was one of the most devilish sheets in the State while the rebellion was going
on, and it has got the same ring to it yet, and so have all of them.
Question. What is the political character of the Alexandria Gazette ?
Answer. That is all secesh, heel, soul and body, and has been all the time. I used to ex
change with the Alexandria Gazette before the war. I made speeches in Alexandria in J8&5
and J864, and they reported my speeches and made the worst they could of everything in
order to make me odious. It is a " notoriously loyal" sheet, as they would say of Mayor
Slaughter.
Question. Loyal on the p*rinciple of reconstruction ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you know much about the condition of South Carolina ?
Answer. I do not ; but secesh is the same everywhere.
1 52 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, February 28, 1866.
Frederick H. Bruce sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD:
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. I reside in Rappahannock county, Virginia.
Question. What is your present occupation ?
Answer. Mail agent, United States Post Office Department.
Question. On what lines in Virginia .'
Answer. From Washington to Lyrichburg.
Question. How long have you held that post ?
Answer. Since July last.
Question. Have you mingled freely with the people of Virginia during that time?
Answer. I have in that portion of Virginia in which I have travelled. I have mingled
very freely with them.
Question. Were you raised in Virginia?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were you in Virginia during the war?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you take any part in the war?
Answer. The part I took in the war is on record in the Post Office Department.
Question. You were drafted, I suppose?
Answer. No, sir ; I was not drafted ; I was called out by the governor of the State.
Question. You never have been in active service ?
Answer. I never voluntarily, or of my own free will, gave any active service to the re
bellion.
Question. So far as your knowledge and information extends, what can you say as to the
present condition of feeling among the residents of Virginia towards the United States; is it
friendly or unfriendly ?
Answer. I consider it unfriendly. As to those politicians whom I have heard converse, I
can only repeat their remarks, from which I have in part made up my opinion. I can better
illustrate, perhaps, by these conversations than in any other way. I heard a man in Vir
ginia, now commonwealth's attorney, a man of influence in the county in which he lives,
and of considerable ability, not ten days ago, express the sentiment that he indorsed or jus
tified the assassination of President Lincoln ; that he rejoiced at it, and if he could would
build a monument to the memory of Booth as high as the skies ; and this man was holding
office in that State.
Question. Appointed under what administration?
Answer. He was elected by the people of the county.
Question. Do you regard him as a fair type of the political class to which he belongs, or
as an extremist ?
Answer. I suppose if he and a loyal man of the county were candidates together, he
would receive the unanimous vote of the county, with perhaps fifty or one hundred excep
tions. He also stated that those who did not uphold tne President in his restoration policy,
and were not identified with their people against the radicals, would forever be denounced in
the southern States; that they ought not and could not expect any political favors; that ho
considered it a crime, politically and morally, for a man to favor the Sumuer and Stevens
policy.
Question. Had this man been pardoned ?
Answer. I do not think he came under any of the exceptions in the amnesty proclama
tion. He had not $20,000, and he had not participated in tlte rebellion to the extent of
having been in the army. I heard a doctor, a man of influence, last week make a remark,
which I believe is the general sentiment of almost every one in that part of Virginia. He
said he did all he could during the rebellion, and did not regret it; that he- was ready and
willing to resume hostilities at any time; that his only regret was that he could not have
done more. This ren:ark was made last Saturday.
Question. Was that doctor a man of position and influence ?
Answer. He was a man of position and of considerable family influence.
Question. Will you name any other instance?
Answer. I will mention an incident, as told to me, that occurred in the early part of the
summer, during the canvass for members of the legislature. One of the candidates had just
taken the amnesty oath, and after he had taken it, he picked up a Constitution, of the United
States, spit upon it, threw it down, and trampled it under his feet.
Question. Was he elected to the legislature?
Answer. No, sir; lie was defeated by a small majority.
Question. Was a Union man elected in his place .'
Answer. No ; he was not a Union man; a Union man could not have been elected in that
county. This man, I was informed, hud made himself obnoxious among the people there
during the war, in consequence of the tyrannical course he had pursued towards poor people,
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 153
and was for that reason defeated ; but he was an influential man, and a man of wealth. You
have perhaps heard of the difficulty that occurred at Gordonsville, which was reported in the
papers, in which a mail agent was concerned ; I was unfortunately that mail agent.
Question. You will please state it now.
Answer. In regard to the facts of the case as they occurred, I do not suppose it is necessary
to mention them; I only refer to it for the purpose of illustrating the spirit of the people.
While they were abusing me, I made some remark to them, which was replied to ; and the
reply seemed to hit the crowd, who took off their hats, shouted, ''Jeff. Davis and the Con
federate States," and gave three rounds of cheers. That was only last Christmas day.
Question. Did they commit or attempt to commit any violence upon you ?
Answer. They attempted to do it, but failed to inflict any material injury. I can state in
regard to the condition of things in the city of Lynchburg, that I have been informed by
persons in the employment of the government, that if the troops were withdrawn from the
city no man connected with the United States government would be safe in walking in the
streets after dark, and I am fully satisfied of that fact.
Question. Does this arise from a hostile and bitter feeling on the part of secessionists
• towards Union men and the government of the United States ?
Answer. Yes ; towards all Union men.
Question. Is that a very general impression pervading that district of country ?
Answer. Yes, though not especially in that district. I may state, that having been re
quested by the department, in accordance with my duty, I endeavored to get post offices
established at the various points along the road, and I succeeded, with the exception of one
or two places. About two months ago I asked a young man in Amherst county, at a
station there, if he could not hunt up some one for postmaster there. He very indignantly
replied, " No ; no man was going to take that God d — d oath." I kept my temper, not wish
ing to get into any controversy with him, and said, " Cannot you find some lady to take it;
it is necessary that some one should take it, if the post office is to be established." He said,
"No; he might find some d — d nigger to take it." I replied, "That would be the most suit
able person for such men." There is one matter to which I wish to call your attention.
There is a State law in existence in Virginia prohibiting postmasters, under the penalty of
fine, from delivering what are termed "incendiary documents." It is a law which, in my
opinion, has never been repealed.
Question. Can you give the date of it ? «
Answer. I cannot. I suppose it has been in existence fifteen or twenty years. There
were such laws in most of the southern States. If it has been repealed in Virginia I have
never seen any notice of it. I call attention to it because I do not think such a law ought
to remain. The postmasters, I believe, were made the judges as to what were incendiary,
and they refused to deliver such documents. I recollect the New York Tribune and Helper
book were considered as especially incendiary.
Question. Have you heard ef any cases where postmasters have prevented the circulation
of documents through the mail?
Answer. I have not since the war. About ten days ago I heard a gentlemen — a man of
influence in his county in Virginia — remark that he would hail the day with joy when the
extermination of races came, as the only means by which they could "get rid of the negro."
He made it in my presence and in the presence of the postmaster, where I was — a loyal man.
I begged him not to make such remarks. I said to him that he was a friend of mine, and
that if he persisted in talking that way in my presence, it might become necessary for me
to report the facts. I did not want to hear my friend make use of such language.
Question. Did he repeat it ?
Answer. Yes, he repeated it.
Question. Is there any other incident that occurs to you ?
Answer. I do not know that there is any other leading incident.
Question. How much chance does a Union man stand in that region for obtaining justice
iu the courts of the State ?
Answer. My honest impression is that a leading Union man — one who had made himself
notorious or conspicuous as such, as against a southern man who had been in the rebellion —
would not have an equal show in the courts of justice. The prejudice is so strong, that while
they may think they are acting honestly they will unconsciously be led astray ; and I have
no doubt there are men there who would not under any circumstances do justice to a Union
man in a controversy between him and a secessionist. I believe, however, I could get justice
in my own county.
Question. How do the secessionists generally feel there towards the freedmen ?
Answer. I can only judge by the expressions I have heard used. A man who owned
slaves, and whose slaves remained with him during the war perfectly faithful, remarked in
my hearing that he had n» interest whatever in them now ; that while they were his slaves
it was his interest to treat them well, but he had no interest in them now : that they might
"rot," so far as his looking after them, getting a doctor for them, or anything of that kind.
That seems to be the general feeling. I do not think there is any interest taken in these
people. This is not, of course, the universal feeling ; there are some good men who will
look after them and treat them well.
154 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Suppose the federal troops should be withdrawn, and the Freedmen's Bureau be
withdrawn: what, in your opinion, would be the treatment of the secessionists towards the
negroes ?
Answer. I believe the condition of the negroes would be worse than it has ever been during
the time of their servitude. I do not think they could possibly remain in some portions of
the country, unless the secessionists should find it to their interest to retain them. In some
instances it may be so much for theiri nterest to retain them that they will be treated well.
Question. Have you been a slaveholder ?
Answer. No, sir. I have been a slave-hirer for a good many years. In some instances
the freed men behave badly. In some instances they will not keep to their contract. Of
course, you will find sorry negroes, as you find sorry white men ; but, as a general thing,
the former slaves or freedmen are behaving remarkably well in the portion of Virginia where
I have been.
Question. If they are paid fair or reasonable wages will not they work ?
Answer. I think a majority of them will. A majority of them seem to show a disposition
to work. At the same time they seem to show a disposition to assert their freedom, not by
any violence of word or action, but they are disposed to keep to themselves, to get a little
land to work on for themselves, and what they term " go to housekeeping" and "living in
dependently."
Question. Do many of the free negroes own property in that section of country ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Do you discover a willingness or unwillingness upon the part of the whites to
recognize the right of the freedmen to hold or own property, real or personal ?
Answer. I think there is a great unwillingness on the part of the people to allow them to
own property. I judge from the fact that it is with great difficulty that a negro can rent land
to tend himself. They allow them no privileges in that respect. If the negroes will work
for them they will hire them, but they are not willing to rent them lands or recognize them
as citizens in any respect.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the education of the blacks ?
Answer. There is great animosity against it in some localities. I will mention an instance.
A man at a town in Virginia established a freedmen's school. I was asked the question, did
I suppose, or did " the God d d government " suppose, that they would submit to having
a freedmen s school there, or submit to be taxed to "educate the d d niggers ? " I asked
him how he was going to prevent it. He said he would prevent it by shooting every teacher
they sent there.
Question. Do you know of any instances of violence committed upon the teachers of the
blacks ?
Answer. None of my own knowledge. I have heard them say in one place, in boast,
that they had run off or frightened away one teacher sent there, and that the other better look
out. My informant said that he would be shot ; he was not going to do it, but he would be
shot.
Question. How do they look upon the question of the negroes voting?
Answer. That is not a question they even allow themselves to debate. They consider it
too monstrous a proposition even to debate. That is one of the things they imagine they
will never submit to. They will suffer confiscation and everything before they will endure
that degradation. I noticed for a while after the surrender, and while the power of the
government was held with a very firm grasp, while -they supposed their property was in
% danger of being taken away from them, that most of the twenty-thousand-doilar men were
very submissive and quiet. You would not hear any violent words from them ; they were
willing to sustain the government, and perfectly willing to agree to any means of restoration.
But since they have obtained their pardons, and their property is safe, they are as violent as
any other class of secessionists. I can see but very little difference in the portion of Virginia
in which I have been, so far as the expressed feelings of the people are concerned, between
now and before the war. The same reign of terror for Union men which existed then exists
now. I can get along, and any Union man can get along with them if he will sit still, take
all sorts of abuse, and never resent it. They take occasion to come round me and make use
of all sorts of taunts and abuse. You will have to submit to it, or, if you make any reply,
you will have violence on the spot. That is the only way a loyal man can get along in peace
in that country.
Question. How do they fe'el towards northern loyalists — towards men from the north who
have favored the prosecution of the war against the rebellion ?
Answer. Their hatred towards them is just as great as it is towards loyal men in the south.
As I remarked, there is still the same reign of terror there was before the war, the only differ
ence being that then they had it all their own way. I believe now that if the army were
withdrawn, and the Freedmen's Bureau were withdrawn, an actively loyal man could not
live in some parts of Virginia. A great many of these men even claim to be loyal, and say
they are the only loyal men ; that Congress is disloyal.
Question. In case the secessionists of Virginia should have another opportunity to go out
of the Union ; in case, in the course of political events, they should imagine they saw in the
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 155
circumstances surrounding thorn a chance to get out of the Union again, would they avail
themselves of it ?
Answer. None of them deny that they would rather live under some other government
than the United States. They now complain very bitterly that their members are not ad
mitted to Congress. I have asked them the question whether, if they had the opportunity,
they would not rather live under a separate government. None of them can deny, or pre
tend to deny, that they would. I then asked them whether, holding such sentiments, they
had the right to ask to be admitted to a full voice in administering the affairs of the govern
ment. These are th<P sentiments of nearly all the men in the section of Virginia with which
I am familiar. There are, of course, exceptions. There are some good loyal men there,
men who have never been secessionists, and there are men who were original secessionists,
who fought through the war to establish the confederacy, but, having failed, are now willing
in good faith to sustain the government. But the great mass of the politicians, who are the
leaders of the people, are not of that spirit. They do not want the people to heartily support
the government. They make them believe that the United States government is oppressing
them, robbing them of their rights, and so keep them in ignorance, for a very large portion
of the people have no other means of information upon these subjects. I would suggest that
documents ought to be distributed among these people. Those who are willing and desire to
be enlightened have not the means, and so remain in perfect ignorance.
Question. Have you reason to believe there is any secret association or organization down
there with the view of a renewal of the war, or of the ultimate secession of the rebel States ?
Answer. No, sir ; I have no reason to believe there is any such concert of action.
Question. In case of a foreign war between the United States and any foreign govern
ment, such as England or France, what do you think would be the course pursued by the
secessionists ?
Answer. I have heard some of them say they had taken the amnesty oath from policy, and
they would only regard it as far as it suited their policy ; that, if the United States should
get into a war with a foreign nation, they would not take up arms against that government,
but for it. I do not know whether that sentiment is entertained generally, but I have heard
soldiers say it.
WASHINGTON, February 10, 1866.
William T. Joynes sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD:
Question. Where do you reside ?
• Answer. Petersburg, Virginia.
Question. Are you a native Virginian ?
Answer. I was born in Virginia, and have resided there all my life.
Question. What is your occupation ?
Answer. I am an attorney-at-law.
Question. Do you hold any public office now ?
Answer. I am a member of the house of delegates of Virginia, and chairman of the com
mittee on courts of justice.
Question. Have the goodness to state the effect of a certain clause in what is called the
Alexandria constitution of Virginia, which has been repealed or modified by an act of the
legislature, relating to suffrage. .
Answer. By the third article of that constitution the qualifications of suffrage were pre
scribed. In addition to the qualification of residence, age, &c., it was provided that no
person should exercise the right of suffrage who did not take a certain oath. It was provided
in that same clause that it should be in the power of the legislature to remove the disability
created by that provision ; that was a general provision, applicable to the whole people.
There followed that a clause applicable to those who had held office under the confederate
government orunder the rebel State government ; and it was provided thatno person should hold
office or vote under the constitution of the State who held office under the confederate government
or rebel State government ; and it was further provided that every officer in the State should
take the oath prescribed in the preceding part of that section. At a special session of the
legislature held in June, 1865, the legislature, acting under the provision of the prior part of
that clause, modified the right of suffrage by changing the form of the oath which the voter
should take, and enabled .those who had taken paTt in the rebellion, but who were prepared
to tal$e the oath of amnesty, to vote : and provided that, instead of taking an oath that they
had taken no part in the rebellion, they should take the amnesty oath ; that was done by
an act of June, 1865 ; but that only applied to the qualifications for suffrage, which were
applicable to the whole people, and had no application to those who had held office under
the confederate government or rebel State government, and who were the subjects of a special
disqualification in the latter part of that clause. It was not in the power of the legislature
156 RECONSTRUCTION.
to reach this by its own direct action ; its power being confined to that provision which was
general, which applied to all the people. The legislature therefore passed an act directing the
governor to submit the question to the people at the polls whether the legislature should have
authority to alter or amend the third article of the constitution'; that question was submitted
by the governor in the election in October last, at which time the members of the general
assembly now sitting were elected ; and by a vote nearly unanimous (in our part of the State
it was entirely unanimous, and there were perhaps only a few hundred votes against it in all
the State) power was given to the legislature to alter or amend that part of the constitution.
Question. Had the secessionists a right to vote at the polls on that question ?
Answer. Every person could vote who had taken the amnesty oath. I think the oath is
very much in the form of the amnesty oath ; it is prescribed in the act of 23d June, 1805.
Question. No person who had not taken the amnesty oath could vote on that question?
Answer. No person who had not taken the oath prescribed in that act could vote ; which,
I believe, is the amnesty oath in effect.
Question. Have you any doubt about the constitutionality of that act of the legislature
removing the restriction ?
Answer. None ; because the terms of the constitution are very plain — that it shall be in
the power of the legislature to remove that restriction. I have no doubt of the constitution
ality of that act. The power which the legislature exercised in submitting the question to
the people at the October election was a power which is not to be found in any express grant
of the constitution ; but it is such a power as we would say, results from the original sov
ereignty of the people. The question was left to them. Acting under that authority the
legislature repealed that particular part of the constitution which disqualified all those who
had held office under the rebel State government or under the confederate government, and
it is in that way it stands now. There was a provision in that constitution for voting by
ballot. Our mode of voting has always been viva vocc; and there was a strong prejudice
against the introduction of voting by ballot ; it was a novelty which the people did not un
derstand and would not accept, and the general feeling was to restore the old system of
voting. The legislature also restored the period of residence as in the old constitution : two
years in the State, and twelve months in the county or corporation.
Question. Is that at present the law ?
Answer. I believe the bill has been passed by both houses, but there is some amendment
pending in one of the houses. We require that the voter shall be twenty-one years of age ;
shall have resided two years in the State and twelve months in the county, which was the
term of residence fixed by the constitution of 1851. The Alexandria constitution had reduced
the term of residence in the State to twelve months, and in the county to six months. The
Alexandria constitution provided, also, that the voter should pay his taxes to the State. The
constitution of 1851 did not require the payment of taxes, so that anybody, whether he paid
his taxes or not, could vote. As it passed the house of delegates we required the payment of
taxes to the State as well as to the county. In the senate they struck out the provision
about the payment of taxes, and it has come back to our house now with the requisites of
age and residence and without the requisite of the payment of taxes ; and my impression is
that our house has not acted on that proposition.
Question. The qualification for residence, as passed, is two years ?
Answer. Yes, sir; which is the same as prescribed by the constitution of 1851.
Question. So that there will be no substantial alteration of the old constitution in that
respect ?
Answer. None at all, sir. There was an effort made to raise the term of residence to five
years, but that was defeated by an overwhelming vote.
Question. Are there many members of the house of delegates who have been rebels during
the war; who have taken an active part in promoting the objects of the rebellion, whether
as officers civil or military ?
Answer. I think I may say that a large majority never held any office, civil or military,
during the war. There is a large proportion of, old men in the house of delegates ; I think
there is probably a considerable majority above the military age. The speaker of the house
was a colonel in the service of the State of Virginia, held the office of inspector general for
awhile, arid was a member of the confederate congress ; I speak of Mr. Baldwin. I was
myself a judge, but I had no other connexion with the rebel government in any form. I was
elected a judge to supply a vacancy during the war. I never was in the army or in the civil
service in any shape.
Question. Are you generally acquainted with the leading men in the State of Virginia?
Answer. Yes, sir. Take my own committee, consisting of fifteen gentlemen ; they are
mostly men above the military age, and certainly not a man of them has been in the military
service during the war. •
Question. Are there not a majority in each of the two houses who have been regarded as
secessionists ?
Answer. Originally the number of secessionists in the State was very small. I will state
a fact that will probably astonish you. The first time that I ever heard any man say that he
desired a dissolution of the Union was during the session of the democratic convention at
Petersburg which nominated Mr. Letcher in 1859 ; that is the first time in all my life that i
.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 157
ever heard that sentiment expressed. I confess I was very much shocked at it, and I said to the
gentleman, "Is it possible?" And he said with some vehemence, "Yes; that he wished the
Union might go to flinders before break fast to-morrow morning." The next time, so far as I
recollect, that I heard the declaration was from old Mr. Euffin, which was some time in 1860 ;
he killed himself after the surrender of General Lee. Said I, "Mr. Ruffin,are you in the
habit of expressing opinions of that kind ?" " I ha%e been in that habit," said he, "for ten
years." I merely mention this to show you what is not generally understood, that the number
of those who originally desired secession was very small ; so small as to occasion that surprise
on my part when I heard that declaration. When the election of Mr. Lincoln was pending,
when all these unfortunate questions arose, and when excitement and bitter feelings grew
up, of course the number of secessionists increased ; some upon principle and some upon
policy. After the election of Mr. Lincoln and the secession of South Carolina there were a
great many who thought that the safest course, the politic course, although they originally
disapproved it and thought the secession of South Carolina unnecessary and improper, was
ibr all the southern States to go together and do it at once. In that stage of the affair, the
secession of South Carolina having taken place in December, the election for members of the
convention took place in Virginia, and a very large majority of persons utterly averse to the
dissolution of the Union were elected. This was in February. ' Some of the States further
south had already seceded in January. Of course, as you may imagine, the whole caldron
was boiling with excitement, and there was great division- of opinion in Virginia ; some
were in favor of an immediate co-operative action with the southern States ; others said, no ;
that we were more identified with the border States, and that we should act with them ; others
insisted that we should not act with either, but should wait until some overt act of violence
was committed against the southern States ; but after the attack on Fort Sumter, and Mr.
Lincoln's proclamation of the 15th of April, then there was an entire change of feeling and
opinion in the convention and throughout the State, and the ordinance of secession, which
had been over and over again defeated up to that time, was passed almost unanimously on the
17th of April. There was a general concurrence upon the part of the people of the State,
whether they approved secession or deprecated it, in the opinion that interest, and duty, and
policy alike required that they should stand by their old neighbors and friends ; in other
words, as the fight was made, they would have to take sides. The most conservative men,
with the rarest exceptions. , those wTho were opposed to any attempt to destroy the govern
ment, who sincerely desired that it should be preserved, and did everything they could to
avert war, some of them voted for the ordinance of secession in convention ; they did not see
how they could stand against the current, or how they could possibly accomplish anything if
they attempted it.
Question. Was it a very prevalent opinion among Virginians that the government of the
United States would abstain from using military force against the secessionists after Sumter
was fired on 1
Answer. The period for consideration was very short ; the firing on Fort Sumter was on
Friday, and the proclamation was on Sunday.
Question. There had been a series of acts of violence committed on the government of the
United States in South Carolina and other cotton States, as you know?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Stealing the property of the government, and laying hold of forts, &c. Was
there a considerable portion of the people of Virginia who supposed that the United States
would abstain from using force to recover its property, and punish those acts of violence ?
Answer. I was myself, I think, in a decided minority on that subject. I think that the
impression that there wouhl be no war wras a very general one ; that the influence of dollars
and cents, commercial considerations, and tin; friendly intercession of foreign powers to prevent
the breaking up of all the interests involved, would prevent a war ; and the idea was, that
if the southern States would stand together and act promptly, there would be no war.
Many of the most intelligent men in the commonwealth will tell you to-day that they were
deliberately of that opinion. They very often say, " It is you, gentlemen, that opposed se-»
cession, who have brought all this trouble and devastation upon the country ; for it you had
not hesitated and halted, and if all had stuck together at once, it would have resulted in
some compromise which would not have destroyed the Union, but which would have settled
the question and avoided war." I have no doubt that they were very sincere in their belief.
Question. Do you suppose that there are at present any class of persons in Virginia, or
elsewhere in the south, who entertain the project of finally seceding from the Union, and
setting up southern independence ?
Answer. Not one, so far as I know or believe.
Question. You have no reason to believe that there is any such combination or conspiracy
among any persons or class of persons ?
Answer. If there is, there is no fact the discovery of which could give me more aston
ishment. Of course, there might be in some of the nooks and recesses which I know nothing
about, but so far as the people ju my region are concerned, I know that no idea of the kind
is entertained.
Question. Do you not hear frequent expressions of contempt towards the government of
the United States among the people with whom you intermingle ?
158 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. No, sir. In a matter which has involved so deeply the interest and feelings of
the people, there was, of course, a great deal of irritation and a great deal of passion ; and
the result has left a great deal of mortification, chagrin, and soreness. Of course, that is to
be expected. We very often hear hasty expressions which evince it, but nothing approach
ing to sentiments of hostility, or a deliberate desire for the injury of the government. That
is a wholly different affair.
Question. Suppose the government of the United States should be involved in a war with
any foreign power, such as England or France, and the war should be waged, on the part
of the enemy, with such vigor as to hold out some show of a hope, at least to persons of the
south who are unfriendly to the government, of finally succeeding in their hope, of estab
lishing their independence; would you anticipate, in such a case as that, that any consider
able number of southern people would join the common enemy ?
Answer. It would be very difficult to form an opinion about that, so soon after the failure
of the hopes of the southern people. I do not know how far excitable people — especially
those who have been connected with the army — might be induced to lay hold of any such
prospect. That is a very difficult question to answer. I will say, however, though it is not
exactly called for by your question, that I think there has been a feeling of disappointment,
of very great disappointment, among our people, that their hopes and expectations have not
been realized. I think that the great mass of the intelligent people despaired of the success
of the confederacy long before it broke up. For myself, I never had a doubt of the result
after the 4th of July, 1863. The action of Congress and the proclamation of the President
led to the belief and the strong hope that after the rebellion should be crushed, and the power
of the government of the United States unmistakably established, we should then be per
mitted to return to the exercise of our rights, and that the taking of the oath of amnesty, pre
scribed by Mr. Lincoln's proclamation, would at once relieve everybody of disability.* The
issuing of Mr. Johnson's proclamation of the 29th of May, 1865, had a most unfavorable
effect, accompanied as it was by Mr. Speed's opinion, because the effect of the two combined
was, that thousands of persons who had no hesitation in supposing, and who felt themselves
happy in the belief, that they were secure by Mr. Lincoln's amnesty, of which they had
taken the benefit, found themselves at once without the benefit of the amnesty, and they felt
irritated about it. For instance, in my own case, I took the benefit, on the 16th of April,
of Mr. Lincoln's amnesty. I never had any doubt that I was entitled to do so, and that I
was fully relieved, so far as that proclamation of amnesty proffered the relief. Having the
misfortune, so far as that is concerned, to be the owner of $^0,000 worth of property, I tound
myself, for that cause and for no other, without the pale, and, according to Mr. Speed's opin
ion, I was obliged to apply again for a special pardon. That cast a gloom over the minds ot
the people. It made the people exceedingly unhappy. It was a source of more distress and
anxiety than you can well conceive. Every man felt that his property was uncertain.
Then proceedings of confiscation were commenced. A parcel of people were sent noising
throughout the country to pick out persons to be libelled. These things created great irrita
tion, a soreness, and a feeling of alarm and uneasiness. Then there was a great deal of delay
and difficulty in getting pardons. Then came the delay in organizing State governments.
Then came the operations of military governments, military arrests for ordinary crimes, mili
tary interference in the decision of civil disputes, the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau,
and the exclusion of the southern States from representation. All these things combined to
create a feeling of disappointment. We had nattered ourselves with the hope that we should
be at once taken under the protection of the Constitution, and should enjoy its advantages
and blessings. The feeling created by the course of the government has been one of disap
pointment and unhappiness. The people feel unsettled. They do not know where they are,
or whether they stand upon their heads or heels. There is no disposition in our part of the
country to immigrate. Down further south, I have no doubt, there is a very extensive dis
position of that kind, but we hope that better days are coming.
Question. You understand the nature of the constitutional amendment now pending in
Congress relating to the basis of representation?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Suppose that amendment should be passed by Congress, and should be ratified
by three-fourths of the States ; what is your belief as to the final action of the insurgent
States on that subject ? Would they ever consent to let the negroes vote ?
Answer. I have no hesitation in saying what I think we would do in Virginia, and what,
it strikes me, would be the obvious policy of every other State ; it would be at once to estab
lish qualifications for suffrage which would exclude nobody on account of race or color, but
would apply to all races by enacting a property qualification, or a qualification of reading
and writing and property together, which would give us the benefit of the negro race in
counting our population, and under which white people would do all the voting.
Question. That is a general idea throughout the southern States, is it ?
Answer. That is my impression. I only speak from my own personal reflection. We
cannot afford to allow the negroes to vote now in their present condition, and this is not from
prejudice. There exists a very different feeling towards the negro among us from that which
you, gentlemen, feel disposed to suppose. It is a feeling of very great kindness; we were
born together, raised together, have lived together, and played together, and the relation of
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. . 159
master and slave has been a very much misunderstood one ; but that is out of the question
now. Our disposition towards the negro, however, is entirely kind. By a single stroke
of the pen, or by a single act of legislation, you cannot change the character of the negro. You
cannot give him intelligence ; you cannot give him a knowledge of our institutions ; you can
not enable him to comprehend public questions ; you cannot convert the darkness of his mind
into light. We never can consent voluntarily to allow the negro to vote, until, by a process
of cultivation — I do not mean mere instruction in letters, but by cultivation of body and mind,
and by association — he has become capable of appreciating the duties and understanding the
questions which the exercise of that right would involve.
Question. Then I understand you to give the opinion that Virginia, as well as the other
southern States, would not reject the black race entirely from representation simply because
they are black ?
Answer. Not at all, sir.'
Question. You think that they would be disposed to place both races on the same level in
regard to the right of suffrage ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and I think I can furnish you with a demonstration of that fact in the
action of our present legislature at Richmond.
Question. Such qualifications as you speak of, I suppose, would exclude a vast proportion
of the blacks at present ?
Answer. Yes, sir, nearly all of them.
Question. The qualifications which would exclude nearly all the blacks would include, I
suppose, nearly all the whites ?
Answer. Very far frorn it. It would exclude a very large proportion of the whites who now
vote. There is no property qualification now.
Question. Do you think that in Virginia you could call together a convention of the people
which would have the nerve to disqualify any considerable portion of the present white voters ?
Answer. It is very hard to predict anything of the nerve of a politician when the popular
majority is likely to be against him, but I have no doubt on that subject. During the rebel
lion, (we do not like to use that word much, but it is expressive,) a new constitution of the
State was adopted by the same convention which passed the ordinance of secession, and among
the amendments was a restriction of the right of suffrage. That was submitted to the people,
and while the constitution itself was rejected, the restriction of the right of suffrage was passed
by a very large majority.
Question. Is there anything further you wish to state to the committee ?
Answer. I want to make a statement in reference to the legislation of the present general
assembly in reference to negroes. I am, magna pars, chairman of the committee on courts
of justice, and have, of course, pretty much the direction of matter. What I want» to
state is in reference to this idea of a distinction between the races. In South Carolina and
Georgia, as you must have observed, they have enacted separate negro codes, going down
into great minuteness of detail. We unanimously determined against that thing. We thought
that it was wrong in principle, and that it would work badly in practice ; that it was likely
to be a source of irritation and annoyance, and therefore, as I say, we determined against it.
Very well ; now what should we do ? We determined, therefore, to avoid all distinction be
tween the races, except in such cases, for instance, as prohibiting the intermarriage of the
two races, and that all the laws which made a distinction between black and white should
disappear, and that we would only enact such laws as appeared to us to be absolutely neces
sary, leaving time and experience to develop, by the actual operation of things, any regula
tion that might be necessarily applicable to either race. Now, we have taken up the pro
visions of our code, and have repealed all laws on the subject of slaves and slavery. We
propose to repeal all the laws in relation to free negroes as such. That bill would have been
reported to-day. We have then modified all the criminal laws, so as to place the black man
and the white man on the same footing.
Question. Whether as parties or witnesses ?
Answer. I will come to that directly ; I am speaking now as to crimes ; that is to say, that
the same thing shall constitute a crime in the black man which constitutes a crime in the
white man, and that there shall be the same mode of trial and the same punishment precisely.
We have declined to legislate on the subject of labor contracts, except to this extent : We
have provided, for the protection of the negro, that no contract for labor shall bind a colored
person for a longer period than one month, (the senate had it two months, but the house put
it at one,) except it is in writing, and that no contract in writing shall bind a colored person
unless it is signed by him in the presence of a justice of the peace, a notary public, an over
seer of the poor, or two respectable witnesses, whose duty it shall be to read the contract to
him, explain it to him, and to set forth that fact in the certificate of acknowledgment, the ob
ject being to protect the negro altogether. A motion was made in the house to strike out the
words " two witnesses " and to insert the words " one witness.". I opposed that, stating that
the object was protection to a helpless and ignorant class of people who might be overreached ;
that a man might get one witness to swear falsely, but that it would be more difficult for him
to get two witnesses to enable him to commit a fraud ; and the house adhered to my proposi
tion, so that we have, in all our legislation, discarded all idea of distinct and discriminative
legislation even in phraseology. For instance, some of our acts read that if any person, white
1 60 RECONSTRUCTION.
or colored, shall do so and so ; we struck out the words " white or colored ;" leaving; it "if
any person " shall do so and so, our object being to put the two races, so far as the provisions of
law and the phraseology of law are. concerned, on the same footing. On the subject of evidence,
the only difference of opinion in the legislature is this : There is not a man in my committee, so
far as I know, who is opposed to admitting the negro as a witness. In some parts of the
State, outside of the legislature, among some of the people, there is opposition to it. The
poorer classes of people are very much opposed to it. All intelligent people that I speak to,
especially all lawyers, are in favor of it, but the poorer class of people are exceedingly op
posed to it as a general rule. They have their prejudices against the negro. The only differ
ence among members of the legislature and among intelligent gentlemen, so far as I know,
is, whether the negro shall be admitted as a witness to the extent of protecting himself and
his race in their rights of person and property, or whether he shall be admitted in all cases ;
as, for example, if you make a negro a witness in all cases he will be a witness as between
two white persons, which would not be necessary for the protection of the negro in any right
of his, because it is a controversy between A and 13, both being white persons. Some think
there is no necessity arising out of the present state of things, and no duty arising out of the
present state of things, to admit the negro as a witness to that extent, but that he ought to be
admitted to the extent of protecting the negro race in all civil cases where any negro is inter
ested one way or the other, or where his rights are affected, and in all criminal cases where
the negro is a party, or where the offence has been committed upon the person or rights of a
negro. On that point I do not know any difference of opinion. The only difference of opin
ion is whether the principle should be carried a step further, so as tp embrace all cases be
tween white persons.
Question. What can be the objection, as between two white persons, to putting a negro on
the stand as a witness and letting him testify in the presence of the jury, subjecting his evi
dence to the same ordeal as the testimony of the white man is subjected? If he is a worthless
character and objectionable on the ground of veracity, why not let the jury judge of it? Is
there, in reality, any objection to the testimony of negroes which does not apply to the same
class of white persons?
Answer. The objection is really more of a practical one than anything else, as a sort of
concession to, or compromise with, those who feel a repugnance to the idea ; who think it looks
like negro equality. If you go before that class of people with the absolute admission of the
negro as a witness in all cases you find it most difficult to reconcile them to it ; but if you say
that it is necessary that this man who is declared a freeman shall be protected in his rights
as such, they are better satisfied with that. What the opinion of the legislature will be when
the matter conies up for decision I do not know ; but that is the only difference of opinion
in the committee.
Question. Do you think that these bills to which you have referred will pass the legisla
ture of Virginia?
Answer. Two-thirds of them have already passed.
Question. You have no doubt that this general system of legislation will pass ?
Answer. No doubt in the world. I propose as soon as the system is completed to make a
synopsis of it and have it published in one of the newspapers of Washington, for I find that
nobody here knows anything about it. Our effort has been to treat the negroes with justice
and good faith, so as to try and make something out of them. They have got to live with us
as free people ; they cannot get away ; there is no doubt about that. It is to our interest
therefore to treat them with kindness. If you want to make a well-disposed and well-behaved
people in the south, all that is necessary is an expression of a feeling of kindness on the
part of the northern people. Give us the benefits ot the Constitution and let us go to work
and repair our ruined fortunes. You have no conception how poor we are, you have no con
ception to what point of destitution and distress the country has fallen; we want repose ; we
want to get into the Union for practical purposes, to be quiet ; we want to get rid of military
government.
Question. Is it your opinion that a jury could be impanelled in Virginia, by the process now
prescribed by the law for that purpose, that would find Jefferson Davis or any other promi
nent leader of the rebellion guilty of treason for acts of war committed by him against the
United States 1
Answer. I think it would depend upon the instructions of the court. If the court should
instruct the jury authoritatively and distinctly that certain facts constituted treason, and if
those facts \\cre clearly proved, the jury would find him guilty, but they would do so with
great regret and great pain. 1 think I have seen many verdicts found under instructions
ot the court which were very disagreeable to the jury. I think they would do it under re
straint, however, from a solemn sense of sworn duty to take the law from the court. I think
that to a great mass of jurors it would be a very painful duty, and one which they would sub
mit to only under restraint, which, as good citi/ens, they would be obliged to do.
Question. Suppose a plea of justification should be interposed founded on the ordinance of
secession and upon the laws of the State growing out of that ordinance, commanding the
accused with others to prosecute the war against the government, and suppose the judge try
ing the case should overrule the plea and instruct the jury that that plea was unavailing as a
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 1G1
justification for the act, Avould the jury be likely to follow the ruling and instructions of the
court on that subject ?
Answer. Of course I speak of juries consisting- of intelligent and respectable men, and I
am unable to conceive by what series of reasoning1 such men could refuse to find a verdict
under the positive instructions of the court, however repugnant to their feelings and wishes.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 10, 1666.
B. It. Grattan sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. "Where do you reside ?
Answer. Richmond, Virginia.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, sir-: I was raised in the valley of Virginia.
Question. Do you hold any public position ?
Answer. I am a member of the present house of delegates of Virginia.
Question. Is that the only public position you have held ?
Answer. I held the office of reporter to the court of appeals since January, 1844.
Question. I speak of two classes of people iu Virginia for the sake of convenience, not with
a view of offending anybody. I speak of secessionists and Union men. By secessionists I
mean those who have directly or indirectly favored the rebellion ; and by Union men I mean
those who opposed the rebellion ; and by the rebellion I mean the war which has taken place
between the two sections of the country. What is the general feeling among the secession
ists of Virginia towards the government of the United, States so far as your observation ex
tends ?
Answer. So far as I know, the sentiment is universal that the war has decided the question
of secession entirely, that it is no longer an open question, and that we are all prepared to
abide by the Union and live under it.
Question. You mean to be understood as saying that they suppose that the sword has set
tled the abstract right of secession ?
Answer. Yes ; we consider that we put it to the arbitrament of the sword, and have lost.
Question. What proportion of the legislature of Virginia are original secessionists, having
in view the definition I gave ?
Answer. I would suppose that there are few members of the legislature who are less able
to judge of that matter than myself, for my acquaintance as a member is very limited ; but
I should suppose, from the general sentiments of the people of Virginia, that while probably a
rery large proportion of those who are now members of the legislature were not in favor of
secession or a dissolution of the Union originally, yet nearly all of them went with their State
when it went out. They went heartily with it.
Question. How have the results of the war affected the feelings of Virginians generally ?
What is the sentiment left in their hearts in regard to satisfaction or dissatisfaction with the
government of the United States — love or hatred, respect or contempt ?
Answer. I c*anuot undertake to say generally ; my intercourse is very limited. I would
rather suppose, however, that while the feeling against the government was originally very
strong, that feeling has been very much modified ; it is nothing like as strong as it was, and
is gradually declining.
Question. You think that the feeling is gradually changing from dislike to respect?
Answer. Yes, I think so.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that there are persons in Virginia who still en
tertain projects of a dissolution of the Union ?
Answer. None whatever. I do not believe that there is an intelligent man in the State
nho does.
Question. In case of a war between our country and any foreign power, such as England
or France, one that should put the government to the exercise of all its powers in order to
secure^its safety, and in case it should become apparent that there was a chance for secession-
ism to become a success hereafter, would you anticipate that any considerable portion of the
people of Virginia would join the enemy ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Would there be many who would be likely to do so?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not think there would be. You might find some boys who would
do so. I think that the people have made up their minds to become a part of this Union and
to perform every duty connected with that relation. I speak with confidence on that sub
ject, for while I was not an original secessionist, lam certain that nobody ever suffered more
at its failure than I did, and I know what my own sentiments are, and judge other peonjeby
myselfr
11 V NC SC
162 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What has been, in your judgment, the effect, in the main, of President Johnson s
liberality in bestowing1 pardons and amnesties on rebels ?
Answer. I think it has been very favorable ; 1 think President Johnson has commended
himself very heartily. There is a very strong feeling of gratitude towards President Johnson.
Question. Has that liberality in your judgment, increased or diminished the respect of these
same persons towards the government of the United States T
Answer. It has increased it.
Question. Is that increase of respect towards the government, or is it especially towards
President Johnson.
Answer. It is to Mr. Johnson, as the representative of the government.
Question. Are you aware of the. nature of the constitutional amendment now pending1 in
the Senate of the United States in reference to the basis of representation ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You know its effect 7 •
Answer. Yes.
Question. It places the basis of representation upon numbers, including all classes and all
races, but at the same time declares that in case any State shall exclude from the right of suf
frage any portion of its population on account of race or color, the whole of the people of that
race or color shall be excluded from the count, thus leaving the entire option with the States
whether they shall exclude or include persons of color in the right of suffrage. I want to as
certain your opinion on that subject, whether you think the people of Virginia are likely ever
to consent to let negroes vote ?
Answer. I should say not, sir, under no circumstances.
Question. Do you not think that the interests of the States would finally so operate as to
induce them to take off the unkind proscription of the black race ?
Answer. I do not think so. I would like to explain that. I, perhaps, ought not to un
dertake to express an opinion for the people of Virginia. My intercourse for years has been
very limited. I have been confined very closely to my own duties as a lawyer, and I have
mingled very little with the people. Perhaps I speak rather from my own sentiment and
opinion. My own opinion about that is, that the very worst thing that can occur to the ne
gro, (and I believe that will bo the sense of the people,) the very worst consequence to th«
negro, will be the attempt to give him political power ; and I believe that really the desire
to preserve the negro himself, to take eare of him, and to prevent the consequences which
will arise to him from such an effort would, of itself, preclude his admission to political
rights.
Question. What, in your judgment, would be the consequences of such an enfranchise
ment ; woiild it produce scenes of violence between the two races ?
Answer. I believe it would. I have very great apprehension that an attempt of that sort
would lead to their extermination, not immediately, but to their gradual extinction. It would
set up really an antagonistic interest, which would probably be used as a power, because I
have no doubt that the negro vote would be under the influence of white people. You are
to recollect that this is not simply a prejudice between the white and black races. It baa
grown to be a part of our nature to look upon them as an inferior ; just a.s much part of our
nature as it is a part of the nature of other races to have enmity to each other; for instance,
between the Saxon Irish and the Celtic Irish, or between the English and the French. You
must change that nature, and it takes a long time to do it. I believe that if you place the
negro on a footing of perfect equality with the white, it would actually increase the power
of the white race, which would control the negro vote; yet it seems to me that nothing can
reconcile the white people to that short of equal political power, and I fear, therefore, very
much the consequences of any attempt of that sort upon the black race in Virginia.
Question. Would not that prejudice become modified a great deal in case the blacks
should be educated and rendered more intelligent than they are now ?
Answer. You would have to change their skin before you can do it. I beg leave to say
that, so far from there being any unkind feeling to the negro, I believe that there is, on the
part of the white race, towards the negro, no feeling but that of kindness, sympathy, and
pity, and that there is every disposition to ameliorate their condition and improve it as mneh
us possible ; but it is that difference which has existed so long in their obvious distinction of
color and condition t
Question. But suppose the condition of the negro should change?
Answer. The condition is aunexod to the color. We are accustomed to see the color in
the condition.
Question. But the condition may be changed by education and enlightenment ?
Answer. You are to recollect, as to that, that they are a people who now have no property,
•who are not accustomed, from their former condition, to any sort of providence for them
selves ; that th'ey are not accustomed to take care of themselves ; that they are a people
who have always depended upon others ; and, therefore, unless there is some power or per
son who is to give them wealth and to educate them, you can never expect that they will be
in a condition to rise. They cannot educate themselves ; they are not disposed to educate
themselves. They live in the very lowest condition of life. They are not disposed to work
if they can help it, as nobody else is, I suppose ; so that I see no help or expectation that
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 163
by their own exertions they are going to acquire that amount of property which will enable
them to educate themselves. If they rise, it will be by the effort of the white race, among
whom they live, to raise them.
Question. Is there a general repugnance on the part of whites to the acquisition and en
joyment of property by the blacks ?
Answer. I do not know. I do not think there is. Far from it. We would be very glad
to see them all doing well and improving their condition.
Question. Do you find a similar repugnance to the acquisition of knowledge by blacks ? ,
Answer. No, sir ; far from it ; on the contrary, we are trying, so far as we can, to edu
cate them ; but we are too poor ourselves to do much in educating other people, and they
are certainly too poor to educate themselves.
Question. You would, then, anticipate a struggle of races in case the right of suffrage saw
given to the blacks?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think so.
Question. You would not anticipate it in case the blacks should vote in the interest of the
white race ?
Answer. As I said before, I believe that if the blacks are left to themselves, if all foreign
influence were taken away, the whites would control their vote. It is not in that the diffi
culty lies, but it is in the repugnance which the white race would feel to that sort of political
equality. It is the same sort of repugnance which a man feels to a snake. He does not
1'eel any animosity to the snake, but there is a natural shrinking from it ; that is my feeling.
While I think I have as much sympathy for the black race, and feel as much interest in
them as anybody else, while I can treat them kindly and familiarly, still the idea of equality
is one which has the same sort of shrinking for me, and is as much a part of my nature, as
was the antagonism between Saxon and Celt in Ireland.
Question. You are aware that that state of feeling does not exist in Ireland, England, or
Scotland towards the blacks ? .
Answer. No ; because they never had them ; because they never saw them in their con
stant condition. So that difference of alienation between Saxon and Celt does not exist here,
but it exists in Ireland. It is where that has been the feeling operating for so long tiiat it
has become a part of our nature. It is not a simple prejudice, but it becomes part of the
nature of the man, because a prejudice may be removed very soon.
Question. You have not much reason to expect that the legislature of Virginia will adopt
this constitutional amendment in case it shall pass both houses of Congress/
Answer. I cnnnot speak for others, but for myself I say certainly not. No political power
would ever induce me to vote for it. That form is much more objectionable than even a
proposition to make them voters. It is giving you all the advantages of numbers, while you
are taking that from us which, according to'the original constitution, we had — three-nfths
of the slave population — and no political power will force me to consent to that.
Question. It will be left to yourselves to make up the number if you see fit.
Answer. But you leave us to do what 3*011 know we will not do, and then you deprive us
of power. There would be more reason in an amendment basing representation upon voters.
Question. Have you any idea that the people of Virginia can elect either a legislature or
convention that will impose restrictions on the right of suffrage among the whites, such as
a property qualification, or the qualification of reading or writing?
Answer. I do not think so. I think these things never go backward, and I do not think
there ever can be any such restrictions. However, perhaps I am as little competent to judge
of these things as any intelligent man in Virginia.
Question. How are people from the north received in communities in Virginia ? Suppose
a northern man known to be an out-and-out Union man, who lias taken part in the war
against the confederacy, should go in your midst to settle and purchase property, and become
a permanent resident : how would he be received '/
Answer. That would depend very much upon the man himself. I think that any respect
able man who would come there to purchase property and settle, would be treated very
well and be received very well ; still, of course, we would not look upon him as wo look upon
each other. We do not look upon any foreigner coming from anywhere as we do upon our
own people. I would not mislead you in supposing that there is not a feeling existing
Question. A prejudice against northern people ?
Answer. There always was before the war; but still, when a man showed that he was a
worthy, respectable man, he was always treated as such, and would be treated as such still.
The fact is, we would like to have as many upright, industrious northern men among us as
we can get, and of course we would treat them well.
Question. Do Unionists, who are parties in the civil courts of Virginia, stand as good a
chance for justice as those who have been secessionists and sided with the rebellion .'
Answer. Yes, sir. I do not believe there is any court hi Virginia, where secessiunistn pre
vails- I have heard some complaints of courts down in Alexandria, while the Alexandria
government existed, but in those courts which have been lately organized where we were all
secessionists, I have no idea that the question ever enters into the mind of a judge or court
whether a man took one side or the other in the war.
Question, Would it not be likely to enter into the minds of the jury ?
1G4 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. No, sir, I do not believe it would.
Question. Do you believe that a jury could be impanelled in Virginia, in the ordinary
way recognized by your laws, that would convict Jefferson Davis or any other leader of the
rebellion of treason ?
Answer. I do riot know. I should doubt it very much; not because they would not con
vict any man whom they believed guilty, but because the question of treason in this rebellion
is, as it seems to me, a question wrhich is to be decided by our opinions as to what was con
stitutional law, in the nature of this government, at the time. While we recognize the fact that
the failure of the rebellion has settled the question of secession, we are not at all disposed to
change the opinions which we formerly held as to what was the doctrine on the subject ;
and therefore a man who believed in secession before, and in the right of a State to with
draw from the Union, if he carried out bis principles and acted on them, would say that up
to the time that that matter was settled and decided by the result of the war, the man who
acted on those principles was not guilty of treason. I believe that if any man should commit
treason now, after the matter is settled, he could be convicted by a jury in Virginia.
Question. Then your idea is, that the ordinance of secession in your State would or should
stand as a justification of the acts of war committed against the United States 1
Answer. With those who believed in the doctrine of secession.
Question. So that if you had a jury impanelled for the trial of what wo would call a
traitor, a jury who believed in that doctrine would not be likely to convict him ?
Answer. No, I think not.
Question. Is not the number of that class of persons very great in Virginia?
Answer. I suppose so.
Question. So that probably it would be very difficult to find a jury that would convict a
man of treason ?
Answer. That would depend upon the judge who presided and the instructions he gave.
Question. Suppose that Chief Justice Chase undertook the trial of Jefferson Davis in
Richmond, and instructed the jury that the Virginia ordinance of secession was no justifica
tion for acts of war against the government of the United States, would the jury follow his
instructions ?
Answer. That I cannot say. It would depend upon the men who were on the jury.
Question. Would you be likely to find twelve men who would follow out such instructions ?
Answer. Yes ; you might get twelve men who would convict him, whether you gave such
instructions or not ; but I speak of the mass of the people.
Question. I do not mean by packing the jury, but by taking up the jury in the ordinary
way.
Answer. You would not.
Question. Do you not draw your jurors by lot in Virginia?
Answer. Not in criminal cases. Twenty-four men are selected, and out of that twenty-
four the prisoner has a peremptory challenge of eight, leaving sixteen, and out of the sixteen
twelve arf drawn by lot.
Question. Do you think of anything else which you wish to say on the subject-matter to
which I have called your attention?
Answer. Nothing in particular, I believe. I have expressed my opinion as to what the
judgment and sentiments of the people of Virginia are. In Richmond there are very few
original secessionists. I think the sentiment in Richmond was against it. I think it very
probable that you can find men there who do not consider that the ordinance of secession
was a valid ordinance at all. There are a great many of them. But there are others who
consider that the ordinance of secession was a power which the State had a right to exercise.
It seems to me that a jury taken out of the latter class would not be very apt to. convict a
man of treason for having taken up arms against the government. But there is a very large
number of people who do not concur in the idea that a State had a right to secede, and a
jury taken from this class would be governed by the judgment of the court as to whether
that was a sufficient justification or not. * .
WASHINGTON, February 10, 1866.
E. F. Keen sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD ;
Question. Where do you, reside ?
Answer. At Danville,. Virginia.
Question. What is your official position ?
Answer. I am a senator in the State senate from the counties of Halifax and Pittsylvania.
Question. Are you a native of Virginia ?
Answer. Yes, 1 was born and raised in the State.
Question. Did the war extend itself into your senatorial district ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 165
Answer. To some extent ; less, perhaps, than in any other portion of the State.
Question. What is the general feeling-, at present, of the secessionists in your senatorial
district towards the government of the United States? Is it friendly or unfriendly?
Answer. I scarcely know how to answer that question of secessionists, for there are none
now.
Question. I mean those who have favored the cause, of secession ?
Answer. So far as my observation extends, ther seem to be more disposed to try the United
States government than those who were originally Union men. I believe more of them have
asked pardon and have obtained it, and their expressions of loyalty to the government are
more frequent and more common than from the original Union men.
Question. Have you taken any part in the war against the United States ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I was an original Union man and fought secession as 'ong. perhaps, as
he who fought longest in Virginia. After Virginia seceded I entered the army of the con
federate States and was colonel for fifteen or eighteen months. I was State's senator in the
government of Virginia during a portion of the war, after I came out of the army. I was, at
the time of the evacuation of Richmond, a member of the State senate.
Question. Were you in Richmond at that time ?
Answer. Yes ; I was in Richmond when it was evacuated.
Question. What effect has the abolition of slavery produced on the minds of the masses of
the people in your district? Are they well pleased with it, or displeased?
Answer. As a matter of course, our people were not pleased with it. We had in the State
of Virginia some 496,000 slaves, in which we had, as we had always been taught, a vast
amount of property. The sudden destruction of that property could not be very pleasant in
the minds of our people.
Question. Has it not left a deep feeling of disloyalty towards the government of the United
States ?
Answer. I think not.
Question. Are the once owners of that species of property looking forward to the possible
payment of the value of it to them by the United States ?
Answer. I cannot say that they are looking forward to it with any confident expectation.
They would be very glad to have it. I am not apprised that there is any party or any
respectable body of men that are agitating any such question.
Question. How do the secessionists feel in regard to the payment of the federal debt con
tracted in the prosecution of the war ?
Answer. I believe there is a general disposition on the part of the people of Virginia to
sustain the credit of the government in every respect.
Question. Suppose the question was left to your constituents whether or not they would
contribute their proper share to the payment of that debt, and that they were to decide that
question at the polls, what way would they vote?
Answer. I believe that that would depend greatly upon the policy pursued by the govern
ment, since we have surrendered the question.
Question. What line of policy would be most likely to reconcile them to the payment of
that debt ?
Answer. That line of policy which would admit us as equal participants in a government
which we had tried to break and failed, and to which we had now expressed ourselves as
loyal. 4
Question. You think that if Virginia was admitted by her senators and representatives in
Congress at once, there would be no great grumbling or complaint against paying the federal
debt?
Answer. I think not. I think it would do more to allay the little irritable feeling that
exists in the State than perhaps any other one act.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the confederate debt?
Answer. I think that no sane man expects it to be paid.
Question. What is that kind of security worth now in the market, ouvert ?
Answer. There is' no sale for it, no market, no quotation.
Question. Can you state at what time these securities fall due according to their face?
Answer. No, sir, I cannot; I believe six and twelve months after the ratification of the
treaty- of peace between the United States and the Confederate States.
Question. What is the general feeling of the people of your district toward the freedmen —
is it kind, or otherwise ?
Answer. I think there is a general feeling of kindness naturally from our people to the
freedmen. I think there is no enmity towards them. They have, for the most part, con
ducted themselves very well during the war. Nobody with us looks upon them as having
been responsible for their condition ; and, wherever they seem disposed to behave them
selves well, there is a general feeling of encouragement towards them. ,
Question. Is there a feeling of willingness that they should be educated in some degree?
Answer. Yes, sir; I think that all rational minds there conclude that that must necessarily
come. No rational mind, however, concludes that it can be done in a day, or a week, or a
month, or a year, or in any very short period. The masses of the people in Virginia are not
well educated themselves. We have no system of free schools, and have never had. The
1 6 G RECONSTRUCTION.
expectation thnt this large colored population, turned loose upon us with a wild idea of
freedom, is to be suddenly educated (and the Idea is rather general) is not so repugnant to
the feelings of the people as it seems to them absurd aud ridiculous.
Question. Is there not a feeling of dislike on the part of secessionists in your district
toward northern men ?
Answer. None whatever, I believe. When northern gentlemen come there and demean
themselves as gentlemen, no njatter what their official orders are, or how repugnant some of
those orders may be, they are treated as gentlemen, without the first unkind feeling towards
tilt-in.
Question. Are you aware of any scenes of violence between Unionists and secessionists in
your district since the close of the war ?
Answer. None whatever in my district.
Question. Does anything occur to you, besides what you hare stated, which you wish to
state ?
Answer. I do not know of anything special.
Question'. Are you aware of any combinations existing in Virginia, or elsewhere, having
in view the ultimate renewal of the war ?
Answer. I am not aware of any, and I believe that none exists in the commonwealth or
elsewhere. I have been recently, for four months, in Georgia and South Carolina, and I
neither saw nor heard of anything of the kind, nor do I believe that any such thing exists in
the southern States.
Question. You think there is nothing of the kind in contemplation ?
Answer. I thiuk not, sir.
Question. You found them generally disposed to submit to Uncle Sam?
Answer. I think that the further south I have gone, the more disposed they have been to
do it.
WASHINGTON, January 29, 1866.
Rev. James Sinclair sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Lumberton, Robesou county, North Carolina.
Question. About how long have you resided there?
Answer. I have been in that county about nine years.
Question. Are you a native of North Carolina ?
Answer. No, sir ; I am a native of Scotland, but a naturalized citizen of the United States.
Question. What is your profession?
Answer. I am a Presbyterian minister of the Gospel.
Question. How long have you been a minister of the Gospel?
Answer. Some ten or eleven years. I was educated in Pennsylvania.
Question. And as such minister you have been settled in North Carolina ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Where were you at the breaking out of the rebellion?
Answer. I was in Robeson county, in the State of North Carolina.
Question. Attending to your clerical duties there?-
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have you ever willingly done any act to promote the cause of the rebellion ?
Answer. Not willingly.
Question. If you have ever done any such act, has it not been under constraint, or fear,
or duress /
Answer. It has ; I can show that from papers that I have with me.
Question. You have never been a friend of the rebellion?
Answer. No, sir; I was a Douglas democrat, and voted for Mr. Douglas in I860.
Question. Have you a family?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have a wife and six children.
Question. All residing in North Carolina?
Answer. Yes, sir, except my oldest son. I married the second time about five years ago.
My sou by my first marriage is now a clerk in Philadelphia.
Question. Have you ever been a slaveholder?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How is it with your wife in that respect ?
Answer. She was a slaveholder when we married.
Question. What position have you occupied during the war, or any period of the war, in
North Carolina or elsewhere .'
Answer. At one time I was considered to have some influence, and I was pressed pretty
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 167
hard by the authorities, and a commission as colonel in the rebel service was given me at
the same time that the late Hon. Lawrence O'B. Branch received a similar commission. I
held that commission from the 8th of November, 1861, until the 23d of April, 1862. I then
left the service, and was proscribed because I would not go into the war.
Question. Why did you accept the commission ?
Answer. It would have been impossible for me to have lived in the country if I had not
done so ; my life had already been threatened. In the fall of 1860 I preached a sermon to
my people in regard to the then condition of affairs, and warned them to beware of the men
and measures ot the neighboring State. My church was on the line between North Carolina
and South Carolina, and some of my church were inhabitants of South Carolina. For that
sermon some men in South Carolina proposed to come up and hang me. That sermon made
a great noise in the church, and I lost my church in consequence of what was called my aboli
tion sermon. After that I was without any means of support, and remained at home with
my wife. She is highly connected, and has a great many friends among the more influential
people there. Mr. Queen, formerly a member of the United, States Congress, was her uncle.
He opposed my leaving the country, saying that I would disgrace them by so doing. It
was urged that in order to clear myself with the people there I should serve in the rebel
army, and the point was in what position. I did so for my own protection and for the pro
tection of my family. While I held that commission General Burnside came to North Caro
lina on his expedition. After his troops landed I was in the advance, but fell back to our
intrenchments without exchanging shots with his forces. Two distinct assaults were made
upon our lines, which were repulsed. After those two assaults General Reno, to the best of
my recollection, of the Union army, came up with his cloak on, and coming down from the
extreme left he rode right in front of my command. My men at once pulled up to their guns
to shoot him. I directed them at once to bring their guns to an order and to await orders.
I thereby saved the life of General Reno, as I have no doubt General Burnside will testify
if asked. I was trying to capture him, and would not allow him to be shot because he came
up so bravely. Shortly afterwards we were routed, and retired to Kingston. I was then
charged by the Richmond Examiner, and several other papers in the south, with being a
traitor or a coward to their cause. They said that there was something wrong about my
conduct there ; that I certainly must have been with Burnside the night before, and that I
had been bought with Yankee gold. I immediately left their service, and have not been in
it since.
Question. Where did you then go?
Answer. I immediately went home and remained there.
Question. Have you ever held any position in North Carolina under the government of the
United States ?
Answer. I hav« since the rebellion.
Question. What position?
Answer. That of agent of the Freedmen's Bureau.
Question. When were you appointed agent of the Freedmen's Bureau?
Answer. On the 1 1th of August, 1865.
Question. How long did you hold that position?
Answer. Until the 21st of'October last.
Question. You were then relieved as agent ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were there any charges or accusations against you ?
Answer. On the contrary, my whole course as such agent has been approved.
Question. Have you been remaining at your home since then?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Are you acquainted with Governor Holden, of North Carolina?
Answer. Yes, sir, personally.
Question. Have you ever received from him a letter introducing you to any person?
Answer. Yes, sir; I received this letter:
"RALEIGH, January 20, 1866.
"Mr DEAR SIR : Allow me to introduce Rev. James Sinclair, of the Old School Presby
terian church north, who is connected in this State with the Freudian's Bureau. Any
attention you may show Mr. Sinclair will be appreciated by
" Your friend,
"W. W. HOLDEN.
"Dr. R. J. POWELL."
Question. Are you acquainted with Mr. A. T. Mallette, of North Carolina ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What position does he hold at Wilmington, North Carolina, if any ?
Answer. He is a surgeon by profession, and I think was one of the chief surgeons in the
rebel Joe Johnston's army.
Question. Have you a letter from him ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; here it is :
168 RECONSTRUCTION.
"WILMINGTON, N. C., January 18, 1866.
"DEAR SIR: I take the liberty of introducing to you, through this note, the Rev. Mr.
Sinclair, of this State. Mr. Sinclair is a gentleman of standing and influence in the south.
He will tell you how I am getting along.
" Veiy respectfully, yours,
"A. T. MALLETTE.
"Mr. E. S. HUTCHINSON."
Question. What position does Charles J. Wickersham hold in North Carolina ?
Answer. He is a brevet major and. assistant adjutant general on the staff of Major General
O. O. Howard, and superintendent of freedmen for the district of Wilmington. I have a let
ter from him, of which I will read an extract :
" Mr. Sinclair acted for some time as agent of this bureau, thereby incurring the ill will of
the majority of the secession party ; and his active and practical sympathy for the freedmen
will probably affect his influence among the whites, although he has the unbounded con
fidence of the freedmen."
Question. What is generally the state of feeling among the white people of North Carolina
towards the government of the United States?
Answer. That is a difficult question to answer, but I will answer it as far as my own
knowledge goes. In my opinion, there is generally among the white people not much love
for the government. Though they are -willing, and I believe determined, to acquiesce 'in
what is inevitable, yet, so far as love and affection for the government is concerned, I do not
believe that they have any of it at all, outside of their personal respect and regard for Presi
dent Johnson.
Question. How do they feel towards the mass of the northern people — that is, the people
of what were known formerly as the free States?
Answer. They feel in this way : that they have been ruined by them. You can imagine
the feelings of a person towards one whom he regards as having ruined him. They regard
the northern people as having destroyed their property or taken it from them, and brought
all the calamities of this war* upon them.
Question. How do they feel in regard to what is called the right of secession?
Answer. They think that it was right under the Constitution as it was ; that there was no
wrong in it. They are willing now to accept the decision of the question that has been made
by the sword, but they are not by any means converted from their old opinion that they had
a. right to secede. It is true that there have always been Union men in our State, but not
Union men without slavery, except perhaps among the Quakers. Slavery was the central
idea even of the Unionists. The only difference between them and the others upon that
question was, that they desired to have that institution under the a?gis of the Constitution,
and protected by it. The secessionists wanted to get away from the north altogether. When
the secessionists precipitated our State into rebellion, the Unionists and secessionists went
together, because the great object with both was the preservation of slavery by the preser
vation of State sovereignty. There was another class of Unionists who did not care any
thing at all about slavery, but they were driven by the other whites into the rebellion for the
purpose of preserving slavery. The poor whites are to-day very much opposed to conferring
upon the negro the right of suffrage; as much so as the other classes of the whites. They
believe it is the intention of government to give the negro rights at their expense. They
cannot see it in any other light than that as the negro is elevated they must proportionately
go down. While they are glad that slavery is done away with, they are as bitterly opposed
to conferring the right of suffrage on the negro as the most prominent secessionists ; but it is
for the reason I have stated, that they think rights conferred on the negro must necessarily be
taken from them, particularly the ballot, which was the only bulwark guarding their superi
ority to the negro race.
Question. In your judgment, what proportion of the white people of North Carolina are
really, and truly, and cordially attached to the government of the United States .'
Answer. Very few, sir ; very few.
Question. Judging from what you hare observed of the feelings of the people of that Stat<>,
what would be their course in case of a war between the United States and a foreign govern
ment?
Answer. I can only tell you what I have heard young men say there ; perhaps it was mere
bravado. 1 have heard them say that they wished to the Lord the United States would get
into a war with France or England ; they would know where they would be. I asked this
question of some of them: If Robert E. Lee was restored to his old position in the army of
the United States, and he should call on you to join him to tight, for the United States and
against a foreign enemy, what would you do? They replied, " Wherever old Bob would go
we would go with him."
Question. Have you heard such remaiks since the war is over, as that they wished the
United States would get into a war with England and France?
Answer. Oh, yes, sir; such remarks are very common. I have heard men say, "May
my right hand wither and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I ever lift my arm in
favor of the United States."
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 169
Question. Did you ever hear such sentiments rebuked by bystanders ?
Answer. No, sir ; it would be very dangerous to do so.
Question. In your judgment, would it be the inclination of the mass of the people in North
Carolina, in case of a foreign war, to join the enemies of the United States ; would there be
danger of that, do you think?
Answer The officers who have been in the rebellion, and are of course disappointed at the
result, might take service against the United States. But I think the mass of the people of
North Carolina, the bone and sinew of the State, the quiet, well-behaved farmers, could not
be got to do that thing.
Question. Suppose all pressure and constraint on the part of the government of the United
States should be withdrawn from North Carolina, in such an event would or not the entire
State go over to the enemy ?
Answer. I cannot answer that question. I would not like to express an opinion on that
subject. I know there is a hostile feeling of the most positive character, which manifests
itself against all who were not true to the Confederate States up to the time of the surrender
of General Johnston. There is a hostile feeling of a decided character against that kind of
people ; I mean people who had been disaffected to the confederate government. It is a
feeling that will not allow a man to say anything, no matter what ho may hear said against
this government. It is as much as a man's life is worth to say any such thing.
Question. Under the present laws, and with the present courts in North Carolina, how
much security is there for the commercial men of the north in the transaction of their business ?
Answer. I 'reckon they would have no security at all just now, and as things are at pres
ent. At present there is inforceia stay law that has been passed at the commencement of
the rebellion. Still a northern man would be secure in his property in North Carolina.
Question. Take the case of a northern man who is a suitor before the courts for his rights,
with a case that is to* be tried before a jury ; would he stand a fair chance against his oppo
nent should his opponent be a rebel ?
Answer. No chance at all for a citizen of the State, in my opinion, if he is obnoxious to
the people politically. I think he would in a matter of mere business, where there was no
political matter involved ; that is, if he has not made himself very obnoxious to the people.
Question. In y<Air opinion, would it be practicable in North Carolina to secure the con
viction for treasoX of any of the leading rebels who have participated actively in the rebel
lion ?
Answer. I do not believe it would be possible.
Question. Have you any idea that a jury of twelve men could be found in North Carolina
who would convict a leading traitor of his crime 1
Answer. I do not believe you could get twelve men in North Carolina to do it, outside of
the Quakers and northern men there.
Question. I take it you must have mingled very freely with the people of North Carolina.
Answer. My profession has been such that I have had many opportunities to become ac
quainted with the people there. I have been with members of the legislature, and I have
discussed the condition of affairs with the leading men of the State ; I have gone through
my county explaining to black and wiiite the nature and object of the Freedmen's Bureau,
and trying to reconcile both parties to it. I have also been prominent among them as a
clergyman ; and then in the time of war I was forced to bo prominent from circumstances.
This I do not say from any egotism ; but my commission as colonel of a regiment was issued
to me nearly at the same time a similar commission was given to Hon. L. O'B. Branch. I
am personally acquainted with ex-Governor Vance and most of the leading men of the
State.
Question. Is the Freedmen's Bureau acceptable to the great mass of the white people in
North Carolina?
Answer. No, sir; I do not think it is ; I think the most of the whites wish the 'bureau to
be taken away.
Question. Why do they wish that ?
Answer. They think that they can manage the negro for themselves : that they understand
him better than northern men do. They say, "Let us understand what you want us to do
with the negro — what you desire of us ; lay down your conditions for our re-admission into
the Union, and then we will know what we have to do, and if you will do that we will enact
laws for the government of these negroes. They have lived among us, and they are all
with us, and we can manage them better than you can." They think it is interfering with
the rights of the State for a bureau, the agent and representative of the federal government,
to overslaugh the State entirely, and interfere with the regulations and administration of jus
tice before their courts.
Question. Is there generally a willingness on the part of the whites to allow the freedmen
to enjoy the right of acquiring land and personal property?
Answer. I think they are very willing to let them do that, for this reason : to get rid of
some portion < f the taxes imposed upon their property by the government. For instance, a
white man will agree to sell a negro some of his land on condition of his paying so much a
year on it, promising to give him a deed of it when the whole payment is made, taking
his note in the mean time. This relieves that much of the laud from taxes to be paid by the
170 RECONSTRUCTION.
white man. All I am afraid of is, that the negro 13 too eager to go into this thing; that he
will ruin himself, get himself into debt to the white man, and be forever bound to him for
the debt and never get the land. I have often warned them to be careful what they did about
these things.
Question. There is no repugnance on the part of tho whites to the negro owning land and
personal property ?
Answer. I think not.
Question. Have they any objection to the legal establishment of the domestic relations
among the blacks, such as the relation of husband and wife, of parent and child, and the
securing by law to the negro the rights of those relations ?
Answer. That is a matter of ridicule with the whites. They do not believe the negroes
will ever respect those relations more than the brutes. I suppose I have married more than
two hundred couples of negroes since the war, but the whites laugh at the very idea of the
thing. Under the old laws a slave could not marry a free woman of color ; it was made a
penal offence in North Carolina for any one to perform such a marriage. Hut there was in
my *wn family a slave who desired to marry a free woman of color, and I did what I con
ceived to be my duty, and married them, and I was presented to the grand jury for doing
so, but the prosecuting attorney threw out the case and would not try it. In former times
the officiating clergyman marrying slaves could not use the usual formula: "Whom God
has joined together let no man put asunder;" you could not say, "According to the ordi
nance of God I pronounce you man and wife ; you are no longer two but one." It was not
legal for you to do so.
Question. What, in general, has been tho treatment of the blacks by the whites since the
close of hostilities ?
Answer. It has not generally been of the kindest character, I rnuht say that ; I am com
pelled to say that.
Question. Have you witnessed any instances of cruelty and ill treatment of the blacks on
the part of the whites ?
Answer. I have.
Question. State one or two Instances.
Answer. In relation to the supply of food, here is a piece of meat (the witness here pro
duced and exhibited a piece of bacon) which was a man's allowance for an entire week. I
had it weighed in my office when the skin was on it, and it weighed just four ounces. The
case was brought to my notice, and I made his employer treat him better; but the better
treatment was not continued. This was the case of a wealthy man who owned a hundred
negroes.
Question. Was it in consequence of his own poverty that he put his laborers on that short
allowance ?
Answer. He said that it was ; but tho negroes pointed out to me that he had plenty of meat
and plenty of cattle to kill for food.
Question. What, besides that meat, was allowed for a week's supply?
Answer. A half a peck of corn meal ; that was all.
Question. Are you aware of any instance of personal ill treatment towards the blacks by
the whites?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Give some instances that have occurred since the war.
Answer. I knew a young woman, between nineteen and twenty years of age, a fine-look
ing girl, who was made by her former master to lie down flat on her face, while he boat her
across her buttocks and over her private parts, he having first pulled up her clothes, leaving
hor person bare.
Question. What was the provocation, if any ?
Answer. Something in regard to some work, which is generally the provocation.
Question. Was there no law in North Carolina at that time to punish such an outrage ?
Answer. No, sir ; only the regulations of tho Freedmen's Bureau ; we took cognizance of
the case. In old times that was quite allowable ; it is what was called " paddling."
Question. Did you deal with the master ?
Answer. I immediately sent a letter to him to come to my office, but he did not come, and
I have never seen him in regard to the matter since. I had no soldiers to enforce compli
ance, and I was obliged to let the matter drop.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose th.it such instances of cruelty are frequent in
North Carolina at this time — instances of whipping and striking?
Answer. I think they are ; it was only a few days before I left that a woman came there
with her head all bandaged up, having been cut and bruised by her employer. They think
nothing of striking them.
Question. And the negro has practically no redress?
Answer. Only what he can get from tho Freedmen's Bureau.
Question. Can you say anything further in regard to the political condition of North Car
olina — the feeling of the people towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. I for one would not wish to be left there in the hands of those men ; I could not
live there just now. But perhaps my case is an isolated one from the position I was com
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 171
polled to take in that State. I was persecuted, arrested, and they tried to get me into their
service ; they tried everything to accomplish their purpose, aiid of course I have rendered my
self still more obnoxious by accepting an appointment under the Freedmen's Bureau. As for
myself I would not be allowed to remain there. I do not want to be handed over to these
people. I know it is utterly impossible for any man who was not true to the Confederate
States up to the last moment of the existence of the confederacy, to expect any favor of these
people as the State is constituted at present.
Question. Suppose the military pressure of the government of the United States should be
withdrawn from North Carolina, would northern men and true Unionists be safe in that
State?
Answer. A northern man going there would perhaps present nothing obnoxious to the
peopl e of the State. But men who were born there, who have been true to the Union, and
who have fought against the rebellion, are worse off than northern men, Arid Governor Hoi-
den will never get any place from the people of North Carolina, not even a constable's place.
Question. Why not ?
Answer. Because he identified himself with the Union movement all along after the first
year of the rebellion. He has been a marked man ; his printing office has been gutted, and
his life has been threatened by the soldiers of the rebellion. He is killed there politically,
and never will get anything from the people of North Carolina, as the right of suffrage exists
there at present. I am afraid he would not get even the support of the negro, if they should
be allowed to vote, because he did not stand right up for them as he should have done. In
my opinion, he would have been a stronger man than ever if he had.
Question. Is it your opinion that the feelings of the great mass of the white people of
North Carolina are unfriendly to the government of the United States ?
Answer. Yes, sir, it is ; they have no love for it. If you mean by loyalty, acquiescence in
what has been accomplished, then they are all loyal ; if you mean, on the other hand, that
love and affection which a child has for its parent even after he brings the rod of correction
upon him, then they have not that feeling. It may come in the course of time.
Question. Is it practicable, by any measure to be adopted by Congress, to secure the exist
ence of that love and loyalty to the government of the United States on the part of the white
people of North Carolina ? «
Answer. That is really a question which I am not prepared to answer. It is utterly im
possible for me to answer the question, for the reason that I have not seen that appreciation
of the course already adopted by the President and the government, in regard to those who
have sinned against the government, which I think should have been shown by them. I
will not say, at the same time, that it is not possible to pursue such a course as will make
them truly loyal. Yet I cannot say that to pursue any given course will do so at the present
time, for the course already pursued has not been responded to as I hoped and expected.
Question. In your judgment what effect has been produced by the liberality of the Presi
dent in granting pardons and amnesties to rebels in that State — what effect upon the public
niind ?
Answer. On my oath I am bound to reply exactly as I believe ; that is, that if President
Johnson is ever a candidate for re-election, he will be supported by the southern States, par
ticularly by NoVth Carolina; but that his liberality to them has drawn them one whit closer
to the government than before^ I do not believe. It has drawn them to President Johnson
personally, and to the democratic party, I suppose.
Question. Has that clemency had any appreciable effect in recovering the real love and affec
tion of that people for the government ?
Answer. No, sir ; not for the government, considered apart from the person of the Execu
tive.
Question. Has it had the contrary effect?
Answer. I am not prepared to answer that question, from the fact that they regard Presi
dent Johnson as having done all this because he was a southern man, and not because he
was an officer of the government. They think that while he stands by them all the time
there is no danger; but they do not feel under any obligation to the government, except to
him personally. That is the feeling, as far as I am conversant with matters and things in
my State-.
Question. And you derive this impression from daily conversation with the people?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they feel perfectly secure. They say, " Johnson will make it all right."
Question. Were you ever arrested by the rebel military authorities during the war?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. By whose order?
Answer. By the order of Major General Whiting, commandant of the department of North
Carolina, under orders from Richmond, as I understand. The following is a copy of the
order :
"Lieutenant CHARLES J. WILLIAMS,
" Commanding detachment at Fayetteville.
"LIEUTENANT : The major general commanding directs that you immediately proceed to
Lunibertou, Robeson county, and arrest one James Sinclair, claiming to be a British sub-
4
172 RECONSTRUCTION.
ject, and being an enemy to our institutions and government ; and when so arrested, you will
forward him to these headquarters.
" By command of Major General Whiting.
"T. BROWN VENABLE.
" Major and Assistant Adjutant General."
Question. Were you taken into custody under that order?
Answer. Yes, sir, and carried off about daylight in the morning from my home. It caused
a death in my family by the shock it gave to my wife.' I was not allowed even to bid her
good-bye.
Question. How were you liberated from this arrest ?
Answer. By the interposition of a writ of habeas corpus, when they found they could not
take me out of the State without a trial.
Question. When was that?
Answer. On the 16th of December, 1863.
Question. What was the name of the judge discharging you ?
Answer. Mr. R. S. French.
Question. Have you a copy of the affidavit upon which, as you understand, the order for
your arrest was issued ?
Answer. Yes, sir, it is as follows :
"STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA, Robeson county :
"Personally appeared before me, John A. Roland, clerk of the court of pleos and quarter
sessions for the county of Robeson, Condary Godwin, who, having been duly sworn upon
the Holy Evangelists of Almighty God, deposes and says : That on the 21st of May, 18H3, or
thereabouts, in the city of Raleigh, he heard James Sinclair say that he bad been badly
treated by the southern confederacy ; that he could get on to Nassau on the pretence of see
ing to land belonging to his children in his old country, and from Nassau he could g<-t to
New York ; that he would explain to them the treatment he had received in the southern
confederacy, and meet friends enough to get the command of a fleet, a brigade, or at least a
regiment, when he would return and show some of his particular friends how it was to be
ground down ; that he knew all the paths and by-roads of this country. He repeated several
times that he would do this before he would ever go into the service. He was then a con
script.
"Sworn to and subscribed before me, the 24th day of November, 1863.
"JOHN A. ROLAND, Clerk.
"C. GODWIN."
Question. And you suppose you were arrested on that affidavit?
Answer. Yes, sir, and upon another affidavit of the same character, which I have not
with me ; because neither Davis nor Seddou would let me go out of the country. For, cer
tainly, if I had been let loose I could have contributed to the capture of North Carolina the
sooner by a year than it was accomplished. And it would have been better for her if it had
been done.
Question. What is the feeling of North Carolina in regard to the payment of the confeder
ate debt?
Answer. There are a great many interested in it. Many of the orphans and the widows
have put their all in those funds, and there is no doubt they would like to see that debt pai-1.
But there are just about as many persons who are afraid to see it paid as there are of persons
who want to see it paid.
Question. W^ould the people of the State have any real objection to the total repudiation
of the rebel debt?
Answer. I do not think they would.
Question. What, on the other hand, is the feeling of the people there in regard to the pay
ment of the national debt, contracted for the prosecution of the war ?
Answer. Just like everything else connected with the overthrow of the confederacy — it is
an accomplished fact and they have to submit.
Question. Will they willingly pay their share of the debt?
Answer. It will be just like this: when I send nay child to get a switch with which I may
correct him, he hates it very much; but he will go and get it. The people know they must
pay it, and they submit; but they have no love at all for it.
Question. I suppose they have no objection to receiving and using the federal currency .'
Answer. Not now ; but it has only been of late that they have become willing to take it.
In the interior of the State the people at first would not take greenbacks ; they wanted gold
and silver, because they said they were tired of seeing paper money. But that let.-liug is
changing now — has changed.
Question. What can you say in regard to the destruction and loss of property in North
Carolina during the rebellion ?
Answer. There has been a great deal of property destroyed there.
Question. Have property-holders been very generally impoverished by the war?
Answer. Yes, sir ; very much.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 173
Question. What kind of personal property generally and chiefly has been destroyed ?
Answer. Well, sir, a great many horses were taken by the confederate authorities ; and
then whut the confederate authorities left General Sherman took pretty much when he came
along. Indeed, the county was impoverished to a very considerable extent before the Union
forces came. The government at Richmond sent down its authorized agents, who entered
our smoke-houses, and, after allowing so many pounds each of meat for a man and his wife,
and so much for the grown sen-ants, allowing nothing for children, either white or black,
they would- take all the rest; and then, when the confederates evacuated the State, a great
deal of cotton belonging to private individuals was destroyed by the army. When General
Sherman came along his troops took what the confederates left, leaving nothing scarcely to
support life.
Question. Have many dwelling-houses been destroyed ?
Answer. Some have been, but not a great many. A great deal of the fencing has been
destroyed; and the fact that .there were no workmen to repair those fences, to protect the
farms,* rendered the poverty still deeper, because crops could not be made to advantage under
the circumstances.
Question. What is the confederate currency worth there now 1
Answer. Nothing.
Question. Not a rush ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Is it used as currency any way ?
Answer. Never. I can send you $5,000 of it, if you want it. It is worth nothing at all,
arid never expected to be.
Question. If it were practicable for the people of North Carolina to decide the question for
themselves of repudiating the national debt contracted in the prosecution of this war, would
they, or not, do so ?
Answer. I believe they would repudiate it.
Question. In case a project should be started by any political party in the United States
to repudiate and set aside that debt, and it should become a political issue, to be decided by
the election of members to Congress, on which side of that question would the people of
North Carolina be?
Answer. Well, sir, the people of North Carolina pride themselves on a high sense of
honor. I think that they would consider themselves in honor bound to pay that debt ; that
is, if they once agree to do it. Still, I have no doubt there would be a majority in favor of
not paying the debt should that ever become a political question. There would be a, strong
minority in favor of paying it, because, whatever the State of North Carolina promises she
will perform, if she can. You will find that the character of the commercial man of North
Carolina stands high with the merchants of the north. But she will never go one whit be
yond what you compel her to do in regard to the negro. I believe, as things are at present
in the State — I mean with the present state of feeling — I am convinced that North Carolina
would certainly throw her whole weight with the party that would seek repudiation.
Question. Have you anything further to say in addition to the statement you have already
made ?
Answer. I would like to state, in regard to the action of my presbytery in saving me from
the confederate conscription when the confederates tried to show that I was not a clergyman,
I had asked leave to enter into secular business because I wanted nothing to do with the
war. The presbytery gave me the following to protect me from being put into the ranks :
[Extract.]
"Kesoltcd, That the Rev. James Sinclair, being conscripted by the Confederate States, is
in regular standing in this Fayetteville Presbytery."
Then follows this certificate:
"A true extract from the minutes. of the Presbytery of Fayetteville, at their session held
at Pike church, New Hanover county, N. C., October 9, 1863.
" J. P. McPIIERSON, Stated Clerk,"
I took occasion last summer to write for a religious paper published at Pittsburg, taking
the ground that nothing would protect and secure the true freedom of the negro, unless you
give him the protection of the ballot I took the ground, also, that slavery was cruel and
relentless as the grave ; that it never forgave and never forgot ; and, that it sought always to
subject to its powers and influence the minds and bodies of its victims ; and that I had been
persecuted by the church during the war. The presbytery instituted proceedings against me
after I left there, on the ground that I did not leave regularly. They refused to dimiss me
to the church north, because they did not recognize it, and forced me to go away without
papers, and I suppose they will now proceed against me in an ecclesiastical way and depose
me from the ministry, in order to incapacitate me from marrying, legally, according to the
laws of North Carolina, those who may desire me to perform that ceremony for them; I have
reference especially to the freedmen. Those very preachers are the most bitter secessionists
we have in the country. If I have ever heard a presbyterian clergyman, since the close of the
1 74 RECONSTRUCTION.
war. pray for his excellency the President of the United States, I do not now recollect it. I
believe they pray, so to speak, in a general way for "all in power and authority," but not par
ticularly for " his excellency the President of the United States and both houses of Con<rn-s>. M
There is nothing of that so far as I have heard. I speak particularly of the Presbyterians ; I
know nothing of the other churches. My church — the one now under my charge — consists
of 97 members.
Question. Are they whites or blacks ?
Answer. All blacks. I have 97 members in full communion, and there are some 300 or
400 more who adhere to the church, but are not in full communion with it. The presbytery
may try to stop me in the exercise of my duties in marrying my people. The license to
marry, under the laws of the State, runs in this way: "To any regularly ordained minister
of the Gospel or justice of the peace." Now they may come in under their ecclesiastical
laws and attempt to destroy my right, as a clergyman, to act under the above license.
Question. What proportion of your church members are able to read ?
Answer. A large number of them. I have 2(5 in a Bible class that are able to read the
Bible. Three of my elders, who are blacks, are able to read. There are old men who never
knew what a letter was when I opened my Sabbath school, who are now spelling words of
two or three syllables. I have had no teacher from the north. I have offered to board the
teacher and get a school-house, but I have not been able to get one up to this time. We
want teachers immediately. If we could get teachers to go into the interior portions of the
State it would keep the negroes from coming into the towns for education. The negro
dreams of it at night ; his constant thirst is for education for his child ; and he goes to towns
and military posts for that purpose. I would rather give the negro education t*han the ballot,
if he is to have but one. But if you are to hand us over to the wishes and powers and
charities of a certain class of people, the Lord be merciful to us; I shall leave and go to the
north.
Question. Suppose the negroes of North Carolina should be allowed to vote, how would
the whites regard that ?
Answer. I do not suppose there are 20 men in North Carolina who would not be opposed
to it.
Question. What is your opinion of the general political effect in the State of allowing the
negroes to vote 1 I do not mean nil of them, but a portion of them — those the most fit for it.
Would it tend to give strength to the government?
Answer. Of course it would ; there is no doubt about that.
Question. Would it tend to give prosperity and stability to the affairs of the State ?
Answer. It is my opinion that it would. I am an advocate of impartial suffrage; to make
no distinction on account of race or color.
•Question. Would there be any liability on the part of the blacks to be led away to vote
for secessionists or secession leaders?
Answer. There would be no danger, for this reason ; next to the Lord Jesus Christ, and
with many negroes I am afraid a little higher, stands the name of President Lincoln. They
are well aware of the existence and position of Simmer and such men. If candidates were
put up to-morrow there for Congress, or for any other office, the negro would not go to his
old master to inquire about them, but they would come to me, or to you, or some northern
man upon whom they could depend.
Question. Suppose his old master should go to him and ask him to vote?
Answer. They would laugh at him. Long before the war they had got so they would not
believe a word their masters said on some things. The reason the Presbyterian ministers are
so down upon me i«, that not one of the negroes who formerly attended their churches will
go to them now. But they will go and hear me, or any northern minister, and they would
come to us and ask us about their papers, or anything else that they desired to understand.
Any northern man in whom they have confidence can control them. If you confer universal
suffrage upon them, I would like to have it that they should give their votes viva tucc,
in order that there might be no danger of changing thrij tickets by dishonest persons.
Question. Would not their votes in such case be influenced by fear of their masters?
Answer. Not at all.
Question. Would they have resolution enough to go against their old master's wishes?
Answer. Yes, sir; their old masters have not one particle of influence over them now;
fchat is all gone. I have here a paper shovsing the position of my church in North Carolina,
in 1864, in regard to the simple question of legalizing in a quant manner the murriap
tion among the negroes, and allowing them the privilege of reading the Bible.
Question. This was during the rebellion?
Answer. Yes, sir: one year prior to the breaking up of the rebellion. This is the paper:
"Whereas an address was presented to the last general assembly on the subject of slavery,
and the duties growing out of the relation, which address was committed to the committee to
report to the general assembly with instructions that the report to be submitted bo printed in
advance of the meeting of the said assembly for the use of the members ;
"And whereas said address has been presented to the churches through the Southern Pre«-
bytoruin Review as the forthcoming report of said committee : Therefore,
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 175
"Resolved, That this presbytery do and cannot approve of the deliverance made in said
address, and hereby instruct their commissioners to oppose the adoption of said address or
any other document looking to or contemplating any radical change in the laws, civil or ec
clesiastical, which at present regulate our domestic institutions."
That was adopted on April 1, 1864.
WASHINGTON, January 30, 1866.
Lieutenant George 0. Sanderson sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside?
Answer. In Boston, Massachusetts.
Question. Are you a citizen of Massachusetts ?
Answer. Yes, sir; a native of Vermont.
Question. Have you been engaged in the civil war ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. In what capacity?
Answer. First as sergeant ; last as lieutenant.
Question. Where did you serve?
Answer. In North Carolina.
Question. Exclusively?
Answer. Entirely ; I was, however, a few days in Virginia in front of Petersburg.
Question. Since the close of hostilities, what has been your occupation?
Answer. I have been travelling around North Carolina, looking for a place to settle.
Question. How much of your time have you spent in North Carolina since the beginning
of the- war?
Answer. A little over three years, up to November, 1865,
Question. Where have you chiefly stopped ?
Answer. At Newbern, Roanoke island, Wilmington, and Raleigh.
Question. Have you during that time mingled much with the people of North Carolina so
as to become acquainted with their feelings towards the government of the United States 1
Answer. I have considerably. For nearly two years I acted as superintendent of the eon-
traband colony of Roanoke island, in North Carolina.
Question. What is the state of feeling among the whites of North Carolina towards the
government of the United States ?
Answer. The ruling feeling of -four-fifths or three-fourths of the whites is against it as
much as ever — the real bottom feeling of their souls.
Question. By the expression "against it" do you mean to be understood as saying that
they are unfriendly towards it, or discontented towards it?
Answer. They are so, and I think they would throw every obstacle in the way of carrying
out its laws, if they could, without rendering themselves liable to punishment.
Question. In what class of society there do you find this unfriendly feeling most prevalent ?
Answer. It is among the laud owners, the country people, as we should term them.
Question. What leading reason do they give for this feeling, if they give any ?
Answer. They give no definite reasons for it — at least they have not to me, further than
the taking away of their property, meaning their slaves, and a disposition, as they think, k>
oppress them in that manner and render them poor, as they say.
Question. Have you noticed since the close of hostilities any particular demonstration of
that feeling on the part of the people ; if so, where, and what was it?
Answer. The particular demonstrations that I have noticed were a refusal to recognize the
condition of the former slaves as freedmen, and a disposition to oppress them by combining
and stating to them that they intended, as soon as the power was in their hands again, as
soon as they were readmitted, and the military force was withdrawn from their borders, to
put the wages of the freedmen down to thirty-seven and a half cents a day, and to make it
worse for (hem, as they expressed it, than before they were freed ; that is, to make thoir free
dom of no avail to them.
Question. Have you heard expressions of that kind from the planters ?
Answer. I have repeatedly. I was told by several planters that they had decided, and it
vra« an understood thing among them, that the moment the military force was withdrawn
and they had the power again, that they would not pay any of the freed slaves over thirty-
Beren and a half cents a day. They said to me, " You wish to come down here and buy a
place and settle. You have great popularity among these people ; they recognize you as their
friend, and your popularity is equal in value to you to a hundred slaves, if you owned them.
You can hire any quantity of them, and as soon as we get the power we will put the price
down, so that it will cost you less than if you boarded and kept them as your property* So
they will be of more value to you thun they were before."
176 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What do the lower and poorer class of white people there say on the subject ?
Answer. The confederate soldiers, in fact nil of the poorer classes that were not Union all
through the war, seem to feel bitter towards the free class on account of their being raised to
an equality with them. They say that they will drive them out of the country ; they will not
have them there — they will not live side by side with them.
Question. Where do they propose to drive them to?
Answer. They say they will send them to hell ; that is the expression they use.
Question. According to your observation, what is the extent of this dislike and hostility on
the part of the poorer class of whites towards the freedmen?
Answer. In the section which I have visited particularly, and made myself acquainted
with this matter, as I naturally wished to, before casting my lot in with them, I should say
that about one-half of the poorer class held this sentiment towards the freed people.
Question. Do you think that that feeling is increasing or decreasing among that class?
Answer. It is showing itself more and more publicly since the hopes of getting back into
the Union and getting the control of that matter into their own hands. I do not know that
they have that feeling any more than they had before, but its demonstration is more appar
ent. •
Question. Suppose the military force should be withdrawn entirely from North Carolina,
and the community there should regard their former slaves as now emancipated, what, ac
cording to your judgment, would be the general treatment of these people on the part of the
State, as evidenced by its laws towards the freedmen ?
Answer. There would, in my judgment, be no hope of the freedmen's exercising any of his
rights. He would have no chance in a court ; he would have no chance anywhere. His
condition would be, in my opinion, wrorse than it was before, from the fact that before, his
master was obliged to take care of his health and to provide him food and raiment, and now
In- would not be obliged to do that; consequently the physicians would not attend a case of
sickness among the freed people without the cash in hand ; and as they could not pay, tlh-y
would suffer for lack of attention, and the mortality would be increased to a frightful extent.
He would not be allowed to testify in court ; he could not enforce contracts if he made them,
and no jury that could be impanelled would give a verdict in his favor. His condition would
be deplorable, in my opinion.
Question. Do you suppose that the voice of the people of the State as expressed in their
legislature would extend to the freed negro the right to hold real estate and enjoy it, as well
a.s personal property, and to testify as a witness in court /
Answer. They would not ; I am very confident that they would not be permitted to enjoy
either one of those privileges, holding real estate or testifying in court.
Question. Would they preclude the negro from his marital rights as a husband and a
father?
Answer. They would not respect those rights. I do not know that they would be able to
pass any law to prevent the exercise of tnern, but if a white man saw fit to invade those
rights no redress could be had by the freedman.
Question. State whether the former free negroes of North Carolina have among themselves
much property, real or personal.
Answer. I know of some few instances where former free negroes have property of their
own, real and personal, but not to any great extent. For the most part they were in fully as
bad a condition as the slave ; they had but very few rights allowed them.
Question. But they could hold property in North Carolina ?
Answer. They could hold property. I have heard those that were free before the war, ex
press the sentiment that they were not so well off — had not so good a chance as the slaves.
They said, in case of any collision betwixt the free negro and the slave the white man al
ways protected his property, and always visited, whether Avrong or not, his vengeance on
tlfe free man. It was to prevent the free men from injuring their property as we would pre
vent a man from injuring our horse. The chance of justice in that matter was against them.
The whites were all against them and in favor of their own property and they felt, that
they did not stand in so good a position in that resp»ect as the slaves did before the war.
Question. What can you say of the general intelligence of the black race of North Carolina ?
Answer. Well, it is at a very low standard ; but considering the circumstances under which
they have existed for the last two hundred years, they compare very favorably with the whites.
1 really think that the energy and industry of the black race is greater than that of the
so-called poor whites. The blacks have a hope of bettering their condition, an incentive to
work up from it, which the low whites seem to have lost. I have found them more willing
to work, more willing to save, and to attempt to get ahead
Question. Can many of the blacks read and write ?
Answer. Not many ; a few.
Question. What is their disposition in regard to schools and education?
Answer. They are very anxious to learn, and where they have been able to have these
privileges they have learned very readily. I think they compare favorably with the whites
in that respect ; and they have an exceeding anxiety to get tueir children to school. They
will sacrifice and do almost anything for that purpose, and even to learn themselves^ and
the children are willing and anxious to go to school.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 177
Question. What can you say in regard to the religious feeling of the blacks ?
Answer. They seem to have a religious feeling, but it is all emotional ; it does not govern
their every-day life. They do not carry out their religious feelings into their every-day prac
tice. They seem to have an instinctive, emotional religious feeling, -which prompts them at
certain times to manifest, in their way, acts of devotion or worship ; but they do not seem to
get the idea that this feeling which they manifest should be carried into their every-day ac
tion, because I have seen them go right from their churches, where they have been mani
festing apparently the deepest religious feeling, and commit theft on the way home. They
do not seem to connect the two very well.
Question. Do they pilfer a great deal ?
Answer. Yes, they do ; but it is no more than could be expected from their training and
education. I do not think, actually, that they do it so much as should be expected from
the circumstances in which they have been placed. I do not think that innately they have
any such disposition more than any other class.
Question. Does this proclivity to pilfer arise from a malicious temper on their part — an in
clination to do wrong to the neighbor — or does it rather arise from their ignorance and the
long habits of slavery which exist among them and the total absence of the right of property ?
Answer. There docs not seem to be any malicious disposition, any mischievous or mali
cious wish to destroy a man's property when it would not do them any good. When they
pilfer, it is something that they see and covet and wish for their own use, mostly eatables and
wearing apparel. But to go and destroy a man's crops, out of malice or mischief, I never
knew an instance, and I have had some 3,500 of them in my charge for eighteen months.
Question. How do the negroes there feel towards the government of the United States
themselves ?
Answer. They are thoroughly loyal.
Question. Did you ever see a negro who was a rebel at heart, thoroughly attached to the
cause of the rebellion?
Answer. I never knew an instance, nor heard of one.
Question. What amount of intelligence did you find among the negroes in North Carolina
respecting the causes of this civil war and its objects 7
Answer. They seemed to have an understanding that it was a war for their liberation ;
that the cause of the war was their being in slavery, and that the aim and result would be
their freedom. Further than that they did not seem to have any idea of it.
Question. How extensive was this feeling of theirs? Was it a general feeling among all
classes of negroes ?
Answer. It was.
Question. Did yon become aware of the existence of any secret association or societies among
the negroes, having in view the giving of aid and comfort to the Union cause during the war /
Answer. I was not aware of any organized society. There did not seem to be any organ
ized society there. There did not seem to be any need of any ; wherever a negro was found
he was sure to be a friend.
Question. How did they get this information — this conjecture that the war was earned on
to liberate them?
Answer. That was a wonder to me, and is to this day. It seemed to pass, as intelligence
will, in the strangest manner, from one to another quickly. I do not know how. If there
was any preconcert among' them I was not aware of it. I do not think there was. But it
was a thing that interested them very much, and if one met another in the neighborhood he
was sure to communicate it, and so it passed from one to another with unaccountable speed.
I heard one of the negroes say that he was planting in the .field, and he heard a gun from a
gunboat. Said his master, who stood beside him, "Sam, what's that?" "Don't know,
masser, don't know." As soon as his master turned around the negro said to himself, "Bless
de Lord, 'tis the Linkun gunboat." He seemed to have an idea that that sound was the sig
nal of freedom to him, but he did not dare, as he said, to let his master know that he knew
what it was. Still, all the time he felt that if he could get where that gun was fired he was
a free man ; but he did not give any particular reason why or how lie got the idea, and I do
not know that I asked him.
Question. What can you say of the disposition of the white people in that State towards
the freedmeu who are out of employment as vagrants, making vagrancy penal /
Answer. I think it is their intention to do so ; to pass laws, as soon as they have the con
trol in their hands, or re-enact or put in force their old laws, not allowing a contraband to
stay in any section over such a length of time without work; if he does, to seize him and
sell him. In fac, tthat is done now in the county of Gates, North Carolina. The county po
lice, organized under orders from headquarters, did enforce that law on a person who had
employment in Portsmouth and was earning her own living, who went out to get her own
children. She was seized before she had been there two days ; her children refused to her,
and under the vagrant act she was set to work on the old plantation without pay, simply for
her board and clothes, as a slave. I found also at the same place a whole plantation of forty
or fifty hands that the owner said were not free, maintaining the point, that they were not, and
refusing to let them go. And the county police did not act in the matter ; they let him main
tain his position.
12 \ NC SC
178 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Have you conversed much with leading, intelligent citizens of North Carolina
on this subject of vagrancy ?
Answer. Not much. I do not know exactly what you mean by leading, intelligent men.
Question. I will develop the idea. The slaves becoming free are, of course, left entirely
destitute of property, real or personal, destitute of house ana home, and of all the implements
of agriculture. Now, what do leading, intelligent men in that State say in reference to the
people thus situated ? Would they treat them as vagrants, and punish them for being out of
employment and destitute of the means of gaining a livelihood in the midst of that commu
nity ? What sort of reply would they make to such a suggestion7
Answer. They would say that every one of those persons not employed earning his own
living would be treated as a vagrant; that every person that is not at work, or has not some
fixed means of earning his living, remaining in a placo five days without such employment,
would be treated as a vagrant.
Question. Is that feeling generally entertained by the planters towards the black men ?
Answer. It is wherever I have been. I speak of the planters ; it is not so much so around
the cities I find.
Question. Do the planters see no injustice, no cruelty in thus treating the freedmen, who
are destitute of all property, all means of livelihood, and of home?
Answer. They do not express any such feeling; they do not seem to entertain it.
Question. Would they, under these circumstances, generally, receive the freedmen into
their employment upon any other terms than 'their own — such as they themselves should
prescribe to the negro ?
Answer. They would not unless there is some power which compels them.
Question. If there Avere no such power, what would be the result in regard to the colored
race?
Answer. Able-bodied men and women would obtain employment ; those who were not
able to earn their own living would be left to live in the best way they could. I will
tell you an instance which illustrates that precisely. I was sent down to Sampson
county to organi/e the police force. While there a contraband piloted me around to where
about fifteen of our captured soldiers were taken out and shot, and were unbnried — their
bones being above the ground. We went out to bury them, and this contraband was there.
When we came back he plead to come with us. He said he was known to have come around
with me to the place, and he would not live three days after the soldiers left. I said our
orders were strict not to let one of them follow, but, under the circumstances, said I, " You
can follow, but do not come into Goldsboro' with the troops; come in behind." He wanted
to get his old mother, a woman of eighty-five years, away. I did not dare to take her on the
government teams, as it was against orders, and I told him I could not. The owner said if
he left he should turn her out of doors. I told him it would be unjust, as she had worked
for him all her life, and he had had all her service. " But," said he, " I am not obliged to
keep her!" And he actually did turn her out of doors, and she followed us for five miles,
and then had to sit down on the road and we had to leave her. Her ton did not dare go
back for fear of his life. Pie would have been killed, quite probably, for just piloting us
around to the place where the bones of our murdered soldiers lay.
Question. This was after the close of hostilities ?
Answer. Yes, sir; sometime between the 10th and 20th of May, 1805, and when they
were organizing a police force near Goldsboro'. Perhaps you^_can get an idea of the
disposition manifested by this instance which I will relate: One of the leading men
of the town — I think he was county judge, or had some connexion with the courts —
came to my quarters one morning and said: "Lieutenant, what am I to stand from
these freed people? I suppose you call them free. What insults am I obliged to
suffer? I am in a perfect fever." I told him I saw he was, and asked him what he
complained of ? If there was anything wrong I would right it. " Well," said he, "one
of these infernal niggers came along as I sat on my piazza this morning and bowed to me,
and said good morning — one of your soldiers !" Said I, " If my soldiers don't do anything
worse than politely bowing to you as they pass, I shall not punish them ; you will have to
submit." This man said that his people were never allowed to speak to him unless they
were first spoken to, and he never was obliged to submit to the indignity of a black mail
coming along and speaking to him first.
Question. Do you think of any other instances ?
Answer. Well, there are hundreds. I do not recollect particularly.
Question. State, in general terms, what are the feelings of the whites towards the blacks —
whether they easily take offence.
Answer. Oh, they never permit any approach to equality on the part of the blacks — not
even now. They consider them an inferior race, and they will not allow anything like equality.
Another instance : While down in Hyde, Washington county — I was sent down there to
arrest a man who had kidnapped a free man from the government employ and sold him over
the line as a slave — stopping at the house of the captain of police for that county, I halted
my detachment in the road, and went up to the house to speak to the captain about this
matter and get his assistance. It was a very hot day ; my men had marched a great dis-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 179
tance, and a couple of them went up to the back stoop of the house to a wooden pail which
sat there, with a wooden clipper in it, and took the dipper and drank some water. All at once I
saw a rush from the house; the captain's wife or daughter seized the pail and threw it, dipper
and all, into the street, and said : " Lieutenant, do you allow anything like that ? — allow your
men to come here and drink out of our water-pail?" Said I, "The men are very tired and
thirsty, and they need some water." Well, she said she never used a pail that a colored man
used ; she wanted me to understand that she was not reduced so low as that, and wanted me
to order the men out of the yard. I told the men to go back to the lines. I did not want to
have any trouble with them, but the matter was taken up, and it was considered a very
gross outrage that I had permitted my men to do. The wooden bucket was not in the house,
but simply in a back stoop.
Question. Did not your conscience prick you for ordering the men back to the lines ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I was very much vexed, and I had to come pretty near shooting one of
my men to make them submit to the discipline. And I was mad enough to have turned the
pistol muzzle the other way. Still, I was placed in a position where I must get along as
easy as I could, as I was under strict orders. The men were very much incensed at it, and
almost rebelled, but I ordere/l them back. They wanted to go through the house, but the
war was over, and this man was captain of the police of that county.
Question. The forces under your command were colored ?
Answer. Yes, sir; belonged to the first colored regiment of the District of Columbia.
Question. Do you think of any other instance?
Answer Well, perhaps not so marked as this, but any quantity of that disposition mani
fested a spirit of refusing them anything like equality or common-sense rights either.
Question. Is there any other statement which you wish to make?
Answer. Well, I do wish to state that the bureau in the State ot North Carolina is a farce,
unless better supported by the military power or some other. I will state why. At
Elizabeth City, some time after Christinas, a party of white citizens attacked the house of a
colored man, beat him very badly, fired at his wife, the ball passing through her dress at her
waist, and broke their things all to pieces. They nearly killed the man, and fired a shot intend
ing to kill the woman. There was a party of military out there from a Michigan regiment,
and they asked the bureau agent to order these men's arrest — the negroes said they could
swear to them — and he told the officer that had charge of the military that he did not dare
to order their arrest; his life, he said, would not be worth having, as the military were going
away in a day or two, and he would be left there alone. For that reason the lieutenant com
manding the troops said he did not' arrest the parties although they were known and could
be identified. The lieutenant was willing to arrest them and bring them down for trial.
Question. Do you remember the name of the lieutenant?
Answer. I do not ; he belonged to the 14th North Carolina colored. I had this from the
lieutenant commanding the troops. I do not know as I ought to state this under oath.
Question. Anything else?
Answer. In other instances they admitted that they did not dare to interfere against whites
in favor of the blacks, for fear of violence on the part of the whites.
Question. Did you make any purchases of land in North Carolina?
Answer. Only a couple of hundred acres, which I have left — entirely given it up as a lost
purchase.
Question. Why?
Answer. From the fact that I had become obnoxious to the white inhabitants for the
rigidity with which I enforced the regulations in regard to the contrabands. They stated to
rue that they would not have me around there. I was not frightened out of it, but it was
not very valuable laud, and I did not choose to go down there and take the risk of it.
Question. Would it be safe, in your opinion, for emigrants from the north to go down and
attempt to settle in North Carolina?
Answer. They might not be personally injured, but I have heard there repeatedly that any
northern man coming down there to settle, his cattle would be poisoned, his hogs killed, and
any improvements he made destroyed. An instance of this kind occurred in this same
Sampson county. There were some fifteen or twenty guerillas hanging about after the war
closed. They were Arkansas men. They were stealing horses and cattle, and committing
ravages on the white Union inhabitants. I took my troops and hunted them out of the dis
trict. I had infantry, and they were mounted, but I ambushed the bridges and drove them
out. We captured two of the men and got several of their horses. Whilst doing this I
called at a very rich planter's house — a widow, who had several nieces. In the course of
the conversation I asked them, in a joking way, how they would like to have a northern man
come down and marry the widow and carry on the plantation. They all spoke up at once
that no northern man would ever be permitted to come down there ; his life would not be
worth a cent that ever undertook to settle in that section. Of course, all do not have these
views, but there are enough who do hold them to render it very unsafe for northern settlers
there.
Question. Suppose a settler should go down and shoot a few of them by way of 'returning
the compliment?
Answer. Then ensues civil wax again.
180 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Would they rush to arms in such a case?
Answer. They might not openly, but it would be a guerilla fight, a bush fight. And I am
.tisfied it will be if the States come back. The war will only be carried on in another form.
sati
If once in the House and Senate they get anything like a majority, they will carry the war
home, and will be as aggressive as ever on northern interests ; will do anything to get the
preponderance and keep i't. That is the disposition which they openly_ admit to me. If
northern men come down and settle, they will destroy their cattle and injure them, or even
take their lives. In a great many instances they are willing enough now to get northern
men among them and get their money for the laud ; but the moment they get the power
they will drive them out by this system. I believe so — so much so, that I decline to go down
there myself. I have been on foot hundreds of miles in the State, travelling around and stop
ping at houses, investigating this matter for my own benefit.
Question. How extensive do you find this robbing feeling? Does it pervade the State'?
Answer. All sections of the State that I have been in. They say in the western part of
the State among the mountains there is more Union feeling.
Question. Is this disposition to violence countenanced by the better class ?
Answer. Encouraged by the large planters. 1 have had arguments like this with them :
In endeavoring to buy land where I found a man with seven or eight hundred acres, I
would say to him, " Why don't you sell to some northern man, or some Englishman, Swede
or German, a hundred acres of this land, and let him own it ; then he will go to work and
improve it, plant trees, build him a little nicer house, and that will make the next hundred
acres worth more, because the purchaser of the adjoining hundred acres prefers to have such
a neighbor." But no, they say, "We won't sell this land; we don't wrant to part with
the fee; we want to get tenants on it." And they argue that England's great prosperity
has been caused by tenantry. That is what they want to get these Germans, Swedes and
Swiss, so as to supersede black labor. They want to drive off the blacks from their farms,
and have a tenantry like the English. Hence, they refuse to sell a foot. There are lands
offered for sale, but they are not worth owning. In most instances, I would not take them
as a gift. The Ibest laud is held closer than in any place on earth that ever I tread on.
Hyde county contains some of the best corn laud, but you can't get a foot of anything but
swamp land there.
Question. What price do they put on it ?
Answer. They pretend to call their best land w^orth one hundred'dollars an acre, if culti
vated ; uncultivated, twenty five dollars. Washington and Pasquotauk counties contain
good lands.
Question. Do you think of anything else?
Answer. There is one other thing : In the appointments for this bureau they do not select
right men. I stopped at Norfolk, Virginia. By accident I was at the same boarding house
with the agent of the bureau. I was there two nights. Both nights he came home drunk.
Question. What was his name?
Answer. Arnold. He borrowed a dollar of me. to go to a masked ball, and came home
so cliunk that he could not pay me before I came away.
Question. What post does he hold ?
Answer. One of the agents of the bureau. I felt that they were disgracing the government.
Question. Didn't you report him at once to General Howard ?
Answer. I have not been to General Howard's yet. I do not know where his quarters are.
Question. Do you find such habits prevailing among the agents of the bureau?
Answer. The other agent at Roauoke island I have seen so drunk that he did not know
where he was.
Question. What is his name ?
Answer. Gosling — captain and assistant quartermaster.
Question. Do you think of anything else (
Answer. I cannot swear positively to the fact, but I have seen the rations at Roanoke
island in the ration house, and I have been part of them in the store, and I have seen the
"U. S." on the barrel scraped off and marked over with some other name. I have seen
flour the same way.
Question. Was this peculation committed by the agent of the bureau, or with his knowl
edge, consent, or connivance?
Answer. It was with the knowledge and connivance of every one connected with the
pOSt — captain, clerks, commissary, and merchants. They are all engaged in it at Roanoke.
island.
Question. These rations were intended for the freedmen?
Answer. Yes, sir ; drawn by them. I have a letter now in my pocket which a contraband
on the island asked me to take off the island and put in the post office somewhere else, as he
cannot get one to General Howard through the military post office on the island. I took it.
In that he states these facts — I suppose what he knows in regard to the rations being sold.
And the contrabands on the island are actually suffering to-day for want of food. I was in
their houses. I have seen a woman who said she was two days without food within three
weeks. She had a ration ticket, but could not get anything from the ration house. She was
. t work spinning at 1 J o'clock at night by the tire-light to get something to eat. The whole
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 181
object seems to be at present out there to drive them back into the employ of their masters —
at any rate, to get them off from the government as fast as they can. It is very laudable to
do so as fast as they can support themselves, but I do not believe in making them suffer.
Question. I advise yoii to make these facts known at once to General Howard, in order
that a remedy may be applied.
Answer. My only objection to that is, that it is rather an informal way of approaching
him — although it might not be, as I am not in the service. In fact, it is impossible to get it
to him where they are all concerned for themselves. I do not know what credit he would
attach to my statements.
Question. Are you a man of education ?
Answer. Nothing more than a common school education.
Question. What is your business ? Are you engaged in Boston ?
Answer. I am going home to Boston now.
Question. Are you in business there of any kind ?
Answer. No, sir; I am seeking for employment in some way or other. I had thought of
applying for employment in this bureau, but it has been so long that I have given up the
idea.
Question. How old are you ?
Answer. 39 years old.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 3, 18C6.
Colonel E. Whittlesey sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. My residence is Brunswick, Maine. I am now assistant commissioner in the
Freedmen's Bureau for North Carolina, with headquarters at Raleigh. My rank is colonel
of the 46th United States colored troops.
Question. Where have you been on duty recently ?
Answer. I have been on duty since about the 21st of June last at Raleigh, North
Carolina.
Question. Have you mingled much among the rebel people of North Carolina since you
have been there ?
Answer. To some extent. I have met a good many of them at my office, and I have
travelled to the principal points in the State, especially in the eastern part of the State.
Question. What is the state of feeling on their part towards the government of the United
States generally ?
Answer. Generally, I think, the feeling cannot be said to be kind or favorable towards the
government ; and yet a good many of the people are disposed to welcome back the old gov
ernment over them.
Question. If they had another opportunity, would they not endeavor to throw it off?
Answer. I think they would want to be very certain of success before they would
attempt it.
Question. Suppose they were morally certain of success ?
Answer. If they were sure of success, I think the majority would endeavor to throw it off.
Of course, that is only an opinion.
Question. What effect has President Johnson's liberal policy in granting pardons and
amnesties to rebels had upon their hearts and feelings ? Has it increased or diminished their
respect for the government of the United States ?
Answer. I do not think it has increased their respect for the government. It has in
creased their expectations, and therefore the check that has been put upon them by the
refusal of Congress to receive their representatives has excited a great deal of bitterness. It
would not have excited that feeling at first, I think. WThen hostilities ceased they expected
nothing from the government. They - felt they were entirely in the hands of the United
States government, and they seemed ready to submit to whatever the government might be
disposed to do with them ; but, after receiving a great deal of liberality, they began to
think that they had a right to receive everything and to demand more.
Question. How do they treat loyal persons who go to visit them from the loyal States ?
Answer. I have not known of any being treated with violence. They treat them with a
good deal of indifference. There is no social visiting at all between the "two classes. They
do not invite northern people to visit them. f
Question. Since you have been at Raleigh have you been invited into respectable rebel
families ?
Answer. In two instances only during the six months that I have been there. The pro
visional governor (Governor Holdeii) has invited me to his house since he was superseded.
I never was invited to his house Avhile he was in office. I called upon him whenever there
1 82 RECONSTRUCTION.
was anything of importance to consult with him about in my department, at his office — never
at his house.
Question. You are a man of education?
Answer. Yes, sir. I am a graduate of Yale College, and at the time the war broke out was
a professor at Bowdoin College, Maine.
Question. Is that well known at Kaleigh?
Answer. I think it must be. The first man who invited me to his house was Dr. Skin
ner, pastor of the Baptist church. He knew my literary and social position very well.
Question. Plow do they accept the emancipation of their slaves?
Answer. With a pretty good grace. They accept it as a necessity.
Question. Suppose they had the power over the negro that they once had, and there were
no Union troops in that State, and no Freedmen's Bureau, what would they do with the
blacks ?
Answer. I think they would re-establish slavery just as it was before, if there was no fear
of any evil consequences from the government or from the people of other States. If not
that, they would enact laws which would make the blacks virtually slaves. I have no
doubt of that.
Question. They would pass vagrant acts and treat them as vagabonds ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. In case of war between the United States and France or England, what would
be the inclination of the masses of the rebel community in North Carolina in reference to
the government of the United States *
Answer. My impression is that the great mass of the people would sustain the government.
They feel bitter towards France and England— more so than they do towards the United
States.
Question. Would they furnish volunteers to defend the government in such a case, and to
prosecute the Avar?
Answer. From all I have observed I think they would.
Question. Have you reason to believe that the purpose of soiithern independence is very
generally entertained still among the leading rebel people of North Carolina?
Answer. No, sir. From all that 1 can see I think it is abandoned generally as a hopeless
thing. '
Question. What extent of true loyalty, as we understand it, exists in North Carolina ?
Answer. Very little, as we understand it. There is a good deal of professed loyalty.
Question. How do they generally feel towards the black people?
Answer. I think a majority of the people are willing to treat them with justice — that is,
they are willing to let them alone* to a certain extent; to let them take care of themselves. I
should say that from three-fourths to four-fifths of the people were willing to treat the blacks
witli some degree of fairness,, as far as they know how to do it.
Question. Would they freely consent that the negro should have the right of holding,
owning, and using real estate?
Answer. Perhaps it would be overstating the matter to say that a majority would freely
consent to that ; but there is nothing in the old laws of North Carolina to prevent free negroes
holding real estate, and, unless they change the legislation, there is nothing in the way of
negroes obtaining possession of real estate.
Question. What can you say in relation to the negro's love of labor ? Is he inclined to work
for fair wages, or is he, generally, an idler and a shirk ?
Answer. I think that there is no more industrious class of people anywhere than the ne
groes of North Carolina when they have proper inducements held out to them. The idleness
that has been witnessed during the last season was due in a great measure to the disturbed
state of the community and to the uncertainty in their minds (an uncertainty very well
founded, too) whether they would receive any pay at all for their work. I have heard no
complaints of idleness or shirking in places where I have known that they were receiving
fair and prompt payment for their work.
Question. Are the whites generally willing to give them fair wages?
Answer. Yes, sir. I think they are, where they have the means. The great difficulty so
fur has been that they have not had money to pay them, and have been obliged to make some
other arrangement, which left a settlement to be made for their work at some future time.
Even for this year they are obliged to resort to some arrangement for a division of crops,
which is a very unsatisfactory one always with free negroes. . Where employers can pay cash
by the month or by the week, they have no difficulty at all in getting laborers.
Question. Is there great poverty among the blacks ? Does beggary prevail among them to
any extent?
Answer. No, sir, not to a great extent. We have at certain places large communities of
blacks who have been gathering^ during the entire war on the coast — places of refuge from the
interior — where they came within our lines. At those points the men have enlisted in the
army, and left a large number of women and children dependent upon the government for
support. These principal points are Koanoke island and Newbem and vicinity. In all the
rest of the State we have not more than five or six hundred who are receiving rations and
support from the government.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 183
Question. Do the whites appear to encourage or discourage education among the blacks?
Answer. Neither, to any great extent. They appear, generally, indifferent on the subject.
I have olten put the question to gentlemen who have come into my office, " What do you
say about establishing a school on your farm ?" The very general reply is, " We have not
thought of such a thing. It is a matter that we never have taken into consideration — the
education of the blacks." In some instances they say they have no objection to a school if a
teacher can be found, and if such arrangement can be made as not to interrupt the work of
the farm. There is some real opposition to it. A single fact will illustrate that : At Eliza
beth City, during the early part of January, a party of white men burned down an old church
that was being fitted up for the freedmen's school-house. That is the only instance of the
burning of a building that was being prepared for a school-house that I know of in the State.
But when I try to get buildings— to rent or purchase for that purpose with any funds that
may be intrusted to me by the Freedman's Aid Societies — I find it very difficult to get posses
sion of proper places for schools when it is known that the buildings are to be used for that
purpose.
Question. Are the teachers of colored schools treated respectfully among them ?
Answer. They are not very often insulted in any way, but they are entirely passed by,
and looked upon with contempt : that is very certain.
Question. They are not received into respectable society?
Answer. Not at all. They are never invited into any one's house. I never have known
yet an instance of it, unless it may be at Newbern, where there are a good many northern
people ; but I presume your question applies only to southern people. When the teachers
first went to Raleigh I sent a gentleman all over town to try and tind a boarding-place for
them, and it was utterly impossible to find a place for them in a private family, although
there were many private families anxious to get boarders, in order to get the means of sup
port. When it was frankly stated to them that these were young ladies from the north, who
were there for the purpose of teaching colored schools, they turned their backs upon them.
Question. How much capacity has the negro to acquire education ?
Answer. I cannot sec any difference, in that respect, between the black children and white
children at the north.
Question. How extensive has been your observation on that subject?
Answer. I have visited very frequently the schools at Raleigh, where my headquarters are ;
and when I go to Newbern, as I do once in a month or two, I spend what time I can spare
in looking through the schools. My observation has not been so extensive as I wish it had
been, in order to answer the question intelligently. But I have been a school-teacher and
school committee-man a good many years in Maine, and am capable of judging pretty
quickly as to how a school is getting on. I have been gratified to see that they have been
making such great progress in Newbern. The schools there have been established nearly
three years, and of course they have made much further advances than in Raleigh or Wilming
ton — places that were only occupied by our troops last spring.' In Newbern there are classes
in the advanced rules of arithmetic, studying and reciting geography and grammar, work
ing out problems on the black-board, drawing maps, and going through the various exercises
of the school, just as they would in any good school in New England — seeming to under
stand what they are about.
Question. Do they appear to be indifferent to learning?
Answer. No, sir, quite the opposite ; they are very eager to learn. I attributed that, at
first, to the novelty of the thing — to their being permitted to do what had been always there
tofore prohibited to them ; but their zeal and interest hold out so well that I am constrained
to believe that it is due to a higher motive than a mere love of novelty. The older people avail
themselves of evening schools. Men, grayheaded and wearing spectacles, and women, go
in and learn to read, paying for the privilege out of their scanty earnings. The evening
schools are generally established upon that principle.
Question. How are they in regard to religion? Do the blacks appear to be a religious
people ?
Answer. Yes, sir; they are peculiarly so. They are an emotional people, as you know,
and are very fond of getting together, singing their religious songs, and listening to ad
dresses, either from men of their own race or others ; it dues not matter. But I can say that
they are sadly in need of religious instruction ; their ideas are very crude, indeed. But they
are a people very easily influenced and trained, under proper religious iustn-ction, I think.
Question, Have you any knowledge of their character as soldiers 1
Answer. No, sir. I have never seen a regiment of colored soldiers in action. I have seen
them on drill, and going through the various duties of military life, but never in battle.
Question. How do they demean themselves on drill ?
Answer. Veiy well, indeed, sir ; very well. I think it is easier to drill to perfection a
regiment of negroes than a regiment of whites.
Question. Is there any disposition among the whites of North Carolina to get rid of the
blacks ?
Answer. I did hear a good deal said on that subject about four months ago ; but lately,
since they have begun to make their arrangements for the present year, I hear very little said
on that subject. They are finding that there are none too many in the State to perform the
labor of the State.
184 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. There are not many blacks in North Carolina?
Answer. A very much larger number than people usually suppose. They number about
350,00th
Question. What proportion does that bear to the white population?
Answer. The white population is a little more than 600,000. The blacks are about one to
two.
Question. "\Vhat would be the effect of allowing the negro to vote in North Carolina;
what effect would it produce upon the white people/
Answer. There is no disposition to allow him to vote there. That would be a very ob
noxious measure to all the people.
Question. Would it be followed by scei.es of violence and riot?
Answer. Yes, sir. I think if the negro should go to the polls and attempt to vote, without
the presence of a military guard, there would be trouble and violence.
Question. How do the rebels with whom you are acquainted feel in respect to the payment
of the national debt of the United States contracted fur the prosecution of the war?
Answer. They are very cautious in expressing themselves on that subject. I do not think
I ever heard one of them say that he was opposed to paying the national debt. 1 have heard
them say "we shall be obliged to pay our share of the national debt," using language indi
cating that it was a very disagreeable thing to be obliged to pay for being whipped. But I
never heard one say he was opposed to paying it.
Queston. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the confederate rebel debt, or of
the State rebel debt, contracted for the prosecution of the rebellion?
Answer. I think the convention assembled there last October expressed the popular feeling
on that subject when they declined to take action m relation to it. It was felt to be a kind
of degrading compulsion when the President sent a despatch to the convention saying that
action must be taken before the State could be received into the Union.
Question. And then the convention took that action?
Answer. Yes, sir ; the convention yielded and repudiated the entire confederate debt. But
it would not have taken that action except for the despatch of the President. In fact, the
convention had laid the matter on the table and voted to adjourn.
Question. Did that despatch produce debate in the convention ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; it did, and some of the strongest men in the convention said that it was
altogether beneath the dignity of such a body to yield to dictation of that kind.
Question Was there or was there not a disposition on the part of the convention to pay
that rebel debt — the debt due from the State?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think there was a disposition manifested there to make provision for
its payment, and I think that such provision would eventually have been made were it not
for the despatch from the President.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the confederate debt — the debt of
the Confederate States ?
Answer. I think there would be but little opposition to the repudiation of that portion of
the southern debt.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you wish to speak of on this examination ?
Answer. As to the necessity of United States troops there. I do not know that you have
asked me any question on that point directly. If the Frecdmen's Bureau is to be continued,
it will need the presence of a military force to give it any efficiency at all. In many places
it would be unsafe for an officer of the bureau to attempt to discharge his duties without a
military force somewhere in the State to which he could apply. A small force of three to
four thousand men scattered over the State will be sufficient to preserve order, and to give
security to the officers of the government acting either under the Freedmen's Bureau or the
Treasury Department, or any other department of the government. The colored schools I
am sure would not be allowed to go on in certain country districts without some force to
appeal to. In the large towns, where there is more intelligence and a better class of people,
I think the schools will gain the good will of the community, and be allowed to continue
without any assistance. The freed men themselves would be, I think, in great peril if there
was not a United States force kept in the State — not that there would be any general attack
upon them, or that the better class of people would countenance any outrages. There are
enough of the bitter and worthless people, who positively hate the, negroes, to do them great
wrong, and the better classes would not interfere, I aui satisfied, in a great many instances,
to see these persons punished and justice done to the freedmeu. I will give you one fact
which is the foundation for that remark : In Pitt county, some two months ago, four young
men, some of whom had been in the rebel service, riding armed through the country, came
across a negro man on his road to Washington — a negro who had been in the service of the
father of one of them as a slave. They seized him, beat him cruelly, and left him on the
ground in such a state that he died before morning. They went on to the town of Wash
ington, in Beaufort county; rode through the town; fiied at a white citi/en, with whom
they had a falling out, missed him, but hit another citizen ; attacked another negro, fired at
him, and, in short, took possession of the town. There were no troops there. I had a lieu
tenant there, and he called upon the police to arrest these men. There has been a kind of
semi-military police established in every county of the State under military orders. The
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 185
police declined to interfere, and the men went hack to their own county. This officer wrote
to the chief of police in that county, ordering him to arrest these men and bring- them to
Washington in order that he might send them to Newbern for trial. He brought down three
of them, not under arrest, but by persuasion, and put them in jail in Washington. Before a
military force had arrived from Newbern they broke jail and escaped. The military force
returned to Newbern. The case was reported fully to me. I went to Newbern and applied
to General Paine, in command there. He gave me a military escort of mounted men. I
went into the country and tried to find these men. The citizens everywhere assured me that
they had gone out of the county, and, in their opinion, had left the State. They could not
be found, and I had to return without succeeding in arresting them. Within a week from
that time they appeared at Greenville, the county seat, and voted at the State election with
out being challenged. The chief of police was there with his force, and made no attempt to
arrest them. Within a week or two afterwards they appeared again at Greenville, and
assisted in organizing the militia of the county. Still, no effort was made to arrest them. I
again reported the fact that they were present to the military commanders, and requested
that they might be arrested, or that the police be dealt with as they should be for failing to
discharge their duty. When I came away the matter was still pending. A force was about
being organized and a plan started for getting hold of these men. I state these facts to show
that the citizens will not take any steps to arrest the murderers of negroes, and that you
cannot trust even the police organized under military orders to do that work.
Question. The police are subject to State authority?
Answer. No, sir ; this police is subject to the military authority of the United States. It
was organized by an order from General Schofield, and armed.
Question. Are the members of the police citizens of North Carolina ?
Answrer. Yes, sir.
Question. Taken from the State militia?
Answer. Taken from the citizens generally. General Schofield issued an order and sent
out an officer to select the men, and to organize a police in every county of the State for the
purpose of preserving order and carrying out his own commands. But in many instances
these policemen have been acting as the agents of magistrates of the county. They have
taken negroes, tied them up by the thumbs, and whipped them unmercifully. I have been
obliged to arrest them in several instances and bring them to trial for abusing negroes.
Question. That kind of persons have no respect for negroes at all?
Answer. None whatever. They did not think they were doing anything wrong at all.
They thought they were executing the laws of the State, and that they were doing what they
were required to do as policemen. It is very difficult for the people of the south to look upon
the uogro as a free man — as having rights such as white men have.
Question. It is a new thing to them ?
Answer. Yes, sir; it is a new thing. But, as I have said, I think that about three-fourths
of the intelligent property owners are disposed to try the experiment of free labor, and try it
with a good deal of fairness. The great majority" of the negroes of the State have made their
arrangements for the present year, and have hired out and got their homes. It would be diffi
cult for me now to get five hundred colored laborers in the State if I was applied to for therq^
Question. Have the negroes generally correct ideas as to the elements of property ; do\
they know what is meant by property ?
-Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do they distinguish conscientiously the principle of m cum and tuum 1
Answer. Yes, sir; so far as their relations to strangers, to northern men, and to neighbors
is concerned ; but they have an idea that they have a certain right to the property of their
former masters, that they have earned it, and that if they can lay their hands on any of it, it
is so much that belongs to them. I think that feeling is very general among them. They
think that they have a right to the cattle and hogs that they have raised and taken care of,
and the grain that they have raised.
Question. We have heard much said about the disposition of the negro to pilfer upon plan
tations ; does that disposition arise from the state of things to which you have just referred ?
Answer. I think it does, very generally. They know it is wrong to steal, and I do not
think they steal often from northern men. I have had negro servants ever since the war has
been going on, and everything that I have has been left open in their charge; and I am not
aware of having lost anything. I am quite convinced, however, that these same servants
would steal from their former masters if they got the chance.
Question. Are you able to speak of the condition of things out of North Carolina?
Answer. No, sir ; not from personal observation.
Question. Are there any other facts or circumstances which you desire to relate here?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not think of any. General Howard has had my reports covering
the whole time that I have been there. As they have been printed, it cannot be contrary to
orders to pass them over to you.
The reports handed in by witness were ordered to be annexed to his testimony, and are as
follows :
186 RECONSTRUCTION.
Summary report of North Carolina, Colonel E. Whittlesey, assistant commissioner.
RALEIGH, N. C., October 15, 1865.
GENERAL : In presenting my first quarterly report of the operations of this bureau in
North Carolina, which I have the honor to forward, I deem it proper to give a history of its
ORGANIZATION.
On the 22d of June I arrived at Raleigh with instructions from you to take the control of
all subjects relating to " refugees, freedmen, and abandoned lands "within this State. I
found these subjects in much confusion. Hundreds of white refugees and thousands of
blacks were collected about this and other towns, occupying every hovel and shanty, living
upon government rations, without employment and without comfort, many dying for want
of proper food and medical supplies. A much larger number, both white and black, were
crowding into the towns, and literally swarming about every depot of supplies to receive
their rations. My first effort was to reduce this class of suffering and idle humanity to order,
and to discover how large a proportion of these applicants were really deserving of help.
The whites, excepting " loyal refugees," were referred to the military authorities. To in
vestigate the condition of refugees and freed men and minister to the wants of the destitute,
I saw at once would require the services of a large number of efficient officers. As fast as
suitable persons could be selected, application was made to the department and district com
manders for their detail, in accordance with General Order No. 102, War Department, May
31, 1865. In many cases these applications were unsuccessful, because the officers asked
for could not be spared. The difficulties and delays experienced in obtaining the help
needed for a proper organization of my work will be seen from the fact that upon thirty-four
written requests, in due form, only eleven officers have been detailed by the department and
district commanders. With such assistance, however, as could be secured I proceeded, to
divide the State into four general districts, viz : eastern, western, southern, and central.
To the eastern district I assigned as superintendent Captain Horace James, assistant quar
termaster, who was already on the ground, and had for a long time been in charge of "con
trabands," under the appointment of military commanders of the district. Over the central
district Captain Beal, 9th Maine volunteers, was first appointed superintendent, but he was
soon relieved by Lieutenant Colonel D. E. Clapp, 36th United States colored troops.
The western district was placed under the supervision of Major Smith, 17th Massachusetts
volunteers, who was, however, soon relieved to be mustered out with his regiment, and the
vacancy lias not yet been filled.
The southern district remained without an officer until August 18, when Major Charles J.
Wickersham, assistant adjutant general, was assigned as its superintendent.
The next step was the division of these four districts into sub-districts. My first intention
was to make each county a sub-district ; but the impossibility of obtaining so large a num
ber of officers -as this would require compelled me to embrace from two to eight counties in
each sub-district. The arrangement now made is as follows : eastern district has eight sub-
districts ; central, nine sub-districts ; western, six sub-districts ; southern, four sub-districts.
For the twenty-seven sub-districts the whole number of assistant superintendents (inclu
sive of citizen agents) has been thirty-three. The largest number at any specific time has
been twenty. The number on duty now is fifteen. Thus more than half of the State is still
without an officer or representative of the bureau.
My organization has been three times almost broken up by the mustering out of regiments
to which my officers belonged. The only permanent officers, and such only can be useful
in this service, are those detailed by order of the Secretary of War. With this brief history
of my efforts to organize the bureau, I proceed to state
THE DESIGN AND WORK PROPOSED.
In my circulars Nos. 1 and 2 (copies of which are herewith enclosed) the objects to be
attained are fully stated. All officers of the bureau are instructed —
1. To aid the destitute, yet in such a way as not to encourage dependence.
2. To protect freed men from injustice.
3. To assist freedmen in obtaining employment and fair wages for their labor.
4. To encourage education, intellectual and moral.
Under these four divisions the operations of the bureau can best be presented.
RELIEF AFFORDED.
It was evident at the outset that large numbers were drawing rations who might support
themselves. The street in front of the post commissary's office was blocked up with vehi
cles of all the descriptions peculiar to North Carolina, and with people who had come from the
country around, in some instances from a distance? of sixty miles, for government rations.
These were destitute whites, and were supplied by order of the department commander.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 187
Our own headquarters, and every office of the bureau, was besieged from morning till night
by freedinen, some coming many miles on foot, others in wagons and carts. The rations
issued would scarcely last till they reached home, and in many instances they were sold be
fore leaving the town, in exchange for luxuries. To correct these evils, orders were issued
that no able-bodied man or woman should receive supplies, except such as were known to be
industrious, and to be entirely destitute. Great care was needed to protect the bureau from
imposition, and at the same time to relieve the really deserving. By constant inquiry and
effort the throng of beggars was gradually removed. The homeless and helpless were gath
ered in camps, where shelter and food could be furnished, and the sick collected in hospitals,
where they could receive proper care.
The statistical reports prepared by Captain Almy, commissary of subsistence, forwarded
herewith, will show a steady and healthy decrease of the number of dependents from month
to month.
July there were issued 215,285 rations, valued at $44,994 56 ; August there were issued
156,289 rations, valued at $32,664 40; September there were issued 137.350 rations, valued
at $^,706 15-
Should no unforeseen trouble arise, the number will be still further reduced. But we have
in our camps at Roanoke island and Newbern, many women and children, families of sol
diers who have died in the service, and refugees from the interior during the war, for whom
permanent provision must be made. Some of the women might earn their support as ser
vants in northern families, if there were any organiaed agency for finding them employment,
and means for transporting them north. Many children might be collected in orphan asy
lums, saved from death, and properly educated : and I earnestly recommend that the " sol
diers' bounty fund" be expended in establishing such institutions. In this connexion may
be properly reported the efforts made in behalf of the sick. At the organization of the bureau
many white refugees were found in a wretched condition. These were placed as far as pos
sible in hospitals. Some have died ; others have recovered, and been sent back to their
homes. But very few of this class now remain under our control. The reports prepared
by' Surgeon Hogan will show the condition of freedmen hospitals. In the early part of the
summer much suffering and mortality occurred for want of medical attendance and supplies.
This evil is now being remedied by the employment of surgeons by contract. One is on
duty at Beaufort, another at Wilmington, and several others are expected soon.
The whole number of sick under care of the bureau has been 3,771 during the quarter
ending September 30.
PROTECTION.
Regarding this bureau as the appointed instrument for redeeming the solemn pledge of the
nation, through its Chief Magistrate, to secure the rights of freedinen, I have made every
effort to protect them from wrong. Suddenly set free, they were at first exhilarated by the
ail of liberty, and committed some excesses. To be sure of their freedom, many thought
they must leave the old scenes of oppression and seek new homes. Others regarded the
property accumulated by their labor as in part their own, and demanded a share of it. On
the other hand, the former masters, suddenly stripped of their wealth, at first looked upon
the freedmen with a mixture of hate and fear. In these circumstances some collisions were
inevitable. The negroes were complained of as idle, insolent, and dishonest ; while they
complained that they were treated with more cruelty than Avheu they were slaves. Some
were tied up and whipped without trial ; some were driven from their homes without pay for
their labc-r, without clothing or means of support ; others were forbidden to leave on pain of
death, and a few were shot or otherwise murdered. All officers of the bureau were directed,
in accordance with your circular £{o. 5, to investigate these difficulties between the two
classes, to settle them by counsel and arbitration as far as possible, to punish light offences
by fines or otherwise, and to report more serious cases of crime to the military authorities for
trial. The exact number of cases hoard and decided cannot be given ; they have been so
numerous that no complete record could be kept ; one officer reported that he had heard and
disposed of as many as 180 complaints in a single day. The method pursued may be best
presented by citing a few cases and tho action thereon. From the report of Captain James,
for August, I quote the following :
" I forward to you, in his own language, a report of a case which occurred ia Gates county,
on the northern border of the State, fur away from any influence of troops, and where the
military power of the government had been little felt. No doubt it illustrates others in sim
ilar localities far trom garrisons and northern influences. The report will repay perusal, and
appears to have been managed with admirable tact on the part of Captain Hill. Reports
had reached me of the way in which David Parker, of Gates county, treated his colored
people, and I determined to ascertain for myself their truth. Accordingly, last Monday,
August 20, accompanied by a guard of six men from this post, (Elizabeth City,) J proceeded
to his residence, about forty miles distant. He is very wealthy. I ascertained, after due in
vestigation, and after convincing his colored people that I was* really their friend, that the
worst reports in regard to him were true. He had twenty-three negroes on his farm, large
and small. Of these fourteen were field-hands ; they all bore unmistakable evidence of the
way they had been worked ; very much undersized, rarely exceeding, man or woman, 4 feet
188 RECONSTRUCTION.
6 inches — men and women of thirty and forty years of age looking- like boys and girls. It
has been his habit for years to work them from sunrise to sunset, and often long after, only
stopping one hour for dinner— food always cooked for them to save time. He had, and has
had for many years, an old colored man, one-eyed and worn out in the service, for an over
seer or 'over-looker,' as he called himself. In addition, he has two sons at home, one ot
whom has made it a point to be with them all summer long — not so much to superintend as
to drive. The old colored overseer always went behind the gang with a cane or whip, and
woe betide the unlucky wretch who did not continually do his part; he had been brought up
to work, and had not the least pity for any one who could not work as well as he.
"Mr. Parker told me that he had hired his people for the season: that directly after the
surrender of General Lee he called them up and told them they were free; that he was better
used to them than to others, and would prefer hiring them ; that he would give them board
and two suits of clothing to stay with him till the 1st day of January, J866, and one Sunday
suit at the end of that time; that they consented willingly — in fact, prefeired to remain with
him, &c. But from his people I learned that though he did call them up, as stated, yet
when one of them demurred at the offer his son James flew at him and cuffed and kicked
him ; that after that they were all 'perfectly willing to stay; ' they were watched night and
day ; that Bob, one of the men had been kept chained nights: that they were actually afraid
to try to get away. There was no complaint of the food nor much of the clothing, but they
were in constant terror of the whip. Only three days before my arrival, Bob had been
stripped in the field and given fifty lashes for hitting Adarn, the colored over-looker, while
James Parker stood by with a gun, and told him to run if he wanted to, he had a gun there.
About four weeks before, four of them who went to church and returned before sunset were
treated to twenty-five lashes each. Some were beaten or whipped almost every day. Having
ascertained these and other similar facts, ] directed him to call them up and pay them from
the first of May last up to the present titue. I investigated each case, taking into considera
tion age, family, physical condition, &c., estimating their work from $8 down, and saw him
pay them off then and there, allowing for clothing and medical bill. I then arrested him and
his two sons, and brought them here, except Dr. Joseph Parker, whose sister is very sick,
with all the colored people I thought necessary as witnesses, intending to send them toNew-
bern for trial. But on account of the want of immediate transportation I concluded to re
lease them on their giving a bond in the sum of $2,000 to Colonel E. Whittlesey, assistant
commissioner for the State of North Carolina, and to his successors in office, conditioned as
follows :
"That whereas David Parker and James Parker have heretofore maltreated their colored
people, and have enforced the compulsory system instead of the free labor system: Now,
therefore, if they, each of them, shall hereafter well and kindly treat, and cause to be treated,
the hired laborers under their or his charge, and shall adopt the free labor system in lieu ot
the compulsory system, then this bond to be void and of no effect ; otherwise to remain in
full force and effect, with good security."
Lieutenant Colonel Clapp, superintendent central district, reports three cases of crnel
beating, which have been investigated, and the offenders turned over to the military author
ities for trial ; besides very many instances of defrauding freeduien of their wages."
From the reports of Major Wickershani, superintendent of southern district, I quote the
following :
"August 25. — A. S. Miller, Bladen comity, states that Henry Miller (colored) neglects to
support his family. Action : required Henry Miller to use his wages for the support of his
wife and children, who have no claims on their former master, and can look to no one else
than the husband and father for support.
"27th.— Betsey Powell (colored) states that Mrs. Frank Powell, Columbus county, has
driven her away without pay for her labor. Gave letter to Mrs. Powell directing her to pay
Betsy for her labor since April 27, 18(55.
"29th. Leu Shiner (colored) states that he made an agreement with Mr. David Russell,
of Robeson county, to work and gather his crop, for which he was to receive subsistence and
one-third of the crop, when gathered. Mr. Russell has driven him off and refuses to pay.
Wrote to Mr. Russell directing him to comply with terms of agreement, or furnish satisfactory
reasons for not doing so. These are but examples of hundreds of complaints heard aud
acted upon by Major Wickersham and other officers in the southern district."
The following cases are taken from the report of Captain Barritt, assistant commissioner,
at Charlotte:
"Morrison Miller charged with whipping girl Hannah (colored. ) Found guilty. Action : or
dered to pay said Hannah fifty bushels of corn towards supporting herself and children, two
of said children being the offspring of Miller.
" Wm. Wallace charged with whipping Martha (colored.) Plead guilty. Action : fiued said
Wallace $15, with assurance that if the above offence was repeated, the fi"ne would be doubled.
"Council Best attempts to defraud six families of their summer labor, by offering to *ell at
auction the crop on his leased plantation. Action: sent military force and stopped the sale
until contract with laborers was complied with."
A hundred pages of similar, reports might be copied, showing, on the one side, that many
freedmen need the presence of some authority to enforce upon them their new duties ; and on
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 139
the other, that so far from being true that "there is no county in which a freedman can be
imposed upon," [speech of Judge Reed, constitutional convention,] there is no county in
which lie is not oftener wronged; and these wrongs increase just in proportion to their dis
tance from United States authorities. There has been great improvement, during the quarter,
in this respect. The efforts of the bureau to protect the freedmeu have done much to restrain
violence and injustice. Such efforts must be continued until civil government is fully re
stored, just law's enacted, or great suffering and serious disturbance will be the result.
INDUSTRY.
Contrary to the fears and predictions of many, the great mass of colored people have
remained quietly at work upon the plantations of their former masters during the entire
summer. TLe crowds seen about the towns in the early part of the season had followed in
the wake of the Union army, to escape from slavery. After hostilities ceased these refugees
returned to their homes, so that but few vagrants can now be found. In truth, a much
larger amount of vagrancy exists among the whites than among the blacks. It is the almost
uniform report of officers of the bureau that freedmen are industrious.
The report is confirmed by the fact that out of a colored population of nearly 350,000 in
the State, only about 5,000 are now receiving support from the government. Probably some
others are receiving aid from kind-hearted men who have enjoyed the benefit of their services
from childhood. To the general quiet and industry of this people there can be no doubt that
the efforts of the bureau have contributed greatly. I have visited some of the larger towns,
as Wilmington, Newberu, Goldsborough, and both by public addresses and private instructions
counselled the freedmen to secure employment and maintain themselves. Captain James has
made an extensive ttur through the eastern district for the same purpose, and has exerted a
most happy influence. Lieutenant Colonel Clapp has spent much of his time in visiting
the county seats of the central district, and everywhere been listened to by all classes with
deep interest. Other officers have done much good in this way. They have visited planta
tions, explained the difference between slave and free labor, the nature and the solemn obli
gation of contracts. The chief difficulty met with has been a want of confidence between
the two parties. The employer, accustomed only to the system of compulsory labor, is slow
to believe that he can secure fruitful services by the stimulus of wages. The laborer is un
willing to trust the promises of those for whom he has toiled all his days without pay ; hence
but few contracts for long-periods have been effected. The bargains for the present year are
generally vague, and their settlement as the crops are gathered in requires much labor. In
a great majority of cases the land-owners seem disposed to do justly, and even generously ;
and when this year's work is done, and the proceeds divided, it is hoped that a large number
of freedmen will enter into contracts for the coming year. They will, however, labor much
more cheerfully for money, with prompt and frequent payments, than for a share of the crop,
lor which they must wait twelve months. A large farmer in Pitt county hires hands by the
job, and states that he never saw negroes work so well. Another in Lenoir county pays
monthly, and is satisfied so far with the experiment of free labor. Another obstacle to long
contracts was found in the impression which had become prevalent to some degree, i. e.,
that lands were to be given to freedmeu by the government. To correct this false impres
sion I published a circular, No. 3, and directed all officers of the bureau to make it as widely
known as possible. From the statistical reports enclosed, it will be seen that during the
quarter 257 written contracts for labor have been prepared and witnessed ; that the average
rate of wages, when paid in money, is from $d to $10 per month ; that 1'<J8 farms are under
the control of the bureau and cultivated for the benefit of freedmen; that 8,540 acres are
under cultivation, and b',102 laborers are employed. Many of the farms were rented by
agents of the treasury as abandoned lauds, previous to the establishing of this bureau, and
were transferred to us with the leases upon them. Nearly all have been restored to their
owners, under the President's proclamation of amnesty, and our tenure of the few that re
main is so uncertain that I have not deemed it prudent to set apart any for use of refugees
and freedmen, hi accordance with the act of Congress approved March 3, 1805. But many
freedmeu are taking this matter into their own hands, and renting lands from the owners for
one or more years. The following communication indicates an interesting movement in this
direction :
KINSTON, N. C., August 16, 1865.
Whereas we, a portion of the freedmen of Lenoir county, in the State of North Carolina,
being desirous of embracing every facility which the United States government offers, to pro
vide lor ourselves the comforts of a permanent home; and whereas we have felt the import
ance of mutual labor and mutual interests, and believing that industry is the basis of progress,
and being desirous of becoming good citizens, showing that the labor spent on us was not
thrown away : Therefore,
Be it, and it is hereby, resolced, That we form ourselves into a society to purchase homes
by joint stock, and for other purposes to be hereafter stated.
He it further resolved, That we raise ten thousand dollars for the purchase of homesteads,
and that the said sum be raised by the 1st of January, 1868.
And be it resolved, That this society shall be composed of the best and most reliable freed-
190 RECONSTRUCTION.
men in Lenoir county. And it is further proposed to raise the required amount in the follow
ing manner, viz: two hundred and fifty men Avill compose the society, each to be assessed
the sum of forty-eight dollars per annum, to be paid in monthly instalments of four dollars
each.
ANTHONY BLUNT,
JAMES HARGATE,
EZEKIEL BLUNT, Committee.
I am also endeavoring to purchase or rent, for a long period, the lands upon which houses
have been erected by freedmen, so that they may not lose what has been expended. The most
important local interest of this kind is the Trent river settlement. The village was carefully
laid out by Captain James, and now contains a population of nearly 3,000, all but about 300
self-supporting. "Although," says Captain James, "in interest a part of the city of New-
bern, it lies outside of the corporate limits, and therefore came under no municipal regula
tions." I therefore issued an order erecting it into a separate municipality. I imposed a small
tax upon the trades and occupations of the people, and a very moderate ground rent upon the
lots, to raise a fund for meeting the necessary expenses of maintaining the settlement. They
pay these sums with pleasure, deeming them an evidence of citizenship. From the fund thus
raised the superintendent, assistant superintendent, a clerk, six nurses in hospital, and some
fifteen mechanics and laborers employed about the settlement, are paid. A good market is
now nearly completed, the stalls of which have been taken up beforehand at high rates. It
needs only the power to sell these people their lots of land to induce them to put more perma
nent improvements on them. The settlement, as such, is by all confessed to be well ordered,
quiet, healthy, and better regulated than the city proper.
EDUCATION.
The quarter has been one of vacation rather than active work in this department. Still
some progress has been made, and much done to prepare for the coming autumn and winter.
Rev. F. A. Fiske, a Massachusetts teacher, has been appointed superintendent of education,
and has devoted himself with energy to his duties. From his report it will be seen that the
whole number of schools, during the whole 01 any part of the quarter, is 63, the number of
teachers 85, and the number of scholars 5,624. A few of the schools are self-supporting, and
taught by colored teachers, but the majority are sustained by northern societies and northern
teachers. The officers of the bureau have, as far as practicable, assigned buildings for their
use, and assisted in making them suitable ; but the time is nearly past when such facilities
can be given. The societies will be obliged hereafter to pay rent for school-rooms and for
teachers' homes. The teachers are engaged in a noble and self-denying work. They report
a surprising thirst for knowledge among the colored people — children giving earnest attention
and learning rapidly, and adults, after the day's work is done, devoting the evening to study.
In this connexion it may be mentioned, as a result of moral instruction, that 512 marriages
have been reported and registered, and 42 orphans provided with good homes.
FINANCES.
The financial condition of the bureau is clearly presented in the reports of Captain James,
who, in addition to his duties as superintendent of the eastern district, has acted as finan
cial agent, with the assistance of Captain Seely, assistant quartermaster. The duties of the
department have been very great, and have been faithfully discharged by these officers. In
July, Colonel Pleaton, agent of the United States treasury, turned over to the bureau a
large amount of real estate in Wilmington, Newbernand adjoining counties, which had been
leased for terms varying from one month to one year. The collection of rents from several
hundred lessees of tenements and farms has been a laborious work. But the examination and
adjustment of claims for this property, and the restoration of it in accordance with the Pres
ident's amnesty proclamations, has been more frying and perplexing. Nearly all, however, is
now out of our hands, and unless a re-examination of these claims is forced upon us by ap
plication for rents, on the ground that the property was not abandoned, we shall be able,
hereafter, to devote all our time to our appropriate work.
The following summary of operations presents the leading facts of the foregoing report :
Receipts for the quarter $44,913 24
Current expenses $4,350 34
For soldiers' families from bounty fund 7,977 25
Remitted to treasury 21,584 17
33,911 76
Balanced-edited October 1, 1865... 11,001 48
Farms, 128; acres on farms cultivated, 8,540 ; acres of pine lands worked, about 50,000 ;
freedmen employed on farms, 6,102; contracts witnessed, 257 ; freedmen employed under
them, 1,847; marriages registered, 512; orphans apprenticed, 42; schools established, 63;
teachers employed, 85; scholars attending, 5.624; cases of crime reported tor tria1, 12 ; cases
of difficulty settled, reported in full, 257 ; cases not reported in writing, several thousand ;
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 191
rations issued, 508,924 — value of $106,365 11; hospitals, 14; sick in hospitals, &c., at
tended by direction of the bureau, 54,441 ; deaths, whole number of freedmen reported iu
hospitals, camps, and towns adjoining, 2,680.
Reports of sick and deaths embrace all cases in the vicinity of stations, and with which
the bureau has in any way been connected.
Estimated crops: cotton, 858,700, pounds ; corn, 32,715 bushels; sweet potatoes, 1,000
bushels, turpentine, 5,700 barrels ; tar, 5,808 ban-els.
The number of men engaged in fishing cannot be ascertained.
Many of the officers iu command of troops in this department have given mo their hearty
support, and my own subordinates have been faithful and zealous in the discharge of their
duties. I am specially indebted to Lieutenant F. H. Beecher, acting assistant adjutant
general, for his industry ; to Captain Thomas P. Johnson, assistant quartermaster, Captain
George C. Almey, commissary of subsistence, and Surgeon M. K. Hogan, for their efficient
management of their respective departments.
Very respectfully,
E. WHITTLESEY,
Colonel and Assistant Commissioner.
Major General O. O. HOWARD,
Commissioner of Bureau of Refugees, 8fc.
BUREAU OF REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS,
HEADQUARTERS ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA,
Raleigh, N. C., January 15, 1866.
GENERAL : I have the honor to transmit herewith my report of the various operations of
this bureau for the quarter ending December 31, 1865. The figures and facts speak so plainly
for themselves that I need add but very few remarks. Defective as our organization is
in some respects, affected by its dependence upon, and subjection to, other branches of the
War Department, yet, having got established, and its machinery put in motion, it is doing
its work with vigor and success. Many changes among my subordinate officers have been,
caused by the muster-out of the regiments, but the losses sustained have been partially com
pensated by details from the Veteran Reserve Corps. My efforts to secure the services of
citizens as agents of the bureau have not met with success. Immediately after your visit
here in October I addressed a note to each member of the constitutional convention, request
ing him to give me the name of some suitable persons in his own county to be appointed to
this office; but though so many promised to you their hearty co-operation in organizing
this agency, not one replied to my request. I have, however, by other means, found a few
who were willing to accept the position, and some of them have done good service. Others
have proved unfit for the duties required, not being able to comprehend that the negro can
be a free man, or can have any rights which a white man is bound to respect. My experience
so far is against the appointment of any other than military officers. Even these, after being
mustered out, are not as efficient as when in the military service. They fail to command
respect. They do not inspire the freedmen with confidence.
As the year has drawn to a close, all the officers of the bureau have been busy settling up
claims for labor during the past season. The old story has been repeated thousands of times —
no definite bargain made— no wages promised ; but "massa said, stay till the crop is made
and he would do what was right." On that point, " what is right," arises the dispute. But
when the parties can be brought together and all the facts heard, it is, in most cases, easy to
make a satisfactory decision. Captain Evans reported that as many as one hundred and fifty
claims and difficulties of this kind were brought before him in Warren county at the close of
the year. So long as these claims and questions of wages were unsettled, it was natural
that the freedmeu should refuse to enter into any new contracts for another year. They A-anted a
little experience to give them faith. And it gives me great pleasure to state tha« in a large
majority of cases a fair settlement has been effected. I have put the question to officers in
all parts of the State, "How large a proportion of the white people are willing to treat the
negroes with fairness?" The answer is, "From three-fourths to four-fifths." The other
fourth or fifth would oppress them or defraud them, if permitted. Perhaps a larger propor
tion might show a disposition to do this were it not for the restraining presence of a military
force. One sitting a few days in one of our offices and listening to complaints from morning
till night might suppose that the whole laboring population was unsettled; but such is not
the case. The great mass have made their bargains for the coming year, and trains are seen
moving from the towns to the farming districts. So generally have the freedmen sought em
ployment and obtained it, that the demands for laborers cnunot be easily supplied. If in
some instances they leave their employers, it is no more than we should expert, and often it
will not be difficult to discover a good reason. By an arrangement with L. P. Olds & Co.,
land agents, I have an intelligence office in nearly every county.
The expectation that lands would be granted by government, a hope first kindled by rebel
politicians in their efforts "to fire the southern heart," and afterward increased by the con
fiscation act, has now passed away. All officers of this bureau discountenanced such hopes
by public addresses and circulars widely scattered ; but so fixed had they become before the
war closed that it was not easy to eradicate them. When, however, Christmas actually
192 RECONSTRUCTION.
passed, and the year ended without any gifts of the kind, it was admitted that we had told
them the truth, and that they had been deceived by the talk of their former masters. So,
also, on the other hand, have the idle and conscience-begotten fears of insurrection passed
away. The holidays have gone by, and no outbreaks have occurred. All admit that a more
quiet and orderly Christmas has never been enjoyed in this region. The history of the world
may be challenged for another instance of such good conduct in similar circumstances as tin-
freedmen have thus far maintained.
During the quarter thirty-seven cases of violent assault upon freedmen, or other criminal
acts, have been reported to the military authorities for trial or such action as might be deemed
proper.
Of these thirty-seven cases the only ones brought to trial, so far as this bureau has inform
ation, are those of " Issac and Wiley, freedmen of the town of Salisbury, Rowan county,"
on the charge of "larceny," of which they were found "not guilty," and discharged. Sev
eral cases reported during the previous quarter have been tried, and among them are —
1. Emanuel Baxter, (colored,) "assault with intent to commit rape;" not guilty.
2. John W. Gorman, (white,) "assault and battery;" guilty; fined fifty dollars, and im
prisoned thirty days; fine remitted by reviewing officer.
3. Stephen C. Lee, (white,) " murder;" found guilty and sentenced to be hung; sentence
remitted by reviewing officer on the ground that malice was not proved.
4. Joseph Corpening, (white,) "assault with intent to kill ;" found guilty of " shooting
with intent to maim ;" sentence, five hundred dollars fine, and ninety days' imprisonment.
5. George A. Pitts, J. A. Propst, William Ristler, Alfred Sitaker, Thomas Williford, Gib
son Kline and Dwight Russel, (white,) "riot and assault and battery;" Pitts, Propst, Rist
ler, Sitaker and Williford found guilty, fined and imprisoned ; Kline and Russel acquitted.
6. Shock, (colored,) "rape on colored girl ; finding, guilty: sentenced to be hung; sen
tence mitigated to one year's hard labor.
7. Monroe Davis, (white,) "riot and assault and battery;" guilty, and imprisoned four
months.
8. Privates Bloom, Shannon and Lewis, ]29th Indiana volunteers, "assault upon freed
men, *fec.;" guilty, and sentenced to a loss of six months' pay.
9. Henry Brown, (colored,) "theft ;" guilty and imprisoned two months.
10. Guion Earp, (white,) " maltreatment of freedmen and assault ,and battery;" guilty;
sentenced to hard labor on public works two years.
Some of the cases reported during the last quarter are as follows :
1. Willis P. Moore, charged with the murder of a colored man.
2. Reddick Kearney and others, Pitt county, riot and murder of two freedmen.
3. Magistrates of Brunswick county sentenced two colored men to be sold into servitude
for five years. This case was acted upon promptly, by General Crook, and the freedmeu
released.
Contrary to my fears, as expressed in a former report, there is no increase of dependents
as winter advances. The rations issued have steadily diminished.
The demands for clothing have been great ; but the supplies now on hand from the quar
termaster's department are ample for men and boys. It is more difficult to furnish what
is needed by women and children. There are many cases of great destitution among whites,
which I should be glad to relieve ; but as they are not "loyal refugees," they do not come
within my jurisdiction.
While there has been a decrease of dependents, there has been a gratifying increase of
schools and of pupils attending them, as will be seen in the admirably prepared report of
Mr. F. A. Fiske, superintendent of schools, showing that, though the novelty of the privilege
of learning is now gone, the interest of the people in the education of their children has not
abated. In some instances planters have established schools for their employes, as a means
of promoting good order and contentment. It is also very gratifying to see a few churches
organizing Sabbath schools for colored children. The Baptist church in this city, setting a
noble example, has already a large freedmeu's Sabbath school in successful operittion.
By means of the apprenticeship system, comfortable homes have been provided for a large
number of orphans and other destitute children. The system is popular, but I am very sus
picious of it. The practice of binding out children is dangerous, inasmuch as it fosters the
old ideas of compulsory labor and dependence. Still, with proper safeguards it may be useful
as a temporary expedient.
Under the direction of Surgeon Hogan, the hospital department is now well organized,
His report exhibits fully the sanitary condition ot freedmeu, and the means used for the relief
of the sick.
In the land reports forwarded herewith will be found a complete list of all farms and town
lots restored with their estimated value, and another list of those remaining in the possession
of the bureau. The lauds remaining are of but little value, and will afford but small revenue,
But the balance in the treasury will pay current expenses, until it shall be determined by
Congress whether the bureau is to be continued or not; and if so, by what means it shall live.
For convenience of reference I present the principal facts gathered from the reports of
staff officers and superintendents of districts in the following tabular form :
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 193
STATISTICS.
Quarter ending Previous quarter
December 31, ending Sept. 30,
1865. 1865.
327 257
Freednien employed by contract
3 488 1,847
86 63
119 85
8,506 5,624
Cases of difficulty reported in full
325 257
Cases of crime reported, for trial .... . . . .
37 12
Cases not reported in writing
3 043 Several thousand
333,834 508,9:24
Value of rations issued ......
$73 443 48 $106,865 11
12 14
Sick in hospital . ...... . ..........
3,132 5,441
Orphans appprenticed
393 42
555 2. 642
LAND REPORT.
Restored during the six months ending December 31, 1865.
No. Aggregate No. Estimated
of acrea. value.
Farms or plantations 149 70,000 $693,920
Town lots 442 1,900,288
Remaining on hand January 1, 1866.
No. Aggregate No. Estimated
of acres. value.
Farms or plantations 87 13,650 $108,200
Town lots 33 100,000
FINANCIAL REPORT — QUARTER ENDING DECEMBER 31, 1865.
Receipts
Balance as per last quarterly report $11, 001 48
For rents, &c., in October, 1865 1,241 38
For rents, &c., in November, 1865 2,074 85
For rents, <fec., in December, 1865 863 88
$15,181 59
Expenditures.
Current expenses in October, 18&5 $1,767 99
Current expenses in November, 1865 2, 1 31 38
Current expenses in December, 1865 3,484 06
7, 383 43
Balance on hand January 1, 1866 7,798 16
Very respectfully,
E. WHITTLESEY,
Colonel and Assistant Commissioner.
Major General O. O. HOWARD,
Commissioner.
Subsequently the witness handed in the following, which was also ordered to be annexed
to his testimony :
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
SIR : Since giving my testimony before the Reconstruction Committee I have read the
New York Tribune of this date, and have taken from its correspondence the enclosed items.
I do not know the writers of all the articles, but the views presented are in the main just.
I take the liberty of sending them to you, and request that they accompany my testimony.
Very respectfully,
E. WHITTLESEY,
Colonel and Ass't Corner for North Carolina.
Hon. Mr. HOWARD, United States Senate.
13 V NC SO
194 RECONSTRUCTION.
[From the New York Tribune, February 3, 1866.]
NORTH CAROLINA.
The southern train, by way of Weldon, leaves Petersburg early in the morning. Leaving
Petersburg we go directly south. The country for the first twenty miles is rolling, making
splendid farm land ; but the evidences of destruction are too plainly seen. No fences,
buildings partly torn down, others with nothing standing but the chimneys, battered-up
locomotives, starved-looking cattle, and the remnants of former camps, are ever present to
the eye of the traveller. There are no signs of anything being done to recruit the country.
GASTON.
"We arrived at Gaston, North Carolina, about 1 p. m. Here we had to get out of the cars
and cross the Roanoke river in batteaux worked by negroes. The river is about the width of
the Harlem, and we were not long crossing. On the south side of the river we took the
R ileigh and Gaston train for Weldon, arriving at the latter place about half-past 2 o'clock.
Uere we changed cars again, but had to wait two hours before the train started. This gave
me time to get dinner and to look around. I find the further south I get the worse are the
hotels. In Richmond and Petersburg the oysters are as plentiful at breakfast, dinner, and
supper as hash in an East Broadway boarding-house. ^A-ll along the way to this point I
learn it is almost impossible to obtain any kind of meat excepting bacon and chickens. It
is singular, too, because the country along the Neuse and Roauoke rivers abounds in game.
The rivers, too, have oysters and fish. I cannot see any reason for this paucity of meats,
excepting that the negro has something to do with it; he seems to be the cause of every
thing.
ASPECTS OF THE COUNTRY.
Weldon and. all the southern towns, as far as I have gotten, are of the meanest character.
No beauty or taste is shown in the laying out of the streets or the construction of the build
ings. Instead of the prettily-painted cottages, with their gardens and outbuildings, which
we find in our northern towns, we see frame buildings without paint or ornament, log-huts,
and a general look of decay. It is plainly seen what are the effects of slavery. Weldon is
a small place, with a house called a hotel, a rum shop, and a grocery store. At 4 o'clock we
took the Wilmington train, and arrived in Goldsborough about 10 o'clock p. m.
GOLDSBOROUGH.
Goldsborough is one of the most important towns in the State. It is situated on the Neuse
river, and is the junction of four of the principal railroads in the south. The town has a few
pleasant dwellings, but has the same southern look of the rest. It has about four thousand
inhabitants, a daily newspaper, and a female seminary. It is the headquarters of a sub-
district of the Freedmen's Bureau in North Carolina.
Having a letter of introduction, I called on Captain George O. Glavis, who is in charge
of the bureau at this point. The captain is from New York, and when I met him I felt like
being at home. He has the reputation of being a superb officer. Since I have been here I
have had a chance of seeing some of the workings of the great Freedmen's Bureau.
THE FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.
Captain Glavis's district includes the counties of Johnston, Wilson, Wayne, Greene,
Sampson, and Lenoir. He has his headquarters at Goldsboro', and visits each county at
least once a week. There is no civil law, and he has to act as judge, jury, magistrate,
sheriff, and everything else, in these six counties. There is a certain day, called "court
day," fixed for each county. Yesterday was court day in Wilson county, and at the cap
tain's invitation I accompanied him. After breakfast the captain with the assistance of two
clerks, began his court. There were about five hundred people, of all colors and classes,
waiting for a hearing. They come in, state their cases, and are disposed of in quick order ;
, it taking all day, however, to get through. It is hardly possible to give you a full idea of
< the nature of the business these people transacted. /The negroes generally come to get hired
out, or bound out if under age, to make complaint against former masters for wages retained,
for rations, and the settlement of all disputes. Rations are rarely given except in very
urgent cases; and no negro can make any complaint to the bureau unless he or she has
made some contract for support for the ensuing year. This is a good rule, and compels the
unwilling and lazy to go to work. Thus, you see, all the stuff about the Freedmeu's
Bureau being a refuge for indolent negroes is so much falsehood. All contracts for labor are
made through the bureau, or else they are not valid in case of a disagreement between the
parties. Consequently there are always a large number of planters constantly be.sieging
the bureau for laborers. Yesterday Captain Glavis signed no less than forty contracts
between planters and negroes. The contracts are printed in blank, and set forth the duties
and requirements of each party. The most important one is that the employer shall do all in
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 195
bis power to promote the establishment of schools for the employe's children. Quite a number
of children were bound out also. When a man wants a child bound to him he is rigidly
examined by the captain, and must show that he is a citizen of good character, and must
promise to treat the child while with him as it should be, and when it becomes free must
give it clothing, a Bible, and a sum of money. Most of the complaints yesterday were made
by negroes against their former masters for wages. If they have made a contract the captain
hears the case and gives the complainant an "order to the person complained of, requiring
said person to settle with said complainant, or appear on next court-day to show reason for
refusal. In case of a non-settlement both parties appear, their evidence is taken, and the
captain decides to the best of his ability. Some cases are so complicated, and the parties
concerned so unprincipled, that it requires the wits of a Philadelphia lawyer to arrange
them. A couple of negroes brought complaint against an old planter, a former master, ItJF]
wages. Planter was ordered for trial, the case was heard, and it was clearly proven that the
negroes were entitled to their wages. The planter, when he found that he had lost the case
and would have to pay, presented to the captain a long list of charges for various things
obtained from him by the negroes. The list was read over to the negroes, and the latter
objected to portions ot it. For instance, they were charged for two pairs of pantaloons when
they received only one pair ; for four pairs of shoes instead of two ; for twenty pounds of
bacon instead of ten, and a large doctor's bill. The unreconstructed and high-toned planter
was sure this bill of charges would balance accounts with the "infernal niggers ; but the
captain asked him to take off his hat, hold up his right hand, and swear before Almighty
God that every item charged was correct. Planter hesitated — he was old and tottering — and
commenced to deign to ask his "niggers" if "they were sure it was only one pair instead of
two pairs they received," and so on. He wouldn't swear to the list of charges, and the case
was dismissed, the planter being ordered to pay the negroes their wages, and also to pay a
fine for an attempt to swindle. This is a type of the thousands of cases that come before the
bureau. It will give you an idea of the immense amount of work that is to be performed
by the persons in charge of the bureaus.
•v***-**.
FREEDMEN'S SCHOOLS.
Captain Glavis has a fine school for freedmen in Goldsborough. It has some three hundred
day scholars of all ages and of both sexes, employing three white teachers and several colored
assistants. There is also a night-school for grown colored people who are compelled to work
during the day. It is held three evenings each week, and is always crowded. It is aston
ishing how eager these negroes are to learn to read and write. Several times during my
travels I have noticed the servants at the hotels standing around the lobbies with spelling
book in hand and muttering to themselves. What a blessing it is that the poor creatures
have, at last, a chance to become enlightened. The building in which the freedmen's school
is held is open every evening, excepting school nights, for prayer meetings. I strolled
down to one of these meetings the other evening and went in. The room was well crowded
with men and women. A negro preacher was delivering a lecture. For a long time I sat
and listened to his homely language. Although it was rather amusing to hear his quaint
and scarcely proper application of words, yet I felt sad and ashamed that my race should be
guilty of so infamous a crime as keeping a people of such qualifications in ignorance and
degradation. I felt like skulking out of the place as one ashamed of my color. From what
I have seen of the colored man here in the south — and I have made it a point to study him — I
feel confident that if our Congress in giving the freedman all the rights and immunities of a
citizen, they will place him in a position that every man is entitled to be, and which he will
fill with credit. Then he will have a country and a right to its benefits, and it will stimulate
him to the elevation of his race from their present state of degradation.
THE FARMING LAND.
As I get further south the country looks better. The land all the way from Petersburg to
Goldsborough is said to be the best kind of farming land. Cotton, tobacco, wheat, and corn
can be raised in abundance. This point is about the commencement of the cotton district.
From here to Charleston, and along the coast, is the turpentine, pitch, and tar country. In
every train I met numbers of speculators coming south from the north. Turpentine specula
tion, people here say, is equal to cotton. The supply will be small this season on account
of the scarcity of labor and capital.
NORTHERN CAPITAL WANTED.
I find that the large landholders and planters fill through this section of the country are
anxious to have northern men come and invest their capital in raising cotton. Most of them,
to use a commonplace phrase, are "dead broke," and sire compelled either to sell, rent, or
lease their lands, or go into partnership with a capitalist in raising a crop of cotton. Specu
lators are mostly leasing the plantations; few want to buy. Quite a number go into
partnership in this style : Capitalist to furnish all the labor, meaning the negroes and their
feed, and all the mules and teams; planter to furnish the land, the feed for mules, and the
ploughs and farming utensils, and then each receive half the crop. This is considered a very
fair bargain.
196 RECONSTRUCTION.
LABOR.
About the question of labor there is a great deal of doubt. A large number of negroes went
into the army, and when discharged, either remained north or went west. This makes negro
labor scarce. The poor whites will not work in the cotton-field. Quite a number of the
negroes have an enmity against their former masters and will work for none but northern
men. The Freedmen's Bureau is doing all it can to correct this labor question. The negro
feels safe when he makes a contract through this agency. Some of the bitter planters refuse
to have aught to do with the bureau, and are trying the introduction of German emigrants
south from New York. Two planters brought one hundred of these Germans on to Weldou
on the same train with me. They told me they numbered one hundred and fifty when they
left New York, but lost fifty while stopping at the various cities coming south. The planters
contracted to give the Germans $140 per year, with quarters and rations. Those who were
married, and brought their wives, were to get $120 per year, a house, two pigs to raise, and
rations for all. The price paid to negroes varies — $J20 per year, with rations and quarters;
one-half of the monthly salary paid at the end of each mouth, and the balance at the end of
the year, being the average rate of wages. Female field hands are worth from $00 to §H)
per year, with quarters and rations. House hands do not get so much. Some of the old
aristocratic planters are acting splendidly toward their former slaves. I know of a case
where a rich planter, living within five miles of the town of Wilson, in this State, has divided
up a portion of his immense estate of 5,000 acres, and bestowed a certain number of acres to
each of his former slaves Avho are now working for him. They are paid their regular wages
besides, for working the planter's farm, and are allowed so much time per week to cultivate
their land.
OPPORTUNITIES FOR LABOR.
There are splendid chances here in these sunny regions for the people of the north. There
is but one drawback, and that is the state of feeling existing among the inhabitants and north
ern immigrants. There is a large class in the south which entertains the bitterest kind of
feeling against a northerner. This has been evident to rue since I left Petersburg. As long
as the military were here a northerner felt safe, but since the removal of most of the soldiers
(there being only squads here and there in large towns) the complaints to the Freedmen's
Bureau of depredations and insults to northern settlers and negroes multiply. Wise Union
people are bitter in their denunciations of Gen. Ruger, the commander of this department.
They say he is too lenient to former rebels, and fails to protect the Union people in their per
sons and property. They call him a second Fullerton.
ASSASSINATION IN GOLDSBOROUGH.
Yesterday the citizens in the neighborhood of Goldsborough did a cold-blooded and fiendish
deed. It seems that there have been a number of complaints made to Captain Glavis by
citizens of Wayne, Green, and Sampson counties of numerous robberies and acts of violence
by a band of late rebel soldiers, who are inhabitants of Wayne county. They are said to be
headed by one Frank Coley, the son of a rich planter living near Goldsborough. Coley is said
to have shot a freedman dead. The evidence against.him is very clear, the murdered freed-
man's own brother swearing to Coley's doing the deed. Captain Glavis determined to cause
the arrest of said Coley. Accordingly he detailed as many men as possible to do the work.
There are only eight soldiers on duty in the town. These are intended for the whole num
ber of counties. Most of them are kept on duty in Goldsborough in guarding quartermaster's
stores. Two men were as many as could be detailed. There lived in the town a young man
named Andrew Wilson, who was formerly a Union scout. He was well acquainted with the
country and the parties to be arrested. His services were accordingly secured to assist the
soldiers. They received their ordeis and proceeded on their journey. Early Wednesday
morning, Wilson and the two soldiers traced one of the gang to a house in the suburbs of
Goidsborough, surrounded it, and demanded an entrance. It was refused, and they forced
themselves in. They asked for a rebel nan ed Peacock, and were told he was not there.
They searched the house, however, and soon found him. He was brought out and recognised
by Wilson. They told him he was arrested by authority of the United States. He consented
to go along; but, alter going a short distance, lie tried to disarm Wilson, and, fuiiingiu that,
he ran back to the house. He was ordered to halt several times, and failing to do so, was
shot at and wounded. Wilson and the two soldiers saw it was impossible for them to make
any arrests, so they returned. At one point near the town the soldiers separated from Wilson.
They had not gone lung when a squad of mounted men, composed of Coley's friends, came
dashing down the road, and met Whson at the end of the town. One of the squad asked
him for his arms, which he gave up. Some one of the twenty-five unreconstructed their shot
him. The first ball entered his chest, and he ran into a store near by. He was pursued and
shot several times, and died in a few moments. The man whose store he ran into refused to
allow him to remain, but threw him into the street to die. After the murder of Wilson the
mounted party gave a yell and rode off. Threats have been made against Captain Glavis's
life, and he does not know at what moment he may be shot or his house burned over his head.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 197
This is a bad state of affairs, and General Ruger is surely to blame. If lie has troops
enough at his command he should send a sufficient number to protect the government's ser
vants ; if not, then he should appeal to the President or Secretary of War. This last act of the
North Carolina unreconstructed should go to the Reconstruction Committee in Congress.
RANKIX.
I do not know the above correspondent, but, in the main, his views and statements, are cor
rect His condemnation of General Ruger is hasty and too sweeping. A force has been
sent to Goldsborough to arrest the parties named.
E. WHITTLESEY,
Colonel and Assistant Commissioner, North Carolina.
[From the New York Tribune, February 3, I860.]
NORTH CAROLINA.
Schools of the Association exist at Newbern, Roanoke Island, Elizabeth City, Edenton,
Plymouth, Beaufort, Raleigh, Morehead City, Hull's Landing, Wilmington, Oxford and else
where.
Mr. Newcombe writes from Elizabeth City :
"No one can realize the earnest manner and eager desire these people exhibit for knowl
edge, without being an eye-witness of the same. With the children came many of the par
ents to hear and see. Each day some ten or a dozen would be present, until nearly all had
visited the school to seethe ' northern teachers;' to watch their movements and take notice
of the exercises. I have seen, both in the day and Sabbath school, many — especially of the
aged — first laugh, then weep for joy. Poor creatures ! what a world has been closed to them,
and now, how .their minds hunger and thirst to enter it !"
At Newton the white citizens favor the formation of freedmen's schools, and the school-
house, which hitherto has been used only for whites, was granted for colored people also.
At Cedar Grove, sixteen miles from Elizabeth City, the freedmen were anxious to have a
school. An agent of the association writes :
" A subscription paper was started, headed by one of the poor whites, who has seriously felt
the crushing power of slavery. He subscribed $ 1 0 and twenty pounds of nails. I learn from
Mr. John Overton, a free-born negro who took charge of the paper, that $150 and seventy-
five pounds of nails have been subscribed to build a school, and that a part of the lumber for
the building is already upon the spot. But all is not sunshine. While a few of his white
neighbors are ready and willing to show their sympathy in a practical way, others are vio
lently opposed, threatening his life and the destruction of the building if erected. To give
an effect to his threat a house which has been used for many years as a church by the co
lored people, though built and owned by the whites, was last Tuesday night set on fire and
destroyed. Why ? Because, at a meeting held the evening previous, a letter couched in
words of encouragement, setting forth their right to build school-houses, was read.
"At Edenton the colored people aid the teachers in the payment of their house rent, &c.
Some of the whites say that they are willing that the negroes shoiild be taught to read, but,
at the same time, they charge them $J2 50 for the church building which they formerly granted
free."
Two letters from Elizabeth City show that a reactionary disunion spirit has lately manifested
itself in eastern North Carolina, We quote :
" ELIZABETH CITY, January 13.
" FRAXCIS GEORGE SHAW, Esq. : — * * * You may have noticed in the New York papers the
address of Governor Worth to the people of this State, which was issued December 30. It
has, by his peculiar construction of the powers vested in him, appointed under the authority
of the provisional government, produced a, marked change in the manner and action of its
1 peace-loving citizens ' The governor says : l Under existing laws it is believed that the
powers of all officers appointed under the authority of the provisional government ceased
with the discontinuance of that government.' The municipal officers of this town have ac
cepted his construction, and we are now without any civil government. Has the provisional
government ceased to exist ? * * * I do not propose to discuss these questions ; 1 only
raise them to make more forcible what every observer must notice since the publication of
this address.
"The swaggering air, the insolent look, the defiant manner and the reckless conduct are
more apparent on all sides. All are but the earnest of what may be expected if the rebellious
States are to be readmitted without first having the rights and privileges of its newborn free
men properly cared for and secured.
"Acts of violence have occurred here, shameful in the extreme, because wantonly com
mitted without provocation or cause. The perpetrators of these vile acts have been disap
pointed in the quiet and peaceful deportment of the colored people during the holidays, and
it would seem are determined to have trouble.
"The first violent act occurred last Saturday one week ago. A colored man was quietly
standing upon the sidewalk, when, without any warning, he was assaulted by a white man,
who shamefully bruised his face and head, and otherwise injured him.
198 RECONSTRUCTION.
" The Sunday night following six men, with faces painted black awl coats turned -wrong
side out, entered several negro dwellings by smashing in the doors, frightening the women
and injuring the men. In one instance a woman, who started to alarm her neighbors, was
shot at ; the ball passing through her clothes, grazed her sides. Her son was beaten and
bruised because he had been known to have a pistol.
"Another case is that of Charles Everett, late 2d sergeant in the United States colored
troops. Mr. Everett, since his discharge, has lived in this town, a quiet, peaceful citizen,
has taken to himself a wife, and attended to his own business. He has had no quarrel nor
unpleasant controversy with any one, white or black. Hence his colored neighbors were
surprised at the attack upon him, and feel that no one can have any assurance of safety if
such an outrage is allowed to be passed over unnoticed. His dwelling was forced open. He
was ordered to get up. He came out of his bedroom, when one inquired. ' Is this Sergeant
Everett?' He replied, 'Yes.' Then the same man, or one of the others — he is not certain
which — lighted a match, that he could make more sure of his aim, and felled him to the floor
by striking him over the head with the but of his gun. He knew nothing more, and lay for
some time insensible and nearly dead. It was a severe wound, though the skull was not frac
tured, as first thought. He is still confined to his house from the effect of it. Mr. Everett
recognized, disguised as they were, two or three of his assailants, and reported their names
to the proper officers in charge here. Yet no action, as we can learn, has been taken to
bring them to justice. Neither Mr. Everett nor his neighbors can divine any cause for this
unprovoked and uncalled for attack, only that he has been a faithful soldier in the Union
army, and since his return home has been called by his friends and neighbors by the title he
bravely won while in the service. * * *
"Do these acts indicate that magnanimity of which Colonel Worth so boastingly speaks ?
'Being vanquished,' says he in his address, 'we submit as becomes a brave people. The
President, as commander-in-chief of the military powers of the nation, magnanimously trusts
us. I do not believe there is a citizen of the State who is unworthy of this confidence.' "
Sagacious governor ! It requires no great keenness of sight to behold, here in eastern
North Carolina at least, that the spirit of secession is as rampant as ever in the hearts of a
and improve them."
From his next letter of the 20th, we quote these additional facts :
* * "Last Sunday night the rowdies actually shot a colored man about a
mile out from town. After disturbing the people on their return from church, they proceeded
to the Camden ferry and called for the boat. The man came, and Avhile crossing the narrow
river, was asked: 'Is that William Kinney ?' He replied in the affirmative. Pop went a
pistol. Some dozen or fifteen shots were fired, and one b?ll passed through the body near
the kidneys. Not much is said about it, and I have not learned whether it is likely to prove
fatal or not. What siirprises me most is to witness the indifference on the part of the citizens
generally. They take no more notice apparently of these outrages and murders than if so
many dogs had been bruised and shot at. The persons who commit these acts are seen the
next day mingling with the people on the streets and in the shops as though nothing unusual
had happened. 1 could not have believed, without seeing it, that any people who call them
selves Christians could exhibit such haiduess of heart oven for the hard treatment of dumb
beasts, much less human creatures. Oh ! what has slavery not done? It has perverted the
Word of God, and taken away the heart of man to feel for his brother, whose skin is darker
than his own.
"Let anything be done to relieve the wants and to better the condition of these poor peo
ple, and this chivalric Christian community is all excitement. While quietly pursuing my
work, I was yesterday morning somewhat startled to learn that certain persons had called on
the late mayor to induce him to convene a public meeting to investigate the truth of the story
that a large lot of goods recently landed here for the freedmeu were packed up at the hos
pitals, and were infected with contagious diseases. He who reported this story was the same
man of whom I spoke in my letter as having raved like a madman when he saw the goods
landed :
" ' I once had seventeen slaves, but they are gone ; $17,000 lost. The lazy niggers !
You had better whip them and send them to worn instead of giving them clothing, 1)
the northern people for sending it and the President for encouraging it ! None of you don't
know how to manage and treat the niggers. We can teach you that.' "
The upshot of this rumor was an examination of the goods, which were women's clothing,
mainly, and school-books. "The school-books, I believe," adds the writer, " contained the
infection dreaded. It is the schools that trouble them."
On the other hand, Miss Remington writes from Plymouth :
" Yesterday we heard something which cheered our hearts and deem worthy of honorable
mention. Colonel , a southern man, whose sou was in the rebel army, and held by
our forces at Fort Lookout (as prisoner,) sent word to us that he would give $10 for the sup
port of the colored school."
The freedinen at Plymouth have aided the teachers as far as their limited means allow,
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 109
and heave formed a society pledged to defray expenses of rent for two houses — one as a
touchers' home and one as a school-room. A teacher thus writes of Plymouth:
"No one who has not been in Plymouth since the war can have any true conception of
the manner in which the houses have been destroyed. Scarcely a dozen dwelling-houses
here have either locks on the doors or glass in the windows, and every house, except two,
bears the marks of shot and shell. Many families who, previous to the war, had luxurious
homes, are now living with all the windows boarded up, except perhaps those in one room
in which they sit."
With an extract from a recent letter from Roanoke island we will close :
"The destitution is still great. Unless you can send us more for gratuitous distribution
soon it will become fearful. The commandant says that those who come here are of that
class who are driven by necessity from the homes where they have spent their lives in unre
quited servitude, and after gathering the autumn's crops are no longer needed, and it will
cost less to drive them out without food and shelter until their services are again needed.
* * * • These things so stir me at times that I can only cry, 'Lord, help, or we
perish!' » « • The government still continues its protection, and the troops
appear at places where there is any danger of a collision of the races. The time has not get
come to wholly withdraw all military protection."
We should say, Not yet.
NORTH CAROLINA.
••
Here is a glimpse into life at the little town of Edenton :
" Such a quiet town as it is. No whirr of machinery or rattle of carriages — only the occa
sional cheery he-ho from a negro's throat to break the stillness. The very trees have a
sleepy look as they nod above the silent streets. The town has suffered very little from the
war, save in the general stagnation of business, and is in reality very pretty, though the
many evidences of carelessness and neglect, the lack of paint, broken windows, and dilapi
dated fences grate harshly upon our New England ideas of order and thrift.
"The 'chivalry' stand at the corner of the streets in blissful idleness from morning till
night. Of the ladies of the town we see very little. They spend the greater portion of their
time in listless seclusion, moruning over the hopeles sfate which has overthrown their pet insti
tution and substituted for the slave mart'and its attendant honors our peaceful school for the
freedmen.
"Our schools prosper finely. The attendance is excellent, and the progress of the pupils
very satisfactory. In my division of fifty pupils, all can read and spell very well, and seme
study arithmetic. When the school first commenced, a little more than two months ago,
they did not know a letter of the alphabet. They are eager to learn, and they go about it
with unrivalled perseverance. They carry their beloved books everywhere with them, im
proving every opportunity of perusing them. On their way to and from school, and at recess,
•we can see them in little groups, walking and studying, the more advanced kindly assisting
those not so fortunate.
"One boy, whom Mr. C engaged to cut wood, we discovered, after his work was
done, studying his lesson for evening school by- the light reflected upon the verandah through
the windows of the room where we were taking tea.
"All are not black children whom we number among our band, though all have been slaves.
One of my division, a boy of eleven, has fair hair, blue eyes, and Grecian features. Another,
a little girl of sereu, is as pretty a child as I ever saw. She has a clear complexion, brown
eyes, and straight, silky brown hair. Hundreds of admired and idolized children in north
ern households, have not so much beauty of face and manners, or sweetness of disposition,
as little Emily Horton.
"I am particularly interested in the evening schools for older persons who cannot attend
during the day. It is a pleasant sight — those sturdy young men and women, those of middle
age, and those over whose heads many winters have scattered frost — alike bending earnestly
over their books, eager to improve the glorious light which has dawned upon their long
night of darkness.
"The colored people in this vicinity are very industrious, and their condition is better
than in many parts of the south. They, however, have much to endure. The old planta
tion spirit is by no means extinct The dethroned lords of the lash cling to the shadow of
slavery with a death grasp.
" During a visit which we made in the holidays to the ruined town of PlyinoTith an inci
dent occurred illustrative of the times. Five of us were exploring a fort in the vicinity of
Plymouth. We, the ladies, leaving our friends discussing some point of military architec
ture, passed around an embankment which hid them from our sight, and came suddenly
upon an old negro who was removing for firewood the remnants of the abattis. He touched
his hat in the most approved style and stepped aside for us to pass, but we stood still, and
Miss M began a conversation with him.
" 'Well, uncle, how do you enjoy your freedom? ' she asked.
"He eyed her suspiciously for a moment; then putting on a look of stupidity and iudiffer
ence, added:
200 RECONSTRUCTION.
" 'Ah, missus, I don' know — don' know as I is free.'
" 'What! ' we exclaimed in astonishment, 'don't know that you are free! What do you
mean ? '
'"No, missus,' he persisted, 'don' know nothin' 'bout it; nothin' 'tall.'
"Just at that moment one of the officials who accompanied us came up. As the negro
caught sight of the federal uniform the look of stupidity vanished as if by magic. Off came
the old hat in a twinkling, and with a smile beaming all over his dark face, he turned to us
exclaiming:
" 'Oh! I know you now. You's not secesh ; you's friends, an' I know what I is, too.
Yes, missus, I's a free man, tank God.'
"What do you of the free north think of liberty which may safely be avowed only in the
literal shadow of the 'blue?"
The writers of the above extracts are teachers and reliable witnesses ; though in their
accounts of "destitution" they sometimes exaggerate a little.
The case of outrage at Elizabeth City was reported to me, and a small military force was
sent there by General Ruger at my request.
E. WHITTLESEY,
Colonel and Assistant Commissioner.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 8, 1866.
Homer A. Cook <• sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD:
Question. State whether you hold any official position.
Answer. I was captain and assistant quartermaster in the Union army.
Question. Where did you serve as such, chiefly ?
Answer. In North Carolina.
Question. Have you been in North Carolina since the close of hostilities ?
Answer. I left North Carolina in December, 186ij.
Question. What places did you chiefly visit in North Carolina ?
Answer. I have been stationed at Newbern and Roanoke island, and visited, officially or
otherwise, Morehead City, Beaufort, Washington, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Plymouth, and
various other localities in the eastern section of the State.
Question. Have you been connected with the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. I have had no connexion with the Freedmen's Bureau except the intercourse
naturally resulting from my position.
Question. What is the state of public feeling among the ex-rebels of North Carolina, gen
erally, in relation to the government of the United States ?
Answer. So far as my observation extends, I have not observed loyal sentiments among
them.
Question. How do they speak of the goveniment of the United States ?
Answer. I have found a good many people among the intelligent, educated portion of the
community who profess to be Union men, but, when their definition of Unionism is given,
they want the Union as it was before the war.
Question. What do they seem to intend by that expression, the "Union as it was? "
Answer. They are rather vague and indefinite in their expressions. I have conversed with
a great many of them, and generally they were not original secessionists. They take pains
to impress upon you that they were not in favor of secession. They claim that the Consti
tution guarantees to them their rights, apparently overlooking the changes produced by the
war.
Question. Do they speak generally in kind terms of the federal government, or in con
temptuous, contumelious terms?
Answer. There are two distinct classes among them. The leading wealthy people, in con
versation with officers of the army, do not speak, perhaps, unkindly of the government, but
they claim a right to be represented in it. The mass of the people — the uneducated portion —
soein to have no ideas whatever in relation to the general government, but simply as regards
the State. But there is a very strong feeling of hostility towards northern men.
Question. When northern men come among them for the purpose of settlement or trade,
how are they generally treated by the secessionists?
Answer. Very coldly.
Question. Are they received into social intercourse?
Answer. They are not, generally. Social intercourse between northern and southern
men, and their families, is very rare.
Question. Are men from the north invited into the best families among the secessionists,
or are they overlooked ?
Answer. My observation has been almost invariable, that when northern men give any
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 201
invitatious to any party or assembly the southern men are invariably absent; and when
southern residents issue invitations northern men are excluded. The same thing is percep
tible in their churches.
Question. What are your ideas as to the security of northern men who settle there, in the
enjoyment of rights of property and their rights as citizens ? Are they as secure as seces
sionists themselves ?
Answer. I should presume that in the larger cities and towns northern men would be
secure from any personal violence or violation of law ; but outside I would say they were
not secure.
Question. Suppose the military forces should be removed entirely from North Carolina?
Answer. I think the northern people would be compelled to go with them or very soon
after. They would be driven from the State by the disagreeable circumstances surrounding
them.
Question. In such an event would you apprehend violence towards northern men on the
part of secessionists ?
Answer. I am not able to say to what extent ; to a greater or less extent, either by the de
struction of their property or by some other means.
Question. You mean to say that there is a general feeling of dislike and distrust towards
men from the northern States ?
Answer. I do. There is an unwillingness to meet, socially, northern people.
Question. Why is that ?
Answer. I suppose it arises from a disinclination to have northern men settle among them ;
an unwillingness to trade with northern people if they can avoid it.
Question. Have you reason to believe that any considerable portion of the secession ele
ment in North Carolina still cherish the hope of soTithern independence ?
Answer. I am not prepared to say that I think they have sufficiently matured their plans
to cherish that idea at present; they are mainly absorbed in their situation at this time.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that there are such plans in embryo among
them ?
Answer. I have never seen in that State, parties whom I would expect to see leaders in
any such undertakings, but I have seen many individuals who I have no question would
readily follow in making such an attempt.
Question. Have you heard anything said among them in reference to a foreign war be
tween the United States and England or France, or any other foreign power?
Answer. I have heard remarks of that nature, but not from responsible parties : not from
educated people, but from the most ignorant portion of the community.
Question. From what you have observed and know of the general feeling among the North
Carolinians, what part would they, in your judgment, be likely to take in the event of a for
eign war between the United States and any European power?
Answer. I do not think there would be a unanimity of feeling on that subject.
Question. Would any portion of them be likely to join the enemies of the United States in
that event ?
Answer. It would be very difficult for me to say what parties would do under certain con
tingencies. I think the sympathies of many of them would be with the enemies of the Uni
ted States ; I have no doubt of that.
Question. Do you hear many of the rebels, those who have taken an active part in the
rebellion, express regret for the part they have acted in the war?
Answer. I never heard one. At the time of the congressional elections in November, the
sentiment of the people of the State was exhibited as clearly as at any time since the war.
No unconditional Union man can be elected to any office whatever. One of the candidates
for Congress said that he could not take the test oath if he would, and would not take it if
he could, and that it was a disgrace to any man in North Carolina to say that he was able to
take it. He was a successful candidate ; he was elected.
Question. To what office ?
Answer. A representative in Congress.
Question. W^hat was his name?
Answer. I think it was Mr. Turner, but I will not be positive as to the name.
Answer. Do you know what his residence is, or was ?
Answer. I cannot state his residence at the present time ; I have heard it stated. It was a
matter of common report; it was said at a public meeting. I did not hear it myself, but I
learned it from various credible sources.
Question. You heard it from gentlemen on whose veracity you would rely?
Answer. I should, sir. I know of but two men who were candidates for Congress at that
election who could take the oath ; these candidates were in the first and second congressional
districts of North Carolina.
Question. Can you give their names ?
Answer. One is Mr. William Bond ; the other is Mr. Robert F. Lehman, of Newbern. Mr.
Lehman received, I think, only about a hundred votes in the district, and these were mainly
from the northern people in Newberu.
202 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Do you think that the voters generally in North Carolina look upon actual ser
vice in the rebel army as a merit rather than as a demerit ?
Answer. Undoubtedly, sir. If it is not regarded as a merit, it certainly has their sym
pathy and support; it attracts their sympathies and enlists their support.
Question. Among what classes of whites in North Carolina do you find the strongest feel
ing against the Unite 1 States — the low and uneducated, or the educated and well-bred ?
Answer. I do not know that I can answer that question correctly, because among the ed
ucated and refined people they have the art of concealing their sentiments under a courteous
manner, so that it is sometimes difficult to ascertain their real sentiments. •
Question. What class are the most out-spoken on that subject ?
Answer. tn answer to that question I would say that there is a great lack of moral courage
in the south, and that persons occupying the highest positions in society, socially and oth
erwise, in conversation with northern men individually, will assent to all their propositions,
but when they meet their own people will retract everything they have said : while among
the ignorant classes they make no concealment of their feelings. The feeling of the poor
classes of the whites seems to be concentrated against northern men without any particular
reference to the government.
Question. What is the main ground of that prejudice against the northern men ?
Answer. I suppose, sir, it is owing to the teaching they have received before the war; it
has been inculcated by public speakers before the war that northern men are hostile to them,
encroaching upon their rights.
Question. How do they feel generally in reference to the abolition of slavery ?
Answer. I think, sir, they have an unwillingness to converse on that subject ; they all
admit in so many words that slavery is dead, that it is abolished; and that is about as much
as they like to say in regard to it.
Question. What is their treatment generally of the freedmen ?
Answer. I should say, in reply to that, that the freedmen are treated much better when
they are near where the Union troops are stationed ; but, from all the evidence that I can
gather, I believe that outside, when there is no army to protect them, they are treated with
great cruelty in some cases.
Question. Do you hear of cases of maltreatment of the blacks, such as flogging and other
acts of cruelty ?
Answer. I have heard of numerous cases. I do not know that I could mention any spe
cific cases at the present time, giving dates and names.
Question. I merely ask whether you have heard of such from what you regard as credible
sources.
Answer. I have heard from persons, who I have reasons to believe make correct statements,
that in many of the interior counties slaves are held at the present time in a state of servitude
as they were previously to the proclamation.
Question. And have you heard of cases of flogging or torture of any description?
Answer. I have heard of different cases of punishment. These particular cases of flogging
I should not be so apt to hear of as I would of those of a more violent nature, such aa
shooting.
Question. Have you heard of cases of shooting freedmen by whites ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have those cases been frequent or rare?
Answer. The means of communication between military posts and society outside were not
uniform, and it was only occasionally that communication could be held. Therefore it would
only be an inference; but that inference would be that punishments were frequent, and that
the instances of cruelty were numerous.
Question. Do you find among the secessionists of North Carolina a general feeling of
kindness and regard for the copperhead party of the north ?
Answer. I think there is no doubt on that point. They desire the success of the demo
cratic party, believing that it would yield them what they call their rights.
Question. They have the idea that, if the democratic party should obtain an ascendency in
the government, they, the secessionists, would have their rights ?
Answer. Yes, sir. What they mean by rights is the power, I suppose.
Question. And 'in that case they anticipate that all their slaves would be given back to
them, or the value of them?
Answer. I think their ideas on that point are somewhat indefinite, but at the same time
there is no doubt that they earnestly desire the success of the democratic party, supposing
that it will confer privileges upon them. I think they entertain a vague hope that someway,
not clearly apparent to themselves, slavery will be again established through tiiat agency. I
might say that there is a class of men in that State who would be ready to accept the princi
ples of republican government as understood by loyal people at the north, but they have not
the courage to acknowledge it before their own people.
Question. Do the secessionists still hold it to be the true doctrine that the United States
had no authority to coerce a rebel State ?
Answer. I do not know that I have heard that question discussed particularly ; but the
people there have a way of reaching that matter by simply saying that they owe their alle-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 203
glance to the State, and that wherever the State goes they must go; the general government
is not considered in that connexion.
Question. Do they consider that the question of the right to secede has been settled by
the war ?
Answer. I do not think they do ; I think they regard it in this way : That the war simply
settled the question that the north was the strongest. They are free to acknowledge that
they were beaten ; but I do not think that, generally speaking, they abandon any principle
which the? have heretofore maintained.
Question. What effect has President Johnson's liberal policy in granting pardons and
amnesties to rebels had upon the minds of the secessionists there ; has it made them more or
less favorable to the government of the United States ?
Answer. I can, perhaps, better answer that question by saying that every unconditional
Union man of my acquaintance.in that State is opposed to that policy.
Question. How do the secessionists feel about it?
Answer. They claim the President as their friend in that matter.
Question. Has this liberal policy made them more or less friendly in their feelings towards
the government of the United Stages 5 has it made them more respectful to the government,
or more contemptuous towards it?
Answer. The fact is certain that the feeling of hostility against the government of the
United States is much more intense there than it was six months ago. I do not know that I
could state precisely what the cause was. My own opinion would be that at the time of Lee's
surrender they were ready to accept of any terms that might have been offered ; but that,
no rigorous condition having been imposed, they have been led to think that they have a
friend in high station.
Question. And they rely on President Johnson more than they do upon Congress ; is that
the fact?
Answer. Certainly, sir. They are very hostile in their manifestations as regards the
majority in Congress.
Question. How do they speak of the majority in the two houses of Congress ?
Answer. In terms of deep and malignant hatred.
Question. What are some of the epithets they apply to them, if they apply any?
Answer. They are spoken of as radicals, who would ruin their country if they cannot
rule it.
Question. Is that the tone of secession newspapers published in North Carolina ? .
Answer. I do not know of a newspaper in North Carolina that comes up to the standard
of what I should call loyalty to the government.
Question. How do the secessionists regard the efforts to establish schools among the
colored people?
Answer. They are not at all pleased, so far as my observations extend ; and it has been
very difficult to establish schools, excepting where they are directly under the military pro
tection.
Question. Without that protection would it be possible in many localities in North Caro
lina to keep up a colored school at all ?
Answer. I do not think it would.
Question. Would not the secessionists disperse the scholars, drive out the teacher, and tear
down the school ?
Answer. I think so. I think the school-house would be burned, or the teacher subjected
to so much annoyance and insult of every kind that it would be impossible to keep the
school without military protection.
Question. Have you given any attention to these colored schools ?
Answer. I have. I did so before the organization of the Freedmen's Bureau. I had
charge of what was then called the contrabands, before the term freedmen was used. There
were some three thousand of them in Newbern, and I had frequent occasion to understand
the means pursued for their improvement and education.
Question. Does the negro show an alacrity and desire to acquire education?
Answer. It is very remarkable to what extent it goes in all classes. Their desire for im
provement is very remarkable. Their schools are promptly attended, and the progress made
by the negro children is very satisfactory, I think, up to a certain point ; fully equal to any
white children of the same age. After they have reached a certain point I should say that
the white children progress more rapidly ; I mean when their reasoning faculties begin to be
called into exercise.
Question. Do the blacks appear to be willing to make sacrifices of property to acquire
education ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I can give you an illustration showing the desire for general improve
ment of that race. When I was at Koanoko island I had under my care about one hundred
men employed in the quartermaster's department. One of »those men was foreman of car
penters, of whom we had twelve or fifteen employed. He was fully competent to draw
plans and construct buildings as well as any white man I ever saw. He was employed by
the government at thirty-five dollars a month. I told him that if he desired to leave, as he
had a family, I knew that he could get employment elsewhere at higher wages. He said he
204 RECONSTRUCTION.
felt it his duty to remain, in order to instruct others of his race, so that they would be able to
obtain a living and an education. As soon as that department was discontinued there he
immediately obtained work at three dollars a day, as he could have done a year before. The
difference in his pay was substantially a contribution on his part for the benefit of the colored
race, for their general improvement by his example and efforts.
Question. Is there any other instance of a striking character which you wish to state
illustrating their desire of education ?
Answer. It was customary among nearly all. or many of them at least, (some being of an
age greater than myself, forty-six, ) at all their leisure hours to have a book. They would
sit down at any hour, and with the limited education which they had gathered from their
children and others they would endeavor to improve their knowledge of reading. I never
had any difficulty among that class of people in obtaining a reasonable amount of labor —
a fair day's work for a fair day's wages ; and I have had some of them employed under cir
cumstances which were very dangerous to their health and even to their lives.
Question. State whether, in your opinion, they are as willing to work as what are called
the low whites of the south.
Answer. When I was in Newbern, in the fall of 1863, there was a good deal of scarcity in
the country around, and consequently there were a great many persons coming in, both
white and black. Almost invariably I found among the blacks a desire to labor. I had
charge of getting logs and wood, and various other branches of the quartermaster's depart
ment, and many of the blacks came to me desiring to get work from the government, and I
employed them. The whites did not desire to work to so great an extent. These whites
were called loyal refugees. Their loyalty consisted in the fact that they had nothing to eat
where they were, and came to Newbern to get something to eat.
Question. They came to the United States granary ?
Answer. Yes, sir. They did not remain loyal altogether as long as they were fed. I
employed some of those men and the negroes, and, considering the difference of color, I
endeavored to place the whites in a position where they would have some advantages ; but I
found a decided disinclination on their part to labor; and during the time they were em
ployed there was almost constant disagreement between them and the blacks, while there
was none between the white northern men and the blacks in my employment.
Question. What is your profession ?
Answer. I am an editor. I have been engaged mainly as publisher and editor of news
papers /or the last fifteen or twenty years in Lowell and Lawrence, Massachusetts.
Question. Are you a New England man?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you think of any other facts which you deem it of importance to state to the
committee ?
Answer. I do not think at this moment of anything that would be of interest.
Question. How do the ex-rebels feel about the payment of the federal war debt ? If it was
left to them to vote yes or no on the question of paying it, what way would they vote
generally ?
Answer. They would vote no, without doubt.
Question. It would not be a very close struggle?
Answer. It would be about as unanimous as the vote in this district on the question of
negro suffrage.
Question. Suppose the question were referred to them whether or not they would pay the
rebel war debt, now would they vote there generally, yes or no ?
Answer. I think their vote would be in the affirmative, to pay it; because the mass of
voters are under the influence of a few men, and those men are directly interested in the
debt, as they hold the bouxis.
WASHINGTON, February 15, 1866.
Reverend Hope Bain sworn and examined.
By. Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Goldsborough, North Carolina.
Question. How long have you resided there?
Answer. Eleven years.
Question. What is your profession or occupation ?
Answer. I am a clergyman.
Question. Of what denomination ?
Answer. Uuiversalist.
Question. Were you at Goldsborough during the rebellion ?
Answer. Yes, sir, all the time, aside from my absences on clerical duties.
Question. How do the secessionists in North Carolina, so far as you have seen, feel
towards the government of the United States at present /
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 205
Answer. To judge from what I have heard thorn say, and their acts, I should suppose they
did not feel very kindly. That is the conclusion I have arrived at from my daily conversa
tions with them at home and in travelling.
Question. State whether you hear frequent expressions of dislike and contempt towards
the government of the United States ?
Answer. I cannot say that I have heard anything like contempt further than that, though
they consider they were overpowered, they were not subdued.
Question. They mean to say that their opinions are the same as they were before.
Answer. Yes, sir ; that is a pretty general thing.
Question. Do you hear any expressions of regret among them at having taken up arms
against the government?
Answer No, sir, no regret.
Question. Is it not, on the contrary-, rather a subject of pride and exultation ?
Answer. It is the subject of a good deal of pride. I have been placed in a position where I
could obtain some knowledge of them. Governor Holden appointed me a justice of the
peace, and in addition to that appointment I held the chairmanship of the committee to ad
minister the amnesty oath. In doing so I have necessarily come in contact with a great
many of them. I administered the oath in the entire county of Wayne, and I must say,
from their conversation and the way they acted, that they did not care much about the oath,
although I qualified them with all the solemnity I was capable of. One prominent rebel by
the name of Lane, who had been a lieutenant or captain in the rebel army, came to me one
day and said, "I want to take that damned nasty oath." "What do you mean?" said I.
"Do you not administer an oath?" said he. "Yes, sir," said I. "Then," said he, "I
want to take it." I found from his expressions that he was just as much of a rebel as he
was before ; and at that very time he was a candidate for the office of clerk of the superior
court.
Question. An elective office ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And he took the "damned nasty oath?"
Answer. He took the "damned nasty oath," and offered himself as a candidate for clerk
of the superior court. He afterwards manifested the same disposition to me. His father,
who lives in the city with me, is a prominent man ; was prominent in the rebellion ; was a
tax-gatherer for the entire State, and is a man of great influence.
Question. Did his father take the amnesty oath ?
Answer. That I cannot say. It seems to me he was not pardoned at that time. I am
satisfied he did not take it from me. They shunned me because I was very particular about
the manner in which I administered it. There were others of the committee who were not
so particular as I thought they ought to be, and they went to them in preference to me.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the federal debt contracted in the
prosecution of the war — are they willing to pay it ?
Answer. There is no willingness expressed on that subject whatever. Their expression
is, that they have quite enough of their own debts to pay.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the confederate debt — would they
be willing to pay it also?
Answer. I cannot say as to that. They would be very willing that their money should be
made good. They regret that they had not a sufficient number of soldiers to enable them to
succeed in the rebellion. They said that if they had been able to obtain enough soldiers
they would have got their freedom.
Question. Do you know anything about their future plans ?
Answer. I do not. They would be sure to keep them from me. There are only three
Union men in the town where I live — myself, the postmaster, and an old man of over eighty.
Question. In case of a foreign war between this country and England and France, what
would be the course pursued by the secessionists ?
Answer. I believe that a majority of them would go with the enemy. Speaking with a
prominent man, to whom I administered the oath very reluctantly, he said to me, "In less
than five years, sir, you will see a different state of things." I did not feel disposed to say
much to him about it, but I administered the oath, and as he took it he said, " 1 take it now,
but I don't take it willingly." He is a man of property. They take the oath so as to be
eligible as voters, in order to put down the Unionists. I told Governor Holden, with whom
I am intimately acquainted, that I thought he had done wrong in recommending the pardon
of many whom he did recommend; but 1 believed then, as I still believe, that the governor
did it in order to secure his election to the governriship. The Union men of Wayne county
got together to select men for the magistracy of the county. They could only fix upon
eighteen persons whom they could recommeua. They sent those eighteen names to Governor
Holden ; but subsequently there were other lists sent up, increasing the number to thirty
eight, while we were sure there could be but eighteen Union men in the whole county
There were eighty-four magistrates nominated in the State by a man who professed to be a
Union man, but who proved to be a traitor ; and out of those eighty-four magistrates we
have only four Union men all told. That is precisely our position.
Question. Could u Union man be elected to an office in Noith Carolina?
206 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I think not. No Union man could be elected in Wayne county.
Question. Is your legislature now in session ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. What is its particular character ?
Answer. I think it is secescion. I think a majority of its members are Fecessionists. We
have some good Union men, but they are very few. In the western part of North Carolina
there are truer Union men than in the eastern or central part.
Question, Men who have borne arms in the rebel ranks are generally preferred, I suppose,
for office.
Answer. Yes, sir. There was a man who, I supposed, was a guerilla, Colonel Kennedy.
He ran for the convention and was elected; after that he ran for sheriff of the county and
was elected. He is one of the most hostile men, an out-and-out rebel, and does not deny it.
Question. Had he taken the amnesty oath ?
Answer. I presume he has, else he could not hold office.
Question. Do you regard Governor Holden as a true Union man ?
Answer. I really do not know what to say about that. I leave it in doubt. We are in
timately acquainted. I think that Governor Holden would try to do right, but an aged
politician, as he is, having a view to office, is easily swayed from the right path.
Question. How do they feel down there about the emancipation of their slaves ?
Answer. Very sore. When the President declared emancipation, the professed Union men
went over in a body to rebellion.
Question. How are the secessionists disposed to treat the freedmen in North Carolina?
Answer. They were not satisfied at all with the emancipation of their slaves. Necessity,
howrever, drives them into a sort of conciliation. As a general thing the negroes do not like
to hire with their former masters. They are willing to hire, but not with them, and 1 do not
blame them for it. I have been assisting, and still am assisting, the Freedmen's Bureau,
and I know considerable about them. Negroes come in and hire out for $120 a year, and,
not being accustomed to money, they think that a great amount. One gentleman in the
neighborhood hired quite a number at that rate, paying them $2 50 a month, and reserving
the balance to the end of the year. If they continue to work faithfully, they get the full
amount of their pay ; if not, the matter is at an end, and they forfeit what is due to them.
Question. Is that a rule of the bureau ?
Answrer. No, sir ; but the bureau has to submit to it, inasmuch as the employer and the
negroes make the agreement^ We have a very good man in charge of the Freedmen's Bu
reau there — a Swiss. About fourteen or sixteen miles from Goldsborough there has been a
gang of men banded together, one of them being the son of a wealthy man named Cooley.
Twro negro men came to Raleigh, having two fine horses with them and three at home, their
object being to hire a farm from Cooley. They called at his house, but he was not at home.
His son told them that he would be home next day, and asked them to stay over Sunday.
They remained until Monday morning; but, as Cooley did not come home, the son told them
where they could get land, and they started for the place. They had not gone further than
about three miles before they were overtaken by young Cooley and two others mounted.
They stopped the negroes and wanted them to swap horses, which they did not want to do.
Cooley's two companions went on ahead, leaving him in chat with the negroes, when he de
liberately shot down one of them while they were riding together. The other got down to
see about his brother, when Cooley fired two shots at him, but missed him. The negro then
ran into the woods, leaving his dead brother in the road, and leaving the two horses, which
he never got back. Three or frmr weeks ago three soldiers were sent out in company with
a man who knew the gang to try and arrest the murderer. They got to Cooley's house be
tween dawn and sunrise, and inquired for him, but they were told tie was not there. A man
whom they met there made an otter as if he would take the gun from one of the soldiers,
when the soldier shot him. They then left the place and retreated to Goldsborough. The
three soldiers got in, and the guide got as far as the precincts of the town, Avben he was shot
down dead ; 1 saw his corpse. Some ten or twelve had mounted on horseback and followed
them into the town, where they committed the murder. That is the position we are in.
Question. Are these scenes of violence of frequent occurrence in the State.'
Answer. No, sir; this took place in the northern part of the county. In the southeast
part of the county another occurrence took place, which I will mention. I had induced some
officers, when the army was at Goldsborough, to give to negroes some decrepit mules, saving
that they could go out in the country and cultivate some unoccupied land. They went out
on the land of a Mr. Atkinson and made a good crop. About the time to house it, they had
a religious meeting one Sunday evening, when a band of men came to the meeting-house
and took from them the coats they had on their backs, which they had g6t from federal sol
diers? then they took their knives and meat and laid, and last of all, they took their mules
also. That occurred some two mouths ago. The Freedmeu'5 Bureau has no soldiers to pro
tect the negroes.
Question. Was any attempt made to arrest and punish these offenders ?
Answer. Yes ; the agent wrote to the captain of the Home Guard to arrest these men. The
captain of the Home Guard sent word that he had his hogs to kill and could not go. Then
ihe lieutenant was called upon, but he could not go. The blacks pursued them until they
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 207
came to a bridge that was burned over the river, and they conld not go any further. Six
weeks after that the Freedmeif s Bureau had one of the men arrested, and he is under bonds
of five thousand dollars to appear for trial. There ought to be a well-mounted company of
soldiers kept regularly at such posts. There are some wealthy men in the county who have
excellent land which they do not use, and I really think there would be no impropriety in
leaving them so much land, and renting out the balance, if not confiscating it, to pny ex
penses. One of these rebels last year made $14,000 in cotton. This year the negroes will
not work for him.
Question. How do they feel in reference to the blacks remaining with them ?
Answer. They are for having them sent away — colonizing them somewhere — they do not
say where.
Question. Did you know of any combinations or associations among the blacks, having
in view any outrages on the property of the whites, last Christmas ?
Answer. None, whatever; I heard rumors, but I believe they were without foundation. I
have spoken to many negroes ab'»ut it, and I never believed there was the slightest founda
tion for suspecting anything of the kind.
Question. You do not suppose that any such plan ever existed ?
Answer. No, sir, I don't believe it; but there is great cause to provoke the negroes to in
surrection.
Question. Is there any other fact that you wish to mention to the committee ?
Answer. I do not know of anything in particular.
Question. What effect has President Johnson's liberality in granting pardons and amnes
ties had upon the minds of secessionists?
Answer. I think that he has done it for an effect. I was speaking to a prominent man on
that subject recently. Said I to him, "You have got your pardon?" Said he, "Yes; Presi
dent Johnson is as dependent upon us as we are upon him." " In what way ?" said I. Said
he, " He will be a candidate for the presidency, although he says he will not be, and, doubt
less, he wants to make us his friends." But even in that I think he will be foiled. I believe
that if Robert E. Lee were pardoned, and were to set up for President, the south would give
him ten votes for the one they would give to Mr. Johnson. If Zebulon Vance, the ex-rebel
governor, was pardoned, ami wasvto run in opposition to Mr. Worth, our present goArernor,
he would get twenty Votes for Worth's one. Worth was elected against Holden. 1 do think
that if ever I can see the President myself, I will talk to him about these things. I have got
a letter of introduction to him, and, it he will allow me, I will tell him in all kindness what
the effect of his liberal policy is. I preached in twenty counties prior to the war, and I have
been since notified of the fact that I cannot go there to preach any more. I have asked what the
matter was, and have been told; "-You have taken sides with the north ; you are a sympathizer
with them. If you were not with us, you ought to have left the country." My answer has
been, " No ; I was not dissatisfied with the United States. It was you that were dissatisfied,
and you should have left the country." I do believe that of those twenty counties I cannot
go iuto more thau one county to preach, and I am not satisfied that I could even go there
with safety.
Question. Do you think that North Carolina is fit to be readmitted into the Union?
Answer. No, sir; I do not. In some of the western counties there are a few loyal men.
Question. You do not think there is loyal reeling enough in North Carolina to justify Con
gress in readmitting her into the Union?
Answer. I do not ; I wish I could think so.
Question. If they had another opportunity, do you think they would try to get out of the
Union ?
Answer. I think so ; that is my candid opinion.
Question. And you think that they would even join a foreign government at war with the
United States if by doing so they could secure their independence ?
Answer. I do think so ; and, furthermore, I do not think it safe for the negroes to be
there unless some strenuous effort is made for their protection, and for the protection of loyal
men. We are classed together. About three weeks ago a mob passed by my house, calling
out for the " old gray- headed son of a bitch of a Yankee sympathizer." Some time after
wards they came back, uttering the same evil towards me. I really think they will burn
-my house yet.
Question. Do you regard your life as safe ?
Answer. No, sir. I am not afraid, but I do not think I am safe.
Question. Is such treatment as you have mentioned common to Union men ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; it is.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 21, 1866.
Dexter H. Clapp sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What position have you been recently occupying in the service ?
Answer. I was lieutenant colonel of the 38th United States colored troops. I am now lo
203 RECONSTRUCTION7.
cated in Pitt county, North Carolina. I have been on duty in the Bureau of Refugees,
Freed men, and Abandoned Lands, in charge of twenty counties in the central part of North
Carolina. I was on such duty from July 7, J865, to January J5, 18(56.
Question. Of what State are you a native?
Ausner. New York.
Question. Have you mingled much with the people of North Carolina since you have been
there ?
Answer. I have been constantly brought in contact with all classes of people.
Question. How do the secessionists of North Carolina feel towards the government of the
United States?
Answer. They have no inclination of opposing the government by open war any further.
I think they have no more love for the government than at any time during the rebellion,
and only submit to it as a necessity. The more sensible portion of them intend to make the
best that they can of it.
Question. Do you hear regrets expressed frequently at the results of the fight ?
Answer. I hear, very constantly, evidences of grea£ regret at the result of it among a
large portion of the people. There is a great desire to get back fully into the Union. I am
well satisfied that it is now the intention, when they get back, to unite with whatever par
ties at the north they can unite with to repudiate the national debt. That has been settled
on and has been brought to my attention.
Question. Did that information come to you from sources entitled to your respect and cre
dence ?
Answer. It did, sir. Perhaps I should not say there is a settled arrangement or con
spiracy for the purpose, but that it is a sort of common understanding, an expected thing.
Some of the most sensible and shrewd men in the State have told me so.
Question. Do they seem to surmise that there is any such party at the north as will con
sent to a repudiation of the national debt ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they expect to succeed in it.
Question. That northern party, I suppose, is what we generally call the democratic party
or copperhead party ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How do they feel toward the black republican party of the'north ?
Answer. They look upon them with the greatest hatred, the greatest ill-will imaginable
for one class of men to feel towards another.
Question. Would it be safe for a member of that party from the north to attempt to estab
lish himself in North Carolina and to carry on business there?
Answer. There would be great danger at the present time to a person known as a radical.
There would be great danger to any northern man when military protection is withdrawn ;
still I do not mean to say that I am afraid to remain there.
Question. What effect would it have to withdraw the United States troops and the Freed-
men's Bureau from North Carolina?
Answer. I think that all northern men would be in great danger of personal injury, and
that the freedmen would be without any protection whatever, and subject to great oppres
sions and wrongs of all kinds. I think that killing freedmen would be the rule.
Question. How many federal troops are there in the State of North Carolina now ?
Answer. Three regiments.
Question. Where are they chiefly stationed ?
Answer. I think there are five companies at Raleigh ; six men at Goldsborough, simply
guarding some government stores ; there is a portion of a regiment in what is called the
eastern district, at Newbern. There are three regiments altogether in North Carolina.
Question. How are the Union troops treated down there by the secessionists ?
Answer. As a general thing they are treated respectfully. The secessionists dare not treat
them in any other way There is a very wholesome fear of the federal soldiers. A lieuten
ant died at my house a short time ago, who attempted to make an arrest connected with a
series of most outrageous murders. I can relate the circumstances if you desire it.
Question. Go on and give the narrative.
Answer. Some eight weeks ago several returned rebel soldiers, from Pitt county, went
into the village of Washington and commenced shooting and beating Union men. Several
assaults were made, and at least one Union man was publicly whipped in the streets, and
some negroes were wounded. One of the party was badly wounded by a person whom they
attacked. On their return they met on the public highway a negro. They first castrated
•him and afterwards murdered him in cold blood. These persons a short time afterwards
went into the village of Washington and gave themselves up to the civil authorities and were
placed in jail ; but they soon escaped by overpowering the jailer. An order was issued by Gen
eral Paine, commanding the eastern district, to the police of that county to arrest them. This
was not done, and no effort whatever was made to arrest them. General Paine then ordered
'the chief of police, of Pitt county, to be tried by military commission for neglect of duty.
General Paine was soon afterwards relieved from command, to be mustered out of the ser
vice, by an order emanating, I presume, from the Secretary of War, but not connected with
this matter. I think for some weeks no further action was taken in the matter.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA— SOUTH CAROLINA. 209
Question. Where is General Paine from ?
Answer. From Boston, Massachusetts. Meanwhile this party continued to commit out
rages on freodmen and Union men. I know that several negroes were shot by them, and it
is reported to me that a large number were shot and otherwise maltreated by them. On the
y.~>th of December the father of one of these parties, an old man named Kearney, was at the
store of Church i'erkins, in Pactolus, Pitt county, and left about two o'clock to go home.
About that time an elderly man answering to the description of that man rode up to a plan
tation called the Ebon place, where two negro boys, ten and twelve years old, were playing
in the yard, no other persons being at the plantation. He ordered them to go before him on
the road, threatening them with his double-barrelled gun. He tbok them a quarter of a mile
dov.-u the road and then one mile direct into a swamp, and there he shot them, killing one
instantly and wounding the other. The one who was wounded soon came back, and with his
father and the mother of the one who was killed went to Pactolus and reported the matter to
Lieutenant Sjuith. He went with them and found the body ; shortly after that reports were
made to the district commander at New«bern that this party was intending to "clean out" (that
is the phrase they use) certain northern gentlemen in that vicinity, and a party was sent by
Colonel Wheeler, consisting of Lieutenant Kenyon, of the twenty-eighth Michigan, and
eight mounted men. They succeeded in arresting all but one of this party, but the prisoners
escaped the same night. Two nights after, the soldiers returned to the house of this man,
Phil. Kearney, a man of considerable wealth, and, in endeavoring to make the arrest, Lieu
tenant Kenyon was shot. The gentleman living next to Kearney's refused to admit Ken-
yon into his house, although he was in a dying condition. He was brought to my room at
Pactolus, and after about four days he died. A party of soldiers are now at that place en
deavoring to arrest this man.
John Stauly, a nephew of Governor Edward Stanly, of North Carolina, the law officer of
the eastern district under the provisional government, told me at the time of these transac
tions that it would not be safe for any person to express in any public place his disapproba
tion of these acts ; that his life would be immediately the forfeit thereof.
Question. Is Stanly still in office?
Answer. No, sir ; he went out with the provisional government ; he would not stay in the
country, and has gofie to California.
Question. What is your opinion about the danger of any person expressing disapprobation
of these atrocities ?
Answer. Personally, I think he exaggerated a little, and yet at that time his remark was
correct. I intend to live there, and I intend always to express my opinion ; but things here
look as if it might be dangerous. I am now living on a cotton plantation at Pactolus.
Question. How many persons do you suppose this gang was composed of?
Answer. About rive. Of the thousand cases of murder, robbery, and maltreatment of freed-
meii that have come before me, and of the very many cases of similar treatment of Union
citizens in North Carolina, I have never yet known a siugle case in which the local authori
ties or police or citizens made any attempt or exhibited any inclination to redress any of these
wrongs or to protect such persons. The substance of this statement was made by me in cor
respondence with Governor Holden. That seems to me the worst indication of the state of
society there — worse than the fact that these things take place.
Question. Do you suppose that the omission on the part of the authorities to interfere and
enforce justice arises from their own fears of the ruffians, or from their sympathies with the
ruffianism ?
Answer. I think it comes from both causes ; it would not be correct to assign either as a
specific cause.
Question. How did Governor Holden demean himself towards such outrages ; did he make
any efforts as governor of the State to punish them .'
Answer. I know of no such e^ort thaj he has made.
Question. Have, these scenes been brought to his attention ?
Answer. I cannot say that they have, but he must have known of them.
Question. Have they not been subjects of newspaper comments ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I have known of several instances in which outrages were committed,
and in which he exerted his influence with the military authorities to have them passed over.
I can specify some particular instance.
Question. Do so.
Answer. A sergeant of the local police, Guion Earp, of Johnson county, brutally wounded
a freed men when in his custody, and while the man's arms were tied, by striking him on the
head with his gun, coining up behind his back; the freedman having committed no olleiice
whatever, that was shown.
Question. How is that military police organized ; is it constituted under the State laws"
Answer. No, sir; it is constituted by the military authorities, and it was supposed that the
best Union men were selected fur the duty. This freedman lay in the hospital, which is
under iny charge, at the point of death, for several weeks. The sergeant of the police h;;d
searched his house previously for stolen meat, 'but did not find any. The same day he
whipped another freedman. having searched his house and found no stolen property there.
He whipped him so that from his neck to his hips his back was one mass of gushes, and so
14 V NC86C
210 RECONSTRUCTION
that after being untied he sank on the ground and lay there insensible all night, and was
found there next morning. While Sergeant Earp was under my charge, and while I was in
vestigating the matter, very many prominent citizens interested themselves to have him en
tirely discharged, he having been tried by a military commission and sentenced to one month's
imprisonment. I was told by General Hardiii, commanding tlie central district of North
Carolina, that a large portion of the members of the constitutional convention interpoM-«l.
first, with General linger for his pardon, and then by a petition to the President, to whom the
proceedings have all been sent. I do uot know whether any action has been taken by the
President or not. ' 9
Question. Was Earp imprisoned on conviction?
Answer. He was paroled by General Ruger, awaiting the publication of his sentence. Ke
had been imprisoned some six weeks.
Question. Are scenes like these which you have described of frequent occurrence in North
Carolina ?
Answer. They are, in portions of it, not immediately in the vicinity of military posts, but
away from them.
Question. Does a Unionist or a freed in an stand much chance for justice in the State courts ?
Answer. I think not, emphatically. There is so great a demand for labor ia North Caro
lina that that demand is operating very favorably, indeed, for the protection of the freedmen,
and is his only protection, except the military, at the present time. Those counties where
there were the greatest number of freedmeu rind now that they have not near enough black
laborers. All who were there have hived out and gone to work. They did this at Christ
mas time. Before that they objected to hire for another ye,ar. I had twenty planters from
Edgecombe county*, the best cotton county in the State, applying to me for laborers. I could
hire out two thousand colored men in one day if I had them. The high price of cotton is
, the only protection, aside from the military authorities, that I know of for the freedmeu. I
regard that as a providential protection.
Question. Do the planters appear to be willing to pay freed men fair wages ?
Answer. Portions of them do, and portions of them do not.
Question. Suppose it were left within the power of the people of North Carolina at this
time to say whether or not they would reduce the black race again to 'slavery ; would they
do so?
Answer. They would, sir. , •
Question. Do you suppose that there are any persons of consequence in North Carolina
who contemplate another secession, or a movement for southern independence ?
Answer. 1 have no reason to think that there are. I think they are thoroughly subdued,
as far as fighting is concerned.
Question. In case of a war between the United States and any foreign rjower, such as
England or IVance, and in case there should happen to be a prospect of securing southern
independence, so called, what would be the course that would probably be taken by the
secessionists of North Carolina ?
Answer. I think the large majority of the secessionists of North Carolina would adopt any
course giving them any reasonable hope of obtaining independence, but I think they have no
idea of fighting.
Question. For that purpose they would, in your opinion, join the common enemy ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I believe a large portion of them would do so if they thought there was
any reasonable prospect of success ; but I am clear in the idea that they would not tight the
north any more. They are entirely satisfied with their experiment.
Question. Goon and relate any 'other facts that you may know of, illustrating the state bf
feeling in North Carolina.
Answer. A freedman by the name of Cotton, living at Pittsburg, Chatham county, was
assaulted by a white man. He defended himself. A fight ensued which terminated in the
freedman's running away to preserve his life. He was arrested by the military police and
p*ut into jail, which was the means of saving his life from the mob. He was tried by the
provisional justice the same night (Saturday night) about ten o'clock, and sentenced to be
publicly whipped at the pillory. The sentence ran in this way: " Give him ten lashes at 10
( o'clock; let him wear a barrel-shirt for two hours," (that is, a barrel with one head out and a
hole cut into the other head large enough to let a man's head through,) " twenty lashes at I '2
o'clock ; then to be tied up by the thumbs for two hours, his toes touching the ground only;
then nine lashes; then to be tied up by the thumbs for two hours more." The deputy sheriff
ft remonstrated against inflicting the penalty. He was ordered by the provisional justice
(Long) to inflict the punishment, and if he refused to do so he should be punished himself.
While the justice was writing out the sentence in the court-room, the negro was assaulted by the
man with whom he had the difficulty ; the white man first snapiug a pistol at the freedman,
then striking him with it twice on the head, felling him to the ground insensible and in an
apparently dying -condition. The deputy sheritV removed the colored man to the jail, and states
that he went to the justice and remonstrated against inflicting the punishment under those
circumstances, stating that he did not expect the freedman to be alive in the morning ; and
even if he were, he would die under the infliction of the penalty. He states that the justice
still insisted upon his inflicting the penalty, which the deputy sheriff did, with the exception,
as he states, of letting the negro's feet rest partially on the ground. l<%is penalty was in-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 211
flicted in violation of the laws of the State of North Carolina, which only allow a man to be
whipped on sentence after a trial by a jury — that is, a white man. In this case there was
no jury ; there was un examination simply by the justice. 9
Question. Who appointed that blackguard justice ?
Answer. Governor Holden.
Question. Were these tacts ever brought home to the knowledge of Governor Holden ?
Answer. I cannot say that they were.
Question. Is he still in office ?
Answer. No, sir; the provisional government has passed. I wrill state, also, that for two
months I was utterly unable to get this justice brought to trial, although every effort in my
power was made. The black man lived through the punishment, but I never could find him
afterwards. In the lower portions of Johnson county, and' in Sampson arid Duplin coun
ties, being in the vicinity of the battle of Bentonville, many freedmen had obtained worn-
out horses and mules from the army and from . the battle-field. These have all been taken
away from them, either by midnight robbery or open violence. The military police and lo
cal militia have repeatedly, in different sections of the district, disarmed the negroes against
all authority and against military orders; members of the military police are often brought
up before the military authorities for such offences, but there is such a vast amount of work
to be done by the military, that it is impossible to do full justice. In the immediate vicinity
of military posts things are in a very good condition. They are a great deal worse in some
sections than in others. General Hardin, commanding the district, has been very constant
and efficient in his labors to maintain order and to insure justice to all classes.
An old colored woman named Janey, and her daughter, Mary Ann, were whipped by
William Barnes, a\i aged planter in Wilson county, so cruelly, that when they came before
the officers of the bureau, their backs, from the neck to the hip, were a mass of gashes. For
some four months I endeavored to have this man brought to trial, but was unable to do so on
account of the exertions of the prominent citizens of Raleigh and Goldsborough. These are
representative instances which illustrate the general state of feeling there.
Question. Do you imagine that it would answer to withdraw the United States troops and
the Freedmeu's Bureau from North Carolina ?
Answer. I do not ; I think it would be very disastrous indeed ; I think it would crush,
out the Union sentiment.
Question. And produce a state of anarchy ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; although I think they would have such a system as they have foeeft
used to having. The negroes would be subdued, and also the Union men, ana the people-
would establish a sort of civil government and maintain order after their manner*
WASHINGTON, February 23, 1866.
J. A. Campbell sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What official position do you hold ?
Answer. I am lieutenant colonel and assistant adjutant general of the department of North,
Carolina.
Question. Are you connected with the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. No, sir. %
Question. How long have you been holding that position ?
Answer. Ever since the department of North Carolina was organized^ which was in the
latter part of January, 1865.
Question. At what places have you chiefly spent your time ?
Answer. Until the capture of Raleigh, on the 14th of April, I had spent my time between
the coast and Raleigh in the field, at Wilmington, Newbern, and in the field. Since the cap
ture of Raleigh I have been stationed in that city.
Question. Have y^ou travelled much about the State since you have been there ?
Answer. Not very much ; I have been as far as Greeusborough at the west. I went up there
at the time of the surrender of Johnston's army, to arrange some preliminaries with General
Schofield.
Question. How do you find the state of public feeling in North Carolina toward the gov~
ernment of the United States and toward the loyal people ? I refer, of course, to the seces
sionists. 4
Answer. I think they feel as disloyal to-day as they did in 1861 ; I think they have no
greater love for the government ; if anything, their hatred is deeper. They have no feeling
of respect for the administrators of the government in all its branches — nothing but a deep-
seated hatred among the secessionists. There are Joyal men in the western part of the State,
•most of them; I see that in some of the representatives which they send to the legislature.
I have not been further west than Greeusborojugh.
^Questiou. What proportion of the people, in the great body of the State, are loyal — that is,
friendly to the government ?
212 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I do not think that there is more than one-fifth of the people loyal, perhaps one-
fourth, including the western part.
Question. On what is this opinion of yours founded that they are bitterly hostile to the
government of the United States?
Answer. I am brought into contact with the citizens daily from my position. I always
see those who have business with the commanding general, and am brought into contact with
them and hear their expressions and opinions. 1 judge also from the tone of some of their
newspapers.
Question. What do their leading citizens say about the government ? What expressions
have you heard, habitually or occasionally, from them, on which you found that opinion?
What incidents have come, under your observation leading to that belief?
Answer. A member of the present legislature told me one day that the people there would
never have the same love for the old government that they had before. I judge it also from
the remarks that I have heard from leading men to the effect that they were tired of the
Yankees there and wanted to s.ee them out, and from the votes which they gave for their
candidates for State offices at the election for governor called by the. provisional governor.
Question. When?
Answer. In October last. The candidates for governor were Governor Holden and Mr.
Worth. Worth was run by the secession party.
(Question. Had he been a rebel? »
Answer. He had not been an active rebel ; at the commencement of the war he was a
Union man. He was treasurer of the State before the secession of the State. He continued
to hold his office as treasurer during the time the State was out of the Union, and was ap
pointed by Governor Holden provisional treasurer.
Question. These two were rival candidates for the governorship in October, 1865?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Of what parly was Holden the nominee ?
Answer. He was the nominee of the Union party, or what they call the Union party there.
Holden, however, had been at the commencement of the war a very bitter opponent of the
government of the United States; but for the two years preceding the close of the war, he
had been an opponent of Jefferson Davis. He was appointed by President Johnson provis
ional governor, and he appointed Worth as provisional treasurer. Worth was taken up by
the secessionists, those who were looked upon by all parties as rebels; while Holden was
taken up by the other side. The cry of his newspaper organ (it used to be owned by him
self, and I believe it was still kept in his name) was this: "The issue before die people is
4 Holden and go into the Union, or Worth and stay out.''" That was the motto of Holden's
paper. By these means Holden got many votes from men who would otherwise have given
their votes to Worth.
Question. Was that a paper of large circulation?
Answer. Yes ; I think it is a paper of pretty large circulation and of considerable influ
ence. It was formerly the democratic organ of the State ; Holden was formerly its editor,
and it was really the leading paper of the State for a dozen years or more. It was still con
ducted nominally by his sou while he was provisional governor.
Question. Did Worth address the people during the canvass?
Answer. He did.
Question. What was the general tone of his remarks ?
Answer. The general tone of his remarks was to the effect that he was as good a Union
man as Mr. Holden. I never heard any of his speeches, but I know that that was the gen
eral tone of his friends; they all claimed to be Union.
Question. What do they understand by being Union men ? What is the general idea at
tached to it?
Answer. I think that they mean that a Union man is one who is willing to accept the sit
uation that has been forced upon them.
Question. Are they not all willing to accept the situation as forced upon them?
Answer. A great number of them accept it under protest. They would be very willing,
if an opportunity occurred, to oppose the government, if they thought there was any chance
for them in doing so. I think it could be stated in this way : That they are almost positive
that there is no chance for a successful opposition to the government of the United States by
arms. It' they thought there was a chance, (but they would have to be very certain, because
they have had such a lesson already,) if they were very certain of success, I have no doubt
that three-fourths of that State would turn against the government.
Question. Suppose we should have a foreign war with England x>r France, and there should
be apparently a prospect of establishing southern independence, so called; what would you
anticipate would be the course pursued l»y the people of North Carolina?
Answer. The answer I have just given* you would apply to that in some manner. They
have had such a terrible lesson that they would have to be very certain; but in ease they
were very certain they could unite with a foreign nation, so as to achieve their independence^
I think three-fourths of the people would do it.
Qut-siiou. State whether you have heard remarks of that kind among influential men.
Answer. No, sir; I never heard remarks of that kind. I judge merely from what I see in
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH' CAROLINA. 213
the newspapers and from the general tone of the people. They would not be apt to make
such a remark to me. I have no social intercourse with the people down there.
Question. Have you been in the habit of hearing contemptuous expressions towards the
government of the 'United States among the North Carolinians — expressions of hatred, ill
will, and dislike, or towards the loyal people of the north ?
Answer. Not so much myself, but they have come to me through other sources.
Question. You have been so informed by others ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
'Question. By persons who were truthful?
Answer. Yes, sir ; from persons in whom I have every confidence, and whom I know to b$
truthful. They would not make any remark of that kind in my presence.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the United States debt contracted
in the prosecution of the war — would they repudiate it if they could?
Answer. I can only judge from my general knowledge of the people, and I have no doubt
in the world that nineteen- twentieths of the people of that State would repudiate it if they
could.
Question. What would they do in regard to the confederate debt contracted in the prose
cution of the rebellion — would they assume it and pay it, or would they repudiate that also ?
Answer. They would assume and pay that part of it for which they think the State of
North Carolina is responsible. The State of North Carolina, I believe, indorsed some o£ the
bonds. The debt is in such a condition that they consider the State of North Carolina re
sponsible for part of it. That part of it they would pay.
Question. What is the general feeling in North Carolina towards the freedmen?
Answer. I think the feeling is. hatred more than anything else. It is a vindictive feeling,
a determination to wreak upon them vengeance for wrhat they think they have suffered them
selves. .
Question. State whether you have authentic information of maltreatment of freedmen on
.the part of whites ; and give some instances, whether within your personal knowledge or
derived from reliable information.
Answer. I have had official reports made to me of at least two hundred cases of mallreat-
ment of different kinds, more or less, some of them cases of homicide. One man named Ivy
was tried before a military commission, sentenced, and a few days since sent to the Auburn
penitentiary for ten years for killing a freedman. Another, a woman, Mrs. Ball, was being
tried at the time I left Raleigh for the murder of a freedman. I do not know whether it was
made out murder or justifiable homicide ; but as the case was reported to me it was murder.
Another woman, Temperance Mealy, living near Salisbury, I think, shot a slave. She was
tried by a military commission, and sentenced to pay a fine of $1,000, which fine I am told
was made up for her within two or three days by the citizens of the county.
Question. What county was that?
Answer. I think she lived in Rowan county. It was in that portion of the State, at all
events.
Question. Can you state any other instances of maltreatment of the blacks?
Answer. There was a case reported in Pitt county of a man named Carson who murdered
a negro. There was also a case reported to me of a man named Cooley who murdered a
negro near Goldsborough. Neither of these men has been tried or arrested. We have, not
been able to arrest them, and, of course, I do not know certainly that they committed these
crimes.
Question. How many troops are stationed in North Carolina now ?
Answer. Three regiments and one battery of artillery.
Question. What regiments are they ?
Answer. The 37th United States colored troops, raised mostly along the coast of North
Carolina, the- 128th Indiana infantry, the 2bth Michigan infantry, and a company of the 3d
United States artillery.
Question. At what points are they chiefly stationed ?
Answer. They are stationed at the forts at the mouth of Cape Fear river, at FoVt Macon,
at the mouth of Neuse river, at Morehead City, Wilmington, Newborn, Raleigh, Salisbury,
Ashville, Morganton. I believe that there are from one to four or five companies at each of
those places.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that there are guerilla bands in frorth Carolina
prepared to do mischief or to disturb the peace ?
Answer. I do not know that I can state that that is the case. It has been reported to me
several times that there were such bauds, but in sifting the reports down I could not find
that they were organized bauds, which went regularly to work ; although I have known of
persons banding together and taking the law into their own hands. A case occurred at
Goldsborough not long since, where a guide went out with two United States soldiers to unvst
a man. They could not find the man whom they went to arrest, but they saw another man
at his house who, as the guards told me. attempted to run. The guide halted him, told him
that they came to arrest him, and shot him immediately. The citizens got after the guide,
followed him into the town of Goldsborough, and shot him inside the town. The party con
sisted of from twenty to thirty citizens.
214 RECONSTRUCTION.
Qu&stion. Did they shoot him by way of avenging the crime which he committed in
shooting the man he was in pursuit of .'
Answer. Yes, sir. I went to Go.ldsborough the next dny, and the agent of the bureau re
ported to me that there was an organized b;ui<I there. I took about twenty men with me
and went into the country some ten miles, but I could find no evidence that there was any
organized band. I think it was just a party got up on the'spur of the moment to kill this
guide.
Question. Were the persons who shot the guide arrested and brought to justice ?
Answer. I tried to arrest them that day. I arrested two of the men whose names were
reported to me. One of them escaped, and the other I could not find anything against. Up
to this time tlu; "others have not been arrested, but I was assured by a member of the legis
lature, who lives in that county, that they would be arrested by the civil authorities. I was
assured by a committee of citizens at Goldsborough, who came to see me, that if I would
promise that the man who shot this guide would not be interfered with by military law they
would have him arrested and tried by civil law. I replied to them that 1 would not promise
any such thing; that if he had*beeu arrested by civil law I did not think the military would
have interfered, but that we claimed the right to interfere it we chose; anyhow. A few days
afterwards a member of the legislature told me that they would have these men arrested and
tried by the civil law. • •
Question. Uo you know whether they have been arrested ?
Answer. They had not been up to the time I left Raleigh. I left Goldsborough that same
evening. I had taken a company of men there with me to make the arrests ; but I brought
them away because I found that the parties were all gone, and I knew that they would stay
away as long as the soldiers were there.
Question. Was the guide a Unionist ?
Answer. There were different reports about that.
Question. Was he a native of North Carolina ?
Answer. I was told by the citizens of Goldsborough that he was a native of Michigan, a
deserter from a Michigan regiment. I AYUS fold by some other citizens that he was a native of
North Carolina. I really do not know anything about it The sheriff of the county told me
that he had him in jail there for eight mouths ; and I was told by another person, who was
a witness in the case of the United States against Gee, the keeper of the Salisbury prison,
that that guide was a spy of Gee's in the Salisbury prison. I think, from all the evidence 1
could find about the guide, that he was an outlaw and had been the terror of the country ;
and I thought that perhaps that was the reason why the citizens had armed and come out
after him.
Question. Was there any excuse for his firing on the man of whom he was in pursuit ;
was there any justification for it ?
Answer. Not the least in the world that I was able to find out. I saw the man myself,
and saw his wound. The bullet entered the hip from behind and came out above his left
groin.
Question. Was the guide armed ?
Answer. He was armed.
Question. Is that allowable?
Answer. It is something we never allow. I do not know where he got his arms.
Question. Did the guard order the guide to fire ?
' Answer. Oh, no ; the guide ordered the guard- to fire, but the guard would not do so, and
he fired himself. I do not blame the people so much for shooting that guide. The man
whom he shot he had never seen before. I speak of that as the only case where it was re
ported to me there was an organized guerilla band. I went down -to find it out, and I was
convinced that it was not an organized band. I believe there was another case reported to
me from Pitt county, but I know less about that than about this case.
Question. What would be the consequence of a withdrawal of the troops of the United
States from North Carolina ?
Ariswer. I think that if the United States troops were withdrawn from North Carolina the
property of loyal men and the persons of freedmeu would not be safe.
Question. Why not ?
Answer. TUe feeling against them is so vindictive and bitter
Question. If the great mass of the people of North Carolina had it in their power, would
they re-establish the slavery of the black race there, think you?
Answer. I think they would.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the education of the blacks ?
Answer. I cannot answer that. I* have never heard any remarks made about it par
ticularly.
Question. How do they treat the Union men from the north ?
Answer. I think that they would bo disposed to take every lawful advantage of them
which they could, as long as our troops are there; and after the troops were gone I think
they would -be disposed to take every unlawful advantage.
Question. Do you think they would be inclined to expel them from their midst ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I have no -doubt they would be iacliued to do that.
VIRGINIA— NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 215
Question. Are the rights of Unionists from the north and south safe in the State courts of
North Carolina I
Answer. It is a pretty hard thing to say about the courts ; but I do not think they would
be. If I had any property I would not trust it before the courts there as against a rebel.
Question. What is your opinion as to the effect of that feeling of dislike on the minds of
jurors who might be called on to try cases between man and man? Would a Unionist be
likely to receive an impartial verdict at the hands of a North Carolina jury ?
Answer. I do not think he would.
Question. Have you heard of any complaints on that account since you have been there ?
Answer. I do not recollect that I have heard of any complaints in cases of trial by jury.
I have heard of several complaints in regard to the action of magistrates as against Union or
northern men. I believe that by the laws of North Carolina any man can swear before the
clerk of the court that a party indebted to him is attempting to leave the State and to swindle
him, arid can get a writ for his arrest. , There was a case of this kind two days before I left
the State. It was claimed that a gentleman from the north had not fiflfilled a contract, and
owed another party a certain sum. This party went before the clerk of the court and swore
out a writ, and had the- man arrested. The sheriff brought him up to my house, with his
attorney, who stated to me that there was, to his knowledge, nothing against the man except
what was already covered in a suit in equity. In default of five thousand dollars bail he
would have had to go to jail until the session of the court, next month, I think.
Question. Did he give the bail ?
Answer. He could not give the bail.
Question. What did you do ?
Answer. I went down to General Ruger, commanding the department, and, on the affi
davit of the party who was arrested, the general told me to direct his release by the sheriff,
and to place the party in military arrest until such time as the judge (who was absent)
should return. The next day there was a case of a similar character against another man,
except that there was no suit already covering the case. The sheriff came to me with the
man. In default of five thousand dollars bail he would have been taken up into one of the
coast counties and kept in jail there till November next. All that I did was, by direction of
General Ruger, to tell the man that I placed him in military arrest, and to give a paper to
the sheriff telliug him that he could make that return on his writ, that this man was under
military arrest, and. that the State of North Carolina being under martial law, he was not
liable to arrest by the civil authorities. That is the way the case stood the time I left. I
refer to these instances to show what the feeling is, and what justice a northern man can get
in the courts there.
Question. Is ex-Governor Holden esteemed to be a loyal man in North Carolina ?
Answer. He is to-day looked upon as a supporter of the President.
Question. What effect, in your judgment, has President Johnson's liberal policy in grant
ing pardons and amnesties to the rebels had upon their minds towards the government of the
United States ? Has it increased their love for it, or has it had an opposite effect ?
Answer. I do "not think that it has increased m the least their respect and love for the
government.
Question. Has it had a tendency to make them more or less defiant and contemptuous to
the government ?
Answer. It has had a tendency to make them more defiant, I think.
Question. In case the government of the United States was in danger of destruction or
overthrow, would they lend it a helping hand?
Answer. I do not believe they would, unless it was done against their will by draft
ing, &c.
Question. Would they willingly l^nd it a helping hand ?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not think they would.
Question. Do they appear to like some other government better than they do that of the
United States?
Answer. I have never heard any expression in regard to that. I cannot answer it with
certainty.
Question. Is there any party in that State that favors the idea of a monarchy rather than
a republic in this country?
Answer. I do not know that there is any large party that favors that idea. I think that a
number of planters and aristocrats about Raleigh do.
Question. WThat amount of popularity has Jefferson Davis in the State of North Carolina ?
Answer. I think that Davis is not a very popular man in the State.
Question. What faults in his character do they point out ?
Answer. The system of nepotism and favoritism which he pursued in the appointment of
officers in the army and in the civil government, and the injustice which they thought he
did to the State on several occasions, are some of the principal objections to him.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you wish to state to the committee?
Answer. Nothing, except that my observations have been mostly in the central and
eastern part of the State. I cannot speak so much for the western part, which I understand
is more loyal. I have been speaking ,pf the central and eastern part of the State, and espe
cially about Raleigh, where I have been stationed about a year
216 y RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, February 21 , 1866.
General Rufus Saxton sworn and examined.
•
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Yon were in command in South Carolina?
Answer. I w;is assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau there.
Question. How long did you occupy that position there?
Answer. I was assistant commissioner from the time of the organization of the bureau in
June last until the 15th of January, when I was removed.
Question. Who removed you — the President of the United States7
Answer. I do not know, sir; I was removed by order of Major General Howard, the Com
missioner.
Question. Who was appointed in your place?
Answer. General R. K. Scott, of Ohio.
Question. At whose request have you reason to believe you were removed?
Answer. I have reason to believe that I was removed through the influence of the late
rebels in South Carolina.
Question. What leading rebels among them do you refer to ?
Answer. I cannot answer that question from positive knowledge; I only can give my
general impression that I was removed through the influence of William Wlmley, Governo'r
Aiken, of South Carolina, and others. Governor Aiken, claiming to be elected the member
of Congress from the Charleston district, came ,to my office and desired me to restore to his
possession the lands formerly belonging to him, on the ground that they were not abandoned,
He abandoned his lands to cast his fortunes with the confederacy shortly after the arrival
of the expeditionary corps, commanded by General Sherman, in 1861. General Sherman,
upon his arrival in South Carolina, issued a proclamation promising all persons who should
remain quietly in their homes ample protection for life and property. There was nothing to
prevent Governor Aiken from casting his fortunes with the Union. I was informed, in addi
tion, by authority which I deem reliable, that Governor Aiken was largely interesfed in
blockade-running, profiting more largely by it than almost any other. I had located a num
ber of freedmeu, who had always been loyal, in forty-acre tracts upon these lands in accord
ance with my orders from Major General Sherman, (Specral Field Order No. 15.) For
t! ese reasons I declined to return to Governor Aiken the, property claimed by him, without
positive orders to do so from the War Department. I was, shortly afterwards, arid after the
v>it of the lieutenant, general to South Carolina, mustered out of the service and relieved
from duty as the State commissioner. I have no positive information upon the subject, but
it is my strong belief that it is to the misrepresentations of such men as Governor Aiken,
William Wlniley, and others who have 'been disloyal, to the authorities, that I owe niy
removal. If their statements could have been met By those of the real Union men and of
the intelligent freedrnen, the case might have, been different.
Question. Do you know whether Governor Aikeu took any part in the rebellion?
Answer. I have understood that he was engaged in blockade-running, and that lie profited
largely by that ; I can only say this from report. That is the general rumor and impression.
Question. Did this report come to you from such authentic sources as to lead you to be
lieve it 1
Answer. It came to me from a gentleman who stated to me that he had seen the dividend
on account of stock of those engaged in blockade-running, and that a large share was given
to Governor Aiken as one of the stockholders. He told me that lie had had this paper in his
own possession ; he had it not then, but he informed me that he knew where it ^ as. I un-
de'. stood that he had seen it himself.
QIK srion. Was that a truthful man who gave you this information?
Answer. I believe him to be so ; he was a minister.
Question. Have you any objection to giving his name ?
Answer. No, sir; I refer to Mansfield French, of Charleston.
Question. ( 'an you state whether any report of the fact of his having been engaged in
blockade-running was ever made to the government of tin- United States?
Answer. No, sir; I cannot. I can state that it was generally believed in Charleston by
every person whom I heard speak of it.
Question. Did Governor Aikeu reside in Charleston during the war?
Answer, lie resided in that vicinity, I understood.
Question. Did this reverend gentleman state to you the amount Governor Aiken mad^by
blockade-running?
Answer. N»>, sir; he did not. He only stated that he had profited much larger than any
other person in the firm.
Question. Do you know Governor Orr?
Answer. 1 do not.
Question. What is the general impression down there about the late election between Gov
ernor Orr and Wade Hampton?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 217
Answer. It is the general impression that General Wade Hampton was elected by a con
siderable majority. I have heard that fact asserted positively.
Question. How did it happen that he was not declared governor?
Answer. It was understood that the votes were thrown out, perhaps as a matter of policy.
Question. Thrown out by whom?
Answer. I cannot say.
Question. Are you able to state who composed the board of canvassers who declared the
result of the election ?
Answer. I cannot say at present.
Question. Were they officers of the State ?
Answer. I cannot say, b.ut^ would recommend a full investigation into the election of-
Governor Orr.
Question. Was or was not that board composed of State officers of South Carolina ?
Answer. I do not know how the votes were counted or how the election was conducted.
Question. Is Governor Orr esteemed to be a loyal man in South Carolina?
Answer. I think he is as loyal as the average of South Carolinians.
Question. Describe the kind of loyalty of which that average of South Carolinians, in
your opinion, is possessed.
Answer. I believe that Governor Orr belongs to the best class of so-called loyal men in
South Carolina. I believe there is a small portion of people in South Carolina who desire
earnestly to fulfil their obligations to. the United States government. I believe that a large
majority, probably nine-tenths, of the people of South Carolina are opposed to the govern
ment, and look to their connexion with it as the greatest calamity which could befall South
Carolina, and desire a separate organization. I believe that a Union man holding and advo
cating Union sentiments cannot be elected to any office in the gift of the whites of South
Carolina. It is my belief that Governor Orr's great popularity in the State in former days
influenced a large vote in his favor; and it is my further conviction that his popularity was
weakened by the less prominent part he seemed to have taken during the rebellion. Had he
been as active as Wade Hampton, his popularity would have been increased in proportion.
I mention this as the indication that there is no real reformation ; that, in their own words,
they are overpowered, not conquered, and that they regard their treason as a virtue, and loy
alty as dishonorable. General Wade Hampton positively declined to be a candidate for the
office of governor. Had the white people of South Carolina thought that he would accept,
in my opinion his majority would have been far greater than it was.
Question. Howare secessionists there in the habit_ of speaking of the government of the
United States ; what is their tone and style in speaking of it?
Answer. They speak of it as ' your government," or as the "United States government;"
I have yet to hear a single one, even though he had taken the oath of allegiance, call it
" our " government. They speak of it as the government of a foreign nation. I think
their hatred of the Yankee, as they call him, is thoroughly intense.
Question. Have your opportunities been good to learn the state of popular feeling in South
Carolina towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. They have been peculiarly favorable ; I have travelled over portions of the State
and have conversed with large numbers of people in rny office ; I have talked with the
freedmen, and I have studied the reports of my agents throughout the State. I think I have
had better opportunities of discovering the real state of feeling there than any other person,
from my position.
Question. Suppose the United States should be engaged in a wrar with any other powerful
nation, such as England or France, and suppose in the progress of the strife it should become
apparent to the South Carolinians that they had a reasonable chance, by connecting them
selves with the common enemy, to achieve their independence and shake off the government
ol the Lnited States ; would they or not, in your opinion, do so?
Answer. I believer the feeling would be as unanimous to join that other government against
the United States as it was when that State seceded from the Union at first — that is, among
the white people.
Question. Does this feeling, in your judgment, more particularly pervade the higher
classes, or the middle classes, or the lower classes of the whites, or does it pervade them all ?
Answer. I think it pervades throughout. I think there are exceptions to it among the edu
cated, but they are few, and I think that the vast number of the ignorant are still guided by
the same counsels which guidefl them in seceding.
Question How do the leading politicians in South Carolina feel in regard to a republican
government, as you and I. understand it; I do not speak of universal suffrage or negro suf
frage, but of a democratic repiiblican government, such as is guaranteed by the Constitution
of the United States, and such as exists in -other States of the Union?
Answer. I think they are opposed to it.
Question. State whether you have heard expressions on the part of persons of standing and
consideration in South Carolina, or whether you know from any reliable sources, that such
is the feeling.
Answer. That such is their feeling is so apparent to me from all my intercoiirse with them
and from my conversations with them, that I cannot, at present, specify any individual case
218 RECONSTRUCTION.
in which this subject lias come up : but it is my belief that it is the burden of nearly all their
discussions on government. If I had supposed that my attention would have Ij.Vn called
to that subject on this examination, I would have been more particular on this point, and
would have been able to furnish many instances corroborative of this view.
Question. Do you think that, to use a common, plain expression, the great masses of the
people of South Carolina ^hate the government of the United States ?
Answer. I do, sir.
Question. What is their feeling towards northern men, and particularly those who have
been hearty and earnest in the prosecution of the war to put down the rebellion ?
Answer. Their feeling is hostile to northern men. As a general thing the United States
uniform is more likely to expose a person to insult than to respect ; and a man in full rebel
gray uniform can go from one end of the State to the other without receiving the slightest
disrespect.
Question. How are Union men, whether officers or civilians, treated by-. the secessionists
of South Carolina, socially?
^Answer. They are treated with' entire neglect, arid, so far as my experience goes, with
discourtesy. My wife has seldom walked the streets of Charleston without being insulted.
I, myself, have seldom passed through the streets without receiving, from man or woman,
indignities.
Question. In what form would these indignities be exhibited ?
Answer. By contortions of the countenance, making up faces, and perhaps claiming the
whole of the sidewalk, and in other ways. I speak in that connexion of women. I- have
been informed that other officers' wives have been subjected to the same discourtesies by
southern women, who represent in more direct and more unmistakable terms the true state
of feeling than the men do, from the fact that they are less politic. I believe that if the army
was removed, the situation of northern men, if they expressed Union sentiments, would be
perilous; they could not remain there. Teachers of colored schools throughout the State give
it as their opinion that they would be unable to remain there for a day but for the protection
of the United States troops.
Question. And particularly of the Freedmeu's Bureau ?
Answer. And particularly of the Freed men's Bureau.
Question. What military force has the United States in South Carolina?
Answer. I cannot answer positively. I should say about 5,0(JO men ; perhaps not so many.
They have been mustering out lately.
Question. Where art they principally stationed ?
Answer. Scattered over different portions of the State. If it were not for the protection
afforded by those troops the officers of the Freedmeu's Bureau could not remain there.
Question. Do you think they would be driven out by violence ?
Answer. Yes, sir; it is my belief they would be assassinated.
Question. W'hat chance do Unionists, especially Unionists from the north, stand for pro
tection and security in the State courts of South Carolina ?
Answer. The State courts have been so merged in the military courts that I cannot answer
that question positively. It is my opinion they would stand a very poor chance. They
have what they call provost courts, composed of citizens and one officer. It lias been niy
habit to require reports of outrages in different parts of the district to be sent to me while I
was commissioner, and I have a large pile of them. At the end of the month I have been in
the habit of making, an abstract of these reports touching on the different cases brought to
my attention. These reports will cover but a small portion of what actually happens.
Northern men would probably fare just as bad in the courts as the freedmen, and it is my
belief that there are large numbers in South Carolina who would consider it no greater crime
to kill an agent of the Fieedmen's Bureau, who claims justice for those committed to his
chftrge, than to kill a negro.
Question. Have you any statement in writing going to illustrate ;the treatment of the
whites toward the freedmen .'
Answer. I have briefs of the reports that reached me of many aggravated cases occurring
within the several districts. I have the original reports in my possession. (Witness presents
the briefs, referred to and which are annexed to his testimony.)
Question. How do the whites in South Carolina feel about the education of the freedmen?
Answer. I believe it to be the desire of a large majority of the white people that they shall
not be educated. Some intelligent planters, ho\ve\er, have assured me that they would not
oppose the education of the freedmeu.
Question. Do they generally appear to want the black people to remain among them .'
Answer. If they could manage them in their way they desire tliem to remain.
Question. How do you think they will manage them if the federal troops are withdrawn,
and the. Fieedmen's Bureau is withdrawn?
Answer. I think it will be the purpose of their former masters to reduce them as near to a
condition of slaves as it will be possible to do ; that they A\ ould deprive them by severe legis
lation of most of the rights of freedmeu. I think that the black codes that have passed the
legislature of the State are a sufficient indication of the truth of what I say, and the most
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 219
unjust contracts which they try to force upon the freedmen, and which they ask the aid of
the military authorities to enforce.
Question. If the State should have its own way in regard to the freedmen, \vhat, in your
iudgmeut, would he the result iu the course of time ?
Answer. I believe it will lead to insurrection and a war of races, iu which the United States
troops will be called upon to aid in the extermination of the black race. I think it is the
belief of a great majority of the former niaslers that the freedom of the black race is a failure,
and that slavery is 'his best condition, and that they desire to pursue such a policy as to prove
that 'they are correct in that belief. I cau see no hope for the freedmen except through the
care of the United States government.
Question. State whether that doctrine is inculcated by persons of condition in South Car
olina, from the pulpit, in lectures, discourses or essays, that slavery is the best condition for
the black race.
Answer. I believe it is ; I have seen it in their papers. I think they go as far in that di
rection in the pulpit and press as it is possible for them to do without being subjected to the
•restraint of martial laAv.
Question. Are you aware that the blacks have arms to any considerable extent iii South
Carolina ?
AHswer. I believe that a great many of them have arms, and I know it to be -their earn
est desire to procure them.
Question. While you we're in command there has any request been made to you to disarm
the blacks ?
Answer. I cannot say that any direct request has been made to me to disarm them ; it
would not be my duty to disarm them, as I was not the military commander, but I have had
men come to my office and complain that the negroes had arms, and I also heard that bands
of men called Regulators, consisting of those who were lately in the rebel service, were going
around the country disarming negroes. I can further state that they desired me to sanction
a form of contract which would deprive the colored men of their arms, which I refused to do.
The subject was so important, as I thought, to the welfare of the freedmen that I issued a
circular on this subject, which circular not having been approved by the military commander
was not published, as I Avas required by my instructions to get his approval to all my circu
lars before I issued them. (Witness furnishes copy of circular referred to, which is annexed
to his testimony.) I will further add, that I believe it to be the settled purpose of the white
people of South Carolina to be armed and thoroughly organized, and to have the whole black
population thoroughly disarmed and defenceless; I believe that is the settled policy
Question. What would be the probable effect of such an effort to disarm the blacks ?
Answer. It would subject them to the severest oppression, and leave their condition no
better than before they were emancipated, and in many respects worse than it was before.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that they would submit to be disarmed quietly ?
Answer. I do not believe that they would, provided the United States troops were with
drawn and the State relieved entirely from the presence of martial law.
Question. Do you think they would resist by violence such an attempt to disarm them?
Answer. They would, provided the United States troops were not present ; their respect
to the United States government is very great. The whole teachings of the agents of the
Freedmen's Bureari have been to them that they must never lift their hands against the Uni
ted States government, and they have seen the effect of the late rebellion, so that whatever
the United States government says they will observe to a very great extent. .But if the gov
ernment protection were withdrawn, and they were left entirely to the-ir former owners, and
this attempt to disarm them were carried out, I believe there would be an insurrection.
Question. Have you an apprehension that that state of feeling among the blacks which
you have now described generally prevails throughout the cotton, sugar, and rice-growing
States ? . — -I
Answer. So far as I am informed, I believe it does ; I believe there is a feeling of a mu
tual want of confidence between the former owner and the slave. The former owner has no
knowledge of the freeman, he does not understand him ; his whole teaching as a slave has
been to conceal his feelings from his master, and the late master knows less of the negro's
character than any other person ; he has no faith in the negro's capacity for freedom, no
faith in his capacity to take care of himself, and believes that slavery is his best condition.
The negro believes that his former master wishes to make him u slave again, and has no con
fidence in his promises. He desires particularly not to make any contract or to work for his
old master, preierriug to work for northern men. Northern men can get all the labor they
require, with capital ; but not so with the former slaveholders ; the only way this feeling cau
be broken down and a mutual confidence restored is to give the negro all his rights, and for
the old master to show him that he has given up the idea of making him a slave and is will
ing to recognize his rights. This, I think, will restore mutual confidence, peace, and har
mony, and thus there will be a thorough reconstruction, and not before. ^
Question. What extent of intelligence did you discover among the freedmen of South Car
olina /
Answer. I found many of the leading men very intelligent ; I found some men as intelli-
220 RECONSTRUCTION.
pent as any other men of a different color. Of course the large mass of them is ignorant and
degraded. They have all the vices which slavery has entailed upon them.
Question. Have they any knowledge of military drill and discipline ?
Answer. Large numbers of them have heen in our army, are well drilled and understand
the use of arms. I suppose that in South Carolina there are four or five thousand blacks
who have been in our army.
Question. Have any of them held military grades ?
Answer. They have been sergeants and corporals. There is one instance of a colored
man being a surgeon in our army : there are several instances where colored men have been
officers ; one colored man has been major, another captain, and several have occupied the
position of lieutenant.
Question. Do they seem to show an aptitude to acquire a knowledge of military matters?
Answer. I think they do. I think they are the easiest troops to learn military drill that I
have had any experience with.- They take to it naturally. They have a great 'idea of time,
and, so far as my experience goes, they make good soldiers.
Question. Have you ever seen them engaged in actual operations in the field against the
enemy ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have been in battle with them myself.
Question. On more occasions than once ?
Answer. I have never sent in a regiment but once. I sent in one regiment on John's
island, and they fought as bravely as any regiment I ever- saw. Out of 800 men they left 90
on the field. They made separate and distinct charges, and rallied and carried the point.
Question. What force were they fighting?
Answer. They were fighting a battery of rebel artillery and a regiment of infantry — a
superior force, I believe. They were ordered to drive the regiment out from behind some
temporary works which concealed them, and they succeeded in driving them out. I have the
testimony of rebel officers whom they fought against, and they said they fought well. I have
known of their fighting bravely in Florida. I sent a regiment under my command into
Florida, and the testimony of every one was that they did their duty bravely, thoroughly,
and well. They did well in Fort Wagner. I sent a detachment of the 33d regiment in the
vicinity of Poeotaligo. They went up for a particular purpose, and one company, under a
captain, accomplished the object for which I sent them up. On their return they were pur
sued by a large body of cavalry — probably a regiment. They took different roads, but one
company came down upon this company of colored troops. They fought them, emptied a
good many saddles, and drove them back. They brought off the prisoners which they cap
tured and got away themselves. For a small party it was a very creditable fight, and >o
well did they do their part that, in a flag of truce the next day from the rebels, they told me
that they thought we had a thousand negroes there. My entire experience with them in
Florida and South Carolina was that they make excellent soldiers, and that was the verdict
of every officer with whom I have conversed.
Question. Are they as steady and self-possessed under actual fire as white troops ?
Answer. I believe they can be trained to be so with good officers. It very much depends
upon the officers. I could discover no difference in their conduct upon the battle-field. J
think that as sentinels and for picket duty they are peculiarly adapted. They are better for
that than white soldiers on account of the peculiarity of the negro. The negro can see better
at night than the white man, and he is peculiarly excellent as a sentinel or out on picket
duty, and skirmishing.
Question. Is he as shrewd and cunning as the white man in that kind of service ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I think he is, fully.
Question. How do you find the black in regard to truthfulness?
Answer. The vices of slavery have been shared by them and others. Their whole life has
been one of concealment, and they had to lie to avoid punishment. I do not consider them
any more untruthful than any other pedplo, or any more truthful. I think they sha-v ;«11
the vices and all the virtues of our common humanity. Perhaps under the condition of
slavery they are not so truthful. But I think they are as truthful as any other people in the
same circumstances I am aware of all their vices and all their faults, but I think they have
no more vices or faults than are shared by any other race.
Question. Do they evince a love of education. generally?
Answer. Their desire of learning is intense. They feel that is one of the means by which
they are going to be elevated; and they have a particular avidity and desire to learn. All
the schools established there by northern benevolence arc crowded by children, and the
teachers have assured me that their progress is as great as that which they have seen among
white people, at the north, owing, probaMv. to their great desire to learn.' I have been sur
prised at the progress of the colored people at the schools.
Question. What is your opinion of the capacity of the negro for sustaining himself; is he
industrious and thrifty in a slate of freedom .'
Answer. 1 think he shares with other ra-es of men a natural disinclination to work, but
in no greater degree. I have employed large numbers of them in the cultivation of cotton
for the government, and, by paying them regular wages, I have had no difficulty in inducing
them to work, while in slavery the only stimulus to industry was the lush. The stimulus of
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 221
the free laborer, necessities, will be all that is required to make him industrious and thrifty.
Before I was assigned to duty as as-istant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, and
while in command of a military district in South Carolina, I endeavored to test, as far as
was in my power, the industrial, intellectual, and moral capacities and aptitudes of the ne-
• gro. I established regulations for the cultivation of two or three of the abandoned sea
islands in South Carolina, (St. Helena, Ladies', and Port Royal,) and appointed Socal super
intendents to oversee and direct their labors. By the payment of moderate wages, and just
and fair dealing with them, I produced for the government over half a million dollars' worth
of cotton, besides a large amount of food beyond the needs of the laborers. These island
lands were cultivated in this way for two years, 1802 and 1863, under my supervision, and
during that time I had about 15,000 colored freedmen of all ages in my charge. About 9,000
of these were engaged on productive labor, which relieved the government of the support of
all except newly-arrived refugees from the enemy's lines and old and infirm who had no re
lations to depend upon. The increase of industry and thrift of the freedmen was illustrated
by their conduct in South Carolina before the organization of the Freedmen's Bureau by the
decreasing government expenditure for their support. The expense in the department of
tile south in 18(53 was $41,544, but the monthly expense of that year was steadily reduced,
.iratil in December it was less than SjjyL 000, and this has always, I believe, been the case
,rsince the close of the war. The causes which have led to an interruption of labor since the
war are easily -explained. Previous to the termination of the war the negroes heard from
those in rebellion that it was the purpose of our government to divide up the southern plan
tations among tfiem, and that was one of the reasons the rebels urged among their own peo
ple to excite them to greater activity in the rebellion. Our own acts of Congress, and par
ticularly the one creating the Freedmen's Bureau, which was extensively circulated among
them, further strengthened them in this dearest wish of their heart — that they were to have
homesteads — and General Sherman's Special Field Order No. 15, which ordered their coloni
zation on forty-acre tracts, and in accordance with which it is estimated some forty thousand
were provided with homes. Public meetings were held, and every exertion used by those
whose duty it was to execute this order to encourage emigration to the sea islands, and the
faith of the government was solemnly pledged to maintain them in possession. The greatest
success attended the experiment, and although the planting season was very far advanced
before the transportation to carry the colonists to the sea islands could be obtained, and the
people were destitute of animals and had but' few agricultural implements and the greatest
difficulty in procuring seeds, yet they went to work with energy and diligence to clear up
the ground run to waste by three years' neglect ; and thousands of acres were planted and
provisions enough were raised to provide for those who were located in season to- plant, be
sides a large amount of sea-island cotton for market. The seizure of some 540,000 acres of
abandoned land, in accordance with the act of Congress and orders from the head of the
bureau for the freedmen and refugees, still further strengthened these ignorant people in the
conviction that they were to have the lands of their late masters ; and, with the other reasons
before stated, caused a great unwillingness on the part of the freedmen to make any con
tracts whatever. But this refusal arises from no desire on their part to avoid, labor, but to
the causes above stated. All officers and agents of the Freedmen's Bureau were instructed
to correct these impressions among the freedmen that they were to have lauds ; but so deep-
seated a conviction was difficult to eradicate. The entire want of confidence between the
freed man and the late master, neither of whom has any faith in the other, the absence of
capital on the part of the laud-owners to pay for labor, may also be reckoned among the
reasons why some of the freedmen do not go willingly to work. They fear that they shall
never be paid. For those who can gain their confidence, and from whom they feel sure of
receiving their pay, they will labor as faithfully as any other race. To test the question of
their forethought and prove that sorhe of the race at least thought of the future, I established
in October, 18<54, a savings bank for the freedmen of Beaufort district and vicinity. More
than 1840.000 has been deposited in this bank by the freedmen since its establishment. I
consider that the industrial problem has been satisfactorily solved at Port Royal, and that,
t in common with other races, the negro has industry, prudence, forethought, and ability to
calculate results. Many of them have managed plantations for themselves, and shown an
industry and sagacity that will compare favorably in their results— making due allowances —
with those of white men. There is nothing to fear for the future of the freedmen if the
government, which has made them free, protects them, by standing between them and those
who sought to destroy this nation and keep them in slavery, until such time as the State
laws shall make all men equal in the possession of civil and political rights irrespective of
color.
(Question. Is there anything further that you wish to state to the committee ?
Answer. I desire to append two circulars, which express the principles which governed
my administration of the offices of the Freedmen's Bureau in South Carolina, and to add a
few of the results of my experience, which may give more force to my testimony. I have
aimed to be just to all, irrespective of color or condition ; have labored to break down all an
tagonism, encourage friendly feeling between the freedmen and their former owners, by show
ing them that their interests were identical ; that each should be just to the other and respect
all the other's rights. I was fully impressed with the importance of maintaining friendly re-
222 RECONSTRUCTION.
lations with former masters, and was careful to be just to all parties, and not to exorcise any
authority not set forth in my instructions. I only asked even-handed justice fur those who
were committed defenceless to my care, contented oftentimes not even to secure this, always
holding out the olive branch. I was not met in the same spirit. The late slaveholders of
South Carolina still believe that the loyal black man has no rights that they nee- 1 n -["-cr,
and have not been taught that hard lesson for them to learn: that they must treat those they
once owned as free men and deal justly with them ; .that exact justice to all men, of whatever
color or condition, is the wisest expediency and the tiniest policy, and that educated free la
bor is the most profitable. An experience of nearly four years has convinced me that the
only safety for the republic is to give the black man the right of 'suffrage. With this in his
hands there would be little need for any special Freedmen's Bureau. Without it, and left
to the oppressive legislation of his late owner, the result would be fearful to contemplate.
Another proof that those lately in rebellion have not repented of their treason, is the determina
tion, which almost universally exists, to see that the national debt contracted to save the na
tion's life shall be repudiated, and it surely .will be if they ever should get into power. This
one fact is enough to show the hollowness of their professed loyalty. The love of the freed-
men of South Carolina for the memory of Abraham Lincoln amounts to worship, and his loy
alty and devotion to the Union cannot be questioned. Give the freedimm the ballot and he
will take care that the" vote of South Carolina is always given for the Union, and he will never
vote to repudiate the debt which was contracted to save it and to give him his freedom. Nor
will he ever permit the debt contracted to destroy the nation and keep him in slavery to be
assumed by the United States. There are numerous intelligent leaders among the freedmen,
who fully understand the meaning of suffrage — enough of 'them to guide tb.3 more ignorant;
and, so far from there being any danger to the peace of the country and to our institutions
in giving so many ignorant men the right of suffrage, I believe it to be the only means of
avoiding great and imminent dangers.
•
The following are the briefs of reports referred to in the foregoing testimony, and ordered
to be appended thereto :
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA,
Octobtr 30, 1865.
ABUEVILLE DISTRICT.
A planter, early in the war, removed all his servants ('200 in number) from John's and
Edisto islands to his plantation in Abbeville, where some ninety (90) have since died.
During the past summer — that is, since the repossession of the State by the United States
government — he has treated them as in former years, having an overseer and two drivers on
the plantation to keep the people at work. During that summer the freedmen raised a large
crop of corn, wheat, rice, cotton, potatoes, flax, and sorghum, but they received from the
planter n<5t even as much as their former rations, and, on the 2d of October, he sent eighty-
one (81) of them to Charleston, telling them that they had no share in the crop, but promis
ing to meet them in Charleston, which promise he did not fulfil. They were entirely desti
tute, and I sent them to John's island, supplying them with rations Such cases as the
above are not uncommon, and similar ones are reported in Anderson and Orangeburg dis
tricts. As fast as the crops are harvested, it is feared that many of the planters will pursue
the same course.
ANDERSON DISTRICT.
One man was shot and killed in presence of his wife, who begged for his life. Two other
men were tied up, cruelly flogged, then shot, (and it is believed killed, as the men have dis
appeared,) while the wife of one of the men received fifty (50) lashes.
BARNWELL DISTRICT.
Affidavits of colored men have been received in regard to the outrages committed there,*
which show a terrible state of affairs. On one plantation three colored women were severely
whipped, and on another a wgman was unmercifully flogged because she lefused to leave
the place. A woman and her children were taken from her husband, carried to another plan
tation, and are now kept there against their wills. Four (4) white citizens, with a white
soldier, broke into the house of a freedman who was sick, tied his humls behind him and
swung him up to a post for an hour or more, then chained him and lei't him so for more than
two days. Another beat a freedmau violently over the head with a stick, and, drawing a
knife, threatened to stab him if he moved while the white man attempted to tie him.
On some of the plantations the freedmen do not get a share of all the prodiu-e, the planters
withholding the cotton crop on some plea best known to themselves. This latter practice is
almost universal throughout the State. A regular pass and patrol system for the restriction
and punishment of the freedmen, such as was in vogue during the time of slavery, is reported
to exist. One woman was tied up with her clothes over her head, and her naked person
whipped so violently as to inflict severe wounds. She was driven from the plantation without
any pay for work done, and threatened with death if she informed the authorities of the abuse
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 223
she bad received. Two freedmen were whipped by their master, who took them to the com
manding officer at Buruwell, who told him "to whip them again, as they had riot had half
enough." This officer is reported to pay mo attention to the complaints oV freedmen. With
such an officer in power, it is hardly possible to protect them»from abuse. Lawlessness on
the part of the freedmen must be expected under such circumstances. It is reported that a
baud of sixty (60) of them are organizing for the purpose of robbery. The leader of it and
three (3) men have been captured, and one (1) escaping was shot, and afterwards died of
his wounds.
BEAUFORT DISTRICT.
In this district, the board established by orders from headquarters department South Caro
lina to decide as to wliom it is proper to issue rations, compel the personal attendance of
all applicants. Much suffering results therefrom, as many maimed, bed-ridden, or infirm can
not come. Two died, near Beaufort, from starvation, the agent having no food to give them.
The officer at Beach Branch is reported as assisting the planters in acts of injustice and
cruelty to the freedmen. In one case a woman and her children were brutally whipped and
driven off the place after the crop was harvested. Two men were tied up four feet from the
ground, and left in that position for more than two hours.
CHARLESTON DISTRICT.
The agent reports a general hatred of the freedmen, which, indeed, might be reported of
every district in the State.' -That they are lifershly treated while travelling by rail, though
they pay their fare, and that their sick are not allowed to travel on the trains. Believes
that the colored people will desert the country if the whites continue to act "as they have
done. One planter, assisted by a United States sergeant and a negro-driver, tied up three
men and three women.
COLLETON DISTRICT.
A freedman was shot on one of the plantations, but by whom has not been ascertained.
A woman was tied up by the thumbs, and kept so for more than an hour.
DARLINGTON, WILLIAMSKUJRG, AND MARION DISTRICTS.
The reports show, in general, a better state of affairs than elsewhere. The freedmen are
self-supporting, and there is little or no comlict between the two races, though there are in
dividual cases of injustice and dissatisfaction. The officer acting for the bureau believes
that man}' of the negroes could obtain good wages north, and that it would be well for all
parties if some of them coukkreceive free transportation to the northern States. Thinks that
the freedmen will be persecuted if the military are withdrawn. This is the opinion of all
officers of the bureau, and, indeed, of many of the citizens. Many of the planters are not
making contracts for the ensuing year, as they are waiting to see what legislation may be
made in regard to labor. , .
EDGEFIELD DISTRICT.
Several affidavits have been received in rsgard to the cruelties practiced here. One freed
man with three children, two malefaud one female, were stripped naked, tied up, and whipped
severely ; threats of murder being made if complaint was made to the military. Another
man was whipped severely with a stick, and cut over tlfe eye with a knife, and as he 'ran
away to escape from their cruelties was shot at. A woman was severely whipped and car
ried off to jail, and as she has disappeared, fears are entertained that she has been murdered.
Another woman was tied fast to a tree and violently lashed with a buggy trace, receiving
one hundred lashes. Tw*o children were severely whipped, and their mother driven off the
plantation without any pay for work done.
GEORGETOWN DISTRICT.
It is reported that the planters, with the assistance of the military, compel the freedmen to
do work not called for under their contract. On one plantation a freedman was twice beaten
severely over the head with a stick and refused rations.
Affairs are, in general, worse in the interior of the State where military force cannot readily
reach the plantations. It is difficult to reach the murderers of colored people, as they hid'e
themselves, and are screened by their neighbors.
Names and dates of all the occurrences stated above can be given if desired.
CHARLESTON, S! C., November 21, l-ti.~>.
GENERAL : I have the honor to herein submit a brief made up from reports received from
the acting sub-assistant commissioners and agents of the bureau in South Carolina during
the month of October, 1865. It shows, as far as can be ascertained, the state of affairs m
the several districts of the State.
224 RECONSTRUCTION.
ABHEVILLE DISTRICT.
A planter, early in the war, removed all his servants, two hundred in number, from John's
and Edisto islands to his plantation in Abbeville, where some ninety (90) have since died.
During the pa--t summer — that is, since the repossession of the State by the United States
government — he lias treated them as in former years, having an overseer and two drivers
on the plantation to keep the people at work. During that summer the freednien raised a
large crop of corn, wheat, rice, cotton, sweet potatoes, flax, and sorghum ; but they received
from the planter not even as much as their former rations, and on the 2d October he sent
eighty-one (81) of them to Charleston, telling them they had no share in 'the crops, but
promising to meet them in Charleston, which promise he did not fulfil. They were entirely
destitute, and I sent them to John's island, supplying them with rations. Such cases as the
above are not uncommon, and similar ones are reported in Anderson and Orangeburg dis-\
tricts. As fast as the crops are harvested it is feared that many of the planters will pursue
the same course.
ANDERSON DISTRICT.
One man was shot and killed in presence of his wife, who begged for his life. Two other
men were tied up, cruelly flogged, then shot — and it is believed killed, as the men have dis
appeared — while the wife of one of the men received fitty (50) lashes.
BARNWELL DISTRICT.
Affidavits of colored men have been received in regard to the outrages committed there,
which show a terrible state of affairs. On one plantation three colored women were severely
whipped, and on another a woman was unmercifully flogged because she refused to leave
the place. A woman and her children were taken from her husband, carried to another
plantation, and are now kept there against their wishes. Four (4) white citizens, with a
white soldier, broke into the house of a freedman, who was sick, tied bis hands behind him,
and swung him up to a post for an hour or more, then chained him and left him so for more
than two (2) days. Another beat a freedman violently over the head with a stick, and
drawing a knife threatened to stab him if he moved while the white man attempted, to tie
him. On some of the plantations the freedmen do not get a share of all the produce, the
planters withholding the cotton crop on some plea best known to themselves. This latter
practice is almost universal throughout the State. A regular pass and patrol system for the
restriction and punishment of the freedmen, such as was in vogue during the time of slavery,
is reported to exist. One woman was tied up with her clothes over her head, and her naked
person whipped so violently as to inflict severe wounds. She was then driven from the
plantation without any pay for work done, and threatened with death if she informed the
authorities of the abuse she had received. Two freedmeu were whipped by their master,
who then took them to the commanding officer at Baruwell, who told him to whip them
again, as they had not had half enough. This officer is reported to pay no attention to the
complaints of freedmen. With such an officer in power, it is hardly possible to protect them
from abuse. Lawlessness on the part of the freedmeu must be expected under such circum
stances. It is reported that a band of sixty (b'U) of them are organized for the purpose of
robbery. The leader of it and three (3) men have been captured, and one (1) escaping, was
shot and afterwards died of the wound.
•
•BEAUFORT DISTRICT.
In this district the board established by orders from headquarters, department of South
Carolina, to decide as to whom it is proper to issue rations, compej the personal attendance
of all applicants, and much suffering results therefrom, as maimed, bedridden, or infirm,
cannot come. Two (2) died near Beaufort from starvation, the agent having no food to give
them. The officer at Beach Branch is reported as assisting the planters in acts of injustice
and cruelty to the freedmen. In one case a woman and her children were brutally whipped
and driven off the place after 'the crop was* harvested. Two men were tied up four (4) feet
from tjie ground and left in thut condition for more than two (2) hour:*
CHARLESTON DISTRICT.
The agent reports a general hatred of the freedmen, which, indeed, might be reported of
every district in the State ; that they are harshly treated while travelling by rail, though they
pay their fare, and that their sick are not allowed to travel on the trains. Believes that the
colored people will desert the country if the whites continue to act as they have done. One
planter, assisted by a Unrted States sergeant and a negro driver, tied up three (3) men and
three (3)' women.
COM. ETON DISTRICT.
A freedman was shot on one of the plantations, but by whom has not been ascertained. A
woman was tied up by the thumbs and kept so for more than an hour.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 225
DARLINGTON, WEULIAMSBURG, AND MARION DISTRICTS.
The reports show, in general, a better state of affairs than elsewhere. The freedmen are
self-supporting, and there is little or no conflict between the two races, though there are
individual cases of injustice and dissatisfaction. The officer acting fur the bureau believes
that many of the negroes could obtain good wages north, and that it would be well for all
parties if some of them could receive free transportation to the northern States. Thinks that
freedmen will be persecuted if the military are withdrawn. This is the opinion of all officers
of the bureau, and, indeed, of many of the citizens. Many of the planters are not making
contracts for the ensuing year, as they are waiting to see what legislation may be made in
regard to labor.
EDGEFIELD DISTRICT.
Several affidavits have been received in regard to cruelties practiced here. One freedman
with two (2) male and one (1) female children were stripped naked, tied up, and whipped
severely, threats of murder being made if complaint was made to the military. Another
man was whipped severely with a stick and cut over the eye with a knife, and as he ran
away to escape their cruelty was shot at. A woman was severely whipped and carried off
to jail, and, as she has disappeared, fears are entertained that she has been murdered.
Another woman was tied fast to a tree and violently lashed with a buggy-trace, receiving
one hundred (100) blows. Two (2) children were severely whipped and their mother driven
off the plantation without any pay for work done.
GEORGETOWN DISTRICT.
It is reported that the planters, with assistance of the military, compel the freedmen to do
work not called for under their contract. On one plantation a freedman was twice beaten
severely over the head with a stick and refused rations.
Affairs are, in general, worse in the inferior of the State, where military force cannot readily
reach the plantations. It is difficult to reach the murderers of colored people, as they hide
themselves and are screened by their neighbors. Names and dates of all the occurrences
stated above can be given if desired.
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, December 19, 1865..
ABBEVILLE DISTRICT.
Here a planter worked nearly one hundred (100) hands near Cokesburg, ten (10) of them
on the South Carolina railroad for six (6) mouths, (the planter receiving their wages,) and
the remainder on his plantation, raising a crop of corn, wheat, rice, cotton, &c. After the
crop was harvested the^iaborers were brought to Charleston, where, being destitute, they had
to be rationed by government. After their arrival in this city the planter distributed fifty
dollars ($50) among them. The largest amount any one received was one dollar and twen--
ty-five cents, ($1 '25,) and from that down to fifty cents, (50,) some receiving nothing. One
peck of dry corn per week was the only ration furnished the farm hands.
BEAUFORT DISTRICT.
It is stated that the superior provost court here is outrageously unjust towards freedmen
and northern whites whenever they are opposed by secessionists. That the court being vio
lently secession in sentiment, while allowing negro testimony gives it no weight whatever if
white witnesses appear on the other side. A case is reported where a horse in the possession
of a freedman was taken from him and given to a late rebel soldier, the cost of court, ten
dollars, ($10,) being adjudged against the freedman, although the freedman brought full proof
that the horse came into his possession a long time previous to the date given by the soldier
as the time he lost him. In another case the defendant lost his horse, and .was kept in jail
ten ( 10) days in default of payment of costs, being finally released on the protest of the agent ;
since the protest of the agent was sufficient to release the defendant it would seem as if the
court must have been conscious of injustice done the freedman. .
BARNWELL DISTRICT.
Here a grocer is reported as killing a freedman ; the murderer has not yet been captured,
but his store and property have been taken possession of by the bureau. A soldier is report
ed as wounding a freedman for resisting him ; what cause the sofdier had to interfere with
the freedmau is not stated. Both these cases are being investigated by a board of officers.
The disposition shown by the planters to turn off the freedmen without compensation for
their labor, as mentioned in the report for October, still continues. It is thought that troops
cannot be withdrawn with safety from this section, and that to preserve peace and order after
New Year's day more force will be needed.
15 V NC SC
226 RECONSTRUCTION.
BEAUFORT DISTRICT.
A great many freedmen are in the district who have boon laboring- for planters in the in
terior of the State, and who have now sent them to the coast, without pay (either intnoney or
provisions) for the summer work. As, under existing orders, the agents cannot Uielp them,
universal thieving is already a first consequence of their destitution.
CHARLESTON DISTRICT.
Many difficulties exist here in the way of new contracts being made. The planters say
they are desirous to contract, but they do not offer sufficient pay to induce the freedmen to
come to terms with them. The planters propose to pay established rates of wages in money
or produce (at market rates) according to the number of tasks performed, leaving all disputes
which may arise between them to the provost or civil courts.
CHESTERFIELD DISTRICT.
Here the officers of the bureau are principally employed in the distribution of the crops.
There are no schools as yet, but there are three about to be established, and soldiers will be
detailed as teachers. There are about two hundred (200) white refugees here who need ra
tions.
DARLINGTON, WILLIAMSBURG AND MARION DISTRICTS.
No contracts have yet been made here for the next year, but arrangements for them are
being perfected which it is hoped will result favorably. There are no schools as yet, but
efforts are being made to procure suitable buildings, and to detail soldiers as teachers.
EDGEFIELD DISTRICT.
Here a woman was threatened with whipping because she did not run fast enough at her
work, and her mother deprecating such threats, sh| (the mother) was severely cut in the face
by a heavy blow given with a board, and on the two then leaving the place, they were not
allowed to take with them even their personal property. Certain freedmen report "that a man
was shot down in his own house, and that in many places men hare been found lying dead.
GEORGETOWN DISTRICT.
The reports from this district are encouraging both in regard to the present conduct of the
marked change among the freedmen in their ideas of the duty they owe to the government,
the law, and the decisions of the courts. A portion of the planters favor the system of hiring
by the year, paying according to the number of tasks performed, while others are disposed
to contract on the basis of division of the crop, one-half to the employer, one-half to tin- la
borers, their half to be divided among them according to the number of tasks respectively
performed. The planters are better satisfied with the bureau than heretofore, and many in
fluential parties are favorable to its continuance. Small-pox prevails to some extent, and
hospital facilities are of the utmost importance ; a hospital is now being established there
under the supervision of a surgeon of the bureau. The Ireedmen are procuring a suitable lot
for a school building, and as relating to schools everything is progressing favorably.
IIORRY DISTRICT.
The officer having been in the district but a short time, has not made much progress in the
affairs of the bureau, but he reports a very favorable state of affairs between the white and
freed people.
KERSHAW DISTRICT.
A freedwoman stales, that on leaving her late master and employer, she was not allowed
to bring away her two (2) children, aged nine (9) and twelve (12,) and that they are now
kept there against their own and her will.
ORANGEBURG DISTRICT.
Here a school-house, and small building for the teachers' use, has been built at a cost of
•three hundred dollars (£300) for material, the labor being done by the soldiers without ex
pense to the government. It is thought that the freedmen will make contracts for the next
year. It is thought troops cannot be withdrawn with safety. Garrsons from headquarters
of the district are at Aiken, Barnwell, Bamburg, and Branchville.
RICIILAND DISTRICT.
The officer here thinks contracts will be entered into for the ensuing year, and some indeed
are already being made. One has been made with Wade Hampton, Vho takes the freedmen
VIRGINIA - NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 227
to Mississippi. He gives full hands ton dollars ($10) per month, and three and a half
pounds meat and a peck of meal per week. There is no end to the complaints of brutal
treatment and injustice towards the freed men in the upper country, but they cannot reach
such cases without mounted men, of which at present they have but few. There are. pranks
of bushwhackers in the upper country who rob and beat the colored people unmercifully.
Two murders have been committed in Laurens district; when the authors of these outrages
can be reached, the cases are referred to the provost courts for action. A citizen of Lexing
ton, who murdered a freedrnan, has been. sentenced to imprisonment for life at Albany, New-
York. The military aid the bureau as much as they can. The health of the freedmen is im
proving-, and crops are being divided promptly. The schools are doing well, pupils regular
and punctual in their attendance, neat and clean in their appearance, and manifest great in
terest in their studies. Schools have been established at Wiunsborouh.
SOITER DISTRICT.
As yet no attempts have been made to renew contracts, but the entire attention of the offi
cer has been given to the division of the crops. No schools have been organized, except one
small one which a colored man has been teaching. It is thought that the number of depend
ents will increase at the end of the year, as planters will turn off those who cannot work.
This will probably apply in a greater or less degree to the whole State.
WILLIAMS13URG DISTRICT.
A freedman states that, on the 25th of November, he, with eight (8) others were hunted
down and caught by sixteen (1<>) white men, carried to a plantation, kept under guard all
night, and the next morning bucked and whipped, some of them nearly to death. After
which they were compelled to promise never to divulge the outrage, under penalty of being
shot. Others of the party who escaped from their persecutors Aveie shot at. The man who
makes the statement received three hundred and seventy (370) lashes, as his back now bears
witness, it having been seen by a member of my staff. The stepmother of complainant (on
old woman) received three hundred (300) lashes, while othern of the party received two hun
dred (2UU) and three hundred (300) lashes. It appears that two (2) days previous to the
outrage two (%2) white men, representing themselves to be " Yankees come to divide the crops
among the freedmen," made their appearance in the district. The freedmen, being glad to
have their crops divided, treated the men well, and believing them to be friendly descanted
freely upon their wrongs and sufferings, and expressed themselves ready to die for their de
liverers. The white men took their names and several localities, and were thus enabled after
wards to easily trace them out.
The names of the whites are known, and the general commanding the department has been
requested to bring them to justice.
The majority ot freedmen in the district are unwilling to contract with their former masters,
as they intend at the close of the year to seek other employers, and in many cases they still
entertain the hope that land will be given them. Those who were in the path of Sherman's
army say they were told so by the soldiers. Every endeavor has been made by addresses and
circulars to disabuse their minds of this impression, and it is believed that these endeavors
are surely though slowly producing .their proper effect and causing the freedmen to see the
necessity of labor and the desirability of remaining with their present employers, rather than
seeking work in unknown and untried localities. Most of the planters are desirous of renew
ing their contracts, fearing disturbances would otherwise occur at the end of the year ; but
they are not as conciliatory as they might be towards the freedmen, nor as just as they should
be in the rate of wages offered. The colored people, without exception, and many of the
whites, desire the troops to remain. The ladies of Williarnsburg. hearing that the troops
were to be withdrawn, sent a petition to the commanding officer asking that they might be
retained.
The freedmen believe that in the absence of United States troops they would have no
redress in the case of oppression or outrage by their former masters, and the whites seem to
apprehend lawlessness on the part of the freedmen; besides, the whites say, and are un
doubtedly right in so saying, that none but United States military officers, or agents of the
bureau, have any influence with the freedmen, as the latter have no confidence in those who
have been slaveholders. Many cases of violence to freedineu by white residents have occur
red in different parts of the State during November, which are not detailed in this report, as
the particulars have not been received at this office. General Ames has sent a small garrison
to Hamburg district on account, of the many outrages committed there. Many people are
leaving the interior and making their way to the coast, notwithstanding the many arguments
and endeavors made to dissuade them from so doing and to induce them to remain and enter
into contracts.
In some parts of the State, militia companies have been organized under the sanction of the
provisional governor, and here the whites would like to hav$ the United States troops with
drawn, that the State militia might take all police duties into their own hands. It is perhaps
questionable whether the late proceedings of certain of these companies are such as to make
228 RECONSTRUCTION.
it desirable that those duties should be given up to them, and the freedrnen left to their
prejudiced management.
the outrages which still continue in the interior show the necessity of some restraining
influence.
Wherever the arm of United States military law cannot reach, the whites, beino- conse
quently free to act as they choose, are almost sure to abuse the negroes.
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA, January 15, ]8C6.
ANDERSON DISTRICT.
Here, m July last, a planter proposed to his hands that they should sign a contract to work
for him during their lifetime; they refusing, the planter drove them away without food or
compensation lor labor done. Four of them (three men and one woman) went towards
Columbia, but before reaching there they were overtaken by two white men, mounted and
armed, whom the planter had sent in pursuit. Asking the freedmen where they were ffoino-
and being told, they seized them, and taking them to the adjacent woods, tied two of the men
by their hands and feet to trees, leaving the third man to hold their horses ; the whites then
each tired a shot at each of their two victims, killing them instantly; the third escaped by
running to and jumping into a creek near by, the whites firing at but not hittino- him ; they
then stopped the woman naked, gave her fifty lashes on the bare back, and compelled her to
walk back to the plantation ; she was then put to the plough by day, and confined by ni^ht
lor a week, without anything to eat. At this time an officer happened at the place to whom
the woman told her situation. The officer took her and her children to the place where her
li us I tand and the other man had been killed, found remnants of the bodies and buried
them, then sent the woman and her children to Charleston. On her arrival she gave birth
to a dead infant ; her sickness preventing her from telling her story until this time. The
planter paid the two murderers for their services with twenty yards of cloth, three bushels of
nee, two bushels of salt, and a government wagon. The case has been referred to the de
partment commander, with the request that the murderers be brought to justice.
BEAUFORT DISTRICT.
Agent on St. Helena island reports two decisions of provost court. In the first case a
freedman was found guilty of ordering the former own^er off the place and threatening to shoot
him it he did not leave; he was sentenced to two months' imprisonment and to pay a fine of
one hundred dollars and costs, ten dollars. In the second case two white men went to the
careful in future. The inference is that the color of the parties affected the decision of the
court. Large numbers of the old and infirm, utterly destitute, are coming into the district
from the upper country.
CHARLESTON DISTRICT.
A freedman reports that his employer beat him violently, and then, being irritated against
the freedman because the court decreed seventy-five dollars damages for the assault, ivtu-i-.l
to give him any portion of the crop. The owner was in the rebel army, and returned to the
place some months after the working of the crop had been commenced by the freedman. In
another part of the district a young woman big with child was, without any provocation
thereto, tied up by the thumbs, and while in that position was brutally kicked by the. over
seer, the family of the woman beiu<r ordered off the place. From another part of *the district
a planter took his old hands into North Carolina, and after working them nearly all the year,
sent them, with little or no compensation, to make their way to their old home as best' tlu-v
jnight. On another place two of the hands, a man and a woman, were stripped naked and
brutally whinped, and another who left on that account was deprived of a horse, his personal
property, and n-1 used any share in the crop. In another part a planter had one hundred
people on his place, who have made for him a good crop, of which he refused to give them
any part, even for their immediate use and support.
COLUMBIA DISTRICT.
The officer reports alarming destitution ; numbers of aged and infirm are coming in. There
have not been as many complaints as formerly of bnital treatment. He thinks many contracts
will be made for I860, as both planters and freedmen seemed disposed to come to terms, and
a better feeling and understanding has arisen between employers and employes. School
are flourishing and the number of scholars is increasing.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 229
GEORGETOWN DISTRICT.
Here the number of applicants for support is increasing as the cold weather comes on
and the slender crops of the freedmen become exhausted; no more rations are issued, how
ever, than is actually necessary. Every contract made in 1865 has been brokeu^by the
freedmen, the crops raised being barely sufficient to keep them from starving.
No contracts have been made for I860, though the planters generally are anxious to agree to
any reasonable terms, and the officers try to induce the freedmen to contract. The idea that
they are to receive lands still prevails in the face of orders and verbal explanations to the con
trary. The officer thinks that they may contract if they find that they are to receive no lands.
Reports that many freedmen are supporting themselves by shooting game, and that stealing is
becoming prevalent. States that the whites apprehended an outbreak during the holidays,
and that proper precautions were accordingly taken, but that such caution was quite unneces
sary, as the freedmen were perfectly quiet. They have no confidence in the planter's word,
and the presence of an officer is imperative in every transaction. Small-pox still prevails to
a considerable extent.
ORANGEBURG DISTRICT.
All here is very quiet; no disturbances of any kind are reported. Crops are being satis
factorily divided, but are generally very small. Few contracts are being made for 1866.
Some freedmen are desirous of contracting, but receive little or no encouragement from the
planters. Some planters refuse to contract because they fear orders from the bureau conflict
ing with State legislation on the subject. They desire, in fact, and are working for, the
abolishment of the bureau, as they want to manage the freedmen without its assistance, but
it is doubtful whether their management would be a judicious one. The freedmen have no
faith in their late masters, but rest it solely in the bureau. Much difficulty and distress is
anticipated in consequence of the planters' disposition to drive away the aged and inlirm on
account of their inability to work. . Schools are doing well. Many utterly destitute refugees
are in the district.
Besides those causes specified in the report, where freedmen have^been driven away by
their employers without pay for labor done, a report has been received from one of the agents
on the coast, giving a list of seven planters who have thus defrauded their employes out of
pay to the amount of seventeen hundred dollars, (§1,7UU.)
The following are the circulars referred to in the foregoing testimony, and ordered to be
appended thereto :
PROPOSED CIRCULAR OF BRIGADIER GENERAL R. SAXTON.
[Circular No. 1.]
HEADQUARTERS ASSISTANT COMMISSIONER, BUREAU REFUGEES,
FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS, SOUTH CAROLINA,
Charleston, Suutli Carolina, January 8, 1866.
I. All officers and agents of this bureau are required to see that it is well understood be
tween the planters and freedmen that no deductions of wages are to be made for the follow
ing holidays, viz: New Year's, national and State fast days, Fourth of July, national and
State thanksgiving days, and Christmas day; nor will the freedmen be required to work on
those days, excepting to perform such necessary labor as is required on the Sabbath day.
II. It is reported that in some parts of this State armed parties are, without proper author
ity, engaged in seizing all fire-arms found in the hands of the freedmen. Such conduct is in
plain and direct violation of their personal rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of the
United States, which declares that "the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not
be infringed." The freedmen of South Carolina have shown by their peaceful and orderly
conduct that they can safely be trusted with lire-arms, and they need them to kill game for
subsistence, and to protect their crops from destruction by birds and animals.
III. The planter who refuses to make a fair and reasonable contract with the freedmen
residing upon his place will not be permitted to remove them from his plantation, unless
they should refuse to enter into fair and reasonable contracts with safld planters, nor then,
only upon application to, or approval by, the proper agent of the Freedmeii's Bureau.
IV". In cases where contracts between planters and freedmeu prescribe penalties for their
non-fulfilment on the part of the freedmen, no other penalties than those designated in the
contract can lawfully be inflicted upon the freedmen by the planter. In cases ot sickness,
where the freednian works for a share of the crop, a^id no damage results to the crop from
such sickness, no deduction must be made from the freedman's share of the crop.
The provisions of this circular will be published to both the planters and the freedmen,
and will be strictly enforced throughout the State of South Carolina.
By order of Brevet Major General R. Saxton, assistant commissioner.
_ — — — _ j
Assistant Adjutant General.
230 RECONSTRUCTION.
CIRCULARS ISSUED BY BRIGADIER GENERAL R. SAXTON.
[Circular No. 1.]
HEADQUARTERS ASS'T COMMISSIONER BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN,
AND ABANDONED LANDS, SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA,
Beaufort, S. C., June 10, ]HM.
In accordance with Special Orders No. 238, current series, from the War Department, the
undersigned hereby assumes control of all matters relating to refugees, freedmen, and aban
doned lands, as assistant commissioner of the bureau for the States of South Carolina and
Georgia, headquarters at Beaufort, South Carolina, where all communications relating to
the Freedmen's Bureau for the above-mentioned States should be addressed.
To this bureau is intrusted the supervision and management of all abandoned lands, the
educational, industrial, and other interests of refugees and freedmen, and the location of
such as may desire it on homes of forty (40) acres, where, by faithful industry, they "can
readily achieve an independence. I earnestly solicit the co-operation and aid of the military
authorities of the department in this work. The policy which has been pursued on the sea
islands of South Carolina and Georgia will be continued, subject to such modifications as
may be made from time to time by the head of the bureau at Washington. No such relation
as master anj} slave Avill be recognized, as every man, woman, and child within these States
has been declared "forever free" by President Lincoln's proclamation of January J, 1863;
ar.d all commissioners are required to protect those within their jurisdiction in the enjoy
ment of their rights. The freedmeu should accept with thankful hearts the great boon of
liberty which a kind Providence has vouchsafed to them, and by industry and good conduct
prove themselves worthy of it, showing to those who have no faith in their capacity that
in freedom they can become better men and better citizens. The late masters should" heed
the teachings of the great struggle through which the nation has passed, and accept the re
sult as the verdict of the Almighty against "human slavery.
Adopting the noble creed of our late honored President, ""with malice towards none, and
charity to all ; with firmness in the right, as God gives us to see the right," let us strive
earnestly to establish peace and good will, and, recognizing the inalienable rights of all
men, do what we can to inaugurate for our country a fairer future of happiness and pros
perity.
R. SAXTON,
Brevet Major General, Assistant Commissioner.
[Circular No. 2.]
HEADQUARTERS ASS'T COMMISSIONER BUREAU REFUGEES, FREEDMEN,
AND ABANDONED LANDS, SOUTH CAROLINA, GEORGIA, AND FLORIDA,
Beaufort, S. C., August 16, 1805.
To the Freedmen of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida :
In entering upon that portion of my duty which relates to your welfare, I deem it proper
to address to you a few words of counsel. By the emancipation proclamation of President
Lincoln, the laws of Congress, and the will of God, you have been declared "forever free."
At the outset of your new career it is important that you should understand some of the
duties and responsibilities of freemen. Your first duty is to go to work at whatever honest
labor your hands can find to do, and provide food, clothing, and shelter for .your families.
Bear in mind that a man who will not work should not be allowed to eat. Labor is enno
bling to the character, and, if rightly directed, brings to the laborer all the comforts and
luxuries of life. The only argument left to those who would keep you in slavery is, that in
freedom you will not work ; that the lash is necessary to drive you to the cotton and rice
fields ; that these fair lauds which you have cultivated so many years in slavery will now
be left desolate. On the sea islands of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, where your
brethren have been free for three years, they have nobly shown how much better they can
work in freedom. Over forty thousand are now engaged in cultivating the soil, their chil
dren are being educatea, and they are self-sustaining, Irnppy, and free. Some are working
1'or wages; others are cultivating the laud on shares, giving one-half to the owner.
The agents of the Freedmen's Bureau will aid you in making contracts to work for fair
wages for your former masters or others who may desire to hire you, or will locate you oil
small farms of forty acres, which you can hire at an easy rent, with an opportunity to pur
chase at low rates any time within three, years. These are splendid opportunities. Freed
men, let not a day pass ere you find some work for your hands to do, and do it with all your
might. Plough and plant, dig and hoe, cut and gather in the harvest. Let it be seen 'that
where in slavery there was raised a blade of corn or a pound of cotton, in freedom there will
be two. Be peaceful and honest, Falsehood and theft should not be found in freedom ;
they are the vices of slavery. -Keep in good faith all your contracts and agreements, reinein
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 231
bering always that you are a slave no longer. While guarding carefully your own rights,
be as careful not to violate your neighbor's. "Do unto others as you would they should do
unto you."
In cases where you feel that you have been wronged, it is neither wise nor expedient to-
take redress into your own hands, but leave the matter to be settled by three impartial friends
of both parties, 'in cases of difficulty between white men and yourselves, you should ap
peal to one of the agents of this bureau in your vicinity, who may appoint one referee, the
other party one, and you should appoint a third, and the decision of the majority should be
considered final. By this easy mode of settling difficulties much trouble may be avoided.
In slavery you only thought of to-day. Having nothing to hope for beyond the present,
you did not think of the future, but, like the ox and horse, thought only of the food and
work for the day. In freedom you must have an eye to the future, and have a plan and ob
ject in life. Decide now what you are to do next year ; where you are to plant in the spring,
ai>d how much ; and in the autumn and winter prepare your land and manure for the early
spring planting. After being sure that you have planted sufficient corn arid potatoes for
food, 'then put In all the cotton and rice you can, for these are the crops which will pay the
best. Bear in mind that cotton is a regal plant, and the more carefully it is cultivated the
greater will be the crop. Let the world see ere long the fields of South Carolina, Georgia,
and Florida white with this important staple cultivated by free labor.
In slavery the domestic relations of man and wife were generally disregarded. Virtue,
purity, and honor among men and women were not required or expected. All this must
change now that you are free. The domestic altar must be held sacred, and with jealous
care must you guard the purity of a wife, a sister, or a daughter, and the betrayer of their
honor should be punished, and held up to universal condemnation. You are advised to
study, in church and out of it, the rules of the marriage relation issued from these head
quarters. Colored men and women, prove by }*our future lives that you can be virtuous
and pure.
No people can be truly great or free without education Upon the education of your chil
dren depends in a great degree the measure of your success as a people. Send your children
to school whenever you can. Deny yourselves even the necessaries of Ijfe to keep your boys
and girls at school, and never allow them to be absent a day or an hour while it is in session.
Your liberty is a great blessing which has been vouchsafed to you, and you should be pa-
tient and hopeful. The nation, through this bureau, has taken your cause in hand, and will
endeavor to do you ample justice. If you do not obtain all your rights this year, be con
tent with part, and if you act rightly all will come in good time. Try to show, by your good
conduct, that you are worthy of all, and whatever may happen let no uneasy spirit stir you
up to any act of rebellion against the government. Strive to live down, by your true and
loyal conduct, the wicked lie and weak invention of your enemies, that in any event you
would rebel against that government and people which have sacrificed so many precious
lives and so much treasure in your cause. Could you rise even against those who would
oppress you, or against a government which has given you a right to yourselves, your
wives, and children, and taken from you the ov*seer, the slave trader, the auction block,
and broken the driver's whip forever ? I have no fears on this point, and trust you to show
those who have how groundless they are. and that you are willing to leave your cause in
the hands of the government. Ever cherish in your hearts the prayerful spirit, the trusting,
childlike faith in God's good providence, which has sustained so many of you in your
darkest hour.
The assistant commissioners and agents of this bureau will publish this circular to the
freed men throughout these States, and ministers of the Gospel are requested to have it read
in all the churches where the freedmeu are assembled.
R. SAXTON,
Brevet Major General, Assistant Commissioner.
WASHINGTON, February 23, 1866.
Captain Alexander P. Kctchum sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. You reside at Charleston, South Carolina?
Answer. Yes, sir; I have been stationed there since October last.
Question. What position have you occupied there ?
Answer. I have been acting assistant adjutant general for General Howard, charged with
the restoration of the Sea Island lands, under special .instructions.
Question. That has been your principal duty ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How do you find the condition of the secessionists of South Carolina, so far as
your observation extends ; are they friendly to the United States, or are they hostile?
Answer. To answer the question in one word, I should say they are not friendly to the
232 RECONSTRUCTION.
United States. There are reasoning men among: them who are friendly to certain policies,
and who profess friendship to the government, but I think this is more for personal reasons
than because they have any real friendship for the United States.
Question. Can you give any reason why you have drawn this inference ; whether it is
from expressions you have heard used, or from the acts which they commit ?
Answer. I was stationed at Savannah in February, 1865, on General Saxton's staff,
charged with carrying out the order of General Sherman in Georgia. I resided then with a
southern family and came in contact wifch southern gentlemen. As a general rule, even the
most intelligent among them looked upon the United States as an aggressive power, and
complained bitterly and in unequivocal terms of the position of subjugation to which they
said they were reduced. I saw no spirit of friendship manifested towards the government,
although there was an expressed willingness to submit to the necessities of the situation.
They complained in many cases of the officers charged with carrying out the orders of gov
ernment, were quite frequent in their expressions of dissatisfaction with the negroes, and
were bitterly hostile to the order of General Sherman relative to sea-island lands. Officers
of the late rebel army expressed themselves in strong phrases against Union officers, and in
some instances insulted them openly. I do not recollect that they used violence in the first
instance, but at the hotels they would abuse them, calling them d — d Yankee officers, wear
ing the d — d uniform of the United States. These insults were on one or two occasions re
sented, and violence was the result.
Question. Who got the best of it ?
Answer. The Union officers.
Question. You considered that right, didn't you ?
Answer. Most assuredly I did. They said they had nothing to expect from the United
States. government. The rebellion was crushed. They at first anticipated the entire confis
cation of their lands — expressed that expectation often, in my presence — and it was remark
able that notwithstanding these expectations the people were, comparatively speaking, sub
missive and prepared to abide the issue. They would sometimes lose control of themselves,
and speak in severe language, but in general were quietly submissive to the authority of the
government. Afterwards, when a different policy from the one they expected began to ap
pear, on the part of the government — when the amnesty proclamation was published and the
lenient or liberal policy of President Johnson announced, I thought I saw a marked change
in their demeanor; they were more aristocratic and less inclined to submit to the authority
of the government of the United States. On the 4th of July the negro firemen of Savannah
desired to parade with their engines,, but were forbidden. I was then in charge of Freed
om's Bureau affairs at that city, and asked the superintendent of the fire department why he
had forbidden the negroes to parade. He said they wished to practice with their engines,
which could not be permitted that day. I assembled some of the firemen and in presence of
the superintendent asked them whether that was their purpose. They said it was not, and
that they would be satisfied to parade with their engines on the streets. The superintendent
then answered that it was too late to make the request ; that if it had been presented in due
form in time, it might have been granted, f told him there was no reason why it should not
be granted now ; that this was the first Independence day they had had the opportunity of
celebrating since their emancipation, and I thought they should be allowed to parade ; that
if he refused I should carry the matter before higher authority; I could see no good reason
for making an invidious distinction between the black firemen and^the white firemen, who
had been permitted to parade. I then presented the request officially, and he yielded. The
firemen paraded, but a mob of secessionists attacked them, dispersed them, and seized their
engine, which they with difficulty obtained again. One of the colored firemen brought ac
tion the next day in the provost court, presided over by a United States officer, against a
person he named, one of the mob, as he alleged, for assault and battery. He had four wit
nesses. The judge decided they had no cause of action, and the case was dismissed; but
the plaintiff and his four colored witnesses were not allowed to return home, but remanded
to jail.
Question. How did that happen?
Answer. It was for a reason unexplained at that time. I was informed that no order was
issued, and that the officer directed to keep them in jail did not at first know why they were
sent there. I was then out of town. When I returned these men had been tried, convicted
of perjury, and sentenced to pay a fine of $5UO and to serve six months in prison, this being
the severest sentence the court, could inflict.
Question. Who was the judge ?
Answer. A captain of a Connecticut regiment ; he is now out of tho service.
Question. Do you remember his name?
Answer. It does not occur to me now. I visited the Colored men in jail ; they said they
had been put there unjustly ; that they were not guilty of perjury, but had .sworn truly ;
that ifthey had made a mistake in the man, which they could not believe, tliey had, so far as
they knew, sworn truly, and had been tried, sentenced, and imprisoned, without a fair hear
ing. I went to the court, saw the judge, and asked for an " explanation ; he gave a very
unsatisfactory one. I then requested him to furnish u:e with an attested copy of the record
of the proceedings ; he did so. I discovered that these men had been tried upon a charge
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 233
quite different iu character from the offence of which they were convicted ; they were not
charged with perjury, but with malicious prosecution; yet they were convicted of perjury.
I discovered from the record that the testimony adduced in court* was entirely inadequate for
such conviction ; that there was really no sufficient testimony touching- upon the point in
question. I made a statement of the proceeding's to the officer in command at Savannah,
General Davis; at first he agreed to remit the fine, but allowed the sentence of imprisonment
to remain ; I submitted to him that, if anything- was to be remitted, the entire sentence
should be : if they were guilty of perjury to any extent, the sentence was not too heavy; he
assented, and ordered their release promptly.
Question. If I understand you, this second suit was brought against the plaintiff and his
witnesses for malicious prosecution, and that the provost judge convicted them of perjury ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. The suit for malicious prosecution being- for the recovery of damages to the
injured party, and the conviction of perjury, which is a public offence, and not a private suit
at all ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I found they had not even been heard on their own behalf, but were
convicted entirely upon the testimony produced in the first case ; they desired to introduce
further testimony in die second case, but were refused by their own counsel; they had two
counsel assigned them by the provost judge — one an ex-rebel judge, and the other a lawyer
who had been in the rebel army. These two men, as they said, told them that it would be
better for them not to undertake to give any testimony, and thereupon arose in court and
said a few words, making- a brief appeal to the humanity of the judge to the effect that they
hoped their clients would be well and fairly treated. I was entirely satisfied that it was a
case of wilful and malicious prosecution upon the part of the white men, and intended to be
the commencement of a series of suits against freedmen for the purpose of keeping- them out
of the courts if possible, and not permitting- them to testify against, white persons. The case
was much talked of, and I have no doubt the action of General Davis in the matter had a
good effect.
Question. What has become of the Connecticut captain who acted as provost judge ?
Answer. He was mustered out of service very soon afterwards, at the time his regiment
was mustered out.
Question. Do you know where he is now ?
Answrer. He is at his home in Connecticut.
Question. Does his name occur to you now ?
Answer. I cannot recollect it.
Question. Was he never called to account for his proceeding?
Answer. He was not. I did not get the order revoking the sentence until just before he
was mustered out. Had there been time, I should have felt it my duty as an officer to have
preferred charges against him.
Question. How do the people of that section of country feel on the subject of the educa
tion of the freedmen?
Answer. There are a few gentlemen of the more intelligent class who say they are in favor
of their education and in favor of establishing schools ; but these are very few ; I have met
such in the cities, but not in the country. Indeed, I think the feeling in "the rural districts
is different from what it is in the cities, particularly Charleston and Savannah. At Augusta..,
there is more bitterness of feeling apparently than in Savannah. • I was travelling in a stage
between Savannah and Augusta, perhaps three months ago, being unknown to any of the '
parties present; they were all secessionists, and talked freely; one was a youug man of
education and ability, and all of them gentlemen of intelligence. This young man talked
freely about the Freedmen's Bureau, and the officers of that bureau ; he said, as a general
thing, they were impracticable men, and not doing the right thing. His plan was this : if a
negro was caught in the act of stealing, he should be severely punished ; if caught the
second time, he should be hung at once, without ceremony. His opinion was indorsed im
mediately by the several gentlemen present. The general tenor of the conversation con
vinced me that there was no disposition among those gentlemen, at least, to treat the negro
with fairness.
Question. In case of the removal of the federal troops and of the Freedmen's Bureau from
South Carolina, what would be the probable condition of the freedmen ?
Answer. After very great deliberation upon that subject, I predict that, in that event, an
insurrection of the blacks would follow within a very few years.
Question. How would it be brought about?
Answer. The pride of opinion of the South Carolinians is such that, even in face of con- 1
viction, the people of the State will not renounce their old opinions ; the planters will
naturally fall back into the old system of slavery, or as near to it as they can get. The
negroes have no confidence in them as a class, and the planters make it a rule, through the
between the two classes ; it has endeavored to persuade the freedman to trust his employer,
234 RECONSTRUCTION.
assuring him that the bureau wotild see justice done him ; it has urged the master to give up
his prejudices and treat the negro fairly, and has called him to account when lit has Qeen in
fault, so that the negro in many cases — in most cases — goes to work satisfied that the bureau
will protect him in case of attempted injustice. The intelligent men among the negroes
speak desparingiy when the idea of withdrawing the troops and the bureau is broached. A
gentleman of South Carolina is very frank upon this subject, but would not express his
opinions publicly ; he is a liberal-minded man, and knows but two southerners who altogether
agree with him: he believes that if the bureau is withdrawn and the military, there will l>e
an insurrection of the blacks within a few years. These thoughts are not expressed publicly,
and this is the only person I know of in South Carolina who talks thus frankly. General
Sickles the other (lay showed me letters received from his subordinate officers relative to the
counties of Edgefield and Laurens, and two neighboring counties in South Carolina, very
near to Columbia. They report that there are organized bands of "regulators'1 — armed
men — who make it their business to traverse these counties, and maltreat negroes without
any avowedly definite purpose in view. They treat the negroes, in many instances, in tl>e
most horrible and atrocious manner, even to maiming them, cutting their ears off, &c. In
one case, two citizens of one of these counties testified against these parties, and were in
stantly compelled to leave the county, barely escaping with their lives. The citizens are
bound in honor, by an understanding or compact among them, not to testify against these
regulators ; so that it is impossible to get evidence against them unless the negroes give it.
The evidence seems complete that these atrocities have been carried on in the counties re
ferred to. We have a military force there, but it is sparsely distributed. General Sickles,
on receiving these reports, promptly ordered a force of cavalry and infantry to pursue the&e
men, and take them if possible, dead or alive; if taken alive, they are to be brought to
Charleston, when- he will have them tried, and, if convicted, immediately executed.
Question. Is he succeeding in catching any of them?
Answer. He had just received the letters and ordered out the troops as I left Charleston.
Question. How numerous is it supposed these regulators are ?
Answer. It is supposed they are quite numerous — sufficiently so to seriously disturb the!s~
counties at present. They form into bands of perhaps twenty or thirty, I should suppose, from
the reports I have heard. I was at Augusta, Georgia, a short time ago, a city situated right
opposite Edgefield, South Carolina. General Tillson, the assistant commissioner for Georgia,
reported a very bad condition of things in that county, (Edgefield.) The planters were
. making contracts with the negroes for $20 a year, and the military officer there, a lieu
tenant, was approving them. I reported the case promptly to General Saxton, and he had
another officer sent there. General Sickles has said it may become necessary to remove the
colored population entirely from two of these counties, and that if it does become so he will
remove them and send them to counties where their labor is solicited at fair wages. General
Scott, the assistant commissioner for South Carolina, was at Georgetown, in that iState, a few
days ago, and returned to Charleston on Friday last. He reported that the colonel command
ing at Georgetown told him that the officers of Union troops stationed there, belonging to the
^'Jth Maine and the 54th New York regiments, were almost as hard in their treatment of the
freedmen as the rebels themselves. They are volunteers desiring to leave the service, and
are reckless in their conduct. The officer in command is very well disposed himself, and
doing all he can to stop these outrages, but says that this is the spirit of the military
officers stationed there. General Scott, as I was about leaving, urged me in the strong
est terms to represent to the government the very great importance of retaining a mili
tary force in South Carolina, and also some agency to do what the Freedmeu's Bureau is
doing now. (The bureau he believes the best agency.) He considers it vital not only to
the interests of the freedmen, but to the interests of the whites and the eventual reorganiza
tion of the State. I have had an opportunity of learning the views and feelings of many
gentlemen in regard to the bureau. One, a planter, a gentleman of education and culture,
was at the office of the assistant commissioner to kave rations issued to the planters, that
they in turn might give them to the freedmen, and so run their plantations the present year;
the value of the rations to constitute a lien on the crop. (The plan has not been approved.)
After talking of the matter freely, and showing his desire to receive help from the bureau, be
conversed further with myself and the assistant commissioner: then returning to my desk
as he was leaving, he said, with much excitement, "Captain, where do you reside?" I an
swered and invited him to call upon mo. He said, " I will do so ; I want to see you soine-
where outside of this d d bureau."
Question. Did you meet him subsequently ?
Answer. Oh, yes, sir; I met him a number of times. We have much business intercourse
with such gentlemen, and prefer not to yield to excitement in the transaction of business, de
siring rather to hear and learn the truth. I will mention a conversation which occurred on
a steamboat between Charleston and Savannah. The conversation was with a gentleman,
formerly a planter, and now desirous of getting back his sea-island plantations, which I
could not restore to him, because he was unable to make a mutually satisfactory arrange
ment with his people. He said to me that the Charleston Mercury had made a number of
prophecies which had come true, and one other which time would show the truth of, viz :
That when the war was ended, poison and the knife would take the place of the bayonet and
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 235
the sword ; it Avas unpleasant, ho said, to think of coming upon a man during1 his sleeping
moments and making way with him, but these things might still occur; that the government
must conciliate the white man of the south; must give him back his property; especially
must it restore the sea-island property ; that if it failed to do so, some men might become
desperate. It was quite easy, he said, to make way with an officer without entering his
room ; he could be seen through a pane of glass, and reached quite as effectually as if he
were in the same room.
Question. Was this a man of influence ?
Answer. I do not think him a man of much influence. He had been a Wealthy man — a
planter. I do not think he represents the feelings of a majority of the planters, although he
seemed to think he did. There are very few, I believe, who would indorse the sentiments
he expressed.
Question. He is one of the sea-island proprietors ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I do not mention his conversation as an indication of the prevailing
sentiment of the south, for I honestly believe it is not, yet it shows what some southern men,
of position will say, even to a Union officer. He indicated, further, that it would be very
unsafe for a northern man to remain in the south in case the government should fail to con
ciliate the southern white people. A gentleman, formerly of large wealth and an eminent
rice planter of South Carolina, but now very much reduced in circumstances, proposes to
work his plantation on the northern-farm principle, and was talking with me in regard to
obtaining capital. I asked him why it is that the newspapers of the south abuse the negroes
and the Freedmen's Bureau as they do, and make it appear that the Yankees, as they term,
them, may not be able to live in safety on a South Carolina plantation. " How do you ex
pect to succeed," said I, "if you continue to abuse the negro, who is your laborer, the north
ern man, who is your capitalist, and the bureau, which is your mediator to arrange your rela
tions with your laborers ?" He said this was owing to the pride of opinion of the south. It
could not give up its pride of opinion. He, himself, personally, had done so, but the people,
as a mass, would not do it. In numerous conversations I have spoken with planters of what
I termed the State suicide of South Carolina, as exhibited in her presentcburse. They seem
to see the force of the remark, and to assent to it in theory, but there is no one of them bold
enough to come out publicly and oppose the prevailing sentiment of the people. In a con
versation upon the railroad I heard a gentleman from the up country, as it is called, say that
if the confounded Yankees would leave the south the planters would get along well enough
with the " nigger ;" they knew how to manage him. The speaker was bold in his remarks,
and very loud. A gentleman next to me in the car, discovering I was an officer, seemed
disposed to be apologetical. He said the gentleman opposite did not seem to know how to
manage his negroes ; as for himself, he could get along very well with his. He gave his
negroes to understand that if he should catch one of them stealing he woiild take his life. And
lie added to me that he would be willing to lose his own life, if the government so decreed,
for the purpose of carrying out his threat upon the negro who should dare to steal from him.
Question. Did he say he would take the life of the negro without trial or judgment ?
Answer. He said nothing about trial or judgment, but simply spoke of catching the negro
himself stealing his property. He then spoke of the negro in terms which I have often
heard used, degrading him to one step above the baboon, and defended his theory by nu
merous arguments. I felt that, though he was, perhaps, succeeding very well now with his
people, he would not, perhaps, succeed so well if he were at liberty to carry out all his
theories.
Question. Do the mass of the people of South Carolina seem to have repudiated, or laid
aside, the doctrine of the right of secession ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. They accept the position, though ; acknowledge the fact that they are subdued,
and that their scheme of secession, for the present, is a failure?
Answer. They acknowledge that fully. **
Question. Do I understand you to say that no instance has come under your observation
where a South Carolina secessionist has renounced the. doctrine of the rightttilness of se
cession ?
Answer. Not one.
Question. How much willingness did you observe, upon the part of the whites of South
Carolina, to allow civil rights to the blacks; that is, the domestic rights of father and child,
husband and wife, &c., the right to acquire property by regular, legal' title, and the right to
sue in the courts, and obtain redress for their wrongs in that way ?
Answer. The domestic relations, I think, they are willing to respect. They profess a*will-
ingness to have the negro testify in the courts, but it seems to me they generally take the
ground that his testimony against a white man is of little worth. I think there is a decided
opposition to the negro's holding real estate, by lease or in fee. The intense opposition that
exists to the negro's settling on the sea-island lands is, I think, that it will establish a pre
cedent; that the negro will thereby hold estate, the government acknowledging his right to
hold it, They attach less weight to their theories than to the practical result of them : they
are afraid if the negroes hold their lands by lease it will be difficult to get possession of them
again. A reverend gentleman from the upper part of the State said, in reply to questions
236 RECONSTRUCTION.
addressed to him on Hie subject, that the South Carolinians would never permit the negro to
hold real estate — never ! That was his individual sentiment. Some southern men profess
to feel differently.
Question. How do they appear to feel in respect to the education of the blacks ?
Answer. Many profess indifference, and a very few publicly advocate it. I do not think
there would be any serious opposition to it in the immediate neighborhood of the cities, but
feel sure there would in the back counties.
Question. Is the treatment of the negro more harsh in the rural districts than in towns ?
Answer. I thiak so.
Question. In case of a war between this country and any foreign power, what do you
think would be the feeling of South Carolina secessionists in regard to such an issue as that ?
Answer. I think they would watch the indications with the utmost care, and would side
with our opponents, if they found they could, by doing so, assist in the destruction of this
government. I honestly and firmly believe this.
Question. Would that be the course of the mass of the people ; or would there be a division
of opinion ? What course would the leaders pursue ?
Answer. I think, eventually, that would be their course.
Question. And they would, eventually, carry the masses with them, would they not?
Answer. I think so; although such a movement would be approached with great caution.
Question. Do they entertain any scheme of secession based upon any such state of facts
as this ? They are anxious to have their senators and representatives admitted into Con
gress ; there is no doubt about that ?
Answer. There is no doubt about that.
Question. They think there is a great majority for it ?
Answer. So they say.
Question. Suppose these men were admitted into the Senate and House of Representatives
from South Carolina and other rebel States, and suppose a man were to be elected as Pres
ident of the United States who would renounce the right of coercion as Mr. Buchanan did,
thus leaving the executive and legislative branches of the government composed of men who
denied the right of coercion ; what would be the course likely to be pursued by the secession
ists? would tliey reassert secession and go out of the Union again ?
Answer. They have been taught a fearful lesson, and I do not think they would be dis
posed to venture upon another war.
Question. But suppose Congress and the administration were composed of such men that
no coercion would be used ?
Answer. Then I think they would go out again.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that is one of the ultimate objects at which
they aim ? Is that one ground of their great anxiety to be represented in Congress, that by
an alliance with a party at the north they may obtain control of the government ?
Answer. That is my opinion, though I do not base it upon anything they have stated to
me, for they are very judicious in what they say on this subject in presence of northern men.
I have seen so much of the secessionists that I have but little faith in their loyalty ; I have
been forced to this conviction, although I have hoped for better things.
Question. How have you been treated' socially by the secessionists ?
Answer. I have had scarcely anything to do with them socially.
Question. Have you ever been invited to their houses ?
Answer. Never but once, since I have been at Charleston ; the invitation came from a party
quite humble in place and position. Their social hostility to us I think is complete. At Sa
vannah I boarded with pleasant people, secessionists ; but through the city the same social
distinction was observed. These distinctions are so marked in southern cities that north
ern people who board and lodge with, and so support southern families, are sometimes denied
a participation in the social receptions of these very families they support, although persons
of refinement and good social position. The southerners socially ostracize even those upon
whom they are dependent. This practice is very general. I think there is a disposition to
permit pleasant relations between themselves and our officers in some cases, but it is for per
sonal reasons. A few days since a lady of Charleston spoke to one of our officers of the bit
terness that exists between the north and the south, and said she hoped that bitterness would
continue ; she wished to see it continue to her dying day, and never wanted it obliterated
or modified.
Question. Does it appear to be a dislike, a cultivated habitual dislike to the northern peo
ple, because they are such, or what is the foundation of it ?
Answer. Not because they are northern people, but because they acknowledge in their
hearts the superiority of the north, the superiority of northern enterprise and the northern
mind ; I believe this firmly. They think their power as a community is departing ; that their
immense estates are eventually to be divided up, and bought by northern men and negroes ;
that before the law, at least, the negro will be equal with the white man. A theory which
may seem strange, is more or less current. There are thousands of mulattoes at the south
whose fathers are white gentlemen of high standing in the community. I believe there is an
intense and peculiar feeling of hate existing on the part of the whites towards colored persons
of this class, the fear being that the latter will have an equal civil standing with the whites —
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 237
will acquire riches, perhaps, and influence, and that the baseness and wickedness of slavery
will then be made to appear before the world in a light which will be agonizing to the south-
em people ; the advent among them of northerners who have caused the destruction of sla
very, bringing poverty to the inhabitants and liberty to the negro, with possible future
advancement.0 These facts, combined with a dislike of the north, to which they have been
educated, cause them to hate northern men with a malignant hate.
Question. Will it not take a long time to allay this hatred ?
Answer. The inner feeling, perhaps, will never be allayed, but the outward manifestation
of it, I firmly believe, can be prevented by a rigid course upon the part of the government.
I remarked 'to a gentleman of Charleston that 1 could tell what was going on at Washington
by the bearing ot the southern people without seeing the newspapers. When a lenient pol
icy prevailed, I observed in the people an autocratic reserve, and an exacting manner tow
ards United States officers. If the other policy, which obtains more generally in Congress,
was in the ascendant, their bearing was totally different ; a gentle spirit was manifest, they
would be well behaved, submissive and resigned. He greeted the remark with a smile, and
although a southern man himself, and a Charlestonian, did not deny the truth of what I said.
Question. What number of federal troops are there now in Souh Carolina?
Answer. I can give you an approximate estimate ; perhaps there are four or five thousand
in the whole State ; I doubt if there are more.
Question. Stationed chiefly where ?
Answer. On the coast, I think, chiefly, at Port Royal, Charleston, and Georgetown,
though they are scattered, of course, throughout the State. The great body of them, and
particularly the colored troops, are near the coast.
Question. How many colored troops are there in South Carolina?
Answer. A majority of the troops in the State are colored, perhaps three thousand alto
gether. General Sickles spoke to me in the highest terms of the colored troops, of their use
fulness in South Carolina, and of the propriety of retaining them for the purpose of har
monizing the labor system. He says it is universally the case that they succeed better in
this, when well officered, than white troops ; and this testimony is given, in some cases,
even by planters themselves. Still, none of the citizens are prepared to come out publicly
and say .such is the case.
Question. Have you had experience with black troops during the war?
Answer. Yes, sir, though not to any extent in active service. I was for some time sta
tioned at Port Royal before I belonged to a colored regiment, and had a little experience with
them. I am now connected with a colored regiment.
Question. How do they take to discipline ?
Answer. Admirably well. I believe they can be made very efficient. The colored man
of the army feels that he is brought up to a noble position, a position of respectability, and
generally desires to continue in the service ; while the white soldier often feels that he is
degraded in position when he takes a place in the ranks. Therefore the white soldier is
more ready to leave the service, now particularly, while the black soldier is proud of his
place, and content to remain in it. So far as discipline is concerned, I think the black
regiments stand as high as any. The inspecting officer for South Carolina called one of the
colored regiments at Port Royal a model regiment in every respect, and said that on the
whole even the 6th regiment of regulars, stationed at Charleston, did not surpass them.
Question. Have you seen blacks troops under fire?
Answer. No, sir ; I have not.
Question. Do you know how they behave under fire?
Answer. Yes, sir. I am acquainted with officers of colored regiments ; was at Port Royal
when Colonel Higginson's regiment was organized, and have been near when they have
been in action at Fort Wagner and other engagements. They were at first ridiculed ; yet
many who were most unfriendly now have entire confidence in them.
Question. Do they fight generally as well as white troops?
Answer. I believe they do.
Question. State, if you are able to do so, what amount of lands have been disposed of
under General Sherman's order ; or, rather, parcelled out to the blacks ?
Answer. I can make an approximate estimate. Not having seen General Saxton's report,
I judge that upon the sea-islands and abandoned rice plantations seventy-five thousand or
one hundred thousand acres have been actually parcelled out.
Question. Not more?
Answer. Perhaps more; but at the outside, I think, it cannot possibly be more than
two hundred thousand or three hundred thousand acres. I can only make a rough estimate.
Question. The lands so disposed of are chiefly upon the islands, are they^not?
Answer. Almost entirely. Some are upon rice plantations in the neighborhood of Savan
nah, but only very few.
Question. Can you state whether they are cultivated well and faithfully by the blacks who
occupy them ?
Answer. .The blacks desire exceedingly to cultivate them ; but they are waiting for gov
ernment action, and do not know whether to go to work or not. I think their labor upon
theee islands would have proved an entire success if the people could have known what
238 RECONSTRUCTION.
would be done with regard to their possessory titles. Last year they settled there so late in
the season that a fair crop could not be raised. In some cases full crops were raiM-d ; but in
others it was impossible to realize more than half a crop. This year there has been gieat
uncertainty and great tribulation among the people.
Question. Has there been any squabbling among the old proprietors of the lands or their
heirs for possession 1
Answer. Perhaps so; a dignified squabble. There have been differences— perhaps not
many outright quarrels. The evidence seems clear that in some cases they have used
threats— have threatened to remove the negroes from the plantations. The negroes have
often become much excited at the return of a former master who had been oppressive in his
treatment of them. The reports that have gone out of their bad treatment of whites who
have visited the islands have been true in a few cases only, and then because visitors did not
pursue the proper course. Instead of reporting themselves to the officers in charge, they
Avould undertake to land where they pleased and go where they pleased over the islands, and
the negroes, naturally suspicions, have sometimes carried them, under escort, to the officer
in charge. This, of course, was considered by the whites a great indignity. I went once
with a number of planters to Edisto island. As we were about to land, the colored sentinel,
as usual, stood at his post, and before I could explain the object of our visit, these
gentlemen hastened toward the dock. He stopped them. I approached the sentinel, told
him who I was and why I was there, reported at once to the officer in charge, and obtained
permission for the party to land; but one of them, in talking of it afterwards, said it was a
shame and an offensive thing to be prevented from going to his own plantation by a colored
soldier. The 'poor fellow, he said, was not to blame ; the government had placed him in a
position he was entirely unfit for ; but it was none the less unpleasant to southern gentlemen.
Question. How many negroes have been located on these lands, as nearly as you can
determine?
Answer. I do hqt think there are now located on these lands in South Carolina and
Georgia, excluding Port Royal, more than twenty thousand men, women, and children.
Question. Are they generally blacks who were formerly locuted there, and owned by their
masters who owned the island lauds ?
Answer. I could hardly say, generally.
Question. Where did the others come from ?
Answer. They are persons who escaped from the interior to our lines during the war, and
panics who came with General Sherman. In many cases they were formerly located on the
islands, but not in a majority of cases.
Question. Have they any other means of HA ing that you know of?
Answer. No, sir; no other means. ,
Question. Do you know Governor Orr, of South Carolina ?
Answer. I met him once and was introduced to him. I had no conversation with him,
however, and have never met him since.
it as my opinion.
Question. He was elected by what are called Union voters, was he not?
Answer. I think the people who elected him were in fact but little more Union in their
feelings than those who voted for Wade Hamilton. I think there is a very small minority <>t
actual Union men in South Carolina. I have failed to meet in Charleston a single man whom
I can call a true Union man. among those who were formerly planters.
Question. There has been a rumor that Governor Orr was nut actually elected by a major
ity of the votes cast in that election; do you know anything about that?
Answer. 1 do not.
Question. Where is Wade Hampton now? ,
Answer. I do not know.
Question. Do you think of any other statement you wish to make ?
Answer. I would like to make' a single statement to show the confidence which the negroes
have in our government. I have visited Edisto island several times with former planters,
and went on one occasion to make an earnest effort to establish business relations between
the planters and the freedmen who located under the order of General Sherman, and bad
been in a verv excited state. I did not advise the freedmen to make contracts. I was not
ordered, and 'had no right to do so. They met at a church in large numbers. I explained to
them the ohjei-t of our visit. I did not ask them to do what they might not desire to do, but
requested them to express their feelings freely, telling them that planters and freedmen wen*
mutually dependent upon each other, and that the labor question should, if possuVe, be satis
factorily .settled. I was followed by one of the planters, who spoke plausibly and iaiily. A
number of negroes spoke. They said they had no personal enmity towards their old masters ;
that they had been abused by them, and in many cases their lives were endangered by cruel
punishments; nevertheless, they bore them no hatred. But if you ask us, they said, to con
tract with these men, we answer, we cannot do it. Do you blame us ? Whatever the gov-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 239
eminent says we will do. The government has told us we might have these lands. High
officers of government — cabinet officers — have been to us at Port Royal and advised us to
purchase lauds, if we could do it honestly, and become planters ourselves. We liked their
advice, and desire to follow it, and live upon our own homesteads. Still, if the government
says go, we will go, but let us understand, when we are ordered to go, that it is the word of the
government. We have earnestly loriged to hold these lands, but if we cannot we will give
them up. If we cannot be permitted to occupy them ourselves we will leave. We simply
petition the government to permit us to buy homes for ourselves somewhere. This was the
general tenor of their speeches, which for sobriety, dignity, kindness, and business-like ex
pression, were not to be surpassed. After the meeting they desired to see me privately; and
in the evening a committee of them called upon me. "Captain," they said, '% if you order us
to give up th£se plantations we will do it, if you say that is the word of the government. If
you say we must contract or leave, we will cheerfully do the one thing or the other, but cannot
contract. If it becomes necessary, sooner than have the government lose confidence in us as
a people and a race, we will leave these plantations, that we supposed were our homes, with
out a murmur, but prefer to have you give us distinctly and clearly the orders of government,
even if they compel us to go." I assured them the government would not lose confidence in
them ; that I had not come to order them away, but only to learn what they were willing to do.
A colored man of Savannah named Sims, brother of the Sims who became distinguished a4;
Boston, told me as I was leaving Savannah that he was glad I was going, because he didn't
wish me to remain and see the sufYermgs of his people.
They do not know what their future will be, but apprehend that sorrow and difficulties are
yet in store for them. I confess that while I have the firmest belief in the fidelity of these
people to the government — in their determination to stand by the government at all hazards —
while I believe they^vill never come into open hostility with it, I fear they may yet have
serious difficulties with their former masters. They include among their number men of talent
and ability. I have attended their political meetings, and have never heard them utter there
anything whatever prejudicial to the interests of our government, or the common good of the
country. They have shown that they can organize, and have formed organizations already
for their own protection and advancement. If it should ever become necessary for them to
be unanimous in feeling and action, they will be unanimous.
Question. Have they arms ?
Answer. No. sir ; not as a general rule.
Question. Have you the least reason to apprehend that there are combinations among the
blacks with the view of committing acts of violence upon the whites, or upon the o-0vern-
ment ?
Answer. No, §ir; I have not. I believe the organizations that exist among them are
formed for purposes purely benevolent in their character.
Question. If I understand you, then, you have found no insurrectionary feeling there?
Answer. No, sir ; I have found the feeling entirely opposed to that, lusunvction will be
their very last resort; the last alternative.
Question. Suppose the protection they now enjoy from the presence of federal troops and
from the Fi'eedmen's Bureau should be withdrawn, and they should be exposed to the con
sequences of State legislation and to the prejudice and injustice which it is natural to sup
pose would be exercised toward them by the whiter ; what, in your iuclo-meut would be the
result in the end ?
Answer. I think, in the end, there would be a conflict.
Question. Could they do otherwise than arm themselves to defend their rights?
Answer. No, sir; they would be bound to do it.
Question. Do not you think that iu such an exigency it would be imperative upon these
men to arm themselves to defend their rights, and that it would be cowardly in them not to
do it?
Answer. Certainly I do. They could not do otherwise than organize to protect them
selves It is a mistake which many have fallen into to suppose that this race while they
are submissive and kindly in the extreme, are deficient in courage. Their native common
sense is I think equal to that of any race we know of. Their judgment, as a mass, is
good ; their intelbgeuce, of course, differs in different cases ; but they acquire well informed,
and particularly so with regard to the proceedings of the government, Leudincr ,,:en union"-
them, who are intelligent, well-educated, orators as well as writers, inform themselves o"f
what is going on, and inform the people.
an excellent one, because, although it did not convey the title in fee, as, perhaps, mi'^ht have
been done, it limited the occupation to a term of years, and satisfied the great mass of the
i- 1 i ., ,-. , *t,t, rf "T*""! v*tiv« o«*»iOA«i\* ILIU j^ iv «AI, Jiui.^a Ul UIU
lieedmen, while the planters, when it was supposed the bill would become a law, showed a
disposition to acquiesce, which was quite unexpected.
240 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Is there any form of contract now in vogue in South Carolina between he
whites arid the freedmen?
Answer. Yes, sir ; General Scott has devised a form in South Carolina which is generally
adopted. The planters are disposed, in many cases, to insert in their contracts tyrannical
provisions, to prevent the negroes from leaving the plantation without a written pass from
the proprietor ; forbidding them to entertain strangers or to have fire-arms in their posses
sion, even for proper purposes. A contract submitted a few days ago for approval stipulated
that the freedman, in addressing the proprietor, should always call him "master."
Question. Has that heeii sanctioned by General Scott ?
Answer. Of course not. He repudiated it. He is remarkably fair and generous in his
treatment of the freedmen, and just towards the planters.
Question. There was a meeting on the ^Ist of December last at Sumter, South Carolina,
with a view of getting up a form of contract between the employers and the freedmen. Do
you recollect it ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Has that form of contract been adopted by General Scott ?
Answer. No, sir, it has not.
Question. Do you remember that form of contract ?
Answer, Oh, yes, very well.
Question. Does the paper I hand you contain the copy agreed upon at that meeting ?
Answer. Yes ; hir, that is a copy of the contract said to have been agreed upon at that
meeting. I have understood that General Saxton did not formally approve it then, and that
he disapproved it when he came to examine its provisions carefully.
(The form of contract, with the statement of the proceedings of the meeting referred to,
are appended to the testimony of this witness.)
Question. You say General Saxton did not approve this form of contract 1
Answer. I understand he did not, though it was supposed at first that he did. He casually
looked at :it at that meeting, and made some remark with reference to it, so I am informed by
General Scott. The contract adopted is a very reasonable and liberal one.
Question. Have you a copy of that contract?
Answer. I have not. I will send you a copy of it from Charleston. The whole subject
of the freedmen has been very familiar to me during a residence of three years and a half in
South Carolina and Georgia. I have entire confidence in the freed people, in their ability
and disposition to labor, and to labor faithfully, and to become useful citizens. I have seen
them at their schools and on the plantations ; have travelled over many of the sea-islands ;
and have met the people under almost every conceivable variety of circumstances.
Question. And the statement you have now made under oath is the result of your obser
vation?
Answer. Most assuredly.
SUMTER, SOUTH CAROLINA, December 21, 1865.
One of the largest meetings which has been held here for years assembled in the court
house to-day at eleven o'clock a. m. It was composed chiefly of the planters of Sumter,
Kershaw, and Clarendon districts. On motion of Colonel F. H. Whittier, Colonel John N.
Friersou was called to the chair. J. J. Fleming was appointed secretary.
The chairman introduced the object of the meeting in a very eloquent address, in which he
avowed his conviction that, notwithstanding all discouragements which might at present
exist, this great southern country was not destined to become a wilderness ; that it must and
will be cultivated either by free black or white labor ; and that the planters were ready to
test the question fairly and fully, and to make contracts for another year, if any guarantee
wus furnished that such contracts would be enforced. He believed that our political con
dition was not as hopeless as some might suppose, and trusted that we would yet enjoy union
without consolidation, and liberty without anarchy or misrule. He then introduced to the
meeting i-eueralR. Saxton.
General Saxton, in a brief address, declared that the Freedmen's Bureau, which he repre
sented, was disposed to give every assistance to the planters in working out the problem of
free labor, and that he believed that ultimately the agricultural interest would be advanced
to a higher and more profitable condition under free than it would have been under a contin
uance of slave labor.
I3y invitation, Rev. M. French, who had just arrived from Washington, gave his views on
the subject of free labor, detailing the results of his observations in different parts of the
southern country, and more particularly the workings of the new system on the sea-islands
of South Carolina. He pronounced freedom and free labor a decided success, and predicted
the happiest results in this section if the planters would maimge the freedmen properly, and
act the part of educators as well 6k supervisors of their laborers.
Judge Moses wished to know if Mr. French believed that the freedmeu would cany out their
contracts, and upon what grounds he rested such belief?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 241
0 .
In reply, Mr. French avowed his faith as the mainspring1 to his conviction. He believed
firmly that when the inducement of compensation, whether in money or proportion of crop,
Avas presented, coupled with the fear of the penalties imposed for remissness or failure, the freed-
rnen would work through the time contracted for.
General Richardson, commanding the eastern district of South Carolina, stated that it had
been universally affirmed by the planters that the freedmen have not worked as they should
have done, and he believed this was true, and therefore it was but natural that the planters
should look for some better guarantee for their performance of duty. He submitted a plan for
contracts adopted by the Darlington planters.
General Saxton stated that while the bureau fixed upon no specific plan for contracts, the
one just read met his approval, and appeared to be unexceptionable.
Rev. H. D. Green noticed an omission in the form presented. There was nothing said
about recklessness, on the part. of the freedmen, in destroying gardens, fencing, &c. How
was this to be punished ?
General SAXTON. Of course, where they destroy property, it comes out of their wages.
Colonel J. D. BLANDING. I wish to know whether involuntary loss of time, as in sickness,
shall fall upon the planter or upon the freedman?
General SAXTON. Upon the freedman.
Judge Moses moved that the form of contracts be referred to a committee of — planters
from Sumter, Kershaw, and Clarendon, begging to be excused from serving on the committee
himself.
This motion prevailed, and the Chair appointed the following gentlemen : Rev. H. D. Green,
A. H. Boykin, A. T. Goodwin, Thomas C. Richardson, W. H. B. Richardson, Alfred Scar
borough, Marcus Reynolds, John M. DeSaussure, J. J. Ingram, H. H. Wells, J. S. Bradley,
William Nettles, W. E. Richardson, James Mclntosh, J. J. Chandler, J. D. Blanding, J.
W. Stuckey, Dr. J. C. Haynsworth, and F. H. Kennedy.
The committee having retired, the Hon. F. J. Moses, senator from Sumter, and recently
elevated to the bench, in response to a call from the meeting, addressed his late constituents,,
thanking them for the uniform and cordial support they had given him as their senator, and
affirming that if at last it should be found that he had served his God as faithfully as he' had
served them for twenty-five years in the senate or the State, he would look forward to the
close of life without fear or concern. His remarks were eloquent and well received, and he
pronounced them to be his valedictory as senator.
The vacancy thus created in the senate, it is generally thought, would be admirably filled
by the election of Colonel John N. Frierson to the position. If he can be induced to accept,
there is no doubt the district would feel proud and fortunate in securing the services of a gen
tleman who unites, with great soundness of views, varied scholarship, uudeviating judg
ment, and inflexible integrity, a refinement and elegance of manners which would adorn any
station in the land.
The committee, having returned, presented the following form for contracts, which was
unanimously adopted. They prefaced their report with the following resolution, which was
also passed by a unanimous vote :
"Resolved, That in the judgment of this committee, in all cases where it is convenient,
and circumstances allow it, it is the best system of hire to pay the Treedmen stated wages ;
and that where this rule is adopted, we recommend the following scale of wages, varying
from $40 to $120 per annum."
Form of Contracts between planters and freedmeu, as substantially adopted by the Darling
ton meeting, revised and adopted by the mass meeting of Sumter, Kershaw and Claren
don planters, December 21, 1865, and approved by Major General Saxton, of the Freed-
men's Bureau :
STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA,
District.
Articles of agreement between and , freed men and women, whose names
are hereunto attached :
First. — The said freedmen agree to hire their time as laborers, on the plantation of ,
from the 1st of January, 1866, to the 1st of January, 1867 ; to conduct themselves faithfully,
honestly, civilly and diligently ; to perform all labor on said plantation or such as may be
connected therewith, that may be required by the said , or his agent, and to keep no
poultry, dogs or stock of any kind, except as hereinafter specified ; no firearms or deadly
weapons, no ardent spirits, nor introduce or invite visitors, nor leave the premises during
working hours without the written consent of the proprietor or his agent.
Second. — The said freedmeu agree to perform the daily tasks hitherto usually allotted on
said plantation, to wit : 125 to 150 rails ; cutting grain, three to six acres ; ditching and
banking, 300 to 600 feet ; hoeing cotton, 70 to 300 rows an acre long; corn, 4,000 to 7,000
hills. In 'all cases where tasks cannot be assigned they agree to labor diligently ten hours a
day. •
Third. — For every day's labi»r lost by absence, refusal or neglect to perform the daily task
or labor, said servants shall forfeit fifty cents. If absent voluntarily or without leave, two
16 V NC SC -
242 RECONSTRUCTION.
%
dollars a day ; if absent more than one day without leave, to be subject to dismissal from the
plantation and forfeiture of share in the crop. All such fines and forfeitures shall inure to
the benefit of the employer and employes in proportion to their relative shares.
Fourth. — Said freedmen agree to take good care of all utensils, tools and implements com
mitted to their charge, and to pay for the same if injured or destroyed ; also, to be kind and
gentle to all work animals under their charge, and to pay for any injury which they may
sustain while in their hands through their carelessness or neglect ; and forfeitures herein
specified will- be subject to the decision of the authorities having proper jurisdiction of the
same.
Fifth. — They stipulate to -keep their houses, lots and persons in neat condition, subject to
the inspection of the employer or his agent at any time.
Sixth. — They agree to furnish from their number a nurse for the sick, also stock-minder
and foreman, to be selected by the employer. They agree to be directed in their labor by
the foreman, to obey his orders, and that lie shall report all absences, neglects, refusal to
work, or disorderly conduct, to the employer or his agent.
Seventh. — Said employer agrees to treat his employes with justice and kindness ; to fur
nish each family with quarters on his plantation, with a quarter of an acre of land for a gar
den, and the privilege of getting fire-wood from some portion 61 the premises, to be indi
cated by the employer, (and to divide the crop with them in the following proportions, viz : to
the employ6s one-third of the corn", potatoes and peas, gathered and prepared for market, and
one-third net proceeds of the ginned cotton, or its market value at the end of the year.)
When desired, to furnish the usual bread and meat ration, to be accounted for at the market
price, out of their share of the crop. (Where "stated wages" are allowed, the pro rata of
the crop will be omitted.)
Eighth. — Said employer agrees to furnish animals, and to feed them ; also wagons, carts,
plantation implements, such as cannot be made by the laborer on the plantation.
Ninth. — All violations of the terms of this contract, or of the rules and regulations of the
employer, may be punished by dismissal from the plantation, with forfeiture of his or her
share of the crop or wages, as the case may be. Biit the employer shall pay said parties at
the rate of four dollars a mouth for full hands, deducting therefrom advances made.
Tenth. — The employer or his agent shall keep a book, in which shall be entered all ad
vances made by him, and fines and forfeitures for lost time, or any cause, which book shad
be received as evidence in same manner as merchants' books are now received in courts of
justice, and'shall have a right to deduct from the share of each laborer all his or her fines and
forfeitures, also all advances made by him, subject to the decision of the authorities having
jurisdiction of the same.
Eleventh. — The laborer shall not sell any agricultural product to any person whatever,
without the written consent of the employer, until after the division of the crops.
Twelfth. — The laborers shall commence work at sunrise, and be allowed from one to three
hours each day for their meals, according to the season of the year.
Witness our hands, &c., this .
While the planters' meeting was in progress, the freedmen were crowding into town from
all quarters, and at 2 p. m. an immense assemblage of them was addressed by General Sax-
ton and Efcv. Mr. French, from a platform, near which rose, in all its tall and fair proportions
the liberty pole, with the stars and stripes floating, from its summit. The day passed off
quietly, and notwithstanding the immense throng of all colors and classes, we heard of no
cases of disorder or violence, except one instance, in which, just before sunset, a freedman
was critically if not fatally stabbed by a gentleman from the country, who immediately
made his escape. The cause for the act has not transpired, but the authorities will no doubt
investigate and properly dispose of the affair.
F.
J. W. Alvord sworn and examined.
i
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. My family resides in Jersey City ; I am an officer of the Freedinen's Bureau.
Question. Where are you stationed .'
Answer. At the bureau while I am in Washington.
Question. Have you either during the war or since the close of hostilities visited portions
of the rebel confederacy ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What portions ?
Answer. I was with the Union army in Virginia during the war.
Question. And since the close of the war you have been engaged in the Freediuen's Bu
reau ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 243
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And since then you have been stationed in Washington ?
Answer. My lu-adquarters are here.'
Question. Have you visited portions of Virginia since the close of hostilities ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I have visited Virginia and all the States south below Tennessee and
this side of the Mississippi river. I have visited Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro
lina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana. I made three tours during the
year ; I have been during1 that time under the orders of General Howard as inspector of finances
and schools for freedmen in all the States lately in insurrection. These tours were made
in execution of his special orders; of course, I have mingled .with all classes at the south,
more especially with tne intelligent portion. In these various journeys on railroads, in hotels
and in public meetings, I have seen every class of southern people from the lowest negroes to
the State legislatures ; on three or four of which I. was in attendance during some portions of
the session. These, in brief, are my opportunities.
Question. Now state what, among the rebel people, is the general feeling towards the gov
ernment of the United States.
Answer. It is hostile, as it seems to me, in the great majority of the southern people ; I
mean that part of them who were engaged in the rebellion. There is evidently no regret for
the rebellion, but rather a defence of it, and only a submission to the circumstances of the
case as a conquered people. They everywhere defend the principles on which the rebellion
was commenced.
Question. They still insist that those principles were right ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they seem to feel that peace was brought about by an arrangement which
allowed- them the equal condition of belligerents, and in possession of all that they previ
ously had had of government privileges. They everywhere insist upon the immediate resto
ration of such privileges, and that they shall be readmitted as States into the Union. They
complain bitterly of the treatment they are receiving in being kept out.
Question. What great object do they seem to contemplate in their being readmitted into
Congress by their senators and representatives ? •
Answer. They seem to suppose that by re-admission they can get political power and ob
tain again the supremacy which they once had* and with the exception of slavery they ex
pect to be still a prosperous and dominant portion of our government. Slavery they have
given up in the old, form, but they want to subdue and keep in a low place the negroes, by
some compulsion which it seems to me they are trying to effect not only privajtely*but by all
the legislation that I learned of or witnessed.
Question. Are you aware of combinations existing in those States for the purpose of sub
jecting the freedmen to compulsory labor, uncompensated, or not sufficiently compensated ?
Answer. I do not know of any .distinct combinations ; there appears to be a universal ex
hibition of that purpose in all places and in all circles where I heard it talked of, privately or
publicly. The idea was that the negro was to be kept subservient to the white race and com
pelled to labor for low wages. Contracts, so far as I have noticed or examined them, un
less regulated by the agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, have been very much on the side of
the wrhite man.
Question. How far would they carry their power if they possessed it, to declare unem
ployed freedmen vagrants and to treat them as such ?
Answer. I think there was a time when they wished to declare them all vagrants and to
apply vagrant laws to them. That asserted vagrancy seemed to be their vindication of their
legislative action.
Question. Was that a vindication or rather a policy, on the part of the slaveholders, to re
establish a quasi slavery among the blacks by means of vagrant acts ?
Answer. I think that was so ; it appeared to be a policy.
Question. State whether or not it appeared to be a general policy, or whether it was inter
rupted, existing in sections of the country and among particular classes.
Answer. I noticed it universally, .and it led me sometimes to make the remark that it ap
peared to me as though such policy had been agreed upon by all the slaveholders in the
southern States.
Question. If they had the power, would they or would they not, in your judgment, reduce
the black race again to slavery such as has heretofore existed ?
Answer. I think they would, in case they thought they could hold it there.
Question. How do they feel in point of personal regard towards the freedmen generally ?
Answer. Their feelings are, as it seems to me, very much mixed ; they have a kind of af
fection for him as an old servant ; they have ill will towards himYor turning against them
and going with the Union army ; and they have direct hostility to him as now being in the
condition of a freedman claiming the rights of a freeman.
Question. If it was for them to say, would they permit the blacks to become owners of
landed property ?
Answer. It seemed everywhere determined upon that he should not be an owner of land.
I found this quite universal in all the States, in every tour I made, and I listened to debates
in their legislatures on that subject.
244 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the marital rights of the black people — the rights
of husband and wife and the rights of family ?
Answer.. Well, sir; I think they care very little about that matter. Their old habits of
feeling still remain; they consider the relations of husband and wife not especially sacred
among the blacks.
Question. In case of a war between the United States and any foreign power, such as
France or England, what would be the disposition of the rebel people towards the govern
ment of the United States ?
Answer. • I think it would be in their hearts to join'with the foreign power. I doubt whether
they would dare to do it. They felt the power of our government in this war, and are dis
posed at present to submit to it.
Answer. Suppose it should become apparent in such an event that the government of the
United States was not strong enough to retain them in their allegiance, and suppose they
should get the idea that the government of the United States was so weak as to justify them
in making an attempt to throw off the authority of the government, either by joining the com
mon enemy or by declaring their own independence, what would probably be their course ?
Answer. I think in the case of supposed weakness of our government they would declare
their independence. I heard very intelligent gentlemen say that while they submitted to
their present condition as a necessity, they still felt that the principles on which they rebelled
were right, and they only wait in the coming time for another opportunity.
Question. Are you a man accustomed to careful observation as you are passing from one
place to another in the country and mingling with the people ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I generally keep my eyes and ears open, and I usually get into con
versation with men.
Question. That is your habit of mind and intercourse?
Answer. Yes, sir. In my late tour I was with General Howard until he left Jackson for
Washington. I listened to many conversations between him and the multitudes whom he
met. I was with him at hotels. When he left I made a little experiment of travelling with
out being known, and of listening to what of natural conversation would occur. The two
methods have their advantages in learning the state of feeling. I think I saw more deeply
into the hearts of the people often by listening and mingling in conversation where I was not
known.
Question. In case they had the power, do you imagine they would permit the freedman to
remain a re'sident in their communities, or would they try to expel him ?
Answer. They seem inclined to be rid of him. They generally wish that white laborers
could be procured, and they are, here and there, making experiments with that view.
Question. Are they willing to have people from the north or from the loyal States come and
settle among them and buy land and become permanent inhabitants with them?
Answer. A great many of them want to sell their land, but I do not think that they would
like to have northern people come there as residents. I think they dislike us and prefer that
we would stay away.
Question. Do you regard it as safe, as a general rule, for northern men to go down there
and attempt to settle and become residents '!
Answer. It would not be for those who favored the government and the interests of the
freedrnen if the military were withdrawn ; it would be very unsafe.
Question. Would such sdttlers probably be subjected to violence and insult ?
Answer. To all sorts of insult, and probably to violence in very many cases.
Question. WTould they not be able to obtain justice in the southern courts if they were ttms
treated ?
Answer. They would probably obtain a hearing, but I think they would hardly secure jus
tice.
Question. Why not ?
Answer. From the strength of southern prejudice against northern people.
Question. You think that prejudice would pervade even the juries who would be called to
try the case ?
Answer. -I think it would.
Question. Do you think it would generally affect the decisions of the judges upon the
bench ?
Answer. I should fear it might. I learned of cases where the court was very partial to the
old class of southerners who came into litigation with northern-born men or negroes. And
this was true where negro testimony was admitted ; it was taken simply as the statement of
the negro.
Question. How do they regard the truthfulness of the negro generally ?
Answer. They say he is very untruthful.
Question. Have you found the negro untruthful in your intercourse with him?
Answer. I have not. I think he is as truthful as any other class of men of the same intel
ligence I know he has been remarkably truthful to our northern people and to the army in
all matters of information.
Question. What feeling has been created on the part of the southern whites toward the
blacks in consequence of the part which the blacks have taken in the war ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 245
Ansvrer. They do not like them for having sided with the north.
Question. Has that become a ground of hatred, dislike, or increased distrust?
Answer. I do not think that is the sole ground. I think that that enters into their dislike
as one of its elements. They look upon the negro as having been seduced by the northern
people and as having been comparatively innocent in the course he took.
Question. What do they say generally about the emancipation of their slaves, either by
President Lincoln's proclamation, by the amendment to the Constitution, or any other means ?
Answer. They never have liked it. They hoped that great trouble would arise from it.
They delight in all the obstacles we find to the improvement of thefreedman. So it seems to
me. I say this of the majority. There are very many. exceptions. There are a class of men
at the south, in very small numbers, who have, at heart, probably always been with us, and
who are now favorable to the improvement of the negro.
Question- In reference to these obstacles to the improvement of the negro, do you think
from your observation that the southern people generally are endeavoring to increase those
obstacles rather than to diminish them ?
Answer. I think that is a very general disposition. They oppose negro schools generally.
There is a great hate apparently towards northern teachers. Whatever we do for colored
schools has to be done without any consultation with the southerners.
Question. What is the great ground of objeetion on their part toward the education of the
blacks ; why do they wish to see them remain in ignorance ?
Answer. From their old habits they seem to feel that the negro must not become an equal.
They understand that education and property and political privileges will make the negro so.
and hence they oppose everything of the kind.
Question. You think this feeling arises rather from their old prejudices to the race ?
Answer. Very much so. I heard gentlemen say in the legislature at Montgomery that they
were determined that the blacks should not rise to be equals with white men, and that all
their legislation would be based on that determination ; that they must not have titles to
land ; that if they obtained possession of property, the next thing would be to claim the right
of suffrage and all other political privileges. They perceive that these things come along
logically from each other.
Question. Did that declaration on the part of members seem to find favor with the other
members of the legislature or with the audience ?
Answer. A member expressed this opinion to me privately in the lobby, but it was the
same in substance as I had listened to in the debate in the house, the debate being on the
constitutional amendment.
Question. Did you ever find a disloyal negro in the course of your travels ?
Answer. I saw one during the war, who came into our army lines and said he was with
the rebels ; that is the only instance that I remember. It may be said that they are univer
sally loyal.
Question. State what is the degree of attachment which they exhibit towards the govern
ment of the United States ?
Answer. Well, sir; it is unbounded. It was in Mr. Lincoln; it is now in the government,
and in what they expect the government will do for them.
Question. You mean to say that universally they are the strong friends of the government ?
Answer. I do. When, on the sea islands, a proposition was made to restore the la.nds to
their original owners, there was a most distressing breaking in upon that confidence in the
government which they had been cherishing. It would be impossible for any one to describe
the feeling they manitested On that occasion.
Question. Have you been aware of the existence of combinations among the negroes to
rise in insurrection against the white men — the proprietors of lands ?
Answer. I do not think that there has ever been any such combinations. They have often
told me, when I questioned them, that there was nothing of the kind. I came through a
number of the States just before the holidays, and of course my curigsity, at least, was ex
cited to know how they felt.
Question. And you conversed with them on that subject?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You conversed with the .intelligent portion of the negroes?
Answer. Yes, sir; Avitb the most intelligent.
Question. Had they confidence in you as a friend ?
Answer. I think they had. My work of getting up schools among them and looking after
their financial concerns brought the most intelligent of them around me in every place, some
times in large crowds. I was in Richmond on Christmas eye when there was a great deal
of excitement among the white people, but I saw not the least amonf the blacks.
Question.^ What was the reason of the excitement?
Answer. The white people were in expectation of disturbances. The blacks were in their
churches engaged in their usual religious services.
Question. Suppose all protection on part of the United States towards the freedmen should
be withdrawn, including the Freedinen's Bureau and the presence of the military forces, thus
leaving the freedmen to be dealt with by the authorities of the States solely, what would be
the result ?
246 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. They would suffer in all their interests as laborers; and as to attemj
cation or improvement, the whole would be arrested and, I think, turned backward.
Question. Would the blacks endure it without resistance?
Answer. I should fear that there might be resistance. The soldiers of the disbanded col
ored regiments talk as though there would be, and yet I think, from the general quiet nature
of the colored people, that they would bear long and patiently before such a thing took place.
It would be only an extremity that would force them to such an insurrection.
Question. In such a case would the whites of the States, through their governments, or
by popular movements, be likely to attempt the expulsion of the blacks from their limits?
Answer. I think they would attempt to destroy them, or to expel them, if they could not
destroy them.
Question. In such an event would the colored men fight?
Answer. I think they would.
Question. Regarding the rebel States as they are now conditioned, and as they probably
would be conditioned in the case of the removal of the Freedmen's Bureau and the with
drawal of the military forces of the United States, could you look upon these political com
munities as supports of the government of the United States, or as elements of weakness?
Answer". As elements of weakness; most decidedly, unless there should come a very great
change over them.
Question. Looking upon them in their present condition ?
Answer. Decidedly, elements of weakness. I everywhere listened to conversations which
were seditious in their character, planning for the future, not for the government but for them
selves, cursing the northern people and cursing the dominant party of the country.
Question. Can a Union man be elected from a congressional district in the south to Con
gress, generally ? Is there any chance for a Union man to be elected to Congress ?
Answer. I should think not. They seem determined to vote for those who have been the
strongest rebels, although they can hardly hope that such men will be admitted to Congress.
It is from a desire to show their •pluck, and spirit, and defiance; and they think that, ulti
mately, Congress and the country will cower before such determination. I can account for
it in no other way.
Question. Have the rebels any deposits of arms in considerable quantities, to your know
ledge or information?
Answer. I do not know that they have. I hear frequently of arms being in the possession
of men in all the States. 1 know they frequently use arms in cases of violence.
Question. ITave the negroes arms ?
Answer, jS'ot generally, and yet I think some of them have arms ?
Question. Do they keep them publicly in their houses so that they can be seen, or are
they concealed.
Answer. It may be that some of them are concealed, but generally they are proud of own
ing a musket or fowling-piece. They use them often for the destruction of vermin and game.
Question. Have you ever witnessed the operations of negro troops upon the field of battle?
Answer. I have seen them as they have come in and gone out to battle, and very often in
their camps and under drill.
Question. How do they behave as soldiers?
Answer. Remarkably well ; they are generally as well disciplined troops as I have seen.
Question. Are they submissive to discipline?
Answer. Remarkably so.
Question. Have they sufficient intelligence to understand the drill and discipline of a
soldier?
Answer. I have never seen any want in that respect. They are often more exact in the
execution of orders, as I have noticed, on picket and on guard duty, than white soldiers are.
Question. How do they behave when under actual fire ? have they courage and self- pos
session ?
Answer. The officers who led them into battle have uniformly told me that they had cour
age to an unexpected degree. General O. B. \Vilcox, who was in command of the colored
troops at Petersburg, told mo that he ncyer saw soldiers stand and fight, man to man, with
the bayonet, as they did before Petersburg. He said this with very gre^t emphasis. I was
with him soon after the light. ^
Question. If you wislv to make any other statement to the committee, to which I have not
called your attention, you are at liberty to do so.
Answer. If the matter of schools and finances is legitimately before this committee, I
would like to speak of them. 9
Mr. HOWARD. The matter of schools is.
WITNKSS. I will say, as to schools, that the experiment in relation to the capacity of the
negro fur education is complete.
Question. State particularly, and clearly, and thoroughly, all you hay£ to say on the ca
pacity of the negro to acquire education.
Answer. We have now nearly 1(JO,UOO under tuition. I have visited their schools in all
the States, and, while they have peculiarities, still I do not see but that they learn as rapidly
as white children would under the same circumstances. In many schools there is a remark-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 247
able decree of progress under the powerful stimulus which they feel in1 their new freedom,
and in the expectation of elevating- themselves by knowledge. I think that the colored
children are more. earnest and ambitioiis than most scholars.
Question. About how many schools have you visited ?
Answer. Well, sir, hundreds at least. My duty was to go to the schools everywhere, and
I saw not only those taught by white teachers, but I found all over the south a class of
schools got up and taught by colored people, rude and imperfect, but still groups of persons,
old and young, trying to learn. They did not seem to have patience to wait for the coming
of the white teacher. I suppose there are at least 500 such groups throughout the south,
many of them never having been visited by any white man before.
Question. What branch of education do they appear most readily to comprehend ?
Answer. They advance rapidly in all the elementary branches, and I do not see but that
they make good progress when they reach the higher branches, such as arithmetic, geogra
phy, and writing. In writing they rather excel. I had some very fine examinations in
arithmetic and at the black-board. In Baltimore, Charleston, and New Orleans I have
examined the higher classes in such branches as far as I should ever expect to examine white
children, receiving correct answers. In New Orleans I saw a school ot three hundred
taught by colored persons, where the reading, writing, and recitations were quite perfect;
where the exhibitions at the black-board were remarkable, and where everything was as
fluent in French as in English — the scholars reciting in both languages.
Question. Tell me whether there is as much repugnance among the whites in Now Orleans
and in Louisiana generally to the education of the blacks as you find in the Carolinas ?
Answer. I think there is less in Louisiana. The Creoles have always been permitted to
educate themselves, under some disadvantages. The whites, therefore, have seen an edu
cated class of colored men, and there is less prejudice against them, although it is very
strong all through the interior of the State. I saw a member of the legislature stop before
one of our schools. He turned to me, as I was by his side, and exclaimed, "Well, I have
seen many an absurdity in my lifetime, but this is the climax of all absurdities !." The
alphabet and spelling-book, in the hands of the colored children, were a great absurdity to
him.
Question. As to the religious ideas 'of the blacks, and as to their religious feeling, I wish
you to make a remark on these two subjects — are they superstitious ; more superstitious than'
white people who are equally ignorant?
Answer. The blacks have a strong tendency to religious faith in a Supreme Being, and
they love religious worship. I think this tendency towards faith often manifests itself, on
account of their ignorance, in what we would call superstition. When cultured, however,
this would become intelligent reliance upon the divine testimony; it would be* what we call
faith. When they are instructed they will be a peculiarly religious people, with a great
amount of conscience; with a strong purpose to do what they think is their duty, as taught
in the Scriptures.
Question. Do you think they are generally as honest and truthful as whites in the same
grade in society ?
Answer. There have been influences to make them dishonest and untruthful. If they
could be recovered from the influences of slavery, I think they would be as truthful and
honest as any class of persons living. My impression is that they have a lar£e amount of
conscience, which would make theai fear to offend.
Question. Have they generally among them the idea of property developed to such a
degree as to enable them to determine the difference between rneum and teum ?
Answer. Yes, sir, they know that distinction very well ; they understand wrhat property
is and its rights. They have a strong desire to accumulate property. They are, in the
main, industrious whenever they can get pay, and have it promptly.
Question. Are they not as much inclined to labor, provided they can get paid for their
labor, as are the low whites of the south ?
Answer. Very much more so, sir. I think they will work cheerfully as soon as they can be
treated properly and paid promptly. They do not like so well to work for their old masters. A
temporary contract, even, seems to be as the shadow of the old slavery, placing them fur the
time being under the power of these men ; which power they have so long dreaded aad
which they wish no longer to experience. They rove about a little on this account, seeking
to change their relations. I think that, very soon, they will settle .down to industry.
Question. Do you find among them a disposition to vagabondage ; and if so, to what extent?
Answer. There is that which is called by such a term, but it is produced by various
causes. Coming out from slavery, where they have seen a very limited state of things
around them, they want to see new things. In slavery they have been separated from their
relatives, and now they want to find them. The war carried them hither and thither, and
many are making their way back. Then they crowd towards the large cities and towns for
work, desiring to escape from the domination of their old masters. That is one reason of it.
Another reason is, that they wish to get where their children can go to our schools. All
this has made a great deal of moving about on their part? but I think that will cease as soon
as arrangements are made for their universal education and improvement, and for their
proper and kind treatment.
248 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Is it not likely that, in case they are permitted to become owners of lands, they
will settle down and be as quiet in the possession and cultivation of their lands as white
people generally are ?
Answer. They will be a remarkably permanent people. They love to stay in one place,
where they have always lived, where they were born, and where their children are buried.
Their local associations are very strong. In regard to their labor and earnings, they have
been, in the old condition, led to be improvident. They have scarcely known what money
was. . I speak of the great majority of them. I find, however, that they are very easily
taught to save what they do not need, and they are now expecting, multitudes of them, to
save money and make purchases of homesteads and lands. They relinquish pretty gene
rally the idea that they will get much from the government ; they feel they must go to work
and earn and save and buy for themselves. I have been placing a savings bank in most of
the large towns for their benefit. They receive that institution with great enthusiasm, and
say that they will make their deposits of everything they can possibly save in order 10 pro
vide for the future. They do not want to be a burden to anybody, especially to the govern
ment. We have now fifteen of these savings banks — small and in their first beginnings, but
the aggregate of deposits is already some $250,000. We have paid back over ^50,000 where
they needed it for -important purchases. We give it back immediately when they want it
for such purposes. I ani constantly receiving applications for such savings banks through
out the south.
Question. Have they any disposition to leave the country and go off and settle somewhere
else?
Answer. I do not think they have.
Question. How strong is the negro's love of home?
Answer. I think it very strong indeed. They all seem to prefer to stay pretty near where
they have always been living. That is one difficulty we have in getting them to go to dis
tant parts where labor^is culled for. It is not an aversion to labor, but rather an aversion to
leaving their friends a*nd old residences.
Question. Do you think of anything else you wish to say on the subject of the colored
race?
Answer. I have very great confidence, sir, that they are to be elevated, enlightened, and
christianized, and to be made a very important element in the more perfect civilization of the
coming time.
Question. Have you the slightest doubt about it?
Answer. Not the slightest, myself. I think they have constitutional elements of charac
ter which, when brought under high culture, will make them, in many respects, excel' as a
people. The*y are emotional, imaginative, imitative. The children in their schools write
quickly and draw well. For aught I can see, with proper opportunities, they will make
painters and artists.
Question. How is it in regard to their talent for music?
Answer*. They have a remarkable talent for music.
Question. Do they acquire music easily ?
Answer. Easily. It seems almost native to them. Universal song is heard among the
colored race.
Question. fCan they sing at their schools ?
Answer. Universally so. The great exhibition at all their schools is to hear them sing.
Question. Are they allowed to sing the Old John Brown song ?
Answer. Frequently, sir. We hear that very frequently, and the children very evidently
understand what they are singing about.
Question. Have these people generally understood tolerably well what the occasion and
object of the rebellion were?
Answer. Yes, sir. From the first they seemed to have known what was going on. I
have been astonished to find how they knew its history, how they watched its progress, what
their expectations were from the northern army, how they waited for its coming, often with
earnest prayer to God, and with expectations of what that army was to do for them — viz.,
to effect their emancipation. They have understood very much more, and even now under
stand more, of the political condition of things in this whole government than people usually
suppose.
Question. Do they not generally understand those subjects as well us the low whites of
the south .'
Answer. I think they do.
Question. What in your opinion has been the effect of the liberal policy of the President of
the United States in granting pardons and amnesties to the rebels at the south ? Has that
policy increased their attachment to the government of the United States, or has it had the
eti'ert of diminishing it?
Answer. It has undoubtedly increased their attachment to the President personally ; but
I think they have less respect for the government itself. I saw that they came buck, with
their pardons, to be more insolent -than ever. I think I have seen very distinctly that as
they have received favors from the government they have become more and more arrogant
in their demands, and less and less like uniting happily with us. I think that at first, when
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 249
their armies surrendered, they would have accepted terms very gratefully which now they
are ready to spurn. The whole process of favors shown them seems to have worked badly
so far as bringing them towards us.
Question. You think, then, that instead of esteeming those favors as benefactions, they
have only had the effect of inflaming their ill-will towards the United States and of augment
ing their defiance?
Answer. Yes, sir. They have taken them as rights, and have been encouraged to demand
more of the same sort.
Question. How do they regard the copperhead party of the north?
Answer. With exceeding lavor. I heard conversations everywhere to ihe effect that they
must unite with that party and acquire strength to overcome the republican party. They
seem to be talking about that, and planning about it. •
Question. Do they appear to be willing to remain in the Union in the event of the
ascendancy of the copperhead party with their assistance ? Would that satisfy them?
Answer. I think they expect to remain in the Union at present. They find it very diffi
cult to get out. They seem to have the purpose now of securing their objects in the Union.
That is their present plan. What they will do, if unsuccessful within the next few years, is
doubtful. I should myself fear another rebellion if they were admitted to all the privileges
and powers they once possessed until they manifest a different disposition than they do at
present.
Question. What other security doesfc there exist at the south for the permanency of the
Union and the government of the United States so great and so strong as the granting of civil
and political rights to the black people ? What other security so great and so strong as that ?
Answer. To my mind that is our only hope. I think that by so doing the' States will bo
brought back gradually to the possession of their old position, and the country will go on
safely. This is certainly my hope.
Question. But to withhold those rights from the blacks would be, in your judgment, to
weaken the bonds of the Union in that part of the country ?
Answer. I think so, decidedly. I should like to have appended to this examination my
report on schools made to the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau, as it contains facts
and statistics of interest.
Mr. HOWARD. Certainly, sir.
Witness handed to the committee a copy of th.e report referred to, which is appended to his
examination, as follows :
WAR DEPARTMENT,
BUREAU OF REFUGEES, FREEDMEN. AND ABANDONED LANDS,
Washington, D. C., January ], 1866.
GENERAL : In obedience to your Special Order No. 84, appointing me inspector of schools
and of finances for freedmen, I have the honor to report —
That I left Washington on the 6th day of October last, and travelled through all the
States south, below Tennessee and this side of the Mississippi river.
The cities and large towns visited were Baltimore, Maryland ; Hampton, Norfolk, Peters
burg, and Richmond, Virginia ; Newbern, Goidsborough, and Wilmington, North Carolina ;
Florence, Charleston, and Beaufort, South Carolina; Savannah, Augusta, and Atlanta,
Georgia ; Fernaudina, Jacksonville, and Tallahassee, Florida ; Mobile and Montgomery,
Alabama ; Jackson, Vicksburg, and Natchez, Mississippi ; and New Orleans, Louisiana —
most of these places both on my outward and returning journey. My whole tour extended
over four thousand miles of travel. Going by land I was enabled to see, along the line, and
by excursions into the interior and to the islands, much of the freedmen's condition upon the
plantations. I also went among the colored troops, as I could find them in their various re-
gimeatal encampments, or as detailed in companies on special duty.
SCHOOLS.
The desire of f he freedmen for knowledge has not been over-stated. This comes from sev
eral causes :
1. The natural thirst for knowledge common to all men.
2. They have seen power and influence among white people always coupled wTith learning.
It is the sign of that elevation to which they now aspire.
3. Its mysteries, hitherto hidden from them in written literature, excites to the special
study of books.
4. Their freedom has given wonderful stimulus to all effort, indicating a vitality which
augurs well for their future condition and character.
5. But especially the practical business of life now upon their hands shows at once their
need of an education. This they all feel and acknowledge; hence their unusual welcome and
attendance upon schools is confined to no one class or age. Those advanced in life throw
up their hands at first in despair, but a little encouragement places even these as pupils at
the alphabet. Such as are in middle life — the laboring class— gladly avail themselves of the
evening and Sabbath schools. They may be often seen during the intervals of toil, when off
duty as servants, on steamboats, along the railroads, and when unemployed in the streets of
250 RECONSTRUCTION.
the city or on the plantations, with some fragment of a spelling-book injheir hands earnestly
at study. Regiments of colored soldiers have nearly all made improvement in 1< arning. In
some of them, where but few knew their letters at first, nearly every man can now read, and
many of them write. In other regiments one-half or two-thirds can do this.
The officers of such regiments deserve great credit for their efforts in this respect. The
one hundred and twenty-eighth United States colored troops, at Beaufort, I found with reg
ularly detailed teachers from the line officers, a neat camp school-house erected by the regt-
ment, and the colonel, with great interest, superintending the whole arrangement. Chap
lains have also been the school-masters of their respective regiments with much success, and
greatly increasing their usefulness. Even in hospitals I discovered very commendable efforts
at such elementary instruction. In the above camp and hospital work the teachers of the
northern associations were found helping. But the great movement is among the children
of the usual sehootage, and who are now otherwise wholly unemployed. Their parents, if
at all intelligent, everywhere encourage them to study. Your officers in all ways add their
influence, and it is a fact, not always true of children, that among those recently from bond
age, the school-house, however rough and uncomfortable, is, of all other places, the most
attractive, the average attendance being nearly equal to that usually found at the north.
For instance, in the District of Columbia the daily attendance at the white schools is but
forty-one per cent., while at the colored schools of the District it is seventy-five per cent. In the
State of New York the daily attendance at the public schools is forty-three per cent. At the
colored ^schools in the cit£ of Memphis it is seventy-iwo per cent. In the whole State of Al
abama it is seventy-nine per cent, and in Virginia eighty-two per cent. The most thorough
attendance at public schools at the north is probably in the city of Boston, where it is ninety-
three per cent, In Ijae comparison, therefore, schools of colored children do not suffer (espe
cially when we consider lax government at home, and opportunities for truancy) with the
most vigorous system found among our own children. Love of their books is "universally
apparent. Dull and stupid ones there are, but a very common punishment for misdemeanor
is the threat of being kept at home for a day. The threat in moSt cases is sufficient
TOTAL UNDER INSTRUCTION.
_ The whole number of pupils in the colored schools of the eleven States lately in insurrec
tion, and including Missouri, Kentucky, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, up to the
last date of reports, namely, December 1, is ninety thousand five hundred and eighty-nine.
Teachers, one thousand three hundred and fourteen. Schools, seven hundred and forty.
These numbers have increased, rather than diminished, since that date.
The above schools are sustained, under your superintendence, by the various benevolent
associations of the north, with the exception of a few in charge of tax commissioners, and
those in Louisiana, until recently supported by a military rax on the people of the State.
But these associations are indebted to the government for transportation of teachers and of
school furniture, for military protection, and in many cases for the occupation of buildings
in possession of the bureau. The loyal people of the country will, it is believed, do much
more of this philanthropic work if they can be furnished with the needed accommodations
way be secured.
The above associations would in many cases erect buildings with their own funds if they
could obtain land on which to do it.
VIRGINIA.
The best schools in this State are at Hampton and Norfolk and the adjacent plantations
where the field could be occupied soon after the war commenced. Attainment in all the
branches of a common education has been most commendable, and no abatement of zeal or
slackening of progress is apparent among scholars most advanced. The higher classes are
destined to go still higher if opportunity is afforded them.
In other parts of Virginia these educating efforts have commenced more recently, but with
equal promise. By the efforts of your excellent assistant commissioner at Richmond, schools
in their first stages are now instituted in all parts of the State. The whole number of col
ored children under instruction at the present time is twelve thousand eight hundred ami
ninety-eight (12,^98) pupils, in ninety (90) schools, with one hundred and ninety-five (195)
teachers, and the reports of the State superintendent are full and satisfactory.
Aside from these colored schools, I found at Richmond a very good school for indigent
white children, under the care of the American Union commission, numbering three hundred
and seventy-five (375) pupils, with five teachers, and fifty (50) adults in an evening school.
In addition to this, the old provost marshal building, General Winder's former head quarters,
is now being fitted up for seven schools for poor white children, an industrial school, and a
public reading-room. The lower and the middling classes of the white population of the city
favor this movement.
In Petersburg and Fredericksburg, each, the commission has a similar school, the former
numbering eighty (80) and the latter one hundred and fifty (150) pupils.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 251
NORTH CAROLINA.
In this State there are schools well advanced at Newbern and vicinity, having had for the
same reason as above time for thorough organization and progress. A vigorous system has
been more recently arranged throughout the whole State into which children and even adults
are crowding, making a constant demand for the opening of new schools ; a general desire
for education is everywhere manifested. In some instances, as in Halifax county, very good
schools were found taught and paid for by the colored people themselves. Said a gentleman
to me, " I constantly see in the streets and on the door-steps opposite my dwelling groups of
little negroes studying their spelling-books." The aggregate for the whole State is, schools
eighty-sTx, (86,) teachers one hundred and nineteen, (] 19,) pupils-eight thousand five hundred
and six, (8,506.) The increase of scholars during the four weeks previous to this summary
was one thousand four hundred and fifty-three. We note the gratifying* fact that while there
is this general increase, the attendance in.the large towns is decreasing — showing that the
tide of colored population is now setting strongly toward the rural districts where labor is
called for, and where they will have permanent settlement in life. An industrial school on
Roanoke island is in successful operation. In Raleigh and Wilmington there are schools for
poor white children, numbering in both places two hundred and fifty attendants.
SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA.
In the city of Charleston the free" colored people during the existence of slavery were, un
der various restrictions, permitted to have schools. The consequence was that some of that
class were q^ite well educated. When the late emancipation came these schools were at once
enlarged, and by the aid of northern benevolence became very soon unusually interesting ;
opposition of the citizens was rather to the occupying of their public school-houses by the
negroes, than to their education itself.
The whites had seen in former years that free negroes were elevated in character by having
learning, and it may be well to state that of the seventy-six (76) teachers in South Carolina
at the present time, twenty-five (2G) are natives, twenty-four (24) being colored persons. It
will undoubtedly be true that as prejudice wears away white persons of the south will be
willing to engage in this well paid and useful service. And as intelligence increases colored
teachers will also become more numerous. The happy effect of mingling in one common
and honorable employment persons from opposite sections of the country, and also of differ
ent colors, is apparent. The accomplished head master of the largest school in Charleston,
numbering eight hundred and fifty (850) in daily attendance, is a colored man. In all parts
of the State schools- are multiplying; rf'e whole number being forty-eight, (48,) not as large
as might be expected, but some of them are immense in attendance. Two in Charleston
register over eight hundred (800) pupils each, and fifteen (15) others in the State from one
hundred and ten (110) to three hundred and seventy-two (372) each. I visited the principal
of these schools, and can say that many hundreds of pupils bore excellent examination in
reading, writing, geography, and English grammar. Some of the schools in the interior are
in their first rude stage, and many are deficient in making their regular reports. The whole
number of teachers is seventy-six, (76,) and of pupils ten thousand, (10,000.)
Georgia having been under the same assistant commissioner, does not differ much, in the
work done and in progress, from South Carolina. The best schools are in Augusta, Macon
and Savannah , It would be difficult to discriminate, though in the latter place the effort began
earlier. In a very few days after the advent of General Sherman, there were five hundred
(500) children under organized instruction in that city. This effort in teaching and expense
was undertaken wholly by the colored people themselves. They receive from white friends
only advice and encouragement.
These schools still continue, and with , improvement quite creditable to the agency by
which they are carried on. There are in the State sixty-nine (69) schools, and three thousand
six hundred and three (3,603) pupils, with sixty -nine (69) teachers, forty-three (43) of whom
are colored persons. The associations of the north are doing well here, as in the other States ;
but their efforts are crippled for want of buildings. In every place a crowd of pupils can
find no adequate accommodation. It is also true that schools are prevented from going into
the interior through fear of violence to unprotected teachers; a military police is everyAvhere
needed. At Athens, in this State, the Union commission has a school of refugee white chil
dren with ninety-five (95) pupils. At Chattanooga there is an advanced school of this kind
recently started.
FLORIDA. . .
This State is not as far advanced in education as some others, most of it being more sparsely
populated and the organization more recent. ' Notwithstanding, there are good schools in ten
<3f the larger towns, with the same general results as above. In Tallahassee I found five
schools gathered and taught by the colored preachers of the place; also a school of interesting
girls instructed by a mulatto woman of education, and who said " I intend to make ladies of
these girls." They will undoubtedly become teachers. At Fernandiua an orphan school of
252 RECONSTRUCTION.
forty (40) little parcntless children occupies the mansion formerly owned bju General Fhmi-
gan ; it is a lovely specimen of genuine philanthropy, and the lady principal deserves great
credit for her self-denying labors. The total in Florida is thirty schools, nineteen (19) teach
ers, and nineteen hundred (1,900) pupils.
ALABAMA.
As far as I could learn, there have been but two schools in this State under the care of the
assistant commissioner. But these are large, having eight hundred and seventeen (817)
Supils enrolled, with fifteen (15) teachers. That at Mobile bears a most rigid examination
i all respects ; it is well graded, its teachers thorough, and its discipline excellent. The
progress made by the majority of the scholars is truly surprising. The school opened in
May, 1865, and now there are classes in all the different readers from the pictorial primer to
the rhetorical fifth reader ; one class is now in fractions of Robinson's arithmetic ; one class
in intellectual arithmetic reciting in reduction ;. other classes are well advanced 'in English
grammar and geography ; the teachers publish a monthly paper called " The Acoon." This
school receives help from the north, but each pupil, if able, is required to pay a small tuition
fee of irom twenty-five cents to $1 25 per month, no child being excluded on account of pov
erty. The whole amount received from this tuition has been $1,875 18. The other school
Ls at Montgomery, and is in a very good condition, with three hundred arid twenty-five pupils,
who pay in the aggregate $H8 per month tuition. Arrangements are in progress by your
assistant commissioner at Montgomery to have a general system of schools throughoiit the
State. Governor Parsons favors the work, and some white native teachers are willing to
engage in it. But in the interior, as is true of all these States, much opposition is manifest
ed, and military protection will for the present bo needed, especially if the instructors are to
be females. There are also eleven schools in the northern part of the State in the division
known as the " Department of the Tennessee," which have hitherto been superintended by tlic
commissioner of Kentucky and Tennessee. These are about to be transferred to the care of
the commissioner of Alabama. They are at Huntsville, Athens and Stevenson, and are good
schools.
MISSISSIPPI.
There is a mixture of good and evil to report from this State. Your officers are indefati
gable in their efforts. There are many good schools among the thirty which have been rn
operation. Some of these have made admirable progress, and a number, not included m
the above, have started, under various auspices, in different parts of the State. There is,
everywhere, the usual eagerness to learn; but in some sections "inveterate opposition"
among the whites is manifested towards these schools. Two teachers, at the time I was
there, were sent to one of the large towns, twenty -five miles into the country, where there
was no military, and the next morning they were ordered off, and threatened if they did
not go. This opposition is often openly avowed ; but more generally is tacit and concealed,
making itself felt everywhere in a sort of combination not to allow the freedmen any place
in which a school may be taught. A superintendent in an interior town says : " The oppo
sition to negro education is very great in my town and neighborhood." Colored men, m
some instances, have paid their own money to prepare and furnish a room for .a school, and
then have been forbidden to use it ; the white people taking it from them for their own chil
dren. These same things are true of other States, though in Mississippi such opposition hus
seemed to be more common than elsewhere ; and yet there are redeeming features. In
stances of planters have come to our knowledge who are desirous of employing teachers for the
freed people. One of your officers states that "many planters are beginniilg to perceive
that schools for the children would be an inducement to laborers to engage with them."
General opposition is undoubtedly decreasing. We notice expressions of hope from those
who are laboring in the State, and it is clear that a steady system of effort cannot be resisted.
As I told one of the planters, "they would find it harder fighting the alphabet and spelling-
book than they did Grant and Sherman." He made no reply. There are now sixty-eight
(68) teachers in that State, thirty-four (34) Schools, and four thousand three hundred uiul
ten (4, :>!()) enrolled pupils. More than half, of these are considerably advanced in reading,
writing, and arithmetic.
LOUISIANA.
In this State a peculiar and very efficient system was inaugurated by Major General Banks
in his General Order No. 38, March '22, 1864. That order created a " board of education for
freed men for the department of the Gulf, with power to establish common schools, employ
teachers, erect -school-houses, regulate the course of studies, and have generally the same
authority that assessors, supervisors, and trustees have in the northern States in the matter
of establishing and conducting common schools."
The purpose of the order is stated to be "for the rudimental instruction of the freedmen
of the department, placing within their reach those elements of knowledge which give greater
intelligence and value to labor."
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 253
Previously, the teaching of a negro had been a heinous offence. It is true that the chil
dren of free colored people, who were in good circumstances, (known as "Creoles," gen
erally of French or Spanish extraction,) when not educated abroad, or from fairness of com
plexion, by occasional admission to the white schools, were quietly instructed at home or in
a very few private schools of their class ; but for the poor, even of the free colored people,
there was no school.
Almost immediately upon the above order a great system went into operation, and during
the last two years there have been about 150 schools for colored children established in this
State, giving employment to 265 teachers, and affording instruction to 14,000 children and
5,000 adults, of which latter class more than 1,000 were soldiers. There have been, in New
Orleans alone, 19 large schools, employing 104 teachers, with an average attendance of
5,7*24 pupils. More than 50,000 colored people, as reported by the local superintendent,
have been taught to read in that city and immediate vicinity, and now they seem to feel
more deeply interested than ever in acquiring knowledge. These are great results. I vis
ited these schools, looked over their records, heard their recitations, saw their excellent dis
cipline, became acquainted with the majority of their intelligent teachers, and feel safe in
saying that while no State has had so large an organization, no one has excelled Louisiana
in the detailed perfection of their school system. The charges which have been made, that
too high salaries were given to teachers, I investigated thoroughly, and found them entirely
groundless. Tho expense of living in Louisiana is enormous.
It may be well to state that quite a number of southern white teachers have been em
ployed. They understand the negro, and their southern origin and education enable them
to combat prejudice against his education.
These teachers may not be equal in some respects to those from the north, but their wril-
lingness to bear jeers and contempt of friends and kindred, and the practical exclusion from,
circles which hitherto have received them gladly, entitles them to great consideration. The
superintendent has aimed to select the most capable and worthy of these, but has not been
unmindful of those whose loyal antecedents and consequent suffering from the rebellion
entitle them to sympathy and aid.
Whenever colored teachers, with the requisite ability, have presented themselves, he has
made no distinction whatever.
Much opposition has been encountered from those who dp not believe in the elevation of
the negro. The more, perhaps, as by the " labor order " of General Banks, to obtain his ser
vices, they were obliged to help pay for this education. A multitude of facts might be given.
It is the testimony of the superintendent that "if the military power should be withdrawn,
and the State once more resume all her functions, our schools would cease to exist, and the
whole moral and political influence of the people of Louisiana be brought to bear against
them." The constitution of 1864 makes it incumbent on the legislature to provide for the
education of colored children; but that constitution is not regarded as the law of the land,
and the dominant party demands that it be set aside, as not expressing the will of the
people.
A member of the legislature, which was in session while I was at New Orleans, was pass
ing one of the schools with me, having at the time its recess, the grounds about the building
b*ng filled with children. He stopped and looked intently, then inquired, "Is this a
school?" "Yes," I replied. "What! of niggers?" "These are colored children evi-
dentlyjtf I answered. "Well, well," said he, and raising his hands, "I have seen many an
absurdity in my lifetime, but this is the climax of absurdities!"* I was sure he did not
speak for effect, but as he felt. He darted from me like an arrow, and turned the next cor
nea- to take his seat with legislators similarly prejudiced.
It was with regret that I learned, while in the State, that the collection of the general tax
for colored schools was suspended by military order. The consternation of the colored popu
lation was intense. They could not consent to have their children sent away from study,
and at once expressed willingness to be assessed for the whole expense. Their part of the
ordinary public school tax they were already paying, though not sharing its benefits ; but
they petitioned General Canby to levy an added tax upon them for their own schools. The
New Orleans Tribune (colored daily paper) opposed this on the ground that it was without
representation, and so did many of the rich " Creoles;" but the middle and lower classes of
the freedmeu could not be restrained. Petitions began to pour in. I saw one, from the plan
tations across the river, at least thirty feet in length, representing ten thousand negroes. It
was affecting to examine it, and note the names and marks (X) of such a long list of par
ents, ignorant themselves, but begging that their children might be educated ; promising
that, from beneath their present burdens and out of their extreme poverty, they would pay
for it. I am happy to add that, upon the back of that petition was indorsed the name of
your excellent commissioner, General Baird, asking, on behalf of these poor, that their re
quest might be granted. I learn that this matter has not yet been accomplished, and that
the schools have been temporarily suspended ; the commissioner assuring the freedmen that
" by the first of March the system of contracts prescribed for agricultural laborers will begin
to yield a revenue," and it is expected that the schools in the country districts may then be
re-established. He adds that, "in the cities and towns the mode of maintaining schools has
not been so fully decided upon ; but the vacation, which has become absolutely necessary
254 RECONSTRUCTION.
from the want of funds, will be of the shortest possible duration." If ineans, from any
quarter, come into the hands of the bureau, I would call attention to the reopening of these
interesting schools at the earliest moment. A number of industrial schools have been hi
progress in New Orleans and with good results.
As I did not visit the States of Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri, Kentucky, and Ten
nessee, I Avill only give the general facts in regard to them, obtained from the several super
intendents. »
In Texas there are ten day and six night schools for freedmen, under ten teachers, with
1,040 pupils, many of them adults. They are all self-sustaining. Arrangements have been
made whereby thirty teachers will soon be obtained, and that number of schools will be or
ganized as soon as books can be procured. >
In Missouri, Kansas, and Arkansas, under the care of General Sprague, there are 39 schools,
51 teachers, and 3,444 pupils. One school has been recently closed for want of a building.
The last report from these States gives 75 schools^ 264 teachers, and 14,768 pupils. The
Dnimissioner says, " In addition to these free schools, the colored people have sustained
lany independent schools in Louisville, Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville, largely increas-
KENTUCKY AND TENNESSEE.
The
commissioner say;
ing the above numbers." Several schools have been abandoned, however, lately, for want
of suitable buildings, and others from the breaking up of government camps. The cold
weather of winter also prevents many from attending. Much opposition has been made to
educating the freedmen in some parts of those States, while in a few places (as at Athens,
Alabama,) the citizens are said to be "favorable to the schools." There is a constantly in
creasing demand among the freed people for education. The superintendent testifies that
"while the expenditure for educational purposes in this department for the past six months
lias not been less than $50,000, scarcely a beginning has been made in the great work."
At Nashville a square of land has been purchased by northern associations for sixteen
thousand dollars, on which a high school building has been erected for teaching the children
of freedmen in all the higher branches. It is expected that this institution will equal in its
advantages the best schools in of the same class New England. The building was dedicated
on the 9th of January last, and has now 1,100 pupils. A normal department is attached,
which will prepare teachers for elementary schools through the whole State.
There is an asylum of colored children at Nashville, with sixty inmates.
A number of teachers for refugee white children have been sent to Tennessee and other
places of the west and southwest. This has been done on application from the citizens of those
sections. The effect of such schools is not only to benefit the children, but to produce fra
ternity of feeling with us among the people generally, especially the common classes. The
wealthy and aristocratic look upon this effort with less favor.
In Maryland I made a brief inspection, though this State is not fully under your jurisdiction.
The " Baltimore Association for the Moral and Educational Improvement of the Colored Peo
ple" has sixteen flourishing schools in Baltimore, numbering, day and night, 1,957 pupils.
They occupy seven buildings, and employ sixteen teachers, three of whom are colored. These
schools are now crowded to their utmost capacity, and would be much larger if room cou^
be obtained. In the several counties of the State this association has Id schools, with 19
teachers and 1,110 pupils, H of whom are colored. The colored people have aided^ these
county schools the last year by paying $^,000 of the expenses themselves. All these schools
bear an excellent examination. The society of Friends has an evening school in Baltimore
of 40 draymen and porters, taught by young men of the society, and who are making good
progress. These Friends also aid the above association.
The American Missionary Association have five schools in Maryland, two in Baltimore and
three in the country, under the care of seven teachers. With their evening schools and
classes of older people they have from 600 to 700 under their instruction. All their schools
are doing well.
Besides these there are seven schools in Baltimore, solely under the management of the col
ored people, taught and paid for by their own money. These contain, in all, 319 pupils, a
considerable number of whom are adults. This is an interesting effort, and shows what the
colored population will do themselves, even alongside of schools both well taught and gratu
itous. In the Douglas (colored) institute, which is on a permanent foundation, the children
are generally from the working classes, and their parents pay for tuition from $1 to $1 50 per
month.
I found two schools in Baltimore, which have been going on more than ten years, supported
from a legacy given by Nelson Willis, a colored man, having seventy-five scholars in daily
attendance.
The educational work in Maryland has had much opposition, such as "stoning children
and teacher at Easton," " rough handling and blackening the teacher at Cambridge," " indig
nation meeting in Dorchester county, with resolutions passed to drive out the teacher," ami
the " burning' of church and school-house at Williugtou, Kent county." "A guard had to be
placed over the school-house at Annapolis," &c.
Colored churches have also been burned in Cecil, Queen Ann, and Somerset counties, to
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 255
prevent schools being opened in them, all showing that negro hate is by no means confined
to the low south.
I have thus been somewhat particular in regard to Maryland, because you are without
regular official reports from that State. .
In the District of Columbia there are reported 45 schools, 100 teachers, and 5,191 pupils.
Some thousands of these are good readers, and also are in English grammar, geography,
arithmetic, and higher branches. One thousand eight hundred and fifty-four are learning to
write, and only 1,097 are still in the alphabet. There are nine other schools not reported,
having 500 or COO pupils. Twenty-one night schools are in operation, with 1,200 pupils,
and, besides Sabbath schools attached to all the colored churches, there are 25 such schools
connected with this bureau in a flourishing condition, having 2,329 pupils. A number of
industrial schools have been started, one of which made during the last month 162 garments;
another has made 100 articles of clothing. The last is a school of adult women. This whole
work is a vast Improvement upon the state of things here, as some of us well remember only
a few months since. The superintendent, Mr. Kimbell, says, "all the teachers seem to be
earnest and hopeful." One writes, " I find the children are very much like white ones, some
stupid, others bright. They are rather more eager for learning, because it has been forbjd-
deu fruit to them."
The order and general character of many of these schools in "Washington has much im
proved of late. One of them, situated in the heart of the city, and therefore open to much
observation, was, a few months ago, declared a "nuisance" by the neighbors; now no
complaint is made and* even much praise is elicited by the good conduct of the children.
Eight or ten self-supporting schools, taught by colored teachers, numbering at least 500
scholars, are also in operation here in the district. Some of these appear remarkably well.
There is an association of all the teachers of the schools with 100 members ; in their monthly
meetings reports are made and questions of mutual interest are discussed, and in this way
the general character of the schools is constantly improved.
Thus I have given a sketch (meager, indeed, as all the facts and incidents would make a
volume) of the system of education for the refugees and freedmen which has been under the
' general supervision of this bureau.
I may be permitted to say that from my personal observations much more is being done
than finds its way into the above statistics. There are many schools not reported ; evening
schools for adults, of great utility, are becoming very numerous. Often they are conducted
by volunteer friends of the colored man, and with a modesty which forbids making public
mention of their work. Sabbath schools among freedmen have been opened throughout the
whole south, all of them giving elementary instruction and reaching thousands who cannot at
tend the week-day teaching. These are not usually included in the regular returns. They are
often spoken of with special interest by superintendents ; indeed, one of the most thrilling
spectacles which he who visits the southern country now witnesses in cities and often upon
plantations, is the large schools gathered upon the Sabbath day, sometimes of many hun
dreds, dressed in clean Sunday garments, with eyes sparkling, intent on elementary and
Christian instruction. The management of some of these is admirable — after the fashion of
the best Sunday schools of white children with faithful teachers — the majority of whom, it
will be often noticed, are colored. I do not, therefore, doubt that the footing, as given from •
the several States in the first part of this report, of 90,589 pupils, would be, if all was told,
swollen to at least 100,000, who are now under effective instruction.
Another great feature of this educational movement remains to be noticed, and which wall
add a very important item to even this number. Throughout the entire south an effort is
being made by the colored people to educate themselves. In the absence of other teaching
they are determined to be self-taught, and everywhere- some elementary text-book, or frag
ment of one, maybe seen in the hands of negroes. They quickly communicate to each
other what they already know, so that with very little learning many take to teaching. A
willingness, even an ambition, to bear expenses, is also noticed. They often say, {' We want
to show how much we can do ourselves if you will only give us a chance."
This may seem to be an overstatement to those who doubt the character of the negro, not
that they are ungrateful or unwilling to be helped, but so universal is the feeling I am de
scribing, that it seems as if some unseen influence was inspiring them to that intelligence
which they now so immediately need. Individuals are not only seen at study, and under
the most untoward circumstances, but in very many places I have found what I will call
"native schools," often rude and very imperfect; but there they are, a group, perhaps of
all ages, trying to learn ; some young man, some woman, or old preacher, in cellar or shed,
or corner of a negro meeting-house, with the alphabet in hand or a torn spelling-book, is
their teacher. All are full of enthusiasm with.ihe new knowledge the book is imparting to
them.
Again, I saw schools, shall I call them, of somewhat higher order. A deserted house has
been obtained; there is some organization and awkward classifying larger members, better
books, with tolerable exhibition of easy reading. A sample of such I met a1. Goldsborough,
North Carolina ; two young colored men, who but a little time before commenced to learn
themselves, had gathered one hundred and fifty pupils, all quite orderly and hard at study.
A small tuition fee was charged and they needed books. These teachers told me that no
256 RECONSTRUCTION.
white man, before me, had ever come near them. At Halifax was a similar school, the first
of any kind which had been opened in that county since the war.
A still higher order of this native teaching is seen in the colored schools at Charleston,
Savannah and New Orleans ; with many disadvantages they bear a very good examination.
One I visited in the latter city, of 300 pupils, and wholly taught by educated colored men,
would bear comparison with any ordinary school at the north. Not only good reading and spell
ing was heard, but lessons at the black-board in arithmetic, recitations in geography and E rig-
list grammar ; very creditable specimens of writing were shown, and all the older classes
could read or recite as fluently in French as in English. This was a free school, wholly sup
ported by the colored people of the city, and the children were from the common classes of
families. They have six select schools where a better class attend. Such are not by any
means common ; but all the above cases illustrate the remark that this educational movement
among the freedmen has in it a self-sustaining element. I took special pains to ascertain
the fact on this particular point, and have to report that there arc schools of this kind in some
stage of advancement, taught and supported wholly by the people themselves, in all the
large places I visited, often numbers of them, and they are also making their appearance
through the interior of the entire ,country. The superintendent of South Carolina assured
me that there was not a place of any size in the whole of that State but where there was an
attempt at such a school. I have much testimony from those well informed, both' oral and
written, that the same is true of other States. There can scarcely be a doubt, and I ven
ture the estimate that at least 500 schools of this description are already in operation through
out the south. If, therefore, all these be added, and including soldiers and individuals at
study, we shall have at least one hundred and twenty-Jive thousand as the educational censtts
of this lately emancipated people. This is a wonderful state of things. We have just emerged
from a terrible war; peace is not yet declared ; there is scarcely the beginning of reorganized
gociety at the south, and yet here is a people, long imbruted by slavery and the most despised
of any on earth, whose chains are no sooner broken than they spring to their feet and start
up an exceeding great army, clothing themselves with intelligence. What other people on
earth have even shown, while in their ignorance, such a passion for education ?
It is also seen that the children of the poor whites of the south are very ready to receive
instruction, and that already considerable has been done for them.
The conclusions forced upon us from the above facts are —
1. The experiment of educating the freedmen proves to be successful, and that the igno
rant whites may be greatly benefited. It only remains to carry on with confidence the
work so well begun.
That colored children can, at once, compete with white children, who from the first have
had high advantages, need not be said. It is enough that with early bad habits, bad ex
ample, and wholly unpracticed in study, they seize upon books gladly and learn rapidly.
As well endowed naturally or not, Ave certainly see in the jnajority the same brightness, the
game quick ambition, as with children of the more favored color, and stimulated as they are
by the novelty of study, there is at present an actual progress scarcely to be paralleled any
where. In advanced studies or at a more mature age, pupils give no signs of having
reached the limit to their capacity. I have discovered hesitation in their plans for using ed
ucation. Their ardor is dampened by the well-known aversion to their hereafter occupying
high position ; but always when assured that as character and intelligence increase, ways
and means of usefulness will be opened, they are ready to push on to new and harder tasks.
When I have told the higher classes in the schools that they will be wanted as teachers,
at least of their own color, anew stimulus is seen at once to come over them, and their in
structors have always assured me that such promises had inspired intense ambition.
It is probable that the tastes and temperament of the race, whi(Ji are peculiar, certainly,
will lead in special directions. They may not excel in the inventive power, or abstract
science; perhaps not in mathematics, though we have seen commendable ciphering in col
ored schools ; but they certainly are emotional, imitative and affectionate ; are graphic and
figurative in language ; have conceptions of beauty and of song, and already become skilled
mechanics and even artists. If so, then, why are not this people destined to honor labor,
gladden social life, and when sufficiently cultivated, to enlarge art, invest ideas in harmony
and beauty, give hearty good cheer to religious faith, and thus add important elements to
the more periect civilization of the coming time ?
As to improvement at an advanced age, we find individuals vigorously attempting it, and
many are succeeding. Colored troops have shown aptness to discipline, courage never more
to be questioned, and under exceeding disadvantage a large proportion of them have be
come comparatively educated. A paymaster in Louisiana made the public statement that
" a far greater proportion of the colored troop*, which he paid off at the close of the war,
signed their names than of the white troops raised in the south."
The interest which the soldiers of the colored regiments have taken in learning to read is
well illustrated by the following statement made by an army surgeon in New Orleans :
About a year ago he was stationed at Fort Livingston with colored troops, and soon after
his arrival, finding that his time was very little employed proportionally, he began to look
around to see what he could do. Finally, the thought occurred that he might be useful in
teaching the soldiers to read. He proposed the subject to the officers and they laughed and
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA— SOUTH CAROLINA. 257
sneered at it. Concluding that their advice was not needed, he called the soldiers and talked
•with them, one aftej another, and finding that they largely accepted the proposition, he made
tke following arrangement: He agreed to pick out a class of ten of the brightest and smartest
soldiers in the fort and spend two hours a day in teaching them how to read, provided each
of this ten would take a class of four and spend the same amount of time with them. Books
were soon procured and a little school started on this method. The soldiers kept their agree
ment. While being taught by him they taught one another, and in a few days many of them
could begin to read. When the experiment proved an undoubted success the soldiers
procured a competent teacher from the board of education and had a regular school established
under its auspices. A short time since the commanding officer of the fort told the doctor
that the soldiers, who were his A B C pupils one year ago, now took over forty copies of
Harper's and Frank Leslie's weeklies, besides other papers.
2. The good influence of the schools upon all the habits of the freedmen is apparent. As
the children repeat their lessons at home parents become thoughtful, acquire many now ideas,
and are led to prize their families who are thus increasing in knowledge. They make new
exertions for self-support, especially for these schools, insuring both industry and economy.
At Little Rock, Arkansas, after paying tuition some months, the colored people formed a
school society for the city and made their schools free for the rest of the year, (the first free
school in Arkansas,) paying in full the compensation of all the teachers. Besides elementary
instruction, our schools teach morality and Christianity, and thus, through the children, are
waking up a general conscience and guiding the entire population in the ways of virtue.
That class of older colored persons, having now a little learning, are stimulated to increase it by
study. A group of elderly preachers in Savannah said to me with much emphasis, ' ' We must
now go to studying ourselves or these young people will all be ahead of us." They begged'rne
earnestly to adopt a plan by which they might be brought into a class for mutual improvement.
3. The white population of the south feel the power of these schools. The major part are
indignant indeed that negroes should have learning. All sorts of evil is predicted us the
consequence; but a portion of this enmiry is provoked by the rivalry 'which, their own chil
dren must now struggle with. The poor whites are excited by hearing negroes read while
they are ignorant, and it is my belief1 that tliuy will now receive schools, if furnished them,
as never before. The educated classes are not slow to perceive that their schools must be
reopened or fall behind humiliated, and that new schools must now be organized on a more
popular plan than heretofore. Poverty, and perhaps pride, with the want of teachers, as tho
public feeling now is, are the present difficulties in carrying out these convictions. Some ot
tho religious denominations in the south, seeing there will be schools for the freedmen, a»o
paying, " We may as well undertake the work otirselves," and have already passed resolu
tions adopting the education of the negroes as one of their missionary operations.
4. .A class of schools if^called for in which colored teachers can be taught. If dignified i>y
the name, of normal schools, they should be for training in the simplest elements of the ait.
The system of education for the freedmen, as a whole, must be at first very rudi mental, in
which the text will be found mainly in the spelling-book, and which can become, as soon
as possible, universal. This people are not like pagans in ancient countries, who a thousand
years hence will be mainly as they are to-day. Slaves, even in a country like this, could
not be kept from, many noble impulses. The war has been to them a wonderful school of
knowledge and thought and of purposes, and now suddenly emancipated, these 4,000,000 are
" as a nation born in a day." This great multitude rise up simultaneously and ask -for an
education. With it, they will at once start upward in all character; without it, they will as
quickly sink into the depravities of ignorance and vice. Free to be what they please, and in
the presence of only bad example, they will be carried away with every species of evil ; and
then, what is the actual and astounding fact ? One that startles philanthropy itself. A
million at least of these four millions, and mainly the rising generation, are to-day ready to
engage in the study of books ; they cannot well be put off. Considerations, political, .social,
financial, and moral, all ask that their demand be promptly met. If this million be divided
into schools of fifty each we need for its supply twenty thousand teachers. Where are they
to come from ? The north can supply a few thousands. Perhaps the more noble here and
there in the south will help us ; but still at least fifteen thousand remain to be supplied from
some other quarter. The great impulse to teach, among these freed people themselves, with
readiness to pay expenses, gives to us the solution of this problem. It they can be, by some
short method at first, helped on in study and perfected in what they already know ; taught how
to teach the same, how also to organize, classify, and govern a school, many thus prepared
could be sent out in a very few months to commence the work. Successive classes prepared
more thoroughly would follow, and, with the certificate of their instructors, no difficulty
would be found in obtaining employment. I have never known among the freedmen the
offer of a teacher which was not accepted.
The benefits of this plan would be —
1. Such native teachers would go everywhere with very little opposition. The interior of
States could be penetrated where now no white teacher can go.
2. The freed men would mainly support these schools themselves. If school-houses were
famished they would need no other charity.
3. The efevatirig effort of this plan would be universal. The better class of youth among
17 v NC sc
258 RECONSTRUCTION.
the freeclmen would at once see an honorable employment open to them. The present schools
would be stimulated with the same idea, and. those of a higher grade could imitate this plan
arid have a normal class into which their better pupils could go.
4. It could be shown in this way what the i'reedme'u are, as by their own efforts. This
opportunity they deserve. A development system, bringing out what they can do themselves,
is far better than a perpetual pauperizing, which only shows what others can do tor them.
If they are to be men let them be self-educated. Calumny from their worst enemies will
grow silent when this is successfully commenced.
If such a system could be instituted at all the central points of the south, we could, ere
long, approximate the great teaching demand now felt. This does not imply that the better
schools of northern associations could not all go on and be greatly increased, The large
cities and towns where they now are need them. They could rise still higher in grade, pre
paring pupils for all the spheres of life, and help immensery in the plan I am now advocating.
On this plan I feej sure that in a few years the whole education of the freedmen could be
made self-supporting, and by that time the white population would perhaps be willing to
incorporate them into some great common school system for the State. What should prevent
this when these freedmen become intelligent and it was seen that they were no longer to be a
public burden ?
Labor also would feel the impulse. Its effects would «be felt by the employer. Negroes
now crowd into large towns, where their children can have learning. If they are to be re
tained as laborers, or brought back, similar opportunities must be furnished on the planta
tions. Hence already many instances could be given where a school in the interior has beeu
started only from this motive. This is now being stipulated in the contracts. Liberal-minded
and northern men who are preparing for crops are earnestly asking that schools be established,
knowing that they concentrate and keep the people content, and greatly stimulate industry,
nnd especially that labor is valuable just as it becomes intelligent. The head of one of the
hivgest of the timber and turpentine enterprises in South Carolina (a German) told me that
Le formerly had hired only men ; but he had now learned that he must have their families, too,
and that this could only be done by allowing them patches of land, treating them properly,
Baying them well, and giving them schools. The commissioners and superintendents of
.schools in several of the States have been consulted on this subject, and they will give it
their unqualified approval. Attempts are already making at several points to inaugurate
something of the kind, either by these officers of the bureau or by northern benevolence;
but a systematic plan is called for, and would very easily be carried into effect.
In Tennessee nearly one hundred colored teachers are at different places in a course ot
training. The superintendent says : " This should be the great object aimed at in the educa
tion of this people. Ten good training schools for colored teachers," he adds, "should be
established in every one of the southern States, and in a few years the great demand for
teachers could be met." His circular letter to the teachers of the State I beg leave here to
insert :
" 1. Select all the most advanced and intelligent of your pupils, say in number.
"2. From this class you will select all those of sufficient age, advancement, good moral
character, and requisite natural qualifications for teachers.
"3. These you will organize into » separate class, for the purpose of special drill in their
studies, with a view of fitting them speedily as possible for teaching.
''4. You will report to this office the names, age, advancement of each member, time of
organization, character, and amount of instruction given this class, as soon as the organiza
tion is completed.
" The foregoing plan is sent you with a request that you will, at as early a day as practi
cable, organize such a class in your schools, with a view to supplying the great demand for
trained colored teachers as soon as possible."
5. The, people of the country are strongly seconding the educating efforts of this bureau.
Northern associations were in the field almost as soon as our conquering armies gave them a
foothold. They have increased in numbers and in arduous, well-directed efforts. Their
several corps of teachers deserve all praise for self-sacrifice and fidelity. Your appointment
of State superintendents of schools has given organic unity to these efforts, and greatly en
hanced their efficiency ; popular donations are rapidly increasing, and you may rely upon the
continuance of sympathy and the increase of this important aid. The text-books used by
the associations should be more uniform, and more promptness is desirable in the making of
monthly reports. Time will perfect these details.
6. In conclusion, permit me distinctly to call attention to the fact that this ichole educa
tional movement among the freedmen must for the present be protected by the general govern
ment. I need not repeat what appears all through this report. Military force alone can
save many of our schools from being broken up, or enable us to organize new schools. Such
is the turbulent spirit of the south, that where as yet there have been no atrocities
attempted against the schools, protecting power is called for to give that sense of quiet and
consciousness of security which the calm dudes of both teacher and pupil require.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 259
FINANCES OF FREEDMEN.
Poor and dependent as most of the freedmen are, I found that a considerable number had
money. Among the former free people many had reached a condition above want, and in
the large towns and cities there are individuals who might be called rich. These men, in
some cases, purchased themselves from slavery, and are mechanics, keepers of groceries
and wood-yards, butchers, market men and women, owning their own dwellings in the
town or its suburbs, and some with small plantations. In Louisiana there are colored
Creoles who are merchants, bankers, and lai'ge planters, each handling hundreds of thou
sands of dollars. On the bayous back of Baton Rouge there are a number of the colored
planters each said to be worth near half a million. These men are enterprising, are destined
to increase in numbers and in wealth, and they seem to aet unitedly and strongly for the
education and advancement of the whole colored race.
Even the lower class of free blacks and the slaves had laid aside small sums of money,
usually in coin, and this is now found in some secret box or old stocking, blackened with
rust, no longer kept hid from fear, but cheerfully used for what they need in freedom. A
considerable number had been persuaded to place these funds in the former savings banks of
the south. Many thousands of dollars of such money went to Richmond to sustain the con
federacy, to be lost forever to this abused people. One colored church in Savannah had
two thousand dollars thus deposited.
But there are multitudes who as yet know nothing of thrift. Slavery prevented all fore
casting of thought, and in general every possibility of improvement. Now, however, a
change has come. There are, indeed, those who are too debauched and brutalized, perhaps,
ever to be recovered. Their minds are childish and dark. But pay for labor puts even these
to thinking of the value of things. The wants and opportunities of freedom show the worth
of money and what can be done with it. Time, however, will be needed for the whole
effect. Much patient instruction is called for. But in every direction industry is seen to
start under the impulse *f prompt reward, and if kind treatment accompanies it, there will
goon be on this whole subject little to complain of.
Already homesteads are being purchased, and many more would be, if there was oppor
tunity. The freedmen have a passion for land. Where titles can be obtained they are
always purchasers. The tax commissioners of South Carolina told me they had given over
six hundred "certificates of title" to real estate to colored men.
I know one man on St. Helena island, a slave formerly on an adjoining plantation, who
now owns a farm of three hundred and fifteen acres, works twenty laborers, has twelve cows,
a 'yoke of oxen, four horses, twenty swine, and he showed me, with very pardonable pride,
his Jiffy- eight acres of the best sea-island cotton I saw anywhere, fifty-two acres of corn,
besides a number of acres of provision crops. He had been helped some by the Union
officer to whom he had for a year or more in the war been a servant ; but he expected soon
to be wholly out of debt. This man could neither read nor write, and his children aided him
in his accounts. There are a number of men on Edisto and . the other sea-islands who are
only waiting the action of government in permitting them to have lands to engage in similar
operations.
Such examples as the above encourage the negroes around, however poor, to form provi
dent habits, and to imitate the same thrift. It is the universal impression that freedom is to
be coupled with prosperity, and it is not difficult to induce them to save their surplus earn
ings tor accumulation and future use.
1 found that the large crowds of negroes whom I often addressed sprang forward to ideas
of industry and economy, that they might save for old age, for sickness, for purchasing
homesteads, or other prosperity in the future.
Their notion of having land giren to them by government is passing away, and we hear
them saying, " We will work and save and buy for ourselves." When they know this is
what their prosperous friends (the Yankees) have always done they seem eager to follow the
example.
Much fraud has been practiced in bargains and contracts hitherto made with their old
masters. Some of the contracts, as drawn by the planters themselves, were purposely con
structed to be misunderstood. I saw one in %hich it was stipulated one-third of seven-
twelfths of all corn, potatoes, fodder, &c., shall go to the laborers, &c. ; another that "the
party violating the contract shall forfeit his right to all services and wages." It will be seen
at once how blind in the first case and unjust in the second these terms were to the poor
aegro.
* In many places, last autumn, laborers were turned off without pay, or any portion or the
crops ; and in. other cases four or five dollars only a month were given, or even only food
and clothing. The plan of these oppressors was evidently to keep the negroes in a perpetual
condition ot poverty and dependence. There were exceptions, of course, and I am happy to
report great improvement ot late in the wages given. The present year opens witli the pros
pect that labor will be everywhere in demand and at fair prices. This is owing, in part, to
the high value of the great staples of the south, and the desire of a large crop, but much
more to the efforts of your bureau officers, who Lave everywhere insisted on just co'npen
sation.
260 RECONSTRUCTION.
The lien on crops for wages, or work on shares, to be had, of course, only at the end o,
the year, may be necessitated by the present poverty of the planters ; but, in our opinion, i
would be much better for the freedman if he could be paid often and in money. His imme*
diate wants could then bo met ; he would work far more contentedly ; and he would the
sooner learn how to manage properly his own finances.
Colored troops have been defrauded of very large sums of money. I have spent much
time and labor in ascertaining this. Almost universally the regiments complain — often un
reasonably, without doubt, and from ignorance ; though it would seem that they have rea
son, in some respects, to complain that, by the government itself, they have not been treated
precisely as if they had been white men. These frauds are charged by the soldiers mainly
to the bounty agents of the several States, or to enlisting and disbursing officers, and some
times to their own regimental officers.
Moneys were undoubtedly sent by States to procure enlisted men, which only in part
reached these men. They were made merchandise of, while the agent enriched himself by
the balance retained. This class of frauds can probably never be effectively detected. The
colored soldier was, in many cases, ignorant of money, and the bounty agent will make no
confession.
Enlisting and disbursing officers had many opportunities of pocketing funds, by keeping
them back from the soldier unduly, or taking them from him as in trust ; the enlisted man
being, as> was alleged, in no condition to keep the same. Such funds, of course, were put
upon a very precarious tenure, the trustee himself being only a military officer. Theie are
facts which lead to the suspicion that some of these officers are deeply and largely implicated
in this species of fraud.
Officers of regiments have borrowed money largely of their men. This is a very common
practice, and pay-day for them, in multitudes of cases, has never come. The officer may be
profligate or dishonest, or if otherwise, he is off on furlough ; it may be mustered out of ser
vice ; and it is easy to forget borrowed money, especially when due the negro. I know of
many cases of such indebtedness.
I need not say how suttlers often defraud ; nor tell of gamblers, rum-sellers, and bad
women, who hang about camps and pay tables, luring the unwary, and robbing these igno
rant and yet brave colored men. This is a humiliating statement, and there should be some
remedy. Of course, if the troops are mustered out such evils must cease, and others are
being corrected. Those officers who are honest and able are recently paying back borrowed
funds ; others are promising to do so ; but there are large sums which cannot yet be touched
by the proper owners. I gathered, by your direction, papers and testimony in a number of
notorious instances, and have given copies of the same to the ,'maacial officer of the 1>
action havingjbeen taken thereon which it is hoped will result in the detection of the guilty.
Such action, however, as now pending, prevents my giving names or going into any .speciric
detail.
It is respectfully suggested that a standing commission, empowered tc call for persons and
papers, and with transportation to all parts of the country, should be appointed by the War
Department, to pursue every case of this kind of fraud to a final issue.
The Savings and Trust Company for Freedmen, chartered by Congress last winter and
placed under your advisement, has gone into successful operation in nearly all the States
south, and promises to do much to instruct and elevate the financial notions of the freedmen.
The trustees and friends of the institution believe that the industry of these 4, 000,000 lur-
. nishes a solid basis for its operations. Pauperism can be brought to a close; the freodmeu
made self-supporting and prosperous, paying for their educational and Christian institutions,
and helping to bear the burdens of government, by inducing habits of sarin<f in what they
earn. That which savins-banks have done for the workin men. of tin; north it i> ie.
savings-banks have done for the working
they are capable of doing for these laborers.
I was charged by you, in my late tour, with this subject, »ind can sr.y that everywhere,
privately and publicly, the freedmen welcomed the institution. They understand our ex
planation of its meaning, and the more intelligent see and appr»-tri:>.te fuily its benefits.
Calls wore made upon me at all the large towns tor branches of the ^ank. In fifteen >f th«*
more central places, viz., Washington, Richmond, Norfolk, NewL"'in, .Vilmington, Charles
ton, Beaufort, Savannah, Mobile, New Orleans, Vicksburg, Huntsville. Nashville, Memphis,
and Louisville, such branches were established. Most of these begin to make returns.
I here insert the report of the actuary at the principal office in New York of the business
condition of the institutionrou the 31st day of January, and the amount done, during that
month :
Amount due depositors December 3J , 1865 .............................. $201 , 12<J ."."»
Amount of deposits received at branches during January —
Vicksburg ..................... .......................... $5, OK7 <<0
Wilmington .............................................. 902 44
Norfolk ............... *. .................................. 491 20
Newbera ................................................. c5 00
Louisville ................................................ 4,895 15
Huntsville ............................................... 390 29
Memphis ................................................. t)20 GO
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 261
Nashville $4,259 96
Washington 4, 369 05
Savannah 1, 579 55
Mobile 4 , 809 00
Charleston 424 15
Richmond 170 15
Beaufort 498 20
£28,53107
220,657 62
Less drafts paid depositors during the month 54, 704 90
Balance due depositors 174, 952 72
Balance on hand at branches 17, 132 43
Balance on hand at New York 6, 577 83
United States securities 181,600 00
205, 310 26
Surplus (on the books) 30,357 54
But $15,000 to $20,000 of this surplus is only in statements, or drafts which have not
been received at the principal office in New York, and contingent expenses not paid. Hence
the true surpms, as near as we can estimate it at the present stage of affairs, (our securities
being valued at par,) is about $10,000.
A dividend of 5 per cent, per annum has been declared on all sums which have been on
deposit six months previous to January 1, 1866.
The trustees are encouraged from this auspicious beginning of their work to go forward
with high hopes of large benefit to these millions of freedmen " and their descendants;" and
if the amendment to their charter, now before Congress, shall pass, connecting the bank
more intimately with your bureau, they will entertain no doubt of its perfect success.
All of which is respectfully submitted.
J. W. ALVORD,
Inspector of Schools and Finances.
Major General O. O. HOWARD,
Commissioner Bureau Refugees^ Sfc.
WASHINGTON, March 28, 1866.
Bedford Brown sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Caswell county, North Carolina.
Question. Are you a native of North Carolina ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What is your age ?
Answer. I am in my seventy -first year. .
Question. What public positions have you held since you have been a citizen of North
Carolina ?
Answer. I was a member of the legislature of our State, speaker of the senate at one time,
then a member of the Senate of the United States for eleven or twelve years.
Question. Since you retired from the Senate have you held public office in North Carolina ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; in the legislature of the State.
Question. Have you held any judicial position ?
Answer. None, sir.
Question. Have you resided in North Carolina during the late rebellion?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How extensive is your acquaintance with the state of public feeling among the
people of North Carolina in reference to the war, its causes, and its results ?
Answer. It is pretty general. I was a member of the State senate when the subject was
first brought under consideration in 1860.
Question. Have you taken any personal part in the war against the United States ?
Answer. None, voluntarily. I was a member of the State senate for some years. After
the war commenced I declined being a candidate; I desired to take no part in it; but mv
constituents insisted on my going back, although I positively declined. I was a member of
the convention of 1861 which passed the ordinance of secession, but was sent there contrary
to my will. I was a candidate in my county in the election ordered after South Carolina had
seceded. I took most decided ground against secession and carried my county. I carried
my county by a vote of three to one and was elected a member of the convention, but the peo-
262 RECONSTRUCTION.
pie of the State decided, by a majority, that there should be no convention. When the second
convention was ordered I declined being a candidate ; I wished to have uo part in it ; but
my constituents again sent me against my will.
Question. You have then been all along a non-secessionist in principle ?
Answer. Always. There lias not been an hour in my life that I did not regard it as the
greatest political calamity that could befall the people of any country.
Question. How do the masses of the people of North Carolina now feel in regard to the
government of the United States — friendly, unfriendly, or indifferent ?
Answer. There was a most overwhelming majority of the people of North Carolina loyal to
the United States government before secession took place. I would say that from two-thirds
to three-fourths of the people of North Carolina were utterly opposed to secession.
Question. Can you give the result of the first vote upon that subject ?
Answer. I think there were sixty-odd thousand cast for Union delegates in the respective
counties for the first convention, and perhaps thirty thousand for secession delegates.
Question. Can you give the vote on the second occasion ?
Answer. I know of no direct popular vote on the subject after the first ; but theelestion of
Governor Vance indicated that there was still a Union majority in the State even after the
war commenced. He was run as a Union candidate, and was elected by a decided majority
over his^ secession opponent.
- Question. In what year was that ?
Answer. I think in 1862 or 18C3 ; probably' in 1862. I think he was elected by between
thirty and forty thousand majority. It is due to truth to s&y that Governor Vance afterwards
became a war man, but he was voted for at the first election as one who was in favor of pacifica
tion and Union.
Question. Was he, when first voted for, understood to be a Union man ; tret is, a man
supporting the government of the United States and opposed to secession and rebellion ?
Answer. He was originally very much opposed to secession, though he weut into the army
as most men did, under the peculiar circumstances. When he was first voted for as governor
it was supposed his proclivities were still for the Union, running as he did against and beat
ing a secession opponent by thirty-odd thousand majority.
Question. Can you state any reasons why Governor Vance afterward* became a supporter
of the rebellion against the United States ?
Answer. If I did it would be mere conjecture, and perhaps it would not be proper to in
dulge in that. I have every confidence that Governor Vance accepts in good faith the situa
tion and will prove a loyal citizen to the government of the United States.
Question. I ask you again to state how the mass of the people of North Carolina feel to
wards the government of the United States ?
Answer. TBe masses of the people, I believe, at the time of General Lee's surrender, were
more gratified than otherwise because .they saw that the result was inevitable, and a
great many of them were for peace and attached sincerely to the federal Union, and believed
there was no safety out of the Union. They were gratified that the thing had been settled.
They wanted it settled in some way, for they had been exceedingly harassed during the war,
which was commenced against their consent in .the first instance. Of late, however, it is
due to truth to state that, from various circumstances, they have come almost to despair. Per
haps it is in part from the loss of their slave property, though I think they were prepared to
acquiesce in that. I think it is chiefly from their long delay in being admitted to an equal
participation in the Union. It has produced a feeling of discontent even among Union im n.
My belief is that if. they could be perfectly sure that with these constitutional amendments
which have been adopted, accepting the condition of things as they are now, within a rea>i>n-
able time they would be admitted to political equality and to equal privileges with the oilier
States, there would be a general feeling favorable to the federal Union. The great mass of
them are exceedingly anxious to have their relations between the State and the federal gov
ernment restored.
Question. Is there not a large proportion of these people who dislike and contemn the
government of, the United States?
Answer. There are a certain number of reckless unscrupulous men there, as everywhere
in the country, who, I believe, would be willing for anything almost. For instance, son.e
few persons would perhaps be gratified by a foreign war, but the great mass of the people of
North Carolina, even including the secessionists, although they have been utterly opposed
to me, and I opposed to them, yet I think a majority of the secessionists are exceedingly
anxious for peace and quiet, perfectly willing to live under the laws of the United States,
provided they can have political equality with the other States accorded to them. 1 think
an overwhelming majority of the mass of the people of the State of North Carolina are per
fectly willing to acquiesce in the laws of the United States on these conditions. I will go
further and say, that I think the longer it is procrastinated the worse that feeling of discon
tent will become. I may remark that* have heard many persons say that if there was any
attempt at an outbreak against the government of the United States, they would not do as
they did at first — allow them to get complete military control — but would seize the opportunity
to vindicate themselves against these men imuiedialtely.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 263
Question. In case of a foreign war with any powerful European nation, such as Great
Britain or France, and in case the war should take on such an attitude as apparently to
present a fair chance for success in another attempt at secession and the establishment of
southern independence, would there not be in North Carolina a pretty large number of ineii
who would engage in such a movement if they had the opportunity?
Answer. There might be some portion of the people; but if a reasonable expectation was
indulged that they could be admitted to equal political rights, I believe there would be an
overwhelming majority to suppress such an attempt. There is no question about it. I will
further express the opinion that the better way to remove this discontent among the people,
would be to declare these States members of the federal Union — for Congress, of course, to
judge of the members presenting themselves separately. If a disloyal man should present
himself, claiming a seat as a member, he should be excluded, but I would admit such as
came here properly qualified.
Question. Would you recommend the admission, for instance, of a representative, the great
majority of whose constituents were actually disloyalists against the government?
Answer. I would if Congress should be convinced that he was loyal. I would have it de
pend very much upon the member himself.
Question. Should it not depend rather upon the character of the constituency he represents ?
Answer. It would be very difficult to ascertain the loyalty or disloyalty of a body of men
in that way.
Question. Suppose that fact was ascertained upon proof, would you recommend the admis
sion of a member from a disloyal district ?
Answer. If the district was manifestly disloyal beyond all question, it would be a justifi
cation perhaps for the exclusion of its mejnbers.
Question. Is there any considerable .portion of the intelligent citizens of North Carolina
who entertain the idea that there is a purpose to exclude the State permanently from the
Union ?
Answer. The people there have become somewhat in a state of despair. To speak with
candor, a vast number of them despair of ever enjoying the equality in the federal govern
ment they once did. I do not speak in reference to slavery, because every sensible man re
gards that as irrevocably gone, and a vast number of those who have been slaveholders ex
press the wish that it may never be restored again.
Question. Would the great mass, of people in North Carolina generally consent to the pay
ment of the federal debt if they could prevent it by their votes or by thejr representatives ?
Answer. I am inclined to think they would; they know it is a matter of obligation upon
the part of the United States ; that the United States is pledged to it, and as loyal men they
would consent to it, though tax-payers all over the Union do not regard it as a pleasant sub
ject, and particularly those impoverished like the people of the south. In reference to the
confederate debt, I do not hesitate to express the opinion that a very decided and overwhelm
ing majority of the people of North Carolina would be utterly opposed to its payment.
Question. You speak of the confederate war debt?
Answer. Yes.
Question Is there not a large debt contracted for the prosecution of the war, by the State
of North Carolina, for which the State still holds itself pledged ?
Answer. No, sir; it has been repudiated by the State convention ; I was a member of that
convention myself, and voted with the great body of the convention, without hesitation, to
repudiate it.
Question. In case a convention should be called which should repeal that clause repudi
ating the rebel debt in North Carolina, would not the people generally consent to the payment
of that debt?
Answer. I think not.
Question. Not the State debt?
Answer. No, sir ; my impression is that a majority of the people are against it, from the fact
that the great mass of them considered themselves coerced into making common cause with
the confederate government ; the war was forced upon the people of North Carolina against
their wish, and they do not hold themselves morally responsible for the debt incurred. I
think if the open question of repudiating that debt had been submitted to the people they
would have decided in favor of repudiation.
^ Question. Is not a large amount of the debt incurred by North Carolina for the prosecu
tion of the war held by the citizens of that State ?
Answer. There is. The distribution of the debt among so large a class of the people, no
doubt, made many advocates for prosecuting the war.
Question. Has confederate scrip, so called, any value in the market of North Carolina ?
Answer. None at all. It is not regarded as worth a cent.
Question. Is it due by its terms ?
Answer. No, sir. The terms of most of the bonds were that they were payable, perhaps,
six months after independence and a treaty of peace, or some language of that kind, and,
of course, they never can become due. That event never has happened, and I presume
never will.
Question. Have you any reason to believe there are any persons of position in North
264 RECONSTRUCTION.
Carolina who still have it in contemplation to renew the war or resort to other means to get
out of the Union and establish a southern confederacy ?
Answer. My impression is, there would be no advocates ot resistance now or of renewing
the war in any shape or form.
Question. You know of no combination for that purpose, open or secret ?
Answer. None at all. There may be a few individuals who would bo willing to avail
themselves of a war with France or something of that kind ; but the great mass of the peo
ple, in the event of such a war, would stand by the United States ; that is my impression.
Question. Are emigrants from the northern States to North Carolina received and treated
with kindness ?
Answer. They are in some localities ; indeed, in many localities, a strong wish is ex
pressed that they should come among us, while in others there is a feeling among a portion
of the people against them. I think the general impression is, that that is the best means
of advancing the interests of our State, and I take occasion to say that such is my decided-
opinion.
Question. But is there not existing at present in North Carolina among the masses — I
speak of the lower class of course — a feeling of dislike and hostility towards northern men ?
Answer. They sometimes speak of Yankees harshly ; but I am inclined to think that if
any gentleman came there to invest capital in lands, manufactures, or anything of that sort,
he would be kindly received if he came there bona fide for that purpose.
Question. Would a northern man stand as good a chance for justice in your State courts
as a Carolinian, in a question of private right ?
Answer. It is natural to suppose that in these excitements there may possibly be some
bias in favor of the Carolinian ; but I think, perhaps, the great mass of the people would
be willing and desirous to do justice in a case of this kind.
Question. How do the mass of Carolinians feel in respect to the freedmen ; especially in
regard to their education ?
Answer. Well, sir, that feeling has changed a good deal. Last year there was a great
deal of feeling against the freedmen, because, in truth, they behaved rather badly after
Lee's surrender Before that they had been very quiet and orderly ; but afterwards they
abandoned work, most of them, and became wanderers, and dissatisfied. They would not
work on the farms even for pretty fair wages ; but the present year they have returned to
labor, and, as far as I have any knowledge, certainly in my part of the State, they are act
ing very well. There is a good feeling between the blacks and whites, and I believe the
general sentiment is, certainly among the farmers and planters, that it is not on.y proper in
itself, as a matter of justice, but that it is good policy to treat them with fairness and liber
ality. I can say, so far as those employed by me are concerned, that is my course of treat
ment towards them. Very few of those I owned have left me, and some I should have been
glad to have had gone have remained. For instance, I have no doubt nearly four hundred
loads of wood have been used from my farm this winter, and three-fourths of it at least
have been used by black people, with many of whom I have had nothing to do, being the
families of laborers living on my farm. They used the wood and I charged them nothing
at all for it.
Question. Is there not generally among the mass of white people there a disinclination to
see schools established among the blanks, and would they not be likely to break up such
schools when established, rf they could?
Answer. I do not think they would. There is a disinclination for promiscuous schools of
whites and blacks ; but I do not think they would object to schools for the blacks. Indeed,
all reflecting persons must know it is better for the country that they should be educated. I
do not think there is any prejudice against their education. There are some schools for
blacks, which have been established in my county, and I have never heard of any attempts
to break them up. Negro children would not be admitted into white schools.
Question. What is the opinion of the Freedmen's Bureau in your State, as far as your
ob.MTvatiou extends ?
Answer. So far as I have any knowledge of it, I think the gentlemen who have conducted
it, as a general rule, have been liberal and just both towards the freedmeu and the white
people. k
Question. Do you think it has been beneficial upon the whole ?
Answer, ft was, I think, for last year. I think there is scarcely a necessity for it now.
Question. I do not speak of its necessity. What I want to inquire into is, whether upon
the whole it has had a beneficial effect upon the blacks and whites ?
Answer. There was a state of .things last year among the blacks and whites requiring
some authority of that kind, resulting from the immediate termination of the war; but it
seems to me that state of things has now passed. I think the freedmen would now be pro
tected in their rights without the intervention of the bureau. If I mistake not, our legisla
ture have passed laws for their protection by the civil courts.
(Question. Would a black man stand an equal chance for justice in a State court of North
Carolina with a white man now before a jury ?
Answer. If he was a man of good character, with no particular prejudice against him, I
think he would. For instance, there are some negroes who are notoriously dishonest ; their
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 265
existence, in some numbers, may bf», to some extent, accounted for by their degraded condi
tion as slaves. I am inclined to think a black man, with a fair character, would receive
justice in our courts ; indeed, I am sure of- it, and for this reason: it is regarded, not simply
as a matter of justice, but as a matter of policy among the white people that they should be
treated with fairness, in order to produce the amicable relations between the blacks and the
whites necessary to carry on the labor of the country.
Question. Are black men permitted to testify in courts of justice in your State ?
Answer. I think our legislature, at its late session, authorized it to some extent.
Question. You think there is some limitation to that extent ?
Answer. It is limited to some extent. I have not seen the acts of the legislature. They
adjourned but a short time since ; and, in fact, we have net any mail facilities scarcely in
our part of the country.
Question. Is the low white man esteemed as possessing more veracity than the black man
of the same grade and condition, in North Carolina ?
Answer. As a general rule, they are considered as having a higher claim to credibility.
Question. What has been your experience with the two classes in regard to veracity and
truth-teliing ?
Answer. My impression is, that perhaps the white class would be entitled to a higher
grade of character in that respect, because the servitude of the negro and everything has
tended to degrade his moral sense. They have not the same pride of character. The poor
inari has frequently a great deal of pride of character and desire for the good opinion of his
compeers. Those recently slaves have not risen exactly to that. It will take some time to
go ^hrough that process.
Question. As to the capacity of the negro to acquire knowledge and become educated ; is
he, in your judgment, much or at all inferior to the white man in that respect ?
Answer. There is a difference in that respect ; the negro in childhood, up to twelve years of
age, is very nearly or quite as capable as the white child, but after that the superiority is
considered decidedly with the white. The mind of the white man seems to grow and devel
op itself, while that of the negro from that time does not seem to be capable of so extensive
development.
Question. What would the white people of North Carolina say to a proposition to allow v
the negroes or a part of them tile right of suffrage ? That would not be a novelty in the his
tory of North Carolina, would it ?
Answer. There is a sentiment somewhat against that, although I think there are a good
many persons who would have no objections to seeing qualified negro suffrage, but univer
sal suffrage would be regarded as very objectionable and inadmissible.
Question. Does universal suffrage exist among the \vhites of North Carolina ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; among those who have obtained the age of twenty-one and who have
been residents of the State a certain length of time.
Question. Do you suppose it would be practicable in North Carolina to restrict that uni
versal suffrage among the whites ?
Answer. No, sir ; there is a general sentiment in favor of it.
Question. You cannot imagine any machinery by which restricted suffrage among the
whites could be established 1
Answer. No, sir ; I think it is a right they would never surrender if they could avoid it.
Free negroes at one time voted in North Carolina, but they were very limited in number.
Question. What, qualifications for the negro voter were then required in North Carolina ?
Answer. Precisely the same as for white men at that time. For the house of commons, as
we call it, retaining the old British parliamentary name, they were required to have been
residents of the State a certain time and to have paid a per capita tax. For the senate, the
voter must be a landholder; they have changed that now; the white man can vote for the
senator without being a lamlholder, and the negro cannot vote at all. The unfortunate agi
tation between the north and south gave rise to that change, no doubt. I must say the free
negroes of that day, though, voted generally for what they called " gentlemen;" they did not
vote for any man they did not regard as a gentleman.
Question. Would they now ?
Answer. I am inclined to think they would vote the same way ; still there are such masses
of them that it would be regarded as a rather dangerous experiment.
WASHINGTON, April 4, 1866.
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel W. H. H. Beadle sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ? .
Answer. My residence has been so broken up by the war that it is difficult to say where
it is.
Question. Where is you home ?
Answer. My home is Ann Arbor, Michigan.
266 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Did you serve in the recent war ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How long?
Answer. About four years, possibly a little more altogether.
Question. In what capacity ?
Answer. As an officer of infantry from lieutenant to lieutenant colonel.
Question. Where have you been in service ?
Answer. Chiefly in Kentucky, Tennessee and Mississippi, and more recently in connexion
with the Froedmeu's Bureau in Virginia and North Carolina.
Question. Have you been acting in an official capacity in the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. I have.
Question. When did you commence that service and where did you serve ?
Answer. The* order assigning me to duty under General Howard, of the Freedmen's Bureau,
was dated January 12, 1866', and I was relieved from duty March 26, 1866. My principal
service was at Wilmington, North Carolina ; I was superintendent of the southern district of
that State ; I also performed some service, but not much, at Richmond, Virginia.
Question. Have you travelled about much in Nojth Carolina and Virginia, so as to ac
quaint yourself with the feelings of the people there ?
Answer. I have in North Carolina, particularly in the southern district, composed of nine
counties, and to some extent over the central and eastern part of the State.
Question. When did you leave Wilmington, North Carolina ?
Answer. On Monday of last week, the 26th of March.
Question. What is the state of public feeling in North Carolina as regards loyalty to4he
government of the United States ?
Answer. There is a great variety of feeling there, but to state it generally it is bad.
Question. What do you intend to be understood as meaning by the expression " bad ?"
Answer. I mean that there are very few persons there -who have been Union men through
the war, very few indeed. There are some who,' although they have been secessionists, are
now willing to accept the situation entirely, but the great majority still talk against the gov
ernment; are dissatisfied with the Freedmen's Bureau and the presence of the military; they
feel sore, chagrined, and bitfer towards the government of the United States on account of
their failure to establish what they call southern independence. One person in particular
said to m^ that when another opportunity offered " all the best men of the south would be
found fighting against the government with more vindictiveness than before," on account ot
the bitterness caused by their failure in the last war and the dissatisfaction with the United
States because they had not been treated with more magnanimity. It was one of the editors
of a newspaper who talked thus.
Question. Of What paper ?
Answer. The Wilmington Dispatch.
Question. Is that a secession or a Union paper ?
Answer. A secession paper, unless it has changed since I left that place ; though nearly all
the newspapers are about the same.
Question. Did you discover that these expressions of dislike towards the government of the
United States were frequent among the people ?
Answer. Yes, sir; when one person made use of such expressions nearly all those around
acquiesced in them, as a general thing. There was not one man in a thousand (of the white
citizens) who, when the government was attacked and reviled, would express disapproval
of it ; who would be indignant and speak for the government, or do anything but smile, it
not openly approve it, (the abuse.) I understand the extreme test of loyalty is, that
when a man hears his government denounced and cursed he would color up and resent it.
There is not one white citizen in a thousand in North Carolina who would do that. You
would seldom meet a man there who would resent an insult offered to the government of the
United States, or oppose or contradict in any way any denunciation or abuse of it. His
honor or feelings would not be touched by any remark against the government. As a rule
this would be very general.
Question. Among what classes of persons does this feeling seem to prevail, the higher,
middle, or lower classes ?
Answer. It prevails among the higher and middle classes. I have found several young
men, who have no families, are free from local interests, &c., who were desirous of emi
grating north, and I have aided them, given them passes or recommendations as far as I
could. The reasons given by these young men were, they had been compelled to enter the
confederate service; had come out of it poorer than they went in; that they' could not trust
their politicians or leaders, and that, in the present state of affairs, there, was no chance for a
hard working, honest young man to do anything better than barely make a living, on ac
count of the peculiar treatment of the labor question by the land owners.
Question. What particular fault in their labor system do you refer to ?
Answer. The land owners, or wealthier class, have no interest in the permanent good of
the laboring class, or do not pretend to have. Public opinion is unfavorable to the laboring
classes. The young men I speak of feel this burden all the time, audit troubles them. They
see no future good or reasonable chance for it. The opportunities for education are not open
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 267
to them, and they have an idea that they can find more intelligent communities in the north
and do better every way. Political economy, the mutual dependence of labor and capita!,
are not understood. Capital has heretofore owned the labor, and they cannot now appreciate
the principle that the permanent good of the wealthier class, or of the commerce and enter
prise of the State, depend upon the permanent good of the laborers and producers. They
nave heretofore acted on a different principle, and they still do ; this is the source of much
trouble.
Question. Have you heard anything said among the secessionists in regard to a war be
tween the United States and foreign powers ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; this assistant editor of the Dispatch, when talking with me, said in case
a war should occur between this country and Maximilian or France, all the best men of the
south would again be found opposing the United States, or taking part with its enemies ;
that they would seize the opportunity when offered.
Question. Have you heard such sentiments or anything tantamount to them frequently ex
pressed 1
Answer. Not very frequently ; I have not much opportunity ; my position renders men
generally cautious in speaking to me. I know men talked differently to me to what they
did outside ; I had such things proven to me sometimes.
Question. Have you heard them expressed in any other instance ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; in three or four instances.
Question. By men of position and influence in the community ?
Answer. Yes, sir; by attorneys at law, leading planters, or people of those classes. There
is another editor of the same paper (Dispatch) who entertains about the same opinions as the
one first mentioned. The marshal of the city of Wilmington, late a major general of the
confederate army, and now paroled as such, declared his hatred of the government. He said,
" I hate you ; I do not love you ; I always shall hate you." He went on to inform me how
he would like to be treated, how southerners' feelings were to be hurt, and how we had bet
ter act not to hurt them, and the like. They sometimes speak of the United States, bu tmore
generally of the "Yankees," and often say "you" or " your people," and "your govern
ment," " the Yankee government," &c. Whatever they say generally means the government
of the United States. I always found that they so placed their feelings, that an officer could
not conscientiously perform his duty towards the United States without hurting them, and
I always thought they, intended to have their feelings hurt.
Question. What was this marshal's name ?
Answer. Robert Ransom. He told me that he hated us, and always should hate us ; that
he had no love for the United States, and never should have, or something to that effect. I
believe he was a lieutenant colonel of our regular army before the war.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that there is any class or combination of per
sons in North Carolina or Virginia, or elsewhere in the south, who contemplate a renewal
of the war, or another attempt to get out of the Union ?
Answer. It would be much easier to say what I believe than what I kn6w.
Question. Well, what is your opinion on -the subject ?
Answer. It is my opinion that there is an organization of some such kind ; they consult
with one another privately ; if you hit one you hit all. There is at least a very close commu
nity of sentiment and interest among them ; whether it is fully organized I cannot say.
Their interests are identical, or they make them so ; they talk in the same way ; they urge the
same reasons, and refer to one another in a fraternal manner. They are given to compli
mentary notices of men who have been devoted to the cause of the south or are now. This
is frequent in their papers and public speeches. This seems to be the test for popularity among
the better classes ; obituary notices bear the same strain. One would think sometimes the
war was still going on, and the deceased was just brought from some field where the south
was victorious. This is particularly the case where bodies of deceased officers are disinterred
and brought home ; it is so in mention of all men. In their social, political and newspaper
circles they exhibit very many legal "ear-marks" of an organized brotherhood, though I
do not know that it exists.
/
Question. Suppose the United States should become engaged in a war with England or
France, and the war should assume such an aspect as to hold out inducements to the seces
sionists to attempt again to go out of the Union, what, in your opinion, would be the course
their leaders would adopt ?
Answer. They would take up arms against the government as quick as they saw the op
portunity.
Question. Would they join the enemy?
Answer. Yes, sir. * I am perfectly convinced of that.
Question. How do the secessionists theie treat the freedmen generally, and how do they
feel in regard to their education ?
Answer. They treat the education question badly*. They do not afford any encouragment
whatever to the schools estal^ished by the bureau. The papers take occasion to abuse the
school mistresses and others in charge of the schools by publishing innuendoes and articles
charging the school mistresses with actual crime or com'plicity in crime, all of which charge^
are untrue. For instance, the Dispatch charges the mistresses of the schools with exacting
268 RECONSTRUCTION.
money from the freed-children, and telling them if they cannot get the money to bring along
silver spoons, and asks if that is the reason such articles are lost by some citizens ? The papers
ridicule the colored people and the bureau in their police reports. If a boy or a girl is found
who has attended schoo^l at all and afterwards is charged with a petty "offence, the papers
cast slurs and innuendoes at the schools and bureau. I arrested, or ordered to report to my
office, one of the editors of the Dispatch for a very scurrilous article against the school-teachers,
but dismissed the case, considering it my duty to proceed regularly against the establishment
fuid get the paper suppressed. This editor afterwards* promised to retire from the paper if I
would not proceed, but he has not yet, to my knowledge. They deny the teachers all social
privileges, although they are of the best character, and intelligent and accomplished as most
of the citizens.
Question. Are the teachers of the colored schools there excluded from society among seces
sionists?
Answer. Entirely. In one or two instances they have been roughly addressed, spoken to
with abusive language for calling upon a colored family and recommending that a little girl
be sent to school. A white man spoke very roughly to her for tampering with his servants ;
ordered her off abusively. This teacher was a lady who acted as a kind of city missionary,
looking up needy cases, reporting them to us, getting rations for them, advising parents to
Ktfnd their children to school, &c. She was engaged in this work when so roughly accosted.
This was publicly noticed and defended by the papers. It was a while after this that the
Dispatch abused the schools as stated. These schools are free. We sometimes take cost
price for books and stationery from those amply able to pay, but give all free where children
are poor. The teachers and superintendents are paid by northern charity, and the whole
plan is very worthy.
Question. I suppose these benevolent gentlemen who abuse the school mistresses do not
themselves contribute anything for the support of any schools, white or black ?
. Answer. No, sir; I conclude not. There are very few schools in the State, and those in
Wilmington rather poor. They certainly give nothing but innuendoes and abuse to colored
schools. I think these colored schools are generally the best-conducted schools that have ever
been in Wilmington. The State University, at Chapel Hill, is doing fairly for men of means,
but the State has no common schools and few institutions or encouragements for the laboring
classes.
Question. Have you ever visited any of these colored schools ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I made it my business to interest myself in them.
Question. What progress in acquiring an education do the colored children make?
Answer. They are generally very successful. I am rather enthusiastic upon that subject.
They learn rapidly.
Question. In what branches of learning do they make the most rapid progress ?
Arfswer. All branches of an elementary education which depend particularly upon the
memory. Their memory is better developed and more active than any other faculty of the
mind. As witnesses the memory of colored persons is often very accurate. I have found
witnesses to have wonderful accuracy in relating a common conversation or the verbal terms
• of a contract.
Question. Do they seem to acquire readily a knowledge of geography.
Answer. Yes. sir ; I think they do. I have seen several little girls and boys from seven
to twelve years of age stand before outline maps arid with a pointer rapidly designate nearly
all the States, capitals, rivers, mountain ranges, peaks, bays, rivers, &c., in the world, skip
ping about irregularly, as called by any one.
Question. Did you find among them much proficiency in history?
Answer. No, sir. That has not been studied much. They learn some Bible history very
fairly in Sabbath schools.
Question. How about arithmetic?
Answer. Just fair or only ordinary. Their minds are not analytical, or those qualities have
m-vcr been developed. They have never been allowed to think much or reason for them
selves, so that in analogy or analysis they are slow. Their memory has been developed be-
<-au.se other qualities were not, and this faculty had to serve for others on account of the cir
cumstances of their former condition.
Question. What is the general character of the blacks as to veracity?
Answer. In my opinion, it is about as good as the white inhabitants, taken generally. I
have known gray -headed white men to perjure themselves before me where the issue was in
their interest against a colored man who had always been their slave. His (the colored nj an's)
evidence was completely supported. I have met cases also the other way ; so that generally
I would take the black man's evidence for what it was worth under the circumstances, and
according to the legal rules of evidence, just as quick as I would the testimony of whites
generally. The race or color does not determine it at all, but all rests upon each witness's
interest and character, and the white man shows his interest in his evidence just as much as
the colored. 1 must say, however, that I think the standard of veracity is generally too low
there.
Question. Have you had a professional education as a lawyer?
Answer. To some extent only. I have read elementary woxfca but never practiced.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 269
Question. How do the secessionists feel in regard to the blacks owning and holding land ?
Answer. It is in regard to just such subjects that white testimony is unreliable.
Question. Are they willing or unwilling blacks should hold and own land ?
Answer. As a general thing they are unwilling, for the reasons I have stated. They do
not look on the laboring class or their late slaves with favor in such matters. The State
courts are unfriendly to negroes claiming title to land. If they already have it beyond ques
tion and occupy it, there is not so much trouble, though such cases are rare. If a colored
man owns property and it is in possession of some white man, the courts will do nothing for
him now. In all such cases the attorneys or claimants would come tome and tile the regular
petition as in chancery, and not to the courts.
Question. What is the difficulty on the part of the courts ? Is it an unwillingness on the
part of the judges, or on^the part of the juries, to deal with the case so as to do justice to the
black man because he is black ?
Answer. It is on account of their laws, and long practice against them as slaves. The
laws of the State are unfriendly to a slave owning anything, and the opinions and decisions
of the supreme court have been extremely severe and rigid on such points.
Question. By the laws of North Carolina, would a free black man be allowed to own land ?
Answer. They have been; and some now do, in the shape of cheap city lots, &c., but
their protection is very uncertain, and I have had cases brought before me for settlement where
colored persons had great difficulty in retaining their property. It had passed into hands
of agents, lessees, and others ; and the colored man once losing possession, has great difficulty
in obtaining redress from a civil court. Colored men, or slaves particularly, have not held
property at all in their own name. It was contrary to law. If a slave purchased his time,
and made money and .purchased property, he usually had the title vested in his master or
some white person friendly to him. These they called protectors, and these held the prop
erty in the nature of a trust for the slave or colored man. Those titles have sometimes been
vested in honorable men who had some regard for the rights of the colored man. Sometimes
six or eight persons would be mentioned in the deed so as to thus guarantee fair treatment
for the slave. After a while these would convey the property to others. Sometimes when
title was in one person only, the property would go to his estate and heirs ; aud as the Htw
did not recognize the right of slaves to own property, these clauses stating that it was held
in trust for the slave could be left out and a warranty deed given to other parties, entirely
disregarding the rights of the slave. The colored man's interest expired at the will of the
protector, and in this way many cases arise. In such cases the colored man has no protec
tion before the* courts in North Carolina.
Question. Have you discovered such a prejudice against the black man in -North Carolina
as would restrict his rights in the State courts ?
Answer. Yes, sir. There is a very general prejudice against the blacks, often bitter ard
controlling, but frequently not so bad.
Question. In your judgment, does that prejudice infect the judges themselves ; or is it con
fined to the juries ?
Answer. There is hardly a southern man, one who has always lived there, but is preju
diced against allowing a colored man equal civil rights, equality before the courts, in fact,
(though they may do it in form.) Their rights of person and property are always unsafe, at
least. The whites are generally taught, arid believe, that black persons will naturally steal
or lie. They generally say so. I have hardly found a Union man entirely free from these
prejudices. So much is this the case that I had witnesses swear they would not believe a
particular freedman on oath. I found the reason, and only one, for this specific impeach
ment, was that the witnesses "would not believe anv nigger on oath," and this man was
black.
Question. What have you heard the people there say about what is generally known as
the "Civil Rights bill?"
Answer. I heard universal delight among the southerners at the probability ihat the bill
would be vetoed, just before I left Wilmington. There was unanimous opposition to it by
secessionists, and great delight at its probable veto. In regard to the " Freeduieu's Bureau
bill" there was much excitement, and our authority, as officers of the bureau, was defied
very frequently after that was vetoed, and rarely ever before.
Question. How are white Unionists treated in North Carolina by the secessionists ?
Answer. They are not treated right — are abused socially, and even publicly threatened,
unless they are strong on account of their wealth and business power. Mr. Geo. S. French
had a cane brandished over his head, and wasotherwi.se abused by asecessionist^ because he
had always been, and was now, a Unionist. Mr. French was a native of Fall River, Massachu
setts, but resided in Wilmington forty-four years — a man of property, in business there —
president of the Cape Fear Bank, and a very pure-minded, upright, arid inotfeusive Christian
man. He has suffered much inconvenience and trouble during the war ; and when our
prisoners came through there he helped them all he could.
Question. A secessionist brandished his cane over the head of Mr. French because he
was a Unionist ?
Answer. Yes, sir; for no other reason that I could learn. All the Unionists who were
there during the war, and northern traders and merchants there now, tell me they will have
270 RECONSTRUCTION. *
great trouble when the troops are withdrawn, and many of them say they will have to leave
when the troops do.
Question. That they will have to leave on account of the opposition to them ?
Answer. Yes, sir. On account of the enmity /of the secessionists towards them. The se
cessionists already take mean business advantages of northern men — borrow money as agents
for them, then refuse to pay, and take advantage of a stay law. By these means collection
can be delayed about two years. I have met northern men who are now suffering from such
dishonest business operations, and in some cases the debtor was worth fifty or one hundred
thousand dollars. There is a too general lack of business faith. You cannot safely pur
chase cotton, naval stores, or other merchandise on samples. I have known men to sell
resin on samples, and the only barrels worth the freight were thoseropenod as samples. The
laws are slow or useless for any redress. I have known such cases as would shame the
commonest street broker in New York. Collections are made more easily by the military
when they have authority.
Question. How do the secessionists receive President Johnson's liberal policy of treat
ment ?
Answer. With rejoicing. Everything favorable trom the President is published with cap
ital headings. They receive it with great satisfaction, and proceed to lampoon the "radi
cals," the " Yankees," and the "Freedmen's Bureau." Every friendly act by the President
seems to authorize them in more violent abuse of Congress, the bureau, and everything they
call radical. The papers are stronger in their denunciation, they try to overreach us by
public excitement, to intimidate us by greater insolence, the courts are more grasping, the
mayor's court more severe, until I could not help calling it "The confederate advance."
The laws of the State retain whipping, cropping, branding, and letting or binding to service
as punishments for crime. My assistant heard men say in the street that they would soon
get rid of the d — d niggers when the Freedman's Bureau w«as withdrawn. I believe he
used the terms, "would soon kill off the niggers."
Question. Have you had any knowledge of such whipping cases ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I interfered and stopped the whipping of some freedmen by the sheriff
of New Hanover county.
Question. Was the whipping ordered by the justices of the peace ?
Answer. By what is called the county court, the court of pleas and quarter sessions, which
consists of the justices in the county sitting together quarterly, with a presiding member.
Question. Has that been of frequent occurrence ?
Answer. No, 'sir; it only occurred once after I went there. I saw it going on, stopped
it, requested the court to suspend the lash, and forwarded a report, with a request that such
punishment be forbidden. It was referred to the general commanding the department of
North Carolina, but no action had been taken when I left.
Question Has there been any case of cropping since you went there ?
Answer. Not to my knowledge.
Question. In case the federal troops and the Freedmen's Bureau should be removed from
North Carolina, what, in your opinion, would be the conduct of the white secessionists to
wards the colored freedmen ?
Answer. They would endeavor to reduce them to a system of peonage immediately. In
stead of treating the laborers well, and inducing them to become contented, prosperous and
trustworthy, they would try to compel for the master's interest. By controlling wages and
keeping them low, they would render the colored man helpless and dependent. By vagrant
acts they would try to take legal control of the labor. Even now, forced 'indentures are not
very unusualj The court of pleas and quarter sessions of Sampson county apprenticed a
large number — several hundred children — generally to their former masters, and in many
cases simply upon the request of the late master. They generally took the older children
only. Some of these children were at the time living and working in other counties, and
the local armed police were sent after them, seized them from their employers, and forced
them to go back to their former masters.1
Question. Children who had parents living ?
Answer. They made no particular inquiry about that. At the meeting of the court, about
February 20, IbGb', the former slave owners met at the court and had the children apprenticed
to them. Many were apprenticed who had one or both parents living, and orphans who
were amply able to care for themselves.
Question. For how long a time did they bind them out?
Answer. Until they were twenty-one years of age. Those below seven years were not
generally taken, but from that to 20 years they were generally. One case was proven to me
as follows : three brothers were bound — one was 20 years old, had a wile and one child, was
earning from $'25 to &W per mouth; the next, about 17 years old, earning sl»i per month;
the younger, about 14 years old, was earning $5 per month, and his rations and clothes.
These three were apprenticed, seized by the local police, and taken from Bladen county back
to Sampson county, to their former master, to serve until they were 21 years old, j
Question. Did the Freedmen's Bureau interfere? •
Answer. Yes, sir ; General Ruger ordered a company of troops to that section, and I sent
an officer of the bureau. The assistant commissioner of the State pronounced the whole
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 271
action void by a sort of circular or proclamation. Many of these children are yet held, as
they are distant from our officers, and we have to depend on white interested evidence in
many cases. The, apprentice system has been greatly abused. There was another case
tried before me worse than this. A man named B. M. Richardson, formerly of New Jersey,
took a colored boy nearly 20 years of age, drew a revolver on him, choked him, whipped
him with a club, tied his hands, whipped him with a half a hoop, kept him tied six or seven
hours, whipping him every few minutes with a doubled leather strap, hurting him so bad as
to disable him for two days, so that Richardson's son testified that they had to rub the boy
with "lobelia ointment," on account of the injuries inflicted. This was all done to compel
Dan. Bagley's (the freedman) consent to an indenture of apprenticeship ! Richardson con
fessed to one gentleman he had given "Dan" three hundred lashes or blows at a single
whipping. He also wrote a letter to Dan's former master about as follows: "Dan is still
with me. I like him. I had to give him one dreadful whipping. After I gave him this
whipping I did not have so much difficulty in making a bargain with him. Some of the other
niggers put bad ideas into his head, but I whipped it out.'' All this was proven beyond the
shadow of doubt before me, and Richardson had full opportunity afforded him for defence.
He had two good lawyers. I had the fellow arrested, and forwarded the papers, and he
would be brought before a military commission if they are not discontinued. It was on this
trial that a witness swore he would not believe " Ben Simpson," (freedinan, ) ami the reason
was, Ben was black.
Question. How do the white secessionists regard and speak of the acts of cruelty to which
you refer ?
Answer. They generally refuse to believe them, and defend the criminals by saying they
know they are honorable, high-minded men, who would do no such thing. Such a recom
mendation generally means that such men are good southern men.
Question. But suppose they should see the act committed ?
Answer. They would make no complaint as a general thing. They would, also, be un
willing to appear as witnesses. There are, however, some who accept the situation, as I have
mentioned, and who want the labor question settled properly, and these would give testimo
ny, and some such gentlemen did in this case upon^my summons.
Question. In your opinion, in case the military a'nd Freedmen's Bureau were withdrawn,
what chance would the freedman have of obtaining his rights in a North Carolina court?
Answer. In the first place, he would have difficulty in getting his case before the courts ;
and in the second place, when before the court, all the testimony he* could bring would be
overborne by the testimony of a single white man, if he was what ie called a good southern
man, "a gentleman," as they say, "a man of honor."
Question. The freedmen would stand very little chance, of getting justice ?
Answer. Very little, if the defendant or other party to the action was a white man. There
are some of the magistrates for whom I had a rather high respect ; but all are affected by
the prejudice I have mentioned, whether they appreciate it or not. Judges and jurors may
have pure motives and yet do wrong through long practice under slave codes and be preju
diced from childhood. As soon as all military force or law is removed, the ultra secession
ists will obtain full control of all civil affairs. Such has already become the case in Wilmiug-
ton. The present mayor of the city is such. He told me he had embarked his all in the
secession cause, and had not expected to save anything if the cause was lost. Now
that his property .is restored, he feels stronger. He pretends to a sort of Unionism, but does
not show it. His marshal is General Ransom, I have mentioned, and the policemen of the
city are appointed upon the test recommendation, that they have served faithfully in the
confederate army. The policemen are the hardest and most brutal looking and acting set
of civil or municipal officers I ever saw.
Question. A terror to those who do well ?
Answer. A terror to everybody, I should think — certainly to all colored people or loyal
men. I heard gentlemen living in Wilmington say they could never again have any self-
respect if they should be arrested by such men, even for the most trivial complaint or sus
picion. The present mayor of the city kept a whole colored family in prison thirty-six
hours because their dog bit or tried to bite a policeman who attacked a boy on the street.
There was no offence at all, and the family were then only released on niy urgent statement
of the case to the mayor and demand for their release. The question is, into what hands
will the execution of the civil law pass ? I was sitting in my room one evening about eight
or nine o'clock, and heard loud talking upon the street. It continued, and I recognized a
woman's voice. I went out and saw a woman (colored) in charge by two stout police. I
waited, and they were laughing at her and she was rather noisy — intoxicated I should think.
They stayed there on the street, in all, twenty minutes or half an hour; and when I stepped
down upon the pavement and approached them, 1 heard a sharp rap which could have been
heard a square. The policeman foiled the woman senseless to the ground with his baton.
She was a slight woman, hardly able to handle a boy twelve years of age. I made a com
plaint before the mayor, but the policeman's statement and that of his comrade was better
than mine. His act was approved by the court. A negro man was so beaten by these
policemen that we had to take him to our hospital for treatment. These things are generally
in the night-time. The policeare not uniformed, or only wear a star. -A colored man some-
272 RECONSTRUCTION.
times does not know who attacks him, or why. The statement of the policeman is enough.
I found usually the offence charged was .slight, as in this case, only suspicion that he had
fired a pistol in the night time. Nothing of that was proven. ;in«l Lhe criiyinal was held for
resisting an officer of the law. There are numerous cases of thi.> kind in the city and country.
I. directed my assistant, Major Wickcrsham. to arrest the offending' police and tine them for
assault and battery. There was no protection before his honor the mayor.
Question. Did he knock this woman down with a policeman's baton ?
Answer. It .was a club about twice or three times as large as the usual baton ; a club
18 or 20 inches long sometimes, such as boys use to play base ball with, with which you
might knock a man's brains out at one blow. Your first impulse would be to walk around
and avoid one of these police when you saw him on the street. There are Portuguese, Irish,
and other nationalities among them, and all look bad and vicious. I appealed to the mayor
to punish these two police, or particularly the one who struck the woman. I told him, to
say the least, there was danger in habitual conduct like that — for the peace of the city and
safety of society to prevent or punish it. The police made their statement, and other wit
nesses appeared to show that the woman attacked the police and all that, and I was over
whelmed. The mayor replied, " You see I always require my police to tell the whole story,
even if it criminates them, and I require them to do their duty thoroughly ; that his police
acted in self-defence."
Question. In case the Freedmen's Bureau or the federal troops are withdrawn from North
Carolina, what will be the ultimate result to the freedmen ; can they live there?
Answer. The colored race, if left entirely to the control of the whites there, will be ultimately
exterminated by bad treatment, the hard mode of life they will be reduced to and consequent
disease.
Question. Will not the perpetual oppression of the white race produce something more
terrible than gradual dwindling away of the black race ?
Answer. There is great danger of that now, at times. When the freedmen were publicly
whipped the others were very much excited. Freedmeu of intelligence and some means of
life came to me weeping at the degradation they were subjected to. They begged that I
should protect their race/ They said that at a wordfron: them the colored people would have
rescued the prisoner, but they prevented such attempts. I advised quiet, and they said they
would keep so if their rights were protected, or if there was reasonable hope they would be.
They had no sympathy with crime, but abhorred the brutalizing method of punishment.
This law applies to whites and blacks alike ; but the practice would be that ninety-nine
blacks would be punished in this, way to one white man. Such degrading pmuV!
always fall upon the unfo inmate .sud poor race. The whipping, heretofore left by law to
masters, and done on the plantations, will now be done at the public whipping-posit, it
allowed.
Question. I hive the .olacks arms 1
Answer. Yes, sir: to some extent. They try to prevent it, (the whites do,) but cannot.
Some of the local police have been guilty of great abuses by pretending to have authority
to disarm the colored people. They go in squads and search houses and seize arms. These
raids are made often by young men who have no particular interest in hired and trusty labor,
some of them being members of the police and others not. The tour of pretended duty is
often turned into a spree. Houses of colored men have been broken-open, beds torn apart and
thrown about the floor, and even trunks opened and money taken. A 'great variety of such
offences have been committed by the local police or mad young men, members of it. Mules
and horses given to negroes by the army have been taken away, and great difficulty is
experienced in getting them. Such acts greatly interfere with the efforts of the bureau to
restore confidence between laborer and employer. They unsettle labor, lessen greatly the
product of the country, and injure all in their ultimate efforts.
Question. Is there much inclination among the negroes to rise?
Answer. No, sir. Such is not the nature of the race. They are naturally quiet when well
trented. They will nxiii'-e more than nearly any 'other people, because of then domestic dis
position. There is some slight tendency toward outbreaks in Wilmington, because they think
they have suffered -neatly therefrom the police. Some colored men there told me they could
not possibly avoid a difficulty vith the police, though they behaved ever so carefully and
correctly. ,
Question. Is there any system of passe's now in force in Wilmington ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Is there anything else of importance that you can state?
Answer. Nothing that L think of. There is a lack of willing-ness on the part of former own
ers to pay debts to treedmen or recognize their full rights, j his arises from their long habit
in owning them. They sometimes claim the right to have children apprenticed to them, for
the reason that they raised them, (while slaves,) though their parents are living.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 273
WASHINGTON, April 11, 1866.
Thomas M. Cook sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where are you residing now ?
Answer. In Wilmington, North Carolina.
Question. How long have you resided there 1
Answer. A year February 22d last.
Question. What description of business are you engaged in ?
Answer. Publishing a newspaper, the Wilmington Herald.
Question. What was your occupation during the civil war?
Answer. I was an army correspondent for the New York Herald.
Question. Did you accompany the army chiefly ?
Answer. I accompanied the army and the navy, and had a pretty extended experience of
the army, having made a tour of the department on two occasions.
Question. Were you one of the principal correspondents of the Herald ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; we were all on a par.
Question. You regarded yourself as among the leading correspondents of that paper ?
Answer. I do not know as to that ; I believe I got as good pay as any of them.
Question. As a correspondent you had the confidence of the editors ?
Answer. My position was such that I was sent on special expeditions whenever battles
were anticipated. I was complimented by the Navy Department for my description of a
battle, and I was sent for to accompany the Fort Fisher expedition.
Question. To what political party have you been attached during the last four or five
years, if any?
Answer. I should say I was most in sympathy with what was termed at the north the war
democrats, having been always a democrat.
Question. Have your opportunities been extensive for observing the state of public feeling
in North Carolina in reference to the war and in reference to the government of the United
States ?
Answer. I may state, that immediately upon the surrender of General Lee, I was sent to
Richmond, with a view of discovering the secrets, if there might be any, attending Mr.
Lincoln's visit there at the time of the surrender, and had several interview s with General
Lee, Judge Campbell, and with others high up in position in the confederacy. I remained
at Richmond about six weeks on that duty, and then I received instructions to go across the
country, investigating the sentiment of the people. I went by the way of Petersburg, Dan
ville, Greensborough and Raleigh, as far as Wilmington, North Carolina. I was induced to
remain there and attend to my own affairs, resigning my position on the Herald. Since
then I have been on several trips through North Carolina, and have been more or less in
communication with gentlemen of influence and standing in the State.
Question. Did you make any peculiar discoveries in reference to Mr. Lincoln's mission to
Richmond immediately on the evacuation ?
Answer. I made discoveries that were not known to the public — discoveries that I was
not permitted then to make public, but which I think have since been made public.
Question. Do you feel at liberty to state any of them ?
Answer, Inasmuch as they have been printed, I do not know that there is any secret
about them ; it was merely the details of what Mr. Lincoln did at Richmond. 1 think I
succeeded in tracing every step he took in and about Richmond ; what interviews he had,
and what correspondence he entered into ; all of which I have either seen in the original or
in copies. I discovered that Mr. Lincoln had two interviews at Richmond with Judge
Campbell. At the second interview he submitted to Judge Campbell, in writing, unsigned,
a paper covering two pages of foolscap. This paper contained three points, which Mr.
Lincoln considered, in his language, essential to peace, and gave his own views as to the
manner in which peace might be acquired, contingent on the acceptance of those three
points.
Question. Has that paper been ever published ?
Answer. A synopsis of it has been.
Question. In whose hands did you see it ?
Answer. I saw a copy of it in the hands of Judge Campbell.
Question. Did you ever see the original ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did Judge Campbell pretend that he had the original?
Answer. Not at that time ; I can give you the history of it if you care for it.
Question. Give it briefly.
Answer. On the evening that the city was occupied by our army, Mr. Lincoln Avent up to
the city with Admiral Porter; before they got there, Judge Campbell, who heard they wore
coming, called on General Weitzel and requested an interview with Mr. Lincoln, represent*
ing to General Weitzel that the interview might be profitable. General Weitzel rather threw
him off, and Judge Campbell then went to the other general who was military governor
18 V NC SC
274 RECONSTRUCTION.
there. This general went with him again to General Weitzel, and the result of that inter
view was, that General Weitzel said, that when Mr. Lincoln came he would notify him.
Mr. Lincoln came in the evening, and General Weitzel told him that Judge Campbell de
sired to see him. Mr. Lincoln remarked, in substance, that he had no objection to a few
minutes' interview. General Weitzel sent across to Judge Campbell, whose residence was
nearly opposite. He came over and was the principal spokesman ; Mr. Lincoln remained
quiet arid let Judge Campbell have his say. Judge Campbell was very anxious to get an
authority to treat for peace ; he said that if Mr. Lincoln would give him authority, he would
go through the lines and see Mr. Davis, and would undoubtedly effect a treaty of peace im
mediately. Mr. Lincoln, finally, after twenty minutes' interview, told him that if he would
call upon him in the morning with some prominent citizens of the town, he would like to
have a further interview with him, and then he dismissed him. Next morning Judge
Campbell, who did not succeed in finding any prominent citizens, except one, Mr. McGraw,
a merchant, went with him on board the Malvern, Admiral Porter's flag-ship, then lying at
the Rockets, and met Mr. Lincoln. Mr. Lincoln then became more of the spokesman than
on the previous occasion. He made a number of inquiries as to the sentiments of the south
ern people, the disposition of those in authority in the south, their wishes, views, pin-poses
and plans. Finally, in an off-hand manner, he put his hand in the breast-pocket of his coat
and pulled out a paper, unsigned and undated, handed it to Judge Campbell and said it con
tained all that he had to say on the subject. He delivered the original to Judge Campbell.
Question. This you got from Judge Campbell himself?
Answer. That I got from Judge Campbell himself. This original was taken and shown
to a number of citizens of Richmond. It was in Judge Campbell's custody for three days.
In the mean time Mr. Lincoln returned to Washington. In that interview Judge Campbell
had suggested to Mr. Lincoln the propriety of calling together the legislature of Virginia — I
mean the rebel legislature. Judge Campbell's own language to me was : " I suggested to
Mr. Lincoln the propriety of calling together a number of the leading gentlemen of Virginia"-
meauing the legislature. He contends that that is the phraseology he put it in.
Question. Did he pretend that he s-aid "the legislature of Virginia?"
Answer. No ; he pretends that he said, "a number of the leading citizens of Virginia,"
by which he intended to designate the legislature, although he says it was his intention to
include other persons. He had proposed that in the first interview. He says that in the
second interview Mr. Lincoln spoke to him on the same subject, and used this language :
"I have been considering a plan of assembling the legislature of Virginia, and if I can work
it out in my own mind satisfactorily I will notify you." Mr. Lincoln added : "I consider it
extremely important that the body which attempted to take this State out of the Union
should repair the damage done" — or should take it back into the Union. The precise lan
guage I do not recollect. Then the interview terminated. The next day General Weitzi-l
received a note from Mr. Lincoln, written from City Point, authorizing him to permit the
assembling of the legislature of Virginia. The construction I put upon it was that Mr.
Lincoln, in the honesty of his heart, did not study the language he was using, and meant
the same body — the unofficial body of gentlemen of whom Judge Campbell had spoken —
understanding his meaning to^be the legislature of Virginia, but without recognizing it as
possessing any legislative authority. He simply meant to allow them to assemble there and
pass any form of a bill they pleased to recognize the authority and jurisdiction of the United
States. Mr. Lincoln's idea, as I infer from the whole tenor of the interview, was that while
this might not be an official body, yet, it having presumed to exercise the functions of State
authority in taking the State out of the Union, that same body might, in the exercise of
those presumed functions, take it back into the Union, and so satisfy the popular mind of
the State. The authority caine back to General Weitzel to permit that assemblage, and a call
was issued for the legislature. Immediately on the return to Washington of Mr. Lincoln
an order was received by General Weitzel, by telegraph, revoking the order for the assem
blage of the legislature of Virginia, and required General Weitzel to collect all the papers
that had passed in these interviews and to suppress them. When I went to Judge Camp
bell for the paper containing the three propositions Judge Campbell told me that General
Weitzel had demanded the paper under written orders ; that it had already been copied
before it was ordered to be returned ; that he notified him that he had a copy of it, and re
turned the original ; but he did not understand that he was called upon to go about and
pick up all the copies that had been taken of it, inasmuch as there had been no ban of
secrecy put upon him. It was one of those copies that I returned. I then went to General
Ord, who had succeeded General Weitzel, and asked copies of the papers. General Ord did
not dispute their existence, but said that under his orders he did not feel at liberty to let
them out. At that time the assassination of Mr. Lincoln had taken place, and I said to
General Ord that it was due to Mr. Lincoln's memory and to history that these papers should
be published. He advised me to go to General Balleck, stating, I think, that In- had for
warded the papers to General Halleek, or had ordered them to be forwarded. I went to
General Halleck, and lie : positively denied any knowledge of the papers. General Halleck
was then at Richmond. I was then advised to see General Weitzel about them. I saw his
adjutant general, who told me that General Weitzel would give them to me. I wrote a note
to General Weitzel, and made an appointment to meet him on a certain day at Petersburg.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 275
I wished to get the President's note to him authorizing the assembling of the legislature,
because General Wcit/el was then under a cloud in consequence of having permitted it.
His adjutant general advised me that General Weitzel would be glad to have that letter pub
lished ; but I was called away before I had time to go to Petersburg, and I did not see him,
and did not get the letters.
Question. You say you have read a copy of the document furnished by Mr. Lincoln to
Judge Campbell ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have you a copy of it in your possession or control ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I have ; but I do not know where it is just now. I think I have it in
New York. .
Question. Please state the contents of that paper as accurately as your memory enables
you to do.
Answer. It is peculiarly Lincolnish in its style. It was more a memorandum than any
thing else. It opens without any address to anybody, in this way: "Three things are
essential to peace : first, a complete disbandment of all forces in hostility to the United
States; second, a full recognition of the authority of the government of the United Stntes
throughout all the territory in which that authority had been resisted; and, third, no reces
sion by the Executive from his position on the question of emancipation as proclaimed in his
recent message to Congress and in other documents." These are the ideas, I think. Then
he adds : "Any questions of difference not inconsistent with the foregoing will be considered
in a spirit of generosity and kindness." He speaks also, I think, in that same paper of the
confiscation laws, and conveys the idea that Congress had left the power with him to execute
the confiscation laws. He makes no distinct pledge, but allows the inference to be drawn
that, if the south immediately concedes these points, the confiscation law will not be enforced.
I think there is also a paragraph in the note which gives to individual States the right as
States of accepting these terms, each State for itself.
Question. Will you furnish the committee with your copy of that proposition?
Answer. That needs another explanation. Judge Campbell, when he showed me that
paper, advised me that he was not authorized to give it to me, stating as a reason for not
giving it to me, its suppression by the government. I then asked him if I might take an ab
stract of it. He was not prepared to permit me to do so at that interview. However, he
said that he would consider it and let me know the next day. I saw him the next day, and
he said that I might take the leading points of the paper. I took his copy, and took off the
three essential points in full as they were written, and a synopsis of the additional remarks
and paragraphs. Subsequently Judge Campbell had occasion to hand me a paper which I
had requested him to make up for me relating to his connexion with efforts for peace, in
which he embodied a synopsis of that note more full than my own, and I think I adopted
that. This paper was printed in the New York Herald of a date immediately succeeding the
publication of letter giving Mr. Stephens's views. I wrote my letter to the Herald, giving
the results of my examination down there, and accompanied it with a private note covering
the fact of the government suppressing these papers. The Herald, which has always been
careful not to publish what the government wished suppressed, suppressed my letter. Two
or three months afterwards somebody had an interview with Mr. Stephens, of Georgia, and
he permitted the publication of a long article covering some points connected with the
Hampton Roads peace mission, which seemed to justify the New York Herald in publishing
my letter. I saw it in print, but cannot state the exact date when it was published. The
paper I refer to was embodied in that letter.
Question. Have you an entire copy of the document, or what purports to be an entire copy ?
Answer. No, sir ; I have not. I have simply an entire copy of the three essential points.
During the Hampton Roads peace mission, in speaking of the treatment that should be meted
out to those who had been in hostility to the government, (and in this I think Mr. Stephens
concurs with Judge Campbell,) there was an anxiety manifested to know what should be
done with those high in authority, and Mr. Davis's name was brought up. Mr. Lincoln
remarked that Mr. Davis had made use of the expression that he would not accept a pardon
from him, and said that what wasn't worth asking for wasn't worth having, but that almost
anybody might have almost anything he wanted by asking for it.
Question. Is there anything else on that subject which you wish to add ?
Answer. No, sir; I think not.
Question. You have resided at Wilmington, North Carolina, for many months : are you
well acquainted with the state of public feeling among North Carolinians, especially seces
sionists, in reference to the government of the United States ?
Answer. I think I am. •
Question. What is the general feeling among influential secessionists in that State towards
the government of the United States?' Is it friendly or unfriendly ?
Answer. It requires qualifications to express it, I think the sentiment is quite friendly
toward the government, but they want their finger in it. They want it somewhat in their
own way. They do not consider the government as friendly towards them. They claim a
good deal. I think they are exacting. I think they are, perhaps, importunate in some of
their demands. They go further than they are justified in going. I have told them so in
276 RECONSTRUCTION.
my paper on several occasions, and told them that it would be more becoming in them if
they demanded less, and that they might then have more expectation of receiving some
thing ; in other words, that they were not in a condition to demand anything.
Question. You are now speaking of the influential classes of secessionists .'
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Do you hear among them contemptuous expressions towards the government
-of the United States ?
Answer. I think not. I have heard contemptuous expressions towards individual mem
bers of the government. I do not know that I have heard such towards any distinctive
"branch of the government, but towards individual members of it — perhaps, towards majori
ties in Congress. I do not think that I have ever heard a contemptuous expression of the
President, or of the military authorities, (although I have towards certain military officers,)
nor of the judicial branch of the government. I have heard them express a desire that cer
tain questions should be submitted to the Supreme Court of the United States — a desire that
•cases might be made up and brought before that court. They seem to feel a coniiden.ce that
they would come out right.
Question. How is the feeling among the lower classes of secessionists?
Answer. I have no sympathy with what you call the lower classes of secessionists. "We
<call them hot-heads. They are principally young boys around the street; ex-rebel officers
who have not had their blood cooled down. They have been particularly down upon me,
and I have kept aloof from them.
Question. What feeling do they manifest towards the government ?
Answer. I think they are not actuated by any wisdom. Their blood is fired, and they are
prepared for any sort of a row they can kick up. They are opposed to the government and
to anything that is -good.
Question. Do they express a desire for the recurrence of a war ?
Answer. Not in that way. I have heard them make remarks like this : "If these things
are going on, by God we will have within five years a worse war than we ever had before.
We will have a war of extermination." But if you go on and talk with those people, they
will admit that they would be the exterminated party, but that they would fight rather than
submit to this, that, andrthe other.
Question. What is it that they are so opposed to ?
Answer. These questions and remarks would come up on discussions about the admission
of the negro to the right of suffrage, or to full civil equality. They fear that the negro
would be admitted to the jury-box. They fear that more than anything else. I do not think
there is any opposition, even among these people, to negroes being admitted to testify in
cases in which they are parties in interest; but they seem to have an undefined fear that
this measure leaves the negro liable to do service in the jury-box, and that at any time
negroes may be called upon a jury to try a white man. There is a good deal <>t' that feeling.
Question. Are they not aware that there is no law of the United States which would re
quire a negro to sit upon a jury?
Answer. They are not fully conversant with all the laws ; and, moreover, they apprehend
more what may be done than what is done already. The agitation of these questions in
Congress and in the State legislature brings the matter up.
'Question. Have you heard anything said about a war between the United States and any
foreign government among the secessionists of any class? If so, state what their feeling is
in reference to it.
Answer. I had a very long conversation on that point, immediately after the final surren
der, with an officer whose name I cannot recollect — a general officer uf the conieuenue army.
We went from Petersburg to Danville together in the train. The conductor had given me a
seat in his caboose car, and this officer was riding on the platform. I got acquainted with
him and got him a seat inside. We conversed upon general subjects, and that subject was
brought up. I asked him his views upon it. He referred to liiy letter, [>ub!i>Ued in the
Herald, relating to General Lee's private \iews. After Lee's surrender 1 hud an interview
with him in Richmond, and I published his views, in which there was some remark made
about General Lee complaining that he was burdened with applications from hi- ofticers to
ead them in expatriation schemes, or filibustering schemes, perhaps, to Brazil, Guatemala,
and other places. He had dissuaded them from these ideas. This officer remarked to me
that upon the appearance of that letter of mine he was with a group of ofticers in Kichmond,
when the subject was brought up, and the question vas, "Supposing this country should
get into war with .France, what would you do? and you? and you .<"' And he said tojne
that they agreed unanimously that it was their duty to support the United States. That
conversation impressed itself upon my mind. I have since had casual conversations with
other persons, in which various sentiments were expressed, but I do not know that I have
heard any one say that he \\onld join the common enemy, although some have said they
would not support the United States in it war. I do not think I have heard any one say he
would join the common enemy.
Question. Have you reason to suppose that the secessionists generally have laid aside all
schemes of ultimately getting out of the Union and establishing an independent government
in the south ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 277
Answer. I am so impressed. I think it is their honest purpose to abandon all hostility
towards the government. I think they are convinced of its hopelessness. I have talked
with a great many on that point.
Question. Suppose the government of the United States was engaged in an obstinate war
with a foreign power, such as England or France, and suppose it should become apparent
in the course of it that by means of that war the secessionists would have an opportunity to
get out of the Union again, do you not think they would embrace it ?
Answer. That would be a mere matter of opinion. I have heard that matter discussed a
good deal. My own opinion is that they would not. I suppose there might be individuals
in the south who would go with the enemy, but they would be exceptional cases.
Question. Suppose they should discover that war so crippled the power of the United States
as to render it impossible that the United States could still keep them in the Union by the
force of arms, do you not think they would .make an effort, under those circumstances, again
to withdraw from the Union and to establish an independent government in the south ?
Answer. My opinion is that they would not. I base that opinion upon the repeated assur
ances of the majority of the people that they went into the war reluctantly ; that they loved
the Union, but that they were dragged into the war by State-rights ideas ; that they were
thus committed to the war, and had to fight it out to the bitter end. They were defeated in
that. Their affection to the old Union revives. They are back in the Union, and do not
want any more experiences of war.
Question. This opinion is based upon your observations and experience in North Carolina ?
Answer. Yes, sir. My office is a pretty common place of resort for a very good class of
citizens of all political sentiments. The leading men come there in the evening and read the
paper and chat. They have come to me a good deal for advice and assistance with the mili
tary, and I have been able to render them some assistance many times. I have thus got their
confidence, and they talk with me quite freely.
Question. How do they feel generally in regard to allowing the freedmen civil rights?
Answer. I think they want to qualify their rights. They are willing to admit the negro
to testify in courts in cases where his own interest is involved. They are willing that he
should sue and be sued. They are not willing that he should have a vote, nor that he should
sit in the jury-box, nor that he should hold office.
Question. Are they generally willing that he should have the capacity of acquiring, enjoy
ing, conveying, and transmitting by descent lands and real estate ? .
Answer. I think they are. Since Trumbull's bill was introduced in Congress I have come
out in my paper in advocacy of full negro equality before the law to its fullest extent, placing
the negro in courts of law precisely where the white man stands. But I took the ground
that socially, no legislation could make him the equal of the white man, and the legal rights
did not confer political rights ; that he was now a freed man, and under the genius of our
institutions was entitled to all the privileges of that position, to sue and be sued, and to at
tain every right which any other man could attain before the law. My articles on tha't topic
were very kindly received. I do not recollect that they were dissented from by a newspaper
in the State, and, excepting in unimportant particulars, they were not dissented from in any
conversation that I had with people growing out of them.
Question. Is there not a strong prejudice against freedmen in North Carolina?
Answer. Not among thinking men.
Question. Among the masses ?
Answer. Among the classes whom I denominated "hot-heads" there is.
Question. Would those "hot-heads " generally be disposed to give the negro justice in re
gard to his rights ?
Answer. I do not think it would make much difference whether they are or not. They
are an unimportant class of the community. They are boys and young men thrown upon
the world and living upon the street corners.
Question. Do you think that an ordinary jury in North Carolina could be safely relied upon
to give the freedman his rights in all cases that might come before them, as willingly as they
would to a white man ?
Answer. I think they would. The whipping and branding of negroes, that have been
commented upon in newspapers recently, are applicable alike to the whites and the blacks.
The infliction of these punishments on blacks, which has led to so much newspaper comment
within the last few weeks, was done under the impression that all laws that were applicable
to both races might be enforced.
Question. Do you mean to say that there is a law in North Carolina allowing white men
to be flogged for petty offences ?
Answer. Certainly. We have no penitentiary in our State, and they flog and brand for
petty offences.
Question. Have you ever heard of cases of white men being flogged and branded ?
Answer. I have seen white men who had been branded. Since the criminal courts have
been in session again recently, there have been no cases brought before them except a few
cases of negroes. Our county court sentenced a negro to be sold into slavery, when the
military interfered and demanded that the sentence should be set aside, because the law was
not applicable alike to the whites. That sentence is not applicable to whites, and there-
278 VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA.
fore the law could not be enforced. But in the case of whipping and branding, a white man
convicted of larceny can be whipped or branded. This law is applicable equally to whites
and blacks.
Question. They have no penitentiary in North Carolina?
Answer. No penitentiary or workhouse.
Question. They have no place of confinement except the common county jails ?
Answer. Only the common county jails. When I caine away the mayor of Wilmington
was perfecting an arrangement with the superintendent of the Freedmen's Bureau for the
organization of a chain-gang to work on the streets, to use up a large element of idle, vagrant
negroes who hang around town having nothing to do, living on government rations. They
were being constantly brought before the mayor's court, the mayor having authority from
the Freedmen's Bureau to pass upon them, save in an exceptional case, where the agent of
the Freedmen's Bureau comes in and sits with the mayor. The agent had seen so much of
them that he was willing to permit this chain-gang to be formed under the circumstances. It
was to be put in force immediately when I came away. I heard it both from the superin
tendent of the bureau 6f the district and from the mayor.
Question. How do they feel in North Carolina in regard to the education of freedmen, and
in regard to furnishing facilities for their education ?
Answer. I demanded of the constitutional convention, when it was in session, that it
should incorporate into the constitution a provision for the education of the blacks, and the
only opposition I received was from a man who professes to be a very strong Union man — a
very wealthy man and a leading citizen of the town. I got into an animated discussion with
him. He objected on the common ground of an objection to all education of labor, that old-
fashioned idea which could not be removed from his brain.
Question. Did the convention pass any such provision ?
Answer. It did not. I then demanded of the legislature that they should do it, but they
did not have time to devote to it. But I think there is no objection to the education of the
freedmen. The people object to, and find a great deal of fault with, missionaries coming
there to educate their blacks. They fancy that these missionaries interfere with other mat
ters, in the relations between the servant and his employer. They express, in this connex
ion, a willingness to undertake the education of the blacks themselves if they are only left
alone. I think there is an element in Wilmington that would urge it and advocate it.
There is a pretty large northern and Union element there.
Question. You think it probable that if these missionaries from the north would refrain
from going there, the white people of North Carolina would go to work with alacrity and ed
ucate the freedmen ?
Answer. No, sir ; I don't think they would. But I think there is an element in that part
of the State that is disposed to effect it. We are building up quite a large party there. Wil
mington was settled originally from New England, although it was the most secessionist part
of the State. The old residents are New Englanders, and I think they are disposed to admit
the benefit that labor derives from education. On the last Fourth of July they invited me to
deliver a Fourth of July oration, at which we had a very large attendance of all classes of
people. I insisted in that oration that they should go to work and educate the negroes, and
I illustrated the benefits of their education. The sentiment was loudly applauded, quite as
loudly as anything else I have said.
Question. Is there anything else you would like to state ?
Answer. I would like to say this, that if the question of the rights of States to be repre
sented in Congress could be settled by allowing the States to be represented, and if the ques
tion should be confined to the right of an individual to represent his constituents; in other
words, if any person, coming here with proper credentials as a representative from a southern
district, is qualified to take the test oath, and is prepared to take it, his admission to Con
gress would have a very beneficial effect, in my opinion. The people down there think that
Congress is obliged to admit representation, but that it has the right to judge of the qualifi
cation of its own members. They say that Congress has fixed that qualification in the test
oath, and that if they send a man to Congress who is willing to take that oath, ('ungrrsshiis
no right to exclude him. They say that that is unjust and hostile to their section. There
fore, instead of exercising the principle of loving their enemies, they leel like hating them.
Question. Could a man be elected in any district in North Carolina who could truthfully
take the test oath ?
Answer. There were two men elected in the State who could take the oath. In my dis
trict I advocated the election of a test oath man, and he was very badly beaten at the last
congressional election. The argument that defeated him was that if he was elected he would
not be admitted, that Congress would not even admit a man who could take the test oath,
and that they might as well elect a man who could not.
Question. The man who was elected had been an out-and-out secessionist, had he ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Are not the persons who took part in the rebellion more popular than the Union
men?
Answer. Yes, sir ; decidedly so. A test oath man, as we call him, is not considered a rep
resentative man in the south.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 279
Question. Are the masses of the people of North Carolina more friendly and genial to the
government of the United States, or less so, than immediately after the surrender of Lee and
the collapse of the rebellion ?
Answer. I think that immediately after the surrender there was an enthusiastic friendli
ness to the United States. Everybody wanted to show himself to be a Union man; that he
always had been such, and never anything else. That enthusiasm has died away, and I do
not think there is that degree of friendliness now that there was then, although the displace
ment ofLfriendliness does not give place exactly to unfriendliness.
Question. How would the masses of the people of North Carolina act, if they had the power,
in reference to the payment of the debt of the United States, contracted in putting down the
rebellion? Would they consent to pay it cheerfully ?
Answer. I think they would.
Question. Would they not also like to pay the rebel debt, contracted to carry on the rebel
lion ?
Answer. I think not.
Question. Why not ?
Answer. The rebel debt is already extinguished. They have paid it, and now they have
got to pay part of the United States debt.
Question. How have they paid the rebel debt ?
Answer. They have destroyed their bonds or thrown them away.
Question. Is not the rebel indebtedness selling rather high in the market in North Caro
lina?
Answer. The last I heard of it, it was selling, I think, at five dollars a thousand. There
have been some operations in it, for the purpose, I fancy, of meeting existing contracts,
abroad or elsewhere. Parties would make a tender of payment in it to clear their skirts.
Question. Have you any idea what amount of confederate bonds is now held by British
capitalists under the cotton loan, so called ?
Answer. No, sir. I made some estimates, but I do not recollect them now.
Question. There is a large amount there, I suppose ?
Answer. I presume there is. I tried to get hold of that very data in Richmond, but I did
not find it.
WASHINGTON, April 12, 1866.
Dorence Atwater sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD:
Question. Where were you born and raised?
Answer. Terryville, Connecticut.
Question. What has been your education ?
Answer. Common school.
Question. Did you serve in the army during any part of the war ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. State in what capacity you entered the army.
Answer. As private in the 2d New York cavalry.
Question. Where did you serve mainly ?
Answer. In the army of the Potomac.
Question. How long?
Answer. Forty-four months, commencing the 22d of August, 1861.
Question. Under whom did you serve ?
Answer. General Kilpatrick.
Question. State whether you were made prisoner by the enemy ?
Answer. I was captured near Hagerstowu, Maryland, on the 7th of July, 1863, while car
rying despatches to General Kilpatrick.
Question. That was after the battle of Gettysburg ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Where were you carried as a prisoner ?
Answer. To Staunton, and from there to Richmond and Belle Isle. I remained on Belle
Isle live months.
Question. Were you confined in Libby prison ?
Answer. Not any length of time. I only stopped there one or two nights. I was in Smith's
building about six weeks.
Question. What was Smith's building.
Answer. Smith's tobacco manufactory. That was where I kept the account of supplies
received from our government.
Question. That is not what was called Libby prison ?
Answer. No, sir ; there were about a dozen tobacco manufactories there used as prisons.
I kept an account of the supplies received there for the prisoners, supplies sent from the
north, and the stores of clothing and rations sent by our government.
280 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Have yon any reason to suppose that any of those supplies were clandestinely
made way with by the rebels ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What is your reason for thinking so ?
Answer. Because I have seen supplies taken away by them.
Question. By the rebel soldiers ?
Answer. I have seen them sent away by the officers in charge.
Question. Did you mention the fact to them on any occasion ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Why not?
Answer. Because I did not think it would be of any use.
Question. Of what did those supplies mainly consist?
Answer. Of clothing and stores received from our government, rations the same as were
issued to our army, coffee and sugar, &c. What was sent was only issued once or twice
and the rest was kept by the rebels.
Question, Did they deal in the same way with the private supplies sent by charitable per
sons at the north ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I used to go down to the express building where these boxes sent by
express were kept. The rebels used to open the boxes every time they came, and take out
the citizens' clothing. They only allowed the prisoners to have what they called perishable
articles. Canned fruits, or anything of that kind, they would not let the prisoners have nor
would they let them have the clothing.
Question. What would they allow them to have ?
Answer. The perishable articles, and they were of no account.
Question. You remained in Smith's building six weeks ; where did you go then ?
Answer. I was sent to Andersonville, Georgia.
Question. How long had you been at Belle Isle ?
Answer. Five months, from August till January.
Question. How far is Belle Isle from Richmond ?
Answer. It is just across the river; not more than the eighth of a mile.
Question. State how the prisoners were treated and how they fared at Belle Isle ?
Answer. There were tents at Belle Isle. The prisoners received rations once a day.
Question. What kind of rations ?
Answer. Corn-bread ; a quarter of a loaf.
Question. How made?
Answer. Mixed with water and salt.
Question. Was it ground with the cob ?
Answer. I do not think it was. We also got bean or rice soup, and meat or bacon, two
ounces for a ration.
Question: How much soup did they get?
Answer. Half a pint of soup.
Question. Was it well cooked and clean ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Describe it.
_AnswL-r. It was bean-soup cooked with dirt and pods in the mass. There would be over a
pint of beans in a common water-pail of soup. The rest would be water taken from the James
river, and muddy. Sometimes we had sweet potatoes thrown into the kettle, all boiled into a
mass, and baled out with buckets.
Question. Were many of the prisoners sick?
Answer. Yes ; a great many of them were sick. They had no clothing until the latter
part of November, when some was received from our lines. I saw, one morning, eight men
who were frozen to death during the night. Men would be walking the streets all night to
keep warm. I saw three men shot while I was there.
Question. For what?
Answer. One of them was shot for sitting down in the inside of the bank. He had just
come in, and did not know that it was against the orders to sit there. The guard told him
to get up, and when he got up, the guard fired and killed him.
Question. What were the circumstances in the two other cases ?
Answer. One was a sergeant in charge of a working squad. Ho walked up to the bank
to lay out some lines, and the guard shot him. Another man who was crazy ran out to the
sink at night ; it was against orders to go to the sink at night.
Question. How many prisoners were there at Belle Isle ?
Answer. Between ten and twelve thousand.
Question. State whether there was a deficiency of accommodation for their lodging.
Answer. Yes, sir ; there were fourteen of us at one time in a small bell-tent, which is used
in our army for four men ; we lay on the dirt all the time ; we had no straw or beds of any
kind.
Question. What time were these eight men frozen to death?
Answer. In December.
Question. Did you see them after they were dead ?
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 281
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What was their clothing ?
Answer. They had no shoes or stockings, hats or caps — nothing but the common army
blouse and blue pants.
Question. Had they shirts ?
Answer. I should think they had.
Question. How do you know they were frozen to death ?
Answer. I saw them carried out, and knew that they were frozen. I saw them in the
street before they were taken away. I saw also men whose feet and legs, up to their knees,
were frozen.
Question. Were many frozen, either to death or partially ?
Answer. Not any more that I know of, except those that I have spoken of.
Question. Were those facts made known to the officer in charge of the prisoners ?
Answer. Not that I know of.
Question. Were they not made known to the surgeon in attendance ?
Answer. The surgeon probably knew of them, because the bodies were carried to his tent or
by it.
Question. Did you notice any improvement in your treatment by the rebels after that ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. State whether any prisoners died of starvation at Belle Isle.
Answer. I think there did.
Question. What wa's the general appearance of the prisoners there in the months of Novem
ber and December — healthy or the reverse ?
Ans\yer. They were very poor, weak, ragged, and barefooted.
Question. What effect did this diet produce on their systems 1
Answer. It produced diarrhoea and scurvy.
Question. What effect did it have on you ?
Answer. It produced diarrhoea.
Question. Did you get any medical treatment ?
Answer. I went out three times to see the surgeon. It was hard work to get out. We
could not get out more than once a week, and we did not have medicine enough part of the
time.
Question. Were the prisoners removed from Belle Isle that winter ?
Answer. Yes ; in the months of February and March.
Question. And you were removed with them ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they came to Richmond, and I joined them there.
Question. Where were you all taken to ?
Answer. To Andersonville, Georgia.
Question. How long did you remain a prisoner at Andersonville ?
Answer. Eleven months. I left there February 2, 1865.
Question. Describe the treatment and fare of the Union prisoners at Andersonville.
Answer. They were enclosed in a stockade, which at first contained about eighteen acres,
about one-fourth of which was taken up by a swamp. They had no tents, and no quarters
there except some made by prisoners with blankets and brush, and some mud huts. Some
times we received corn bread, ground cob and all, baked, or just the meal sent in without
being cooked, and the men had to cook it themselves. They got bfean or rice soup, bacon
and fresh meat in small quantities, not to exceed two ounces to the ration.
Question. Did you have much fresh meat ?
Answer. No, sir; but once a week.
Question. What was the quality of the fresh meat you did receive?
Answer. Very poor.
Question. WThich was it — beef or pork?
Answer. Beef.
Question. What was the quality of the soup ?
Answer. The soup was cooked in water in which bacon and fresh meat had been boiled for
two or three days. The water was not changed ; it was dirty, as the bacon had been boiled in
it just as it was taken from the ash-house ; the beans were boiled in it with pods and dirt
Question. Was it filthy ? t
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Was this kind of soup used habitually ?
Answer. Yes, sir; everyday.
Question. This kind of bread, made of corn ground with the cob, was it furnished you
habitually ?
Answer. Yes, sir; bread was furnished to part of the camp, and meal of the same kind
to the other part ; they could not cook enough of it for all.
Question. State whether many of the prisoners were ill.
Answer. Yes, sir; all of them would have been considered fit for the hospital in our army,
Question. What diseases did they complain of mainly?
Answer. Diarrhoaa and scurvy were the most common diseases.
Question. Could you eat that kind of bread ?
282 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. "We had to, or else eat nothing.
Question. Did the men swallow the cob which was found in the bread ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you hear of any remonstrance on the part of the rebel military authorities
there against giving such bread to the prisoners ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Nor as to the soup ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. State whether there was a great deal of sickness among the prisoners.
Answer. Yes, sir ; they were nearly all sick.
Question. Did 'deaths occur frequently ?
Answer. Yes, sir. In the month of August, 1864, the deaths averaged a hundred a day.
The hospital was almost kept full continually, with 2,500 patients.
Question. Was the hospital within the stockade ?
Answer. It was, at first— for the first three months; afterwards it was moved outside.
Question. What was the quality of the water that you used there, and how was it obtained ?
Answer. The water ran through the middle of the stockade in a small stream.
Question. How much current had it ?
Answer. Not enough to wash away the filth from the middle of the stockade. The sinks
of the rebel camps were situated on its banks up stream. The rebel soldiers used to wash
and bathe in the stream. The cook-house was also on its banks, and the grease from it could
be seen on the water. Afterwards there were some wells dug by the prisoners, but they were
filled up again by orders of the rebels.
Question. Did the prisoners obtain water by digging wells ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. And these wells were filled up by order of the guard ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; nearly all of them.
Question. In what direction did this stream flow ?
Answer. From west to east.
Question. And through that stream was drained the filthy water from the slope occupied by
the rebel camps outside the stockade, and the sinks which they used?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And the current of that stream, sluggish and dull as it was, brought down
through the stockade the filth which thus ran into it ?
Answer. Y.es.
Question. And the Union prisoners were compelled to use the water, thus corrupted, for
their owrn culinary purposes, and for drinking and washing 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Was any remonstrance made against their treatment by the Union prisoners ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. To whom, and by whom, and what was the result ?
Answer. Prisoners spoke to the captain in charge, Wirz ; but nothing was ever done to
remedy the evil.
Question. As to lodging, and protection against the damp and cold, what were the provi
sions in the stockade ?
Answer. Nothing. If a. prisoner had a blanket or piece of tent when he went in there, he
made use of it as a shelter. A great many of the prisoners dug holes in the banks, or made
mud and brush huts.
Question. Was there any brush or trees inside the stockade ?
Answer. There were a few pine trees when we first went there, but these were all cut down
by the prisoners.
Question. Did they make a request to be supplied with tents or covering of any kind ? _
Answer. They reqiiested to be allowed to go out and get brush and sticks enough to build
quarters, but they were not allowed. They did not get wood enough to cook their rations with.
Question. How did you supply yourselves with fuel to cook your rations ?
Answer. Details of two or three men from each squad of a hundred went out to get wood.
I have seen men eat meal stirred up with water without being cooked, because they could
not get wood to cook it with.
Question. Have you seen them eat uncooked meat ?
Answer. No, sir ; the meat was generally cooked before it was sent in.
Question. How many prisoners had you in the stockade at one time 1
Answer. Thirty-three thousand.
Question. The masses of men nearly covered the whole area inside the stockade ?
Answer. Yes, sir, all of it that could be occupied ; part of the swamp could not be occupied.
Question. Was that swamp marshy and muddy ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How large a portion of the area of the stockade was of that description ?
Answer. One-fourth of it.
Question. That was so marshy that the men could not walk or stand in it ?
Answer. Yes, sir. The stockade, which was at first eighteen acres, was afterwards en-
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 283
larked by nine acres, making it twenty-seven acres. That was in the latter pare of August
I think.
Question. Who, besides Wirz, had charge of those prisoners ?
Answer. There was a Lieutenant Davis who had charge at the time Wirz was sick ; he was
the only one. General Winder was in charge of the prison ; his headquarters were there at
Andersonville.
Question. Did you ever see him ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Did he ever come into the stockade ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Did you ever see him inside the stockade ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. How often ?
Answer. I never saw him inside the stockade but once.
Question. HOAV did you know it was Winder you saw ?
Answer. Because I had seen him in Richmond while I was there.
Question. So that you had no doubt of his identity ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you ever witness any acts of cruelty on the part of Wirz towards prisoners ?
Answer. Yes, sir. When prisoners were received there after the battles of Spottsylvania
and the Wilderness, I have seen them compelled, although wounded and sick, to stand in
line for two or three hours ; and if any of them attempted to sit down he would draw his
revolver and threaten to shoot them. I saw one man whom he shot while running away.
He shot him through the leg.
Question. Relate the incident?
Answer. He was a man on parole whom they called Frenchy. He ran away. Wirz started
after him with the man who had charge of the hounds. They caught him in the swamp, and
Wirz shot him through the leg and brought him back again.
Question. Is there any other act of his that you think of?
Answer. He had a chain-gang there, which had at one time twelve men attached to it, with
a large ball in the centre and a chain running from that large ball to the leg of each prisoner,
with a small ball and chain attached to the other leg. It commenced with two men chained
to the ball, and they kept on adding others to it. Each time a new man was put in they
had to walk a mile to the blacksmith's shop, having to drag this ball and chain through the
hot sand. One man died with the chain upon him.
Question. Was that treatment inflicted as a punishment for misconduct ?
Answer. Yes, sir; for running away and trying to escape from the stockade.
Question. Did you witness any other acts of cruelty toward prisoners ?
Answer. I recollect Wirz having two men bucked and gagged in the hospital, who had
charge of a ward, for not reporting men who ran away. He used to have men put up in the
stocks, where they would have to stand with their heads through the stocks for two hours;
then they would change positions and lie on their backs with their feet up in the stocks, in
the sun, without any shade.
Question. Was that a very painful punishment ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Do you think of anything else as to his treatment of prisoners ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you keep lists of the burial of Union prisoners there ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Relate in what way you kept those lists ?
Answer. On the 15th of June, 1864, 1 was paroled and detailed by the surgeon, Dr. White,
to keep the record of Union soldiers who died daily and were buried there. According to the
lists which I kept, there were buried there, from 29th February, 1864, until my release,
12,630 Union prisoners.
Question. Relate minutely how you kept those lists ?
Answer. As the prisoners died a label was pinned upon each, giving his name, rank, com
pany, and regiment, and date of death ; this was sent with the body to the cemetery ; as the
bodies were placed in the trench, the sexton took off the labels and" brought them to me. A
list was also sent to me from the hospital.
Question. Were these labels numbered ?
Answer. They were, at first; but afterwards we numbered them after they came in. The
list received from the hospital steward was compared with the labels to see that they agreed.
The names were put on the register in rotation, as the bodies were buried.
Question. Did you make the register from those materials ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. For whose use did you make the register ?
Answer. For the rebels.
Question. What became of the register ?
Answer. It was afterwards captured by General Wilson — a part of it.
Question. Did the register consist of more than one volume ?
2 84 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir; there were a number of volumes— five, I think. At the same time that
I was keeping the register I made monthly and quarterly reports. The monthly report was
for the surgeon general at Richmond The quarterly report was said to be for our govern
ment. It was said that it was to be sent to our lines.
Question. Who said so?
Answer. The surgeon in charge, Dr. White, told me so, and his successor, Dr. Stephenson.
Question. Do you know whether those quarterly reports ever reached our government?
Answer. I have been told since, by the assistant adjutant general, that they did not.
Question. State whether you made any copies of your register, or of the lists of the dead.
Answer. About the latter part of August I began to copy the lists of deaths from the re
gister. I thought that if our government was aware of the numbers that were dying there, ii
would make some efforts to exchange the prisoners. I did not think the reports that were
made out were received by our government.
Question. And as a precaution against that, you made copies of your register '
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Was it known by the rebel officers that you were making those copies ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. How did you conceal the fact from them?
Answer. I used to copy them when the surgeons were out of the office. I did not attempt
to copy them while they were in.
Question. How far did you copy them ?
Answer. Up to the 1st of February, 1865. I left on the 2d.
Question. And where did you begin ?
Answer. I began from the 27th of February, 1864.
Question. Those copies you have now in your possession ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. You produce them here on your examination ?
Answer. Yes.
(Witness here produces the copies of the register, written on coarse buff paper, closely ruled,
and of large folio size.)
Question. These are the copies which you actually made there at Andersonville ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you copy them correctly and carefully ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How did you manage to conceal those papers while you were there ?
Answer. I kept them hid in my tent, in a box which I had under my bunk.
Question. And when you came away, how did you manage to carry off the papers with
you?
Answer. I carried them away in my bundle. I went on parole from there. That was pro
bably the reason I was not searched before leaving. I was going from Andersonville to Co
lumbia, S. C., to keep the records there, at the hospital about being built.
Question. And you carried these copies along with you in your bundle ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. There was no attempt made to search you, or examine your bundle ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. You took them to Columbia?
Answer. No, sir ; we did not get to Columbia ; Sherman got there before us. I was pa
roled at Andersonville to go to Columbia, S. C.; that is, that I should not attempt to esi-jpe.
We went to Wynnesborough,aud fronithereto Salisbury prison. I remained there over night
and started next day forGoldsborough. FromGoklsborough I was paroled again regularly lor
change, aud went to Wilmington, N. C. I remained there two or three days and came to
Annapolis, Mary land.
. Question. Where were you exchanged, if at all ?
Answer. I do not know whether I was ever exchanged at all or not.
Question. And you brought these papers along with you in your bundle ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And no one examined your bundle on the way ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you show these papers to any one on your way to Annapolis ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you open your bundle?
Answer. Yes, sir, on the steamer coming from Wilmington to Annapolis, to get some ar
ticles which I had in the bundle.
Question. When did you tirst exhibit these papers, and to whom?
Answer. At Annapolis, Maryland, to the adjutant in charge of paroled prisoners there ; I
do not recollect his namo.
Question. Did you deliver them to him?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did he examine them ?
Answer. Yes. The reason I came to show them to him was this : I made application to
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 285
the Secretary of War for a furlough of thirty days, in order to get the lists published, and
the adjutant certified on my letter that he had examined these rolls, and that my statement
was true.
Question. Did you ever get an answer to that letter?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Did you stay at Annapolis ?
Answer. I received a furlough next day from the colonel in charge. The reason of my
making application to the Secretary of War Avas, that my time had been out seven months,
and soldiers whose time was out were not entitled to furlough. They were to be kept there
and discharged.
Question. Where did you go ?
Answer. I went to my home in Terryville, Connecticut.
Question. Taking the papers with you ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you show them to anybody in Connecticut ?
Answer. My father showed them during my sickness. I was taken sick the next day
after my arrival, and was sick until I started for Washington, on the 13th of April. On the
l*2th of April I received a letter and telegraph despatch from the War Department, asking
me to come to Washington and bring my records, and stating that if the records were found
acceptable I should be suitably rewarded. I started on the 13th of April, and came to
Washington with the papers.
Question. To whom did you report ?
Answer. To the Assistant Adjutant General, Colonel Breck.
Question. What took place between yourself and Colonel Breck ?
Answer. Colonel Breck stated that he had been authorized by the Secretary of War to
pay me three hundred dollars for the records. I told the Assistant Adjutant General that I
did not wish to sell them, but wished to get them published.
Question. What reply did he make ?
Answer. He said that if I undertook to get them published, the War Department would
call them contraband matter and confiscate them.
Question. State all that took place.
Answer. He said I could have till nine o'clock next morning to make up my mind whether
or not I would take three hundred dollars for the records.
Question. Did you produce them to him?
Answer. When I first called at his office Colonel Breck was absent, and I left them there.
I told him that if he would give me three hundred dollars and a clerkship, and give me the
records back again as soon as they were copied, he could take them and have them copied.
He agreed to that proposal. I was then discharged from my original enlistment and was to
enlist in the general service in order to get the clerkship.
Question. Did you so enlist ?
Answer. Yes. I was sworn in afterwards. Then I was permitted to go home, and return
for duty the first of June.
Question. Did you go home ?
Answer. Yes. While at home I made a draught of the Andersonville cemetery, giving
the first and last number of each grave, showing how the men were buried, and stating that
if the government would furnish headboards and materials, I would have them lettered and
erected at Andersouville instead of doing clerical duty. To that I never received any reply.
Question. Did you come back to Washington ?
Answer. Yes ; the first of June I entered on my duties at the War Department.
Question. What took place then ?
Answer. Before coming to Washington I telegraphed to Colonel Breck asking if the rolls
•were copied, and received an answer, "not yet." After my arrival, I went to him several
times asking if the rolls were copied. He told me they were not. I then asked him to let
me take out sheets to copy them after business hours. He said he would have to see General
Towusend about that. Some days afterwards I met him and asked him if he had seen General
Townsend. He said he had not. I then wrote him a note asking if he did, or did not, in
tend to give back my Andersouville records. I had promised that they should be published
in the best manner, for the benefit of the public. He returned my letter with an indorsement
by Colonel Breck, stating that he had fully explained the matter to General Towusend, and
that General Townsend said the lists should not be copied for any traffic whatever. I saw
Colonel Breck in a day or two afterwards. He asked me if I had received his note ? I told
him I had. He wished to know if that was satisfactory. I told him it was not, and that I
should see further what could be done about getting them. That was all that was said about
them until the expedition was started for Andersonville.
Question. By whom ?
Answer. By Miss Barton. The original records captured by General Wilson wore found
deficient in one book containing about two thousand five hundred names. I told Captain
Moore, assistant quartermaster, who had charge of the working party, that my records would
supply this deficiency. He went to the War Department and got an order from Colonel
Bxeck to get these records, and they were sent to Audersonville.
286 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. With whom ?
Answer. With Captain Moore. While at Andersonville these records were in my posses
sion nearly all the time. I went with the expedition, in company witli Miss Banna. I went
to designate the graves ; and these copies were in my possession much of the time, with the
exception of the time that the missing portion, containing about two thousand rive hundred
names,, was being copied.
Question. Were the graves marked while you were there ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. So as to compare with those records which you had copied ?
Answer. There were boards marked according to the numbers. I cannot say whether or
not they were erected right.
Question. According to the numbers in your register ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Was not the purpose to mark them in accordance with your numbers ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What, then, became of those copies of yours ?
Answer. When the work was done, the records were in my possession, and were brought
by me to Washington. On my arrival at Washington I reported to the War Department.
Colonel Breck asked me if I had the Andersonville record that was copied by me. I told
him I had. He asked me if I had returned them to Mr. Henry, of the War Department,
who had charge of them. I told him I had not. I asked him if I could keep them, as the
rolls had been copied according to the agreement with the War Department. He told me
that if I would pay back the -$300 that was paid to me I might keep them ; otherwise I must
give them up. I asked him if he did not agree to give them back as soon as they were
copied. He said he did ; but that I was going to set myself up in business by publishing
them, and that they did not consider themselves bound by the agreement.
Question. What then occurred ?
Answer. I then started to go to see Secretary Stanton. He said he inferred from what I
said that I did not intend to give up the rolls. I told him I did not ; that I would go fur
ther to see about it. He said I would not go any further than the old Capitol unless I
would give them up. He sent to the provost marshal, and had a guard come and arrest me.
Question. Where were you then sent ?
Answer. To the guard-house below the War Department. I remained there two days and
nights, and then I was sent to the old Capitol prison.
Question. How long did you stay there 1
Answer. I stayed there about a month.
Question. Were charges preferred against you ?
Answer. Charges were preferred against me by the Adjutant General for larceny, and I
was tried before a court-martial.
Question. Larceny of what ?
Answer. Stealing the records that were copied by me at Andersonville while I was a
prisoner.
Question. Have you a copy of the charges with you ?
Answer. Yes.
(Witness produces a copy of the record of the court-martial, which is attached to his tes
timony. )
I was convicted before that court-martial and sentenced to be imprisoned for eighteen
months ; to pay a fine of $300, and to remain in prison till the fine was paid and the rolls
given up or returned to the War Department ; to be dishonorably discharged from the general
service, and to -forfeit all pay and allowances due.
Question. Were you committed to the penitentiary ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Where?
Answer. Auburn, New York.
Question. How long did you stay there ?
• Answer. A little over two mouths ; from the 26th of September until the last of November.
Question. How did you get away ?
Answer. I was released under the general pardon of the President.
Question. Then you came back to Washington?
Answer. No, sir ; I went to New Haven, Connecticut, and found that the records of An
dersonville had never been published. I immediately went to work and arranged them al
phabetically according to States; and they were published by the New York Tribune asso
ciation.
Question. State, with positive truth and accuracy, so far as you are able, how these pa
pers came into your possession at Audersonville when you were there on the expedition
with which Miss Barton was connected.
Answer. I was looking for missing men on Miss Barton's first rolls. I was requested by
her to do so. There was a sick man in the tent which I occupied, and I was taking care of
him, and at intervals I was looking for missing men on her rolls. These copies were in my
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA — SOUTH CAROLINA. 287
possession all the time, with the exception of the time they were being copied by Captain
Moore's clerks ; the 2,500 names. That was at Andersouville.
Question. Who put them into your possession ?
Answer. The first day after our arrival there I copied names for the letterers from the
original record, and that night, when I got through, I took charge of those records and put
them in my tent.
Question. Those records were then in your possession while you were copying them ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Was Captain Moore present ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Was that in Moore's tent ?
Answer. No, sir ; it was in the office.
Question. Who brought them into the office ?
Answer. Myself.
Question. From where ?
Answer. They were carried in a large box, with the other records, and the box was
brought into the office from the depot.
Question. Who opened the box ?
Answer. I think I opened it.
Question. .Had you the key to it ?
Answer. No, sir ; it was nailed.
Question. Did you open it by the authority of Captain Moore ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And you brought them off with you ?
Answer. Yes. The box that was sent there with the original registers was taken away
by a captain on General Wilson's staff for the military commission that was trying Wirz.
There was no place to put mine, as the box was taken away. No question was ever asked
about these copies till I came back to Washington.
Question. Who appeared against you as witnesses on the trial at which you were con
victed ?
Answer. Colonel Breck, Mr. Henry, (a clerk in the War Department,) Captain Moore, and
two of Captain Moore's clerks.
Question. Were those clerks at Andersonville on that expedition ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were they the only witnesses ?
Answer. I think there was a Mr. Hess, of the War Department.
Question. And was their testimony the only evidence given against you ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Were those copies produced before the court on your trial ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Where were they then ?
Answer. I do not know.
Question. Were they in your possession or control ?
Answer. They were under my control.
Question. Did you ever pay back the $300 ? •
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Is there anything else that you wish to state ?
Answer. Nothing else that I think of.
The following is a copy of the court-martial record referred to in the foregoing testimony :
Proceedings of a general court-martial converted at Washington, District of Columbia, by
virtue of the following Special Order :
Special Order 174. — (Extract.
MILITARY DIVISION, DEPARTMENT OF WASHINGTON.
Washington, D. C., July 19, 1865.
A general court-martial is hereby appointed, to meet in this city, on July 25, J865, or as
soon thereafter as practicable, for the trial of such persons as may be brought before it.
DETAIL FOR THE COURT.
Lieutenant Colonel Jeffrey Skinner, 2d Connecticut heavy artillery; Captain O. F. Bliss,
2d New York heavy artillery; Captain S. M. Kinney, 2d Connecticut heavy artillery ; Cap
tain H. E. Richmond, 4th New York heavy artillery ; Captain C. R. Bannan, 1st Couuec-
288 REC ONSTRUCTION.
ti cut heavy artillery; Lieutenant H. Barber, 15th New York heavy artillery ; Lieutenant
J. Talcott, 1st Connecticut heavy artillery; Lieutenant M. R. Blodgett, (judge advo
cate, ) 4th New York heavy artillery.
****** *
By command of Major General Augur.
R. CHANDLER, A. A G..
Lieutenant J. Barber, Lieutenant Colonel J. S. Skinner, and Captain S. M. Kinney re
lieved from the detail. Lieutenant Colonel Lamoreaux, Captain Ball, and Lieutenant James
Buckle detailed in their stead by the foregoing authority.
The court uiet, September 3, pursuant to the foregoing order and adjournment. Present :
All the members of the court, and the judge advocate.
The court proceeded to the trial of Private Dorence Atwater, general service United States
army, who was called before the court, and, having heard the order appointing the court
read, was asked if he had any objection to any member named in the order, replied in the
negative.
The members of the court were then duly sworn by the judge advocate, and the ji
advocate was duly sworn by the presiding officer of the court in the presence of the accu
The accused applied to the court to be allowed to introduce H. H. Mason, esq., as his
counsel ; which application was granted, and he appeared as counsel for the accused!
The accused was arraigned on the following charges and specifications :
CHARGE 1. — Conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline.
Specification. — In this : that Private Dorence Atwater, general service United States army,
did, unlawfully and without authority, seize and take from the tent and quarters of Captain
James M. Moore, assistant quartermaster United States army, certain property of the United
States, then and there in the proper charge and custody of the said Captain J. M. Moore, to
wit : a certain document, consisting of a list, written upon about twenty-four sheets of paper,
of federal prisoners of war, who had died at Andersonville, Georgia; the same having been
~re] i ared by said Atwater while a prisoner at said Andersonville, and sold and disposed of
iy him to the United States for the sum and price of three hundred dollars, arid did appro
priate and retain the said property to his own use. This at Andersouville, Georgia, on or
about the Kith day of August, 1865.
CHARGE 2. — Larceny.
Specification.— In this : that Private Dorence Atwater, general service United States army,
did, unlawfully and feloniously, take and steal from Captain James M. Moore, assistant
quartermaster United States army, certain personal property of the United States, being
then (and) in the proper charge and custody of him, the s,aid Captain J. M. Moore, and of
the value of three hundred dollars, to wit: a certain written document, consisting of a list,
written upon about twenty-four sheets of paper, of federal prisoners of war who had died at
Andersonville, Georgia, which said list had been prepared by said Atwater while a prisoner at
said Andersonville, Georgia, and sold and disposed of by him to the United States for the
sum and price of three hundred dollars, and did appropriate and retain the said property to
his own use. This at or near Andersonville, Georgia, on or near the 16th day of August,
1865.
SENTENCE.
The court does, therefore, sentence him, Dorence Atwater, general service L'nited States
army, to be dishonorably discharged from the United States service, with loss of all pay and
allowances now due ; to pay a fine of three hundred (300) dollars ; to be confined at hard
labor, for the period of eighteen (J8) months, at such a place as the Secretary of War may
direct; to furnish to the War Department the property specified in the '2d specification as the
property stolen from Captain J. M. Moore, assistant quartermaster United States army, and
to stand committed at hard labor until the said fine is paid, and the said stolen property is
furnished to the War Department.
L. B. LAMOREAUX,
Brevet Lt. Col. 2rf N. Y. Art'y, President of Court.
M. R. BLODGETT,
Lt. 4th N. Y. ArCy, Judge Advocate.
The proceedings, findings, and sentence in the foregoing case are approved and confirmed
The sentence will be executed at such place as the Secretary of War may designate.
C. C. AH; I K."
Mnjor General U, S. I'ols., Commanding Dep't.
I
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 289
WASHINGTON, April 19, 1866.
Major H<nry C. Lawrence sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Please state your age, residence, and usual occupation.
Answer. I am fifty years of age ; my residence is in Warren county, Illinois, and my usual
occupation is that of a farmer.
Question. Have you been in Virginia, North Carolina, or South Carolina at any time dur
ing the last eighteen months ?
Answer. I was assigned to duty last summer under the Freedmen's Bureau, went to North
Carolina early in September, and remained there until the middle of last month.
Question. Where were you stationed in North Carolina ?
Answer. Until about the first of December I was stationed at Warrenton, as assistant
superintendent for Warren and Franklin counties. Since the first of December I was sta
tioned at Fayetteville, as assistant superintendent for Cumberland and Bladen counties, on
Cape Fear river.
Question. What called you to Washington at this time ?
Answer. I was ordered to report here.
Question. By General Howard ?
Answer. I had applied to the War Department to be relieved, and Adjutant General Town-
send sent orders to me to report here.
Question. Was there any particular reason why you asked to be relieved ?
Answer. It was solely with reference to my own private affairs. It was a preliminary step
to leaving the service; I had not been at my home in Illinois for over four years.
Question. Was your examination before this committee suggested by Senator Reverdy
Johnson ?
Answer. I presume it may have been. A member of the House of Representatives, who
is an old acquaintance of mine, told me he should speak to Mr. Johnson to have me sum
moned.
Question. Who was that member of the House of Representatives ?
Answer. Hon. Robert S. Hale, of New York.
Question. To what political party have you belonged ?
Answer. I have never been very much of a party man. I was a "liberty party man, and
I have always acted with the constitutional anti-slavery party, whatever it might "be. I was
a free-soil democrat, and a republican from the start.
Question. During your stay in North Carolina what did you find to be the feelings of the
secessionists towards the government of the United States ? Was it friendly, or was it the
reverse; or what was it?
Answer. I can hardly say that they manifested any special feeling on the subject, either
of friendship or enmity. They knew, of course, that it was to be their government hereafter.
Their immediate feelings depended upon the view they took of the action of the government
towards them. I can hardly say that there was any feeling manifested towards the govern
ment, except that of submission.
Question. Did you mingle freely with the people of North Carolina?
Answer. I did. The position I held was such that it brought me into intimate contact
with the people. My office was daily ^ visited by people, blacks and whites. Besides, I
travelled about the country a great deal within my districts, seeing the people on the planta
tions, both whites and blacks.
Question. What do the most intelligent of the white people seem to think about the right
of the State to secede and go out of the Union ?
Answer. This was very apparent to me, that they had generally been educated in the
political doctrine that a State had the right to secede. I believe, however, and every gen
tleman there, with whom I ever conversed on the subject, expressed the opinion, that the large
majority of the people were opposed at the time to the exercise of what they beliaved to be a
right, and almost universally they seemed to me to have accepted the doctrine that the pri
mary allegiance of the people was due to the State. And, consequently, when the State took
action, although at the time that action was taken they regarded it as a sort of usurpation of
power and not sanctioned by the people, yet having been done under legal and constitutional
forms, they felt bound by it, and bound to sustain the State. The members of the old whig
party, whom I met, all avowed themselves as opposed to secession, and yet nearly all said
that when the action of the State was fixed by the convention they all went in and supported
the cause of the rebellion as ardently and heartily and with the same sacrifices as those did
who were originally in favor of it.
Question. How are Unionists treated in that part of North Carolina where you have been ?
Answer. I never heard of any outrage being committed upon any man. on account of his
having been a Union man. In fact, there were very few such that I ever found there. I
understand you to refer to men who maintained throughout a hostile attitude towards the
rebellion.
Question. Have you noticed that Unionists have been elected to office there ?
Answer. You mean those who were original Unionists ?
19 v xc sc
290 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. By Unionist I mean a man who was all along attached at heart to the cause of
the Union.
Answer. While I was in Fayetteville there was a city election held there, and some such
men were elected to office at that time. I think they were all men who had belonged to the
old whig party, and were opposed to the rebellion, and I have no doubt were all the while
opposed to final separation, though they may have given aid and comfort to the rebels.
Question. Had they aided and assisted in the war on the part of the rebels !
Answer. Yes, sir ; the most of them ; I know very few men there who did not ; very few
indeed.
Question. Do you call a man a Unionist who took part in the war against the Union ?
Answer. I do call a man such who took part unwillingly and by compulsion— being at
heart opposed to it. I think a great many men were obliged to take part in the rebellion who
did not, at heart, desire its final success. I have no doubt that very many of those who did
sustain the rebellion under the idea that they were under obligation to follow their State,
even while they desired a measure of success, did not wish a final separation from the Union.
Question. Although they fought against the Union?
Answer. Although they fought against the Union. There were men elected to the con
federate congress from North Carolina as peace men.
Question. As peace and independence men, were they not 1
Answer. They were known there as peace candidates.
Question. What, in its length and breadth, was meant by the words "peace" and "peace
candidates ? "
Answer. I cannot pretend to say what was meant. I do not know that I ever saw a plat
form of their views. But I can say this: one of the present members elect to the House of
Representatives of the United States Congress, a gentleman whom I know by reputation only,
was a peace candidate for the confederate congress in 18u'3; I think it was in the district of
wrhich Warren county forms a part. He received, however, at that election, as the peace
candidate, but one vote in that county, though last fall he received within fifty of the entire
vote of the county. And yet he had been in the military service of the confederacy, although
he had opposed secession. He was one of a very small number, less than half a dozen, I
think, of whom Governor Worth was another, who, in the legislature, opposed the calling of
a convention to act on the question of secession ; and he opposed it until the State had gone
out of the Union; after that I think he was in the rebel service.
Question. And held a commission as an officer?
Answer. I presume he did; I have heard him called Colonel Turner. Subsequent to that
he was a peace candidate for the confederate congress.
Question. What do you understand to have been the distinctive feature of that peace can
didacy ? Did the candidate favor peace upon the ground of separation and independence
from the United States for the State of North Carolina, or did he propose a peace by means
of a settlement with the United States, under which the State would come back into the
Union as it was before the rebellion ?
Answer. I inferred that these peace candidates were supported as men who were in favor
of an adjustment of difficulties, and a reconstruction of the Union.
Question. What adjustment — what reconstruction did they propose?
Answer. I cannot say; I understand that all that the war candidates for the confederate
congress desired was a peaceable separation from the federal government, but separation at
any cost. These peace candidates being opposed to them, I infer from their antagonism
to those who wanted a peaceable separation, that they were in favor of peace and recon
struction.
Question. But you are not able to say what were to be the terms of reconstruction, or
compromise, or adjustment, about which you have been speaking ?
Answer. Of course not ; lean only give my conclusions. They would probably have
varied with the- vary ing aspects of the war.
Question. So far as you have observed, and so far as you have heard from credible sources
of information, are the Union men protected in their rights in the courts of justice in North
- Carolina .'
Answer. The courts had only just been restored to the exercise of their functions as I came
away. The only authority which was exercised and recognized in the State previous to
thaf was the federal authority, enforced through the War Department by means of provost
marshals and officers of the Freedmen's Bureau. I think there is every disposition to pro
tect everybody there under the laws by those, charged with the administration of justice.
Question. Would a jury of secessionists in North Carolina he likely to render an unbiased
and impartial verdict in a case between a Union man from the north, for instance, and a
secessionist of North Carolina?
Answer. I cannot say they would in every case. I do not know how far individual or
sectiona! prejudice might influence jurymen to disregard their oaths.
Question. Do you not rhink there would be some danger of injustice in such a case?
Answer. I do not think there is much danger of that kind; 1 do not think that northern
men who are living in the State apprehend anything of the kind, else they would not risk
their rights by remaining there.
VIRGINIA NORTH CAROLINA SOl^TH CAROLINA. 291
Question. I will only say that in this you differ widely from multitudes of others who
have been in that State. 4 •
Answer. Of course I desire it to be understood that my sphere of observation was limited
to four counties ; but I think I studied the condition of things very closely in those four
counties, and I know of no reason why it should be different in those counties from what it
is generally throughout the State. I know nothing that makes them exceptional in any
respect.
Question. What is the conduct of the secessionists there towards the freedmen ?
Answer. I think the freedmen are pretty much an object of indifference to them as a class.
The people, as to immediate means, are about all on one common level of poverty through a
great part of the State. They have their lands, of course, but they are burdened with debts,
and their lands are unsalable and unproductive without labor. The country is very bare of
stock and produce. Labor is in demand to an extent far exceeding the supply. This makes
the rate of wages good. I think the property owners are far more dependent upon the labor
ing classes than land-owners at the north are. Hand-labor dof*s nearly everything there.
This immediate dependence upon the freedmen for their labor will secure good treatment to
the freed men.
Question. Without the Freedmen's Bureau, and without any United States laws for their
protection?
Answer. I believe that with their State laws, putting them upon the same footing with
white citizens as to their civil rights, the freedmen will have all the justice that can be
secured to them by law in any way.
Question. Do the laws of North Carolina put the black freedman upon the same equality as
the white man in regard to rights?
Answer. They do, with this distinction, which does not in fact operate against the freed
man, that in suits between white persons, and in which white persons only are interested,
the freedman cannot be a witness. I suppose he can be a witness by the consent of the
parties, but not without. I heard, however, that feature of the law very strongly and
generally condemned after it was enacted. I think that in the punishment for crimes there
is one crime, that of an attempt to commit rape upon a white woman, the punishment of
which is more severe for the black man than it is for the white man. I think that is the
only distinction between them in the statutes for the punishment of crime. You were
inquiring of me a few minutes since in regard to the security of northern men. I am some
what acquainted with General Abbott, of Maine, who was on duty there some time last year ;
he is now largely engaged in the lumber business, in Bladen county, I think, near the South
Carolina line. I met him in Wilmington a short time before leaving the State. I said to
him that I expected to go north soon, and might expect to be asked as to the security of
northern men down there. He said to me, "Tell them that a northern man is just as safe
anywhere in the State of North Carolina as he is anywhere up north."
Question. Did you believe that ?
Answer. General Abbott made this qualification: said he, " I do not say that a man can
not come here and act so without sense and discretion that he will get into difficulty with
the people ; he can do that anywhere. But a man who comes here and attends to his own
business, arid does not take some pains to make himself odious, I think is as safe here as
anywhere else." And I think so, too. I know of men who are settled there on plantations,
and not a soldier within titty miles of them, who have reported to me that they had no more
trouble of any kind there than they would have had anywhere else, and those men had been
soldiers in our army, too. In fact, I hardly met a northern man down there who had not
been a soldier in the federal army ; and they are scattered generally about the State.
Question. Are not the freedmen subjected to very severe corporal punishments, such as
whipping, putting in the stocks, bucking, and other cruel modes of punishment?
Answer. Do you mean by judgments of the courts, sir ?
Question. Yes, sir.
Answer. There were no courts in session from the time I went there until some time in
February.
Question. Have there been sessions of the courts since February?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have any cases come to your knowledge where, by judgments of these State
courts, freedmen have been subjected to such severe corporal punishments?
Answer. Only such punishments as are inflicted without regard to color, and such as white
men have always been liable to by law.
Question. You hardly answer my question. I will repeat it. Are not the freedmen sub
jected to very severe corporal punishments, such as whipping, putting in the stocks, buck
ing, and other cruel modes of punishment ?
Answer. I know of instances where whipping was inflicted as the punishment, that being
the punishment prescribed by the laws upon conviction of crime for white men as well as
blacks, and being adjudged to both by the same courts at the same terms.
Question. Do you know of any cases where such punishments were inflicted upon white
men?
» Answer. I do not know of any by personal observation. I have heard of such cases from
undoubted authority.
•
292 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. At what court was that?
Answer. At a court held by Judge Buxton, I think, in Harriett county. I was sub
sequently informed by lawyers who were present at the court, one of whom spoke of himself
as having been engaged in the trial, that a white man was convicted of stealing and
sentenced to receive thirty-nine; lashes, which were inflicted upon him. He was said to have
been a confederate soldier in the war.
Question. What was the name of the lawyer who gave you this information ?
Answer. I heard the fact spoken of by two or three lawyers. The one who spoke of
having been engaged in the case — I do not remember whether as prosecutor or as counsel for
the defence, though I think he was the prosecutor for the circuit— is Mr. Haigh, of Fayette-
ville, a son-in-law of Hon. George E. Badger, formerly United States senator from that
State. Perhaps I am wrong in saying that Judge Buxton held the court in Harnett county ;
it may have been an inferior court, at which Judge Buxton ..did not preside. I think he held
a court there about that time; aiid w>hen you first asked me the question I had the im
pression that he was necessarily the presiding judge. At a subsequent court, held in
Fayetteville, while the grand jury was in session, I was informed that a white man and a
black man had been arrested, against whom the grand jury had found bills for larceny, and
that probably both would be convicted. I requested of a magistrate connected with the
court that they should defer any action upon the indictment against the negro until I ceuld
communicate with Colonel Whittlesey, the assistant commissioner for the State of North
Carolina, in regard to his trial being proceeded with by that court instead of by the, Freed-
nien's Bureau. I wrote to Colonel Whittlesey and received in reply a copy of a circular
which he had just issued for the instruction of his subordinate officers, providing that in
cases where the law made no discrimination against the colored man in the mode oT trial, or
in the degree of punishment, such trials were not to be interfered with by officers of the
bureau, but were to be allowed to proceed before the courts. I so notified the court through
some gentleman connected with it. I think I sent the circular itself to them. At that term
of the court a negro man, though not the one to whom I referred as having been indicted by
the grand jury, was convicted of stealing and was whipped. There is no penitentiary in the
State of North Carolina, and therefore whipping and the stocks, and the old English
common-law punishments, are the ones generally made use of there. In the cases of
indictment for larceny to which I have referred, the negro escaped, and the white man
got clear by some technicality. Had either been convicted, he would doubtless have been
whipped thirty-nine lashes. Soon after I read in a Wilmington paper of the whipping of a
number of men, colored and white, who had been convicted of crime. I never heard of any
cases of bucking or putting in the stocks by civil authority.
Question. So far as you have observed, how do the secessionists of North Carolina feel
with regard to the education of the blacks ?
Answer. I think they all recognize the necessity of the blacks being educated and elevated,
by all available means, as a necessity of society.
Question. Have you heard any secessionist say he would be willing to contribute anything
in the shape of taxes for the education of the blacks, or to contribute out of his own means
in any way for that purpose ?
Answer. I do not know that I have. I never asked any one that question.
Question. Have you ever heard any one make any such remark, or intimate any such will
ingness ?
Answer. I cannot say that I ever heard the proposition discussed. At present I suppose
most of the schools there are maintained through the benevolence of northern people and the
Freedrnen's Aid Society.
Question. How do they speak of the education of the negroes ; in respectful terms, as if
they were willing to see that process go on, or do they speak of it sneeringly and con
temptuously, and in tones of discouragement ?
Answer. I think all intelligent and good citizens favor it. There is undoubtedly a certain
class who, being themselves very ignorant, do not want to see the negroes advance above
them in point of intelligence and education. Education is not generally diffused in that
State. The population is so very sparse that it seems almost impossible to keep up common
schools. While the negroes can be educated hereafter, and probably will be in towns and
villages, I do not think the great mass of them who live scattered through the country can
be reached by any system.
Question. Do you think the whites will be willing to contribute to the education of the
blacks ?
Answer. While s.mm would by a fair system of taxation, I think that a great many would
insist that the blacks should furnish the means for their own education
Question. Would not that feeling be almost universal /
Answer. No, sir; I do not think it would, because I think there are so many of the most
intelligent aud good men of the State who look upon it, as -we regard it here at the north, as
a social necessity, instead of a mere individual or class interest ; something that is necessary
for the welfare of society at large. I think they would look upon it that money spent in the
education of the negroes would be saved from the expense of punishing and maintaining
criminals.
VIRGINIA — NORTH CAROLINA SOUTH CAROLINA. 293
Question. Have you ever heard any leading influential man in North Carolina talk upon
that subject in that way ?
Answer. I was more in contact with the common people than I was with the leading men.
Question. Then, do you mean to say that you have not heard any leading man talk in
that way ? .
Answer. No, sir; but I have never heard them discuss any particular plan. I have fre
quently heard them speak of it as a necessity for the good of society — something that must
be accomplished.
Question. The lower classes would be opposed to it, of course, would they not?
Answer. I do not think the mass of them would. I think individuals might show hostility
to it, as they did to negroes being admitted to testify in the courts.
Question. You think there might be individuals of the lower classes found who would
object to the education of the blacks, but that would not be true of the lower classes
generally.
Answer. I do not think it would, from this fact : I know of schools that have been started
in the country neighborhoods where there happened to be a considerable number of freed-
men, and the schools were taught by southern wrhite men. The schools were not started at
the instance of the Freedmen's Bureau or the Freedmen's Aid Society, or sustained by them
in any way.
Question. Black schools taught by southern white teachers ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and there are also schools taught by black teachers, and those were in
neighborhoods where there was nothing to repress any hostility towards them ; nothing of
government authority, certainly.
Question. Mention some black school in North Carolina which was taught by a southern
white teacher.
Answer. There was a school twelve miles from Fayetteville, in Cumberland county, in
the immediate neighborhood of Murchison's mills, which was burned by our army.
Question. What was the teacher's name ?
Answer. I cannot recall his name ; I never happened to see him. I stopped at his school-
house one day, but the school had been dismissed for the day, and he was not there. I left
word that I would be glad to see/ him if he came into Fayetteville.
Question. Do you know him to be a man southern born and bred ?
Answer. I was afterwards told by gentlemen residing in that neighborhood that he was
such a man, and I think, though I am not positive, that he had been a soldier in the con
federate army.
Question. Did you ever see him ?
Answer. No, sir, I never saw him, but I saw the children going away from the school-
house. I met a crowd of children with books, all seeming to scatter from one building ;
there were about thirty there at that time. I stopped and asked them who taught the school,
and some other questions. The teacher of the school which is sustained by the Freedmen's
Aid Society in the city of Fayetteville, in which there were some two hundred and fifty
colored pupils, also told me of another school in the county taught by a white man, a native
of the south, but he did not mention his name to me, and I cannot tell in what neighborhood
the school was. He told me there were seven schools in the county, and that all but his
own were taught either by southern white men or by black men ; and the schools not being
interfered with, seems to me to be evidence of the feeling of the people on the matter.
Question. Do the secessionists contribute anything to the support of the black schools?
Answrer. I do not know that they do, and I do not suppose they do, because those schools
are all "pay schools," as they are called, except the one in the city of Fayetteville, taught
by teachers from Philadelphia, Mr. and Mrs. Dickson.
Question. How are the teachers of the black schools received socially among the seces
sionists ? Are they received and treated kindly and with respect ?
Answer. I do not think that much social courtesy is extended to northern men generally
down there.
Question. My question was how the teachers of black schools, whether from the north or
the south, are received socially by the secessionists ?
Answer. I know one colored teacher of a school in Warrenton, and two colored teachers in
Fayetteville. I think they were treated like other respectable colored people — with kindness
and civility — by the secessionists, but of course they were not received socially by them. I
do not think the social standing of the southern white men who taught black schools was
affected by their occupation. I presume they did it for the sake of the pay entirely, and not
at all from philanthropy, arid were respected as all other men are there who endeavor to sup
port themselves by honest labor. Of northern teachers I kuewr only Mr. and Mrs. Dickson,
at Fayetteville, and, very slightly, one northern lady at Raleigh. I never heard Mr. Dick-
son, the white teacher in Fayetteville, speak of any disrespect shown to him. I think he did
feel that there was a want of courtesy towards him. He was a clergyman, and naturally ex
pected some courtesies from other clergymen, and I think he once expressed his disappoint
ment to me at not receiving such degree of courtesy as he expected. He had not, however,
been there long.
Question. Were you received with respect ?
294 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I was never, in any single instance, treated with any want of respect.
Question. Were you frequently invited by the secessionists, in the neighborhood where
you were stationed, to visit them in their houses socially?
Answer. No, sir, I was seldom invited, and only visited two families in the town of Warren-
ton, or but two in the town of Fayetteville ; but I was almost universally invited by the better
class of the country people to visit them ; and, as I travelled about my districts a great deal
on horseback, I frequently did so, and I was always treated with hospitality and politeness.
I could hardly make any such distinction among them as secessionists and Unionists. They
were nearly all at least compromised, almost every man of them that I came in contact with.
Question. They had all been engaged in the rebellion ?
Answer. Yes, sir, very nearly so. However much they had opposed it at first, when the
State had taken its action there was co-operation in it on their part, and material or moral
aid given, though of course not always willingly. All had to contribute of their means.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the indebtedness of the United States contracted
in carrying on the war ? Are they willing to pay it ?
Answer. If they could get rid of it without feeling it dishonorable to do so I suppose they
would be glad to, but I do not think they anticipate any such thing. They look upon it as
something that they must pay their share of.
Question. How do they feel with regard to the confederate debt ?
Answer. That was a question that occurred to my mind frequently, and I asked gentlemen
sometimes if they thought, upon the question being submitted for the action of the people,
that a majority of the people would vote to tax themselves to pay the rebel debt, and I was
told, whenever I asked the question, that they did not think a majority would. I do not
think that the mass of the people have any sympathy with the cause of the rebellion. The
poorer classes looked upon it as a slaveholder's movement. I think the poor whites would
be as much opposed to slavery being re-established as we in the north would.
Question. And still that class is the class which treat the blacks more contemptuously than
any other class. Is that not true of them?
Answer. They have perhaps none of those sympathies towards them the former masters
have. I do not know of any cases of difficulty that to me seemed to have their origin especi
ally because of the difference of race. I do not think there is such a prejudice there against
the blacks on the part of the poor whites as there is in our cities at the north. I think that
public opinion at the north loses sight of one fact : that is, that the men at the south who
were original Unionists, and the most opposed to secession, are not any more in favor of any
extension of privileges to the blacks than are those who were the most extreme secessionists.
The man whom I recall as the most bitterly opposed to extending to the frcedmeu the right
to testify is one of the very few men who denounced the rebellion all through, and who I pre
sume could take the test oath in Congress.
Question. Who was he ?
Answer. Mr. Morgan Powell, of Warren county. He was more decided than any other
man whom I met in his opposition to the extension to the negro of the right to testify.
Question. How do they feel there in regard to negroes voting?
Answer. I have no idea that any considerable number of the people favor it at present.
Indeed, they are very strongly opposed to it. I heard occasionally a gentleman say that he
had no objection to the extension of a restricted sufferage to those who had a certain degree
of education and a certain amount of property.
Question. Is there any particular fact that you want to speak of further than you have al
ready done ?
Answer. No, sir. I do not present myself here as the advocate of the people in any sense.
Question. If you have any further to say about the social treatment generally of northern
people you can do so.
Answer. I know a considerable number of northern men who are in business down there.
I do not think they find any such prejudice against them because they are northern men as
operates to their disadvantage. At least, if there is on the part of the whites, there is a pre
possession in their favor on the part of the blacks, which compensates them for it in its results
in a business point of view. I cannot say, because from my limited observations there I am
not prepared to say, what is the degree of social good feeling that is manifested towards
northern men. I heard occasionally some remarks from some ladies that led mo to think that
they had prejudices against the white female teachers in Raleigh. I think I have heard that
those teachers received very little civility from the people there. But I was not stationed in
Raleigh, and can only draAv my inferences from the casual remarks I have heard.
Question. Have you any business relations in North Carolina?
Answer. None at all.
Question. What rank have you held in the service ?
Answer. Brevet major and assistant quartermaster.
PART TIL
GEORGIA, ALABAMA, MISSISSIPPI, ARKANSAS.
SUB-COMMITTEE.
Mr. IRA HARRIS, (of New York,) United States Senate.
Mr. GEORGE S. BOUTWELL, (of Massachusetts,) House of Representatives.
Mr. JUSTIN S. MORRILL, (of Vermont,) House of Representatives.
Mr. BOUTWELL, from the Select Joint Committee on Reconstruction, reported
the following evidence.
TESTIMONY.
WASHINGTON, January 22, 1866.
Mr. Albert Warren Kelsey sworn and examined.
By Mr. HARRIS :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. My parents reside in Belmont, Massachusetts, six miles from Boston.
Question. What is your age ?
Answer. I am twenty-five years of age ; in my twenty-sixth year.
Question. What is and has been your occupation ?
Answer. I was in the naval service prior to and until 1863. Since then I have been oc
cupied as a commercial correspondent, engaged in ascertaining the amount of cotton in the
southern States, for an association of New England manufacturers.
Question. And this employment has taken you into the southern States ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How long a time have you spent in the south ?
Answer. I went south in J861 in the service of the United States, which service I left in
1863. I have been in the south the greater portion of the time for the last four years.
Question. How much have you been in the south and where since the war closed ?
Answer. During the last five months I have been in all the cotton States and in Tennessee.
I lauded at Savannah, Georgia, on the 1st day of August last, and went as far as San An
tonio de Bexar, in Texas. Previous to that time, while engaged in planting cotton, I was
along the Mississippi river, from Cairo to New Orleans, principally in the State of Mississippi.
Question. What States have you visited or resided in since April last ?
Answer. South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, (although in South Carolina and Florida I
passed over but a small portion of the States,) Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, and
Tennessee.
Question. You have been in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi during the past year?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. As those are the States with which we are more particularly concerned at present,
I will ask you to state, without particular interrogatories, what you know in relation to the
condition of things in those States since the surrender of Lee.
Answer. The sentiment of the people differs very decidedly in different States, so that what
may be true about Georgia would not be true about Mississippi.
Question. What is the state of things in Georgia ?
Answer. If you will be kind enough to particularize a little more, I shall be able to answer
more intelligently.
Question. What is the condition and sentiment of the people in relation to their loyalty,
their attachment to the Union, or their aversion to it ?
Answer. So far as my experience and observation extend, loyalty to the Union, as it is
understood at the north, is something that one very rarely meets with in the south ; only in
the cases of individuals. As a sentiment diffused among the population, what we in the
north term loyalty is almost entirely unknown, so far as my observation extends. The peo
ple there have no attachment to the Union, none of the feelings which we deem patriotic.
They do not respect the flag of the country, the government, or the memories of the past.
It seems to me that they have very little of what we have been taught to consider loyalty to
the government. It is only on very rare occasions when you may hear some old man speak
with reverence and attachment to our institutions common to both sections of the country.
I can now remember of but one instance during my last journey through the south, and that
was an old gentleman in Mississippi, who I am convinced was sincere in his expressions of
regard for and attachment to the Union and the country as a unit. But such instances are
very rare, and more particularly among the younger members of the population. When they
speak of the Union it is usually either with unmitigated severity and denunciations or else
with indifference, as of something they do not appreciate, to say the least of it.
Question. Is this true of Alabama and Mississippi, as well as of Georgia?
Answer. It is even more true of Alabama and Mississippi than it is of Geurgia. In Georgia
the sentiment of the people is not so bitter; they do not seem to be influenced by vindictive
feelings to such an extent as in Alabama and Mississippi. Nowhere did I find southern feel
ing so intense as in Alabama and Mississippi.
^ RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. I understand that you have travelled extensively over those States ?
Answer. Yes, sir, somewhat so ; J could give my routes of travel.
Question. Do so.
Answer. I landed at Savannah ; went up the Savannah river to Augusta, Georgia ; from
Augusta I went across the State to Atlanta ; from Atlanta down to Macon ; from Macon to
Albany, which is the terminus of the railway leading toward the south ; from Albany I rode
across the country as far as Thomasville ; and from there I went to Quitrnan, where I re
mained several days — longer than at other places. I then went to Doctortown, on the Alta-
niaha river, which was the terminus of the railroad leading towards Savannah. There I took
the steamboat and went down the Altamaha river to Darien, and from there to Savannah. I
then went into the State of South Carolina for a short time, entering Georgia again at Au
gusta, and going across to Atlanta again.
Question. How long a period did this occupy ?
Answer. I was not all this time in Georgia ; I went into Florida, and also into South Caro
lina, for a brief period.
Question. Embracing that, how long ?
Answer. 'Upwards of a month ; very nearly six weeks, I should think. I was travelling
rapidly most of the time.
Question. During this journey did you see and converse with many of the people?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and among them some of the best people in the State, to many of whom
I had letters.
Question. All classes of people ?
Answer. Yes, sir. My mission was purely a commercial one. No one had asked me to
inform myself of the tone and sentiment of the southern people, but I had a curiosity to do
so, and tried in every possible way to ascertain their sentiments. Thus I talked with every
body, from the negro to the wealthiest man in the State.
Question. And do I understand you to say that all the people manifested a universal dis
loyalty to the Union?
Answer. All the white people. I cannot at this moment call to mind one single instance,
when I reached their genuine sentiments, that the people expressed or seemed to feel a sin
cere attachment to the Union. They might "accept the situation," as they termed it; they
might signify their willingness to remain under this form of government ; they might appre
ciate certain advantages which resulted to them from the government, but love for the Union
there was none. That is my experience.
Question. Now, in relation to Alabama. How much opportunity for observation had you
in Alabama ?
Answer. I went into Alabama directly from Georgia some time in September.
Question. What was your route in Alabama ?
Answer. From West Point, which is in Georgia, on the west side of the Chattahoochie, I
went to Montgomery, Alabama ; from Montgomery I went down the Alabama river to Selma ;
from Selma I went northward, by the way of Blue mountain, which is not the name of any town
or village, but the terminus of the railway, where I took a coach and went to the town of
Jacksonville. I then returned by Blue mountain to Selma ; from Selma I then went to
Demopolis, where I took a steamer and went down the Tornbigbee river to Mobile, and from
thenco to New Orleans.
Question, How long did that occupy ?
Answer. I reached New Orleans, I think, on the first of October. I should probably have
remained longer in the State of Alabama had it not been that the condition of society there
is not safe for a traveller. On the 25th of September the boat on which I was going down
the Tombigbee river was fired into, the steamer Belfast. We were hailed from the shore by
a baud of guerillas, who ordered the captain to cut loose a flatboat loaded with cotton which
sentiment agai
universal than in Georgia ?
Answer. I should say it was different, in that the people appeared to bo less civilized ;
those I met seemed to be rougher than in Georgia. I may be doing them injustice, for I had
not so good opportunities of general observation as in Georgia. I had a letter to Mr. Thomas
Metcalf, one ot the wealthiest men in the State of Georgia, and through the kindness of a
nephew of his and others, while I was in Augusta, my visit was made very pleasant. I had
letters to gentlemen in Alabama, but they were off the line of my route, and I did not find
them ; and my own personal experience may have been different because of that, but it was
such as to lead me to believe that the people of Alabama were about the least civilized
portion of the people of the south. The fact that they seemed to have less education and
less refinement served to make them seem to have more intense feelings. The distinction I
was going to make is that they seemed more polite in Georgia. Whatever their IVH! seuti-
uu'iits may have been, they toned them down when expressing them to me more tlmn they
did in Alabama. I do not know but thoy relt as bitterly in Georgia as they did in Alabama.
Question. What opportunities have you hud for observation in Mississippi /
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA, 3
Answer. I resided there for some time, and cultivated cotton.
Question. During this last year?
Answer. Not within the last year. I have visited the State, however, since I was in
Alabama. I was there as late as November last, I think.
Question. What part of Mississippi did you visit?
Answer. I lauded at Vicksburg, and then went on up to Skipwith's landing, where I used
to plant, There is no town or village at that point. It is in the most sparsely populated
district in the State. I then returned to Vicksburg, and went from there to Jackson, the
capital of the State. From Jackson I went to Meridian, near the Alabama line. From
Meridian I went northward to Corinth, and from there to Memphis, Tennessee. Returning
from Memphis, I went by Granada, Mississippi, through Jackson, to New Orleans.
Question. What can you tell us in relation to the condition of the freedmen in those States ? _
Answer. The wealthy men of the south, it appears to me, see an opportunity to make
money by means of the present free-labor system, and are very anxious to avail themselves
of it; and a very large proportion of the old planters will do justice to the freedman and
give him good wages, certainly as long as the high price of cotton continues ; but that is
entirely a matter of interest with them. The overseers and the lower class of whites, it
seemed to me, lose no opportunity -of abusing the blacks and treating them horribly. I am
convinced that in very many respects the slaves in Mississippi — I suppose it is so in the other
cotton States, but I noticed it more particularly in Mississippi — are worse off now than when
they were slaves. If a negro man is able-bodied, strong, and willing to work, he can gene
rally make a living. But if he refuses to work in the cotton-field, and is not a mechanic,
and tries to set up for himself, he has not much of a chance given him. He is sure to be ,
marked, and is not very safe there.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Can you give any particular facts which tend to show the state of public feeling
there, or relate any experiences of your own ? If so, I would like to have you give _theuu
Answer. I could give innumerable acts of cruelty practiced on the freedmen which were
told me. On my arrival at Skipwith's lauding, I met a gentleman whom I had previously
known, and who I understood had leased, prior to the conclusion of the war, some of General
Wade Hampton's plantations. With him was a gentleman from New York. They told me
they had rode over to the place, and although no actual resistance or violence had been,
offered to them, they saw several men, "scouts," as they expressed it, hanging around the
place, and their surly looks and general demeanor convinced them they had better leave. I
know they communicated their terror to me, and we all lay there together in one little hut,
with the impression that we were liable to be fired at at any moment. While I was there an
agent of the Freedinen's Bureau came there, and several negroes came to him with com^
plaints of the manner in which they had been treated.
On one occasion an overseer called on us, and we got to talking of the danger of a negro
insurrection. I asked him what reason he had for thinking such a thing was possible. Said
he, " It is not half an hour since four negroes raised their axes* against me." I asked him
how that happened. He said, " I told old to go out into the field and bring up the
cattle, and. he said he would not do it. I took up an axe, (admitting that he was the iirst to
do so,) and as soon as I did it his daughter, who was there, took up an axe. There were
others present and they picked up axes, and I had to run for my life." He said, "The girl
was standing close to me, and I just shoved out my axe that way" — making a motion with
his arm — " and knocked in all her front teeth, and I had to run for my life." That seemed
to him evidence that the negroes were ripe for an insurrection. He seemed to think it
strange that the girl should resent having all her front teeth knocked in by an axe. At
another time a negro boy came down to make some complaint. Two or three overseers
were there, and got at him and asked him what he had come there for. Speaking fairly to
him at first, they got his story out of him ; pumped him. They told him then they wished
he was dead ; that he ought to be killed ; that for three cents they would shoot him ; and
with a great many oaths they frightened him off so that he did not see the agent. There was
an ex-colonel of engineers, Colonel Bissell, who had a wood yard on an island opposite to
Skipwith's landing. I heard them making threats against his life if he dared to set his foot
' on shore there. They said they would get him yet ; and several negroes he had •employed at
that point have been killed. 1 know the general feeling among northern men there is that
they are not safe; that they are liable not only to be robbed, but to be killed at any moment.
That, however, would not perhaps be a fair example for the whole State, for that is a dis
trict of country, lying westward of the Yazoo aud Sunflower, where it is very thinly popu
lated and where there are a number of Texan scouts who were there even before the clo.se of
the war. Those scouts are thieves and murderers, who claim to be confederate soldiers when
you get hold of them. A great many men have been killed there ; some of them native
southerners ; some of them shot down in cold blood while I was there. A party of thirteen rode
up to a place known as Duncan's plantation. Coming across an old negro, one of them ac
costed him, " Old man, have you got any money ?" He said, "A few dollars." "Have you
got it with you ?" " No ; it is in the house." " Go in and get it." He went in and got it,
i*nd when he was handing it to the fellow he shot him dead out of mere wantonness. Such
'
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deeds as that are not uncommon and have not been for the last few years. The life of a negro
is not worth much there. I have seen one who was shot in the leg while he was riding a mule,
because the ruffian thought it more trouble to ask him to get off the mule than to shoot him.
There is a very large class of such people in Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana. I Lad
expected to rind Texas in a much worse condition, but I found it much safer there than in
Alabama and Mississippi. Particularly in Alabama the people have been rendered desperate.
The crops the past year have been very poor. The rust and the army worm have destroyed
their cotton crops, and there is much want and suffering among the people.
Question. Do you know anythirlg of the purposes or expectations of the people in either of
the States you have named concerning their future relations to the Union?
Answer. I can speak only of individuals and what I observed previous to the meeting of
Congress. I travelled with Mr. Alcoru and others in Mississippi, and at one time I occupied
a room with a General Gardiner in Jackson, Mississippi. General Gardiner was a very lib
eral-minded man, and said he wished that negroes should be permitted to testify. Those par
ticularly who have been prominent in this contest, who now consider themselves whipped,
and are anxious to win back their former positions and places under the government, many
of them seern anxious to conciliate, and are fair-minded men. So far as I could discover they
seemed desirous of doing their best ; but there are a great many politicians there who seem
to think they can easily regain power and position in the Union, and that affairs after all are
not so bad for them as they might be.
Question. Did you travel through those States as a northern man ?
Answer. I travelled through all the States as a northern man except in Texas. By acci
dent there I fell in with a party of Englishmen, and a negro claimed to have known me as an
Englishman. For a time I did not deny it, but took advantage of it. But even in Texas, be
fore I left, I announced myself as a northern man ; and in Georgia, Alabama, and Missis
sippi I always hailed from the north. I have heard a great many people out there express
their opinion as to the policy they ought to pursue. The feeling seemed to be quite common
among the better-informed classes, particularly those who had been north, that they could
easily win back their old position, such as it had been before the war, with the exception of
the abolition of slavery. That policy they adopted, or a part of it. But the most of them
se,emed to imagine that in time they would obtain compensation from the government for
whatever losses they had sustained. Many of them have prepared already claims against
the government. I understood that the late Hon. Thomas Corwin had charge of a great
many claims, and a great many of the people were coming north to urge their claims.
Question. What was the foundation of those claims ; for what sort of losses ?
Answer. For property taken by the Union armies during the war ; property burned or in
some way destroyed.
Question. Do you know whether the freedmen are allowed to purchase land or lease it to
any extent ?
Answer. I cannot speak with any certainty about that. I should say that the general feel
ing was that they ought not to be permitted to do it. I believe individuals sometimes make
arrangements with them for cultivating their lands. I have heard of two or three instances
where a widow, or some person who was not able to carry on the place, had made arrange
ments with a negro to do so. But it was spoken of as sub rosa entirely. The negroes were
carrying on the place and working just as they pleased, retaining a certain amount o(' what
they raised, and making the rest over to the owner of the place. But those were private ar
rangements. I do not think the law permits them to do so yet, but of that I cannot speak
with certainty.
WASHINGTON, January 25, 1866.
Brevet Major General Edward Hatch sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. Where is your place of residence?
Answer. .In Muscatine, Iowa.
Question. Have you been in the military service of the United States during the late re
bellion /
Answer. I entered the military service in 1861, and have been through the various grades,
from captain to brevet major general of volunteers.
Question. Have you been in the States of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi, or either of
them, since Lee's surrender?
Answer. Immediately on the surrender of Lee my troops were put into Mississippi, as far
south as Aberdeen. I had a post there, and also at Pocolona, Corinth, Tupelo, luka, and
Barncsville, and I also had troops occupying Tuscumbia and Waterloo, in Alabama. After
wards, in July, I marched to Montgomery, having posts at Montgomery, Selma, Montevallo,
and Talladega. I had small commands administering the oath (though very little of it was ,
ever done) in fifteen northern counties in Alabama, in what was called the Talladega district.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA —MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 5
I had my troops in small detachments at a great many posts. And I have been through the
northern and central portions of Georgia, marching through there three or four times since
the war with small detachments.
Question. Confining yourself to Mississippi; are you acquainted in that State ?
Answer. I knew Mississippi very well before the war, and I have been in the State a great
deal since.
Question. Will you state any facts within your knowledge tending to show the loyalty or
disloyalty of the people there ?
Answer. Excepting in a little of the northeastern portion of the State of Mississippi I never
knew any loyalty in that State; at least such has been my experience in that State. I think
there is generally an intense hatred towards our people, which hatred extends to the govern
ment.
Question. What indications did the people give of the hatred of which you speak ?
Answer. Their greatest antipathy seems to arise from the fact that the negro has been em
ployed against them, and that they cannot control them now as they please. They seem to
consider that their greatest trouble. They apparently think that they cannot make the negro
work except by corporeal means. Upon going through the State some time after the surren
der, even when the negro was under our protection, or supposed to be, I found bands of
''regulators," many of them lately soldiers in the rebel army, going about the country to see
that the negroes worked. They apparently had no faith in the negro's working without com
pulsion.
Question. When did you leave Mississippi ?
Answer. Part of rny troops left there early in August; some of them remained there till
quite late in August before they were all removed to Alabama.
Question. Was there any change of public sentiment in Mississippi during the time you
were there, either for or against the government 1
Answer. I think it grew more bitter than it was immediately after the surrender ; that is
my impression. The northeastern part of the State had a great many loyal men, and a
great many from that portion of the State enlisted in our army. And after the surrender a
great many refugees returned there, men who had been driven off from that part of the State.
The county of Tishemingo was a county from which we recruited a great many men for our
army. Some went with General Sherman and some went into Tennessee regiments.
Question. How are the Union men regarded and treated by the disloyal portion of the
people?
Answer. I do not believe the Union men could remain there if there were no federal troops
there to protect them. There is a great deal of private enmity and intense personal dislike
to them, and I do not think they would be allowed to remain there.
Question. Is there any expectation among the people that they will be made up the losses
they have sustained in slaves and property by the operation of the Union armies during the
rebellion?
Answer. Yes, sir; and as evidence of that, I will state that I saw in a paper to-night
that the grand jury of Oxford county had found a bill against General A. J. Smith for burn
ing the court-house there. They say they expect pay for a great deal of the property
destroyed.
Question. Did you hear much said upon that subject while you were there ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and I have met one man here with claims in his possession for $125,000.
They argue that if they are in the Union we are responsible to them for their property which
has been destroyed.
Question. What is the disposition of the people there towards the colored population?
Answer. The poorer classes of the white people have an intense dislike towards them. So
far as any love, or regard, or care for the negro, or the slave, I have never seen any of it, and
do not believe it ever existed, except so far as his former money-value may have caused care
for him. There are men in Mississippi who understand this thing, who are willing to accept
the state of affairs as they are now, and to employ the negro and pay him a fair reward for
his services. But a great portion of the people of Mississippi, including many planters, are
not of large enough views to understand this matter. Their views are too narrow. They
wish to control the negro and his labor in such a way that he will be compelled to remain
with them for never less than a year, and upon their own terms.
Question. According to your observation, what is the disposition of the negroes in refer
ence to working, if they can be assured of pay for their work?
Answer. We have always found them very ready to work. I have seen no instance where
they were not willing to work when they have been assured of their rights. The superin
tendent, who by the way was a northern man, of the work of opening the Mobile and Ohio
railroad, told me that the negro men whom he had to work for eight dollars a mouth and army
rations worked as well as any men ; that men never worked better. We issued the rations
to those negroes working on that road. We issued no rations to indigent negroes, though
we issued a large amount of rations to indigent whites ; also a large amount of confederate
corn that we had taken, and I run one or two mills to grind corn to feed them. We never
issued a ration to an indigent negro while I was there.
Question. Why not ?
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Answer. They never asked for any. I stopped issuing- to the whites, but they made so
many complaints that I was ordered to commence issuing again. They were in a starving
condition, as, the armies, the confederate as well as our own, had gone over the country and
nearly eaten it up. I have always found the negro ready to work when he was assured that
he would be paid according to his contract. .
Question. As a general thing, would northern men be kindly received who might go to
Mississippi to live ?
Answer. No, sir ; there is a very intense antipathy towards northern men in all Mississippi,
with perhaps an occasional exception. I have heard them say openly that no northern man
should come there and work their plantations and live among them, unless he was an over
seer under them, or something of that kind : that he could not come there and expect to own
a plantation. There is no doubt at all that there is an intense hatred felt towards northern
men. They may from policy sometimes perhaps consent to use a northern man for some
purpose. But in the portion of the State where I have been I have seen no evidence of good
feeling towards northern men.
Question. Is the disposition among the people of that State to encourage the negro to pur
chase land, or to discourage him from purchasing it ?
^Answer. From all that I heard the people say, I should say that the disposition was to
discourage the negro from purchasing land. The owners of the large plantations do not
wish to cut up their plantations at all, and all the good land in Mississippi is generally owned
by the large planters. The small planters generally have poor land, hilly land, while the
large plantations are generally bottom lands. In other words, there is in the central portion
of the State considerable rich land called "hummock lands," which is generally held in
large plantations. The valley of the Tombigbee contains a very large negro population,
and the planters have always hoped to work their plantations with the negroes since the
surrender. I suppose that at one time they found a great deal of trouble in doing so. The
negroes were afraid to contract with their old masters for fear they would be brought into
slavery again, although they knew they were free. Their masters wanted to work the
negroes for $75 a year, although they used to pay $200 a year for their work. The negro
was shrewd enough to understand the difference in price, and thought it strange he was not
worth as much as before. We found the negroes willing to go to work on their old planta
tions whenever they were assured that they would be paid. I myself told the negroes at the
time of the surrender that it would be much better for them to go back on the plantations to
work, and that they would be secured under their contracts as long as I was there and the
troops were there ; and a large portion of the negroes did so. This was some time before the
Freedmen's Bureau took charge of them.
Question. How does the state of things in Alabama compare with the state of things in
Mississippi 1
Answer. In the mountain region of Alabama there are a great many loyal people : people
poor, but loyal. We recruited two regiments there. Between them and the people of the other
portions of Alabama there is a great deal not only of animosity in regard to the question of seces
sion, but of private animosity. The loyal men in that part of the State may be strong enough to
protect themselves, as they have gone home with their arms. But their families have suffered
everything during the war. I have found a great deal of outlawry in Alabama, and I doubt
if the civil authority alone, however much inclined to do so, could control that feeling now.
Their seizing a steamboat the other day is an instance of what I mean. The poorer classes
of white people there, as a general thine, cannot read or write. In the matter of granting
paroles, it was found that not one in six could write his name. They have u most intense
hatred of the negro, and swear that he shall never be reckoned as a part of the population.
Question, What is the state of public sentiment generally in Alabama in reference to the
national government ?
Answer. The bitterness there towards the government, for some months after the surrender,
was so groat that it is difficult to say whether there is any good feeling towards it. I have
always heard them finding fault ; never expressing themselves kindly towards the govern
ment ; at the most only as rather obliged to accept things as they were. They seem to
expect that when the troops are eventually withdrawn they will control matters iu their own
way. In August I sent a detachment of troops from a company to arrest, if possible, or
drive away a party of men who had, as it were, picketed a road in the hope of catching
Governor Parsons, whom they had made threats they would kill. Yet he had boon very
lenient towards them in all his dealings with them. I have never heard them express any
good feeling towards the government. They have submitted because they could not help it.
\Vhile travelling about the country there in citizen's clothes, I have often heard them say
that something might turn up when they would have their turn again. A rebel soldier who
has fought through the war is by far the best man in the country, and the most willing to
accept the state of affairs as they are, and the most ready to go to work. The worst class of
people there are those who have been in the bands of guerillas — the irregular bands of rebels.
Question. Does there seem to be any expectation in Alabama that they will be paid for their
losses ?
Answer. I do not know whether they expect payment or not. They sometimes discuss
the question ; but it always seemed so absurd to us that we laughed at the mere idea
ARKANSAS— GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA. 7
of their getting anything. I know there are a great many cla'ms upon 'the government, for
I have seen a great many of them ; and I suppose they would not get up their claims if
they did not think there was some chance of their payment.
Question. What would be the effect upon the Union men and negroes of removing the
troops and the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. I think it would be the most unfortunate thing for the State itself that could be
done. I do not believe a sensible man in the State would like to have all the troops removed.
They might like to have the negro troops removed, because of their antipathy to seeing them
carrying muskets ; but I do not thiuk they would object to having white troops there. If
they were removed, I think the result in the case of the negro would be, either' that they
would reduce him to some state approaching slavery or peonage, or they would drive him out
of the State. And they would stop emigration by that, because they could not go there and
get along without labor. It would, therefore, be very unfortunate for the State.
Question. So far as your observation extends, do the people have a disposition to educate
and elevate the negro, or is it their disposition to degrade him and keep him in a subordinate
position ?
Answer. There is no inclination among the people to educate him ; they are the rather
opposed to that. In fact, there is not much inclination to educate the whites, who need it
quite as much as the negroes. There is very little difference in regard to intelligence be
tween the poor whites and the negroes. I have never seen any inclination among the people
there to help the negro. They want his labor, but they want it in their own way, and at their
own prices ; that seems to be their determination. I have heard a great many men of prop
erty in Alabama say they should be sorry to see the troops go away. They might be glad
to see the black troops go, but they seem to think it would be very bad to take away the
white troops.
Question. Had there been, at the time you left, any organization of State militia, either in
Alabama or Mississippi ?
Answer. No, sir ; not when I left.
Question. In what portions of the State of Georgia have you been ?
Answer. I went through Georgia down through Atlanta, near Andersonville ; thence across
to Montgomery, Alabama. I went back, once, to Atlanta through Chattanooga, and I once
went through the northern part of the State ; through Kingston, Rome, and that part of the
country.
Question. Did you hear any expression of feeling by the people, either favorable or unfa
vorable, in regard to the Union or the national government ?
Answer. I never heard any in favor of it. They seemed to think they were crushed : to
feel as if they were what might be called a subjugated people ; not a part of the people of
this country, but a subjugated race. At first they seemed to take the thing very well, and
appeared to be glad the war was over; glad to have peace on any terms. To give
some idea of the feeling of the people : I was once travelling in the cars there, in which
was a woman and her family travelling on government transportation. My wife was
with me, and I was paying my fare, for, being on short leave of absence, I did not think
myself entitled to government transportation. This woman, travelling at the expense of the
government, turned to us and said: "This war never will be over in our feelings ; I will
teach my children and they shall teach their children to hate the government." I have heard
a great deal such talk. I have become so accustomed to it that it would strike me as very
strange there to hear anything in favor of the government. I do not remember hearing any
such thing. Very few of the people appear to acknowledge that they were wrong. They
regret the war, but do not acknowledge that they have ever been wrong. They still "believe
they had a right to secede.
Question. What has been the effect of granting pardons and amnesties to these people?
Has it been favorable or otherwise upon the public sentiment ?
Answer. I think it has been very unfavorable to the government. It has had this effect:
At the close of the war the owners of tracts of land were willing to sell their lands, not
knowing what would be done with them. But since pardons have begun to be given, as a
general thing they have declined to sell, believing that they could get northern capital to come
in and work their lauds and work the negroes. At one time there was a great deal of fear in
regard to property ; they said they expected all their property would be confiscated and lost to
them. But after pardons began to be granted, they began to feel safe again. They say to
me now : "You will not dare to confiscate our property, or to hang Jeff. Davis, or anybody
else." Immediately after the surrender they were certainly penitent enough. But I found a
vast difference iij a month or two.
Question. How would it be in Georgia with northern men who might go out there to live ?
Would they be well received, or otherwise ?
Answer. I do not think they can live there after our troops shall have been taken away.
Question. How would it be with Union men who are natives of the country, should our
troops be taken away?
Answer. They would suffer more than the northern men, what few there are of them ;
there are not a great many of there. The feeling towards them is more bitter than towards
8
RECONSTRUCTION.
northern men. During the last few months I have been there, I have never known any good
feeling exhibited towards the government, or towards the north, anywhere there. The con
federate soldiers seem to accept the state of things as a fact ; but they are very bitter, though
not so much so as the women and the owners of land who remained at home.
Question. Are there within your knowledge any facts in relation to cruelties practiced upon
the negroes ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have known negroes to be killed without any provocation at all. In
Knoxville, in September last, I heard a shot fired ; I did not see the man fall, but I know a
negro man was killed, and a white man was afterwards arrested — the one who had killed
him. I was one night going into town, when a house was attacked in which lived some ne
gro women of the families of some men belonging to a negro regiment. The negroes were
attacked, and some of them were wounded. And to give you some idea of the antipathy to
the negro, what was singular was that this attack was made without provocation by some
Teunesseeans who had been in our army. I know of instances, not from personal observa
tion, but from reports of what occurred around where I was. There were a great many in
stances reported at General Stoneman's headquarters, when I was there, of murders of ne
groes, committed without any provocation.
WASHINGTON, January 26, 1866.
Brevet Brigadier General George E. Spencer sworn and examined.
By Mr BOUTWELL:
Question. What is your age, residence, and occupation ?
Answer. My age is thirty years ; I reside at present at Decatur, Alabama ; I was formerly
a lawyer.
Question. How long have you resided at Decatur, Alabama ?
Answer, Since the surrender of Johnston's army. I have been at Tuscaloosa most of the
time since that surrender, but I consider Decatur my residence.
Question. What has been your acquaintance with the people of Alabama, and for how long
a period ?
Answer. I have been acquainted there for nearly four years. I recruited and raised the
first and only loyal regiment of Alabamians in the federal service — the first regiment of Ala
bama federal cavalry.
Question. In what part of the State was that regiment raised, and when?
Answer. In the northern and western parts of the State, in 1862.
Question. Where did you reside previous to your residence in Alabama?
Answer. In the State of Iowa.
Question. State generally what opportunities you have had since Lee's surrender for obtain-
taining information concerning the condition of public sentiment in Alabama.
Answer. I have been constantly in the State, a large portion of the time travelling. I re
signed my commission in July last. I was then a brevet brigadier general in the federal
army. Since then I have been in the State constantly till I left to come here, a large portion
of the time travelling. I have been at Tuscaloosa more than at any other place, i I find the
sentiment of the people hostile to the government of the United States. They consider their,
interests inimical to those of the country. That is the case with all but the loyal portion of
the people. About ten per cent, of the people are loyal, and they are intensely loyal. In the
large slaveholding counties the treatment of the negro is terrible in the extreme. In Pickens
county several negroes have been murdered. One man was murdered in September last, on
a Mr. Eddiug's plantation, near Providence, Pickens county. The foreman of the planta
tion, a colored man, was taken out and murdered, and his body mutilated after he was mur
dered, because he was dissatisfied with the wages they were paying him. That was the only
excuse made in the neighborhood that I heard. The people there sustained the murderers, and
no efforts were made to arrest the criminals. At the circuit court at Tuscaloosa, in November,
three negroes were sentenced to be hung for grand larceny ; another was sentenced to ninety-
nine years' imprisonment in the penitentiary for stealing a horse. In the central part of the
State the roads and public highways are patrolled by the State militia, and no colored man is al
lowed to travel without a pass from his employer, which pass must state that the negro has the
permission of his employer to go, or that he is travelling on business for his employer. At
Eutaw, in Greene county, a month since, there were a large number of negroes in jail, the
most of them for the most trivial offences. One woman had been in jail for about three months
for breaking a plate ; a man was in jail for throwing a stone at a sheep ; another for letting
down a man's fence. It was understo«d that he had driven through the man's lot and left
his fence down. During the last year of the war General Sherman's escort was from my
regiment. The lieutenant commanding that escort was born and raised near Milledgeville,
Georgia. After he was mustered out of the service, in August last, he returned to Milledge
ville, but was allowed to remain only six hours there. He was mobbed in the streets of
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA.
Milledgeville, and was charged with being responsible for everything that Sherman's whole
army did in Milledgeville. His friends and relations made him leave to save his life.
Question. Is it or not within your knowledge that combinations exist among planters to
regulate the rates of labor among the negroes ?
Answer. I will state what I know to have been done there. At Foster settlement, m 1 us-
caloosa county, Alabama, the planters this year formed a combination, and refused to give
the colored hands on a plantation more than one-eighth the net proceeds of the crop. A Mr.
Beale, a planter there, had made an arrangement to give his hands one-sixth of his crops.
The people then called a meeting, sent for Mr. Beale, and told him he must change that ar
rangement ; and a committee went from the meeting down to the plantation, and told the
negroes there the arrangement must be changed, and forced them to change.
Question. Is there a disposition among the white people there to educate the negroes and
improve their condition 1
Answer. I should say that the disposition was not to educate them.
Question. So far as you know are the negroes disposed to work at fair compensation if
they can be assured of their pay ?
Answer. I think they are. I am strongly of that opinion. I have always said everywhere
that there is more disposition among the negroes to work than among the white people.
Question. What is the disposition exhibited by the negroes in relation to intellectual and
moral improvement?
Answer. It is better than you could expect.
Question. Have you observed any change in public sentiment, either for or against the
government, since Lee's surrender ?
Answer. The greatest change. It is almost impossible to describe the change. Immedi
ately after the surrender of the armies of the confederacy the people were willing to accept the
condition of things as they were. They only asked to be allowed to live there. But now
they are haughty and overbearing and insolent, and they do not propose, if they can help it,
to allow any one to associate with them politically, socially, or commercially, unless he has
been a rebel, or has given the rebellion his support, or comes up to their standard. They
never speak of a federal in any other way than as a " Yankee."
Question. Are there any indications as to whether they mean to support the government in
good faith?
Answer. I do not think they do. They say that when they get power they will repudiate
the national debt. That is common street talk.
Question. Do you know whether or not they intend to make any claims on the govern
ment for losses that they have sustained ?
Answer. They do.
Question. Is it a matter of common conversation among them ?
Answer. It is a matter of genera conversation everywhere. I have had claims offered to
me to the amount of several millions of dollars to take to Washington, but I have invariably
told them that I did not consider that the claims were good for anything, an^ I have en
deavored as far as I could to discourage them. I have no belief that they would be paid.
Question. If the people were left entirely free from military restraint or control to elect
members of Congress, and were assured that the men they elected would be received here,
what class of men would they elect ?
Answer. The elections this year show that. No man unless he comes up to the full standard
of a secessionist can be elected to any office outside of five counties in Alabama?
Question. Which five counties are those ?
Answer. Marion, Winston, Walker, Fayette, and Randolph. They could poll a very good
Union vote in some other counties. But in the counties I have named, which were non-
slaveholding counties, the Union men have a very large majority. It is respectable to be a
Union man there, but in the other counties it is not.
Question. To what do you attribute the change of sentiment against the government since
Lee's surrender ?
Answer. To the policy of the administration.
Question. In what particular ?
Answer. In appointing secessionists and rebels to office, and in pardoning them. One
gentleman returned from Washington with his pardon, and in conversation with me about a
week after he said that a republican form of government was a failure ; that he was firm in
the belief that the United States government could not exist tea years.
Question. What was his name ?
Answer. William H. Jemison, of Tuscaloosa.
Question. How would northern settlers be received in Alabama as landholders and farmers
or planters ?
Answer. That would depend entirely upon the locality.
Question. I mean outside of the five counties you have mentioned?
Answer. They would be received very coldly. The general wish of the people is that they
shall not corne. The election in'the fourth congressional district — and that has been my ob--
sexvatioii everywhere — was upon the test-oath issue ; that it should not be taken. The can-
1 0 RECONSTRUCTION.
didates made the issue that they could not take it. It is considered disgraceful for a man to
be able to take the test-oath.
Question. Do you mean that a man who cannot take the test-oath would be supported?
Answer. Yes, sir. And in that district the man who could not take the oath was
elected' by five thousand majority. He said that he thanked God that he was not able to
take it, and he insisted upon the stump that President Johnson did not want anybody elected
who could take it. It was insisted that that was the President's policy.
Question. If the United States troops were to be removed, and the Freedmen's Bureau
suspended, what would be the effect upon the colored people ?
Answer. They would be in worse slavery than ever. I consider that the colored people
there to-day are worse off than they were when they had masters. The masters had
an interest in them to the extent of so many dollars, and would protect them. Now the
general disposition is to mistreat them in every possible manner. The laws of the legislature,
which they passed, show that. The arming of the militia is only for the purpose of intimi
dating the Union men, and enforcing upon the negroes a species of slavery ; making them
work for a nominal price for whoever they choose, not allowing the negroes to have any
choice, any way. They say the government dare not hang Jeff. Davis. In Madison
county, a Mr. Gurley, who, I believe, was the first guerilla of the war — who went into
that business as early as 1862, when General Buell was marching his army through
the northern part of Alabama, paying even for the rails his soldiers took — this Gurley was
elected sheriff of that county as a reward for commencing guerilla warfare. This Gurley is
the man who murdered General McCook.
Question. Have you been in any of the other rebel States ?
Answer. I have been up and down the Mobile and Ohio railroad this summer, from Colum
bus, Mississippi, to Mobile, and I have been at Columbus considerable.
Question. What is the result of ;your observation at Columbus and on the line of the
railroad ?
Answer. The same as in Alabama. I have travelled on that railroad a dozen times, but
never travelled it without hearing people brag of the amount of government cotton they have
stolen ; they speak of it with feelings of pride. That is the case all over that country. In
the large cotton producing country there is a large amount of government cotton.
Question. Do you understand that this cotton has been stolen by the rebels ?
Answer. Large quantities of it by the people there ; the balance of it by the government
agents ; the majority of the sub-agents were rebels, and many others were an irresponsible
set of men. About two weeks since, as I was travelling on the Mobile and Ohio railroad, a
lady came in and sat down beside me. She took up a newspaper which had an article in it
about the trial of Jeff. Davis. Glancing at the caption of the article, she looked up at me
and said: " I will tell you what I think of Jeff. Davis. I think he was a greater and better
man than Jesus Christ. Don't you think so ? " I state this to illustrate the feeling there.
Question. What positions in the military service have you held during the war?
Answer. Captain, colonel, and brevet brigadier general of volunteers ; I was in General
Sherman's army.
WASHINGTON, January 27, 1866.
Brevet Brigadier General George E. Spencer was recalled, and added the following to his
testimony of yesterday :
Several soldiers and persons in the employ of the government were indicted by the grand
jury of Walker county, for burning the jail, and releasing some prisoners during 'the war, by
order of Major General Dodge, of the federal army. They are now under indictineut^iud the
authorities there have attempted to try them. I procured an order from General Grierson
for their release.
WASHINGTON, January 26, 1866.
Judge William H. Smith sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. What is your age, and where do you reside ?
Answer. My age is thirty-nine years, and I reside in Randolph county, Alabama.
Question. How long have you resided in Alabama?
Answer. About twenty-five years.
Question. Where were you born ?
Answer. In the State of Georgia.
Question. What is your opinion of the condition of public sentiment in Alabama, in refer
ence to the Union and the national government ? Is it favorable, or unfavorable ?
Answer. I think it is very unfavorable, especially among those who were original seces
sionists, and many of those who espoused the rebel cause afterwards. A great many who
t
ARKANSAS GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA. 1 1
went into tlio rebellion have the same hatred to the government as ever, and manifest it in
every possible way. As an evidence of the feeling I will state my own case. I was origi
nally a Union mail, and refused to take any part in the rebellion ; stood out against it until
I was compelled to leave home. The governor of the State ordered me to be arrested and
tried for treason, and sent a force of cavalry to take me ; but I made my escape. After the
war closed, I went back home, and found the rebels apparently very glad to see me, and very
humble. They said at that time that all they wanted was to be permitted to live in the
country, and they would be satisfied. They appeared to be that way for some length of time,
until the recent election in the State for governor, members of the legislature, and congress
men. Since that time they have been very bold, very intolerant, and rnauifest the most per
fect contempt for a man who is known to be an unequivocal Union man ; call him a "gal
vanized Yankee," and apply other terms and epithets to him. In travelling on the cars you can
hear such language used every day by people ; or I can where I am not known. Where I am
known personally they avoid the use of such language, generally ; but I very frequently
hoar it where I am not known. I frequently hear men say that this matter is not yet over ;
tli at they will yet have their independence ; that the negroes shall yet be returned to slavery.
They say, however, that they do not expect to go to war against the United States again on
their ow'n account. But if the government becomes involved in a war with any foreign pow.
er, which they hope will soon be the case, they will take up arms against the United States-
This is common talk among them. Then the character of the legislature of Alabama fur
nishes, I think, strong evidence of disloyalty ; that they do not accept the result of the war
in good faith. The house of representatives is sitting in Montgomery now without the United
States flag over them. There is not a United States flag in the building wher.e the legis
lature is in session. They are passing bills to allow crippled rebel soldiers to peddle without
a license, but never notice the federal s« Idiers whose condition is the same. And when the
rebel General Bragg passed through Montgomery, a resolution was passed inviting him to
take a seat in the hall of the house of representatives. When General Thomas passed
through there, they did not notice him at all. They show their contempt boldly and in every
way for the federal government and its officers. This is manifest to every man there. They still
persecute Union men and negroes. They whip the negroes, shoot them, hang them, kill
them, now, for offences that under the old slave code they would not hang a white man for.
A Judge Dorothy, down there, decided that the old free-negro code applied to the freed men, and
they hung a negro there under it. In the election the question was whether a man could take
the test-oath or not. If he could, they would not vote for him ; if he could not, then he was all
right. The rebel General Battle made speeches there in which he said that he contemned and
spit upon and scorned the oath. So I was informed and believe. And a Mr. Ligon, who ran
against him, according to common report, said that he could not take the oath, and that he
would suffer his right arm to rot off before he would vote for any one that could take it. Yet
he was supported for Congress by Governor Parsons. George Reis, a man who could take
the oath, ran in that district ; and the objection that the secessionists and rebels had against
him was that he could take the oath. I overheard a conversation between some gentlemen in
Montgomery. I did not know them, and I presume they did not know me. It was when the
candidates first came out for Congress, and they were discussing the question of whom they
would select for members of Congress. One man observed that he was an original seces
sionist, but he thought they should accept in good faith the condition of affairs, and send to
Congress the most unobjectionable men they could find ; that it would be better for them.
Several of the others spoke up and said that that would not do ; that that was not the correct
view of the matter ; that it was their interest to represent in Washington that there was not
a decent man in the south who could take the oath, and that unless the men who could not
take the oath were admitted into Congress, there could not be a decent representation ob
tained from the south. These men say they must make that issue now, and not elect a man
who can take the oath, in order to make that impression at Washington ; else they will be
disgraced forever, and their children after them. That is the way they talk. You can fre
quently hear observations of that sort among the rebels ; that is, if you are not known to be
a Union man. Where I am known I never hear anything of that sort ; but where I am in a
crowd of strangers I hear these things. And it is very conclusive evidence to my mind that
they are not loyal, but that they intend to fight this matter over again, in a different way.
They claim, openly, publicly, and boldly, that the President is their friend ; that he is
standing as a wall of fire between them and the radicals at the north, and that they must
sustain the President. And they say more: that he thinks more of a man in the south who
has fought for the rebellion than of a southern man who stood by the government. They
claim that they are the friends of the President, and that he is their particular friend.
Question. What proportion of the white people of Alabama are truly loyal ?
Answer. I think there are some ten or twelve thousand truly loyal men in the State — men
who are voters if they had any encouragement and support ; but they are cowed, not organ
ized, and have not the spirit to say anything — all but a few of us, who will speak out. But
I tliink there are that many truly loyal men in the State, if they could have the protection of
the government ; but if the rebels are to be restored to power in the State, to be rewarded by
seats in Congress for their treason against the government, there will be no loyal men in the
State; either they will leave the State or they will join the rebel party. In that case the
1 2 RECONSTRUCTION.
Union man will have to do one of two things : if he cannot be protected by the government
in the expression of loyal sentiments, he must join the rebel party or he must leave the State.
For myself I wish the protection of the government. I will never join the rebels ; arid, as a
matter of course, if they are restored to power I must leave the State. In my opinion I could
not go to Montgomery now if the federal troops were withdrawn without being hissed out of
the capital of my State, if nothing worse was done to me. It is known there that I joined
the federal army and was with General Sherman in all his campaign through Georgia, South
Carolina, and North Carolina.
Question. Has there been any change in the public sentiment in Alabama towards the gov
ernment since Lee's surrender?
Answer. I think the feeling against the government is a great deal more bitter now than
it was Avhen Lee surrendered.
Question. To what do you attribute that ?
Answer. To the character of the appointments that have been made and the manner in
which the patronage of the government has been bestowed. The rebels have had all that in
their hands, and they think they have power again, and it emboldens them. I can see no
other cause for it. They say they will soon have the control of the country again ; that they
will have a united south, and with the demoratic party in the north, and the President to
help them, they will soon have the control of the whole country again. I was talking with
Governor Parsons the other day, just before I left Montgomery. I talked to him as if he
was a Union man, although I am satisfied he has gone over to the rebels. I said to him, in
substance, this: "Governor, the course we should pursue here is to make Avar on these
rebels. As for the poor, deluded common soldiers, I have sympathy for them ; but as for the
rest, we must put them down. The people must blame some one for this great wrong, and
if the government does not put a mark on the leading rebels and blame them, the people will
blame the government. But if these men are rewarded for their treason against the govern
ment, the plain, simple-minded men will say that the government must be satisfied that they
have not done wrong or it would not reward them." " Well," said the governor, " I agree
to that; but let us wait until we get the State reconstructed." "What do you mean by that?"
I replied. "Do you mean, wait until these men are all in power? That would be too late.
We Union men will then all be driven out of the country." And I feel confident that that
would be so ; and that is the opinion of every truly loyal man in the State with whom I have
conversed, and I am just from Montgomery and have seen a great many.
Question. What is the opinion of the loyal people of Alabama in reference to representation
in Congress, if at the same time the national troops are to be withdrawn from the State and
the people left entirely to the local and State authorities ?
Answer. Those that I have seen do not want to be represented by rebels, by the men now
elected ; and they do not want the troops withdrawn either, for they are the only protection
arid security loyal men have in many parts of that country.
Question. Have you held any office, civil or military, within the last four or five years ?
Answer. I have never really held any military office. I had authority from General Grant
under which I recruited and rendered service to the army in that way, and I was with Sher
man in his campaign, though I had no commission whatever. I recruited for the first Ala
bama cavalry, which was commanded by General Spencer, and then I recruited for the second
regiment, which was never completed. I was with the army, all the time engaged in re
cruiting. I may have recruited five or six hundred men for the federal service.
Question. Have you ever held any civil office ?
Answer. Governor Parsons, while he was provisional governor, appointed me judge of a
circuit. I accepted the office because I felt like harmonizing if he would do right. But I
have resigned for several reasons. I found I could not hold court without being insulted by
the rebel lawyers in their speeches, in which they were upheld by the authorities. They did
not direct their remarks directly to me, but they would make some allusion to the rebellion
and glory in it, which I did not like to hear ; and the legislature elected a man for solicitor
of the circuit who had been a very violent rebel, in favor of hanging Union men. I did not feel
that I ought to hold office under the circumstances, and I resigned. I did not feel that I ouglit
to give my sanction to what was going on by holding position under the authorities then in
power. I was not in accord with them, and to hold office under them I felt would place me
in a false position.
Question. What is the disposition of the negro to work, if he can be paid fair wages?
Answer. I have heard some complaint of their unwillingness to work, but I have seen none
of that spirit manifested by them. Where I live they have shown a commendable spirit in
that respect; they have been anxious to contract to work. I live in a loyal section of the
State, as much so as any portion of the State. The county in which I live famished over
five hundred men for the federal army; a majority of the people of that county are loyal.
The Tiegro is treated wilh justice there. I have seen no misbehavior on their part. Be.'om
Christmas, I believe, the negroes in some parts of the State did refuse to make contracts to
labor. The planters in some of the lower counties proposed to give an able-bodied hand but
twenty-five dollars a year, and as a matter of course the negroes refused to take that. But
the negroes are behaving themselves, so far as I have seen, better than the white people, or
at least as well.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 13
Question. Do you know anything of prosecutions against Union officers or soldiers for acts
done under orders during the war ?
Answer. I do not know of any such cases of iny own knowledge. I hare heard of them
in other parts of the State. There were none in the circuit I was on, that I remember, except
that in St. Clair county there were, I think, some Alabamians indicted who had joined the
federal army, and who had come into that country with a scouting party. I will not be sure
of that, however, though that is my impression. I do know another fact, that true bills and
indictments have been found against a great many Union men in Alabama — against hundreds
of them — and they are not all free from them yet ; and those indictments have all grown out
of this war. The only reason and foundation for those indictments is the fact that the men
are not secessionists. A Union man is liable to be accused of anything, of larceny, burglary,
or anything else, and although there is not the least foundation for the charge, an indictment
is found against him, simply because he is a Union man. Such has been the case. During
the war some four or five hundred persons in my county were indicted for disloyalty to or
offences against the confederacy. Of course all that went by the board with the confederacy,
except the feeling that is left. When I held a court there I " noil-pros. '</" all those cases.
Still the feeling is left, and the people talk about building monuments to the rebel dead, and
hold meetings for that purpose.
Question. Have you any knowledge of the purpose of the people of Alabama in regard to
the national debt ?
Answer. I have heard but little said about it. I know that the rebels do not want to pay
it. But so far as I know, all the Union men are in favor of paying it. I do not know one
Union man who is not in favor of paying it. But the rebels are opposed to it, and depreciate
the national currency and talk against it, and predict that it will go down as the confederate
currency did.
Question. Have any steps been taken in reference to claims upon the national government
for losses. sustained by the operations of our armies during the war ?
Answer. I have heard a great many talk about claims, but I do not know what has been
done.
WASHINGTON, February 7, 1866.
Judge William H. Smith recalled and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Do you desire to add anything to your former statement ?
Answer. There is one thing that has come to my knowledge which I will state. During
the rebellion there were in Alabama what were called "home-guards," who murdered a num
ber of Union men, without trial by court-martial or any trial of any kind. And after Lee's
surrender they murdered a number of other men in the same way. After the provisional
State government was set in operation the grand juries of two counties found true bills against
these parties for murder. The legislature has passed a law authorizing the governor to par
don before trial and conviction, with the view, I have no doubt, to shield these men from
punishment. One reason for my thinking so is the fact that Mr. William Barnes, a lawyer,
who was engaged to defend some of these men, was the man who introduced that bill in the
legislature.
WASHINGTON, January 26, 1866.
Mr. J. J. Gries sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Morgan county, Alabama.
. Question. How long have you resided in Alabama?
Answer. About twelve years. I have lived in the south for thirty years. I have been a
slaveholder, and have owned large property in the south.
Question. What are your views of the present condition of the public mind in Alabama,
in reference to the national government ? State any facts in your possession indicating the
state of public sentiment there.
Answer. The public sentiment is very bitter there — as much so as, in fact more so than,
before the surrender. The extreme leniency of the government has been the means of spoil
ing them like children, I think. Men who are known to have given aid and assistance to the
•ational government, or to have a feeling in favor of the Union, are hardly recognized in
Alabama. I think that among the people of Alabama there are a great many people who
are truly loyal, but they are afraid to admit it. The officers who were appointed over us after
the surrender were all rebels. The President was misinformed. He was lied to "directly ;
that is the only proper word to use. We have since obtained evidence of his being told posi-
14 RECONSTRUCTION. '
tive falsehoods about the men appointed. Of course the poor men of the country look to the
appointments, and when they see those appointed who have been advocates of the rebel cause
they consider it the strong party. If some unmistakable notice could be given to the people
there, which could only be done by the appointment of loyal men, I think the tone of senti
ment would be very greatly improved. As it is now a great many are timid. Governor Pab-
ton was a financial agent of the confederate government during the whole rebellion — cotton
agent and tax agent. Governor Parsons was an officer of the rebellion. There has not really
been a single Union loyal man appointed to any office whatever, and for that reason I think
the people are excusable. They do not know what is right or wrong ; they are ignorant, and
can judge of affairs only from these appointments. General Grierson told me that he had
reported to headquarters a great many cases of outrages there. Union soldiers have been
imprisoned without any cause, or rather for acts committed under orders during the war, and
it took the strong arm of the military to get them out of prison. In Cherokee county they
had to pull down one jail, for the sheriff refused to deliver up the soldiers. The same thing
has happened in several other counties, and now they are more courteous. They are all very
anxious that the military should be withdrawn, when, as they say, they will have it all their
own way.
Question. What proportion of the people of Alabama are really loyal, and would be so If
left entirely to themselves?
Answer. I ran for Congress, and in my district 4,200 men voted the loyal ticket under all
these disadvantageous circumstances. In the next district the loyal ticket got 3,000 votes.
I know that the truly loyal people of Alabama, those who have always been loyal, who have
never wavered, never flinched at all, have a strength of from 12,000 to 14,000 votes.
Question. What is the full vote of Alabama ?
Answer. I think it is from 80,000 to 90,000 votes, and I think that under all these circum
stances we have from 12,000 to 14,000 Union votes.
Question. In what part of the State is the largest loyal population ?
Answer. In the northern part. We raised there 4,000 troops for the national army. Colo
nel Spencer commanded the 1st Alabama regiment, which was General Sherman's escort on
his march from the mountains to the sea. There are ten counties in Alabama that are truly
loyal. There is one county that has not one rebel in it at all ; they had to leave, the senti
ment was so strong against them. That is Winston county. I have the statistics of the
strength of every county in the State.
Question. Will you furnish a copy of that to the committee?
Answer. I will do so.
Question. What would be the condition of the loyal men of Alabama, and of the negro
population there, should the Union troops be withdrawn ?
Answer. They could not live there at all. Take my case for instance: I have been driven
from my home for three years, though I married one of the aristocracy. Governor Patton
married a sister-in-law of mine. In the meantime I have been assisting and aiding my
friends in various ways, not any way connected with the war, but humanely furnishing
them supplies, particularly women; granting them favors, protecting the country against
raids, and saving their property. I have lost everything 1 had ; I have hardly a dollar
left. When I returned they took by civil law all the corn raised on my place, partly by my
freedmen. They took it by false testimony. The case has been decided in my favor again,
but the corn is all gone. If the fountains are impure the streams cannot be pure. Every
judge in our State is a rebel. Judge Smith, who is here, was appointed, but could not serve
as a judge, had to resign because he was a Union man.
We could fill a book with facts of wrongs done to our people there. I am sorry to say
that the sufferings and wrongs of our people are not known in this country at all. I have a
petition, signed by 400 persons, to the President not to remove the military at present, and not
to organize the militia on a rebel basis as they had commenced to do it, with the same rebel
companies as before, under the very same old commanders. The Union men do not like to
see these same men who have been fighting them organized and armed by Union authority
to domineer over them again. The petition also asks for some assistance from the govern
ment for the people there. A great many were driven out, could make no crop, and were
robbed by friend and foe almost. They ask that the Freedmen'o Bureau shall give them
some assistance.
You have no idea of the strength of principle and devotion these people exhibited towards
the national government. People were hung or driven off; their houses burned down ; their
wives and children driven off; and still they would not deny their allegiance to the national
government. I saw a beautiful woman who had walked sixty miles in the sleet and snow,
•with an infant on her breast, her house having been burned over her head There have been
hundreds of such cases. It would be an act of humanity to assist these people — an act of
charity which would never be forgotten.
Question. Is there any assistance rendered to the people in the way of supplying them
With rations and clothing ?
Answer. There is by General Howard ; but it is distributed through the rebel office-holders.
The judge of probate is generally a rebel, and he will not assist "the damned tories,*' as the
Union people are called.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 15
Question. The assistance does not reach the Union men ?
Answer. In many cases it does not ; in some cases it does. My wife has distributed a
great many rations for the poor people there. Governor Patton is a much better man than
Governor Parsons was. Governor Patton has vetoed some of the laws passed against the
freedmen. He is more of a national man, and he may become all right.
Question. What would be the feeling of the loyal people of Alabama, in regard to repre
sentation in Congress, if, as a consequence, the Union troops were to be withdrawn from the
State, and the entire population left to the control of the State authorities as before the war ?
Answer. I think the time has not yet arrived for that. The people cannot yet see the
visible power of the government right before them without the troops. It is impossible in
one day for a whole population to change their sentiments. But I think time will work
wonders. There are thousands of poor confederate soldiers who were Union before the
rebellion, and are heartily tired of the rebellion now. I could raise a thousand men to fight
the rebels. But we want peace, not a Mexico here.
Question. According to your observation, what is the disposition of the freedmen in refer
ence to working if they can obtain fair wages ?
Answer. They are exactly like Avhite people ; if you treat them well they will work well.
I have no difficulty with them myself. I could hire a thousand of them if I wanted them.
But I have been entirely ruined by this rebellion, as nearly all Union men there have been.
There is a kind of innate feeling, a lingering hope among many in the south, that slavery
will be regalvanized in some shape or other. They tried by their laws to make a worse
slavery than there was before, for the freedrnan has not now the protection which the master
from interest gave him before. If the laws proposed the other day in Montgomery had riot
been vetoed by Governor Patton, there would have been a worse kind of slavery than ever,
and it is so in all those States.
Question. What is the disposition among the landholders with reference to paying the
laborers fair wages, and allowing them free competition as in the north?
Answer. It depends all upon the men. There are some who act very honorably ; others
do not. Still the freedmen will have to be guarded for a while, and the Freedmen's Bureau
will have to throw some protection around them.
Question. Is there any combination among employers to regulate the price to be paid for
labor ?
Answer. Not that I know of. But they would not tell me if there was, for they know I
am reporting everything to the government. I have been a slaveholder, and niy former
slaves are with me yet. There are a great many men who treated their slaves kindly, who
still retain them. We need teachers in our country. I am trying now to get teachers to go
out there.
Question. How would northern teachers be received by those who sympathized with the
rebellion?
Answer. In our section of the State they would be received very well, and I hope that
teachers will be sent out there.
Question. Has there been any change in the public sentiment in Alabama since Lee's
surrender, either for or against the government ? If so, what has been the cause of the
change ?
Answer. At the time of the surrender I found the people entirely willing to submit to
anything and to everything. I was sent for by General Thomas to reorganize civil law in
that part of the country. The people then would have accepted any terms and every term.
If I give the cause of the change in feeling I would blame the President. I do not want to
raise an issue with him, because he is a friend of mine. He has been deceived. We wanted
another man appointed governor, the most brilliant man in our party. But Governor Par-
sous, who had acted with the rebel party and could not take the oath, was appointed
governor, and now he is elected United States senator. I think it has been the mistaken
policy of appointing men not loyal that has produced the change in public sentiment.
WASHINGTON, January 27, 1866.
Mr. Mordecai Mobley sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In this city at present.
Question. Is this your usual residence ?
Answer. I have resided here since the winter of 1862. I am an employ6 of the govern
ment.
Question. Where is your home ?
Answer. I am from Iowa ; that is my home ; the town of Dubuque.
Question. In what department are you employed ?
Answer. The Interior Department — the General Land Office.
16 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Since 1862 you have visited what rebel States ?
Answer. Last October and November I visited Arkansas, Tennessee, Mississippi, and
Alabama.
Question. What places in Arkansas did you visit ?
Answer. Little Rock.
Question. Any other town of consequence ?
Answer. No, sir; my business was there. I went there on board a boat, and staid there
two days and returned to Memphis.
Question. State the results of your observations while in Arkansas as to the condition and
temper of the people of Arkansas.
Answer. Nothing occurred during my visit there ; no incident worthy of note. I was at
a hotel there — one of the leading hotels in the south. During the day my business was in
relation to the land office. At night I mixed among the people at the hotel.
Question. You had no great opportunities of observing the feeling of the people?
Answer. No, sir. I heard them talk, was introduced to some, and knew some gen
tlemen there, but I heard no disloyal sentiments expressed.
Question. What was the date of your visit there ?
Answer. Early in November, 1865.
Question. You transacted your business and left ?
Answer. I transacted my business and returned to Memphis, Tennessee.
Question. What was the result of your observations at Memphis in regard to the loyalty
of the people and their respect for the government of the United States ?
Answer. At Memphis I remained a few days. I have a son-in-law who has been there
two years, and my wife is there now. On the 13th day of the month I made my report to
the Commissioner of the General Land Office, as to Arkansas, in regard to opening a land
office and consolidating the district. I was unwell while at Memphis, and staid iu-doors.
I had, therefore, no opportunity of mixing among the people and hearing anything. On the
16th of November I started from there to go to Montgomery, Alabama.
Question. What did you discover there?
Answer. I would like to state facts that occurred on the way. The object, I suppose, is to
show the temper and disposition of the people of the south. When I started on the cars at
Memphis I was somewhat surprised to see no northern men on board; they were all southern
people. I travelled that day to Corinth, Mississippi, and there waited some hours for the
train of the Louisville and Mobile road. I took that train ; I had no conversation on the
train ; I only observed that they were all southern people.
Question. How could you tell that ?
Answer. From the peculiar dress and habits, and the peculiar pronunciation of certain
words. A northern man can be known from his dress — his hat. Nearly all the people in
that section dress in homespun — rough sheep's gray clothing, butternut and walnut ; and
wear slouched hats. I was dressed like a northern man; they could all tell in a moment
that I did not belong to the south. I expected to see a great many northern people trav
elling, but found none. The train did not leave Corinth till near morning, and when day
light opened I saw the same class of people on the car, and was surprised to see no northern
men, at least none that I could identify as such. Part of that day I rode alongside of a
Georgia man, and we conversed freely on the subject of the late war.
Question. Was he an intelligent or an ignorant man ?
Answer. An intelligent man.
Question. A man of property?
Answer. That I do not know. He was on his way back to Georgia, and appeared to be a
planter.
Question. Did he say he was a planter?
Answer. He did not. I remarked to him that I thought the southern States .were precipi
tate in this matter, and were to blame for going out of the Union; that they ought rather to
have sought their rights in the Union ; and if they had had a convention of all the States I
thought the matter might have been settled without this civil war. He admitted that. And
most that I talked with said they were opposed to secession, but still they were carried on.
with the leaders. Said this man in the course of the conversation, "What are you going to
do with the negro?" Said I, "Nothing at all; they must remain in these States. You need
them — you need their labor." " Well," said he, " we don't want them here." Said I, "Sir,
they must stay here; they cannot be colonized. All you have to do is to treat the negro
with justice, give him a fair compensation for his labor, and they will stay here; and, more-
orer, (he negroes of the north will come down here." Said he, " We don't want them here ;
we want the government to clear them out."
Question. Did he in that connexion refer to the local feeling of the place where he resided
as being in favor of the expulsion of the negro '/
Answer. Yes, sir; he was from the State of Georgia. The next day I started off in com
pany with him and others in the direction of Montgomery. The first point we arrived at was
called Denitipolis, on the Tombigbee river. There I noticed on the cars, on the second day,
a man whom I had seen the day before. I judged him to have been an officer in the confed
erate service, about thirty years of age, one of those resolute, daring, desperate looking men.
While they were drinking, the man they called Bruce looked up to me, and seeing my
clothes, said, " Do you belong to the confederacy ?" Said I, "No, sir." " Where do you
live?" '*Jn Washington." "Do you know JB. B.French?" (Commissioner «of Public
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 1 7
He had lost his right arm, close up to his shoulder, and two fingers of his left hand. He
had a brace of revolver* buckled around him. We were detained at Demopolis; we had to
cross the river and take the cars for Selma, which is about fifty miles from Demopolis. When
the train came in, it was a platform gravel train ; the passenger train had got off, and about
a hundred of us had to take the platform cars, with all our "plunder," (baggage.) We had •
to get such seats as we could on trunks and boxes, I got a seat on some casks. This man
that I described with one arm got boisterously drunk before we started. He was a planter,
I was sure, and lived between Demopolis and Selma. I was so unfortunate as to get a seat
inclose proximity with him, and also to a man whom they called "Bruce." They were
both drunk. The bulk of the passengers were behind me, and I could not well get away.
- - .-••—•» ,11
\\ hile
cl
live?" '|Jn Washiugt
Buildings.) "Yes, sir," said I. "Well," said he, "Mr. French knows me very well; he
and I used to be in business together." We finally started; I saw no northern man on the
train. This fellow with one arm drew his pistol and was shooting at different objects along
the road, from the platform of the car, for amusement — shooting with his left hand. At tho
first station we took on some negroes. They were lying around loose at ail the stations
Among other "plunder," one of them had a string of chickens.
Question. By plunder you mean baggage '!
Answer. Yes, sir; whatever they had. The string of chickens lay right close to me. I
was between the chickens and these two drunken men. While the cars were in motion
this fellow with one arm stepped before me and took one of the chickens by the head and
swung it around his head with the whole string until he screwed off the head of the chicken, and
threw the pile down on the platform. He laughed, and others laughed. He picked up another
and went through the same operation. The negro that owned them dared not open his mouth.
Question. The negro was close by ?
Answer. Oh, yes, sir; he was just beyond and saw it, but dared not say a word. When
the man took his seat the negro picked up his chickens and took them forward— what was
left of them ; two of them flew off the car. Well, just after the man had done that, he swung
his arm right over my head, and said " I can whip any damned Yankee aboard of this train ;
I don't care a damn whether he has Yankee clothes on or not ;" and repeated, " any damned
Yankee on this train I can whip." ] knew that was intended for me, but, under the circum
stances, I did not even look up. He finally stepped back after that flourish and banter and
sat down behind me. There was a negro sitting on the platform within reach of this fellow,
and he reached cut and took hold of the negro's hat and jerked it violently off from his head.
The negro looked rather sour. Then he drew back and struck the negro as hard a blow as
he could with his fist, and*then tried to kick him off the platform while the car was in motion.
He did not accomplish that ; the negro was a little too far off. Directly afterwards the cars
stopped and the negro jumped down, ran forward, and got another seat out of his way.
Question. Did no white man offer to interfere and protect the negro or his property ?
Answer. No, sir; no person dared to interfere in any way.
Question. Did you hear any remonstrance or entreaty ?
Answer. Not a word. The truth of the matter is, the southern people don't care anything
about it; and, besides, it wrould not have done to interfere with a man as desperate as he was
with his pistols about him. At the next stopping place we got rid of him, and I was very
That night we got to Selma. I found the hotel full of people,
a great many of them going to Montgomery. I saw there a large gentleman whom I had
happy when he got off.
noticed on the platform cars, and I took a seat by him and entered into conversation. He
told me that there were about twenty members of the Alabama legislature there going on to
Montgomery, and they were very anxious to get there the next day, (Sunday,) because the
legislature convened on Monday, November &U. I told him who I was, and what my busi
ness was.
Question. State in general terms what your business was.
Answer. It was to see if the archives of the laud office in Montgomery could be found, and to
report, from the best information I could get, whether we could consolidate the disiricts, or
whether we should open more than one office in the State. A register and receiver had been
appointed in Montgomery. I told him this, and that I was on special service for the govern
ment ; and I asked him to give his opinion in regard to the consolidation, looking to the in
terest of the government and the convenience of the people. He gave me his opinion. Then
we talked about our political troubles. I told him that I had always been a Henry Clay
whig, and that I had slid into republicanism and Um'ouism. He was a very intelligent man, •
and a member of the legislature. Said he, "Sir, I, too, was a Henry Clay whig. I pleaded
against secession. I told our people that the only guarantee we had for slavery was found in
the Constitution of the United States, and that the very moment we cut loose from that wo
won' gone, and the institution of slavery would be destroyed. But we were forced into seces
sion, and the result is just as I foresaw it. Now, here is this great mass of negroes thrown
upon us, and we must legislate in regard to them. And my view is — and I have discussed
it before my people, and presented it to leading men, and they did not object to it — that the
best method under all the circumstances is this: (Our people are a little afraid, by the way,
2 A G M A
18 RECONSTRUCTION.
that the northern people may think that they see in it some attempt to re-enslave the negro,
and it may embarrass us in our reconstruction, or in our efforts to get back into the govern
ment.) Now, there are three classes of people for whom I propose to legislate. I propose to
take first the able-bodied class, and apply to them a vagrant law, making no distinction be
tween white and black, and to provide that any person who is found loitering about without
the means of support shall be tried for vagrancy, and if found guilty, to be sold for twelve
months, the proceeds to go into the county treasury. That, I think, will stimulate this class
to go to work, and it will be penalty enough. Then I propose to take hold of the class of
minors with an apprentice law, and provide that the masters shall educate them so as to read
and write, and when they are of age give them a good suit of clothes, a horse and saddle and
bridle, or a hundred dollars in money, and some little outfit. Then there is a third class of
little children and old, decrepit men and women, who have no means of supporting themselves.
1 propose «ihat eveiy county shall have its poor-house, where this class shall go adR be sup
ported at the expense of the county, and that a farm shall be provided where all who are able
shall do a little work, and so help support themselves." Said I, "That will do; it will be
perfectly satisfactory, I think, to the people of the north, the great body of whom have no
unkind feelings towards the people ot the south, but only ask that you shall do justice to the
negro. We do not care how rigid your laws may be to make the negro work ; only give him
a fair chance, and protect him as you protect the white man. If you can enact that into a
law, I think it is the best plan I have heard suggested."
Question. Did you get the name of the gentleman ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; it was Smith, of Choctaw county. I see that he has not been able to
get it through the legislature since I left. The next day I got a seat in the stage. I found
eight members of the legislature inside and one on the outside. I did not want to talk, but
to let them do the talking. They did not know who I was until twelve or one o'clock, when
a man who sat in front of me could not stand it any longer, and although my appearance
was against it, presuming that I was a member of the legislature, as I was going to Mont
gomery, he said, "What county are you from 1 " Said I, " No county at all ; I don't belong
to your State." " Where do you reside ?" he inquired. "In Washington city/' paid I. I
had heard these members talk a half a day, and they had all been leading or active men in
the rebellion. We were right along in the trail of Wilson's raid, and some of them fought
against Wilson, embarrassing his progress all they could. They compared notes, to some
extent being strangers to each other, and showed the different positions of troops in different
places. They compared notes in reference to the results of the elections in the State of
Alabama, and after that the whole thing was summed up by the most intelligent of the men,
whom they called doctor, (I did not get his name,) who said that not a single county in the
State had returned a "tory" delegation to the legislature.
Question. What did he mean by tory ?
Answer. He meant Union men, or men friendly to the United States government. There
were a few in the different counties, but they were powerless. I set that down as a fact of
some importance, and I inferred from it that if only that class of men that I saw can be
elected to the legislature in the southern States, no other class could be elected by the same
people to the Congress of the United States, nor would such legislatures send true Union rneii
to the United States Senate.
Question. Did you understand from the conversation with these members that any of them
had had Union competitors at the previous election ?
Answer. No, sir; I did not. They inquired about one county in particular, (Marion,)
where the Union men were perhaps stronger than in any other, and the result was that not a
Union man succeeded in that doubtful county. So that not a single county elected a Union
man. They treated me politely when they found out where I was from and before, but that
did not check them in their talk. They all felt alike. They considered themselves in the
right arid the north in the wrong. They all believed in the right of secession, and that they
had acted only in defence of their constitutional rights. They admitted no justification on
the part of the north, but regarded the destruction of their property as vandalism. They
looked upon their own side of the case alone.
Question. Did you hear them make use of any bitter or contemptuous expressions towards
the government?
Answer. Not these men, but I could see that the state of feeling in all of them was that
they had been outrageously abused and oppressed, and their property destroyed without auy
justification whatever.
Question. Did any of them speak of the rebels having struck the first blow in the war ?
Answer. No, sir; that subject was not discussed. We got to Montgomery that night, and
the next morning the legislature convened. The hotel where I put up was tilled with mem
bers of the legislature and citizens. I went up to the State-house in the morning. They
were organizing the two houses. I did not stay but a little while. I did my business — all
I could do there — and was ready to leave the next day.
Question. Did you see the United States flag in or about the capitol?
Answer. No, sir. I have seen published statements since that these southern States were
all right, and that the flag of the United States was waving on the capitol of Mississippi and
Alabama. There is not a word of truth in it. There was no United States flag at either of
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA. 1 9
those capitols, and is not, I am sure, to this day. At the hotel that night I listened as much
as I could. I heard three men, who appeared to be members of the legislature, talking on
the subject of reconstruction. One of them said, "Gentlemen, we have done everything the
President told us to do. Why does he come down with further tests and ask us now to adopt
this constitutional amendment about the negroes' freedom ? Why not let us in ? We have
done all he told us to do in the first place." And, said he, naming a certain prominent man
in Alabama, whose name I am sorry I can't remember, "That man was at Washington city
just before our election, and he told me that when he left there Andrew Johnson shook him
warmly by the hand, and told him to go home and return the right kind of men to Congress
and all would be well ; that he would ask Congress to repeal the test oath, and if they refused
to do so he would bring all the power of the government to bear to compel them to do it."
Well, I thought that a very rash speech, if President Johnson had made such a one, and I
had my doubts about it. But it came so straight from that man that I could not well doubt
it. But on returning to Memphis I saw a synopsis of the President's message, in which he
said nothing about the test oath, and I concluded that there was a mistake about it, or that
if the President did tell the man so, he was afraid to tell Congress so.
Question. Were you in Montgomery after the President's message was delivered in De
cember last ?
Answer. No, sir ; the message had not reached Montgomery when I was there ; on my
return to Memphis I saw the synopsis. At Montgomery a Mr. Edwards is in the land office —
a very loyal man — who spent four years in the service in the war. He told me he had his
wife and daughter there; but, said he, " We are insulted at our boarding-house at the tabfe
on account of our being northern people. All these people are bitterly opposed to the gov
ernment. We have no sympathy here at all I, Mobley, would not stay here for the best
farm in the State. A northern man can't live here."
The next day I got a chance to turn my face homeward. I went .to the captain of the
boat to get a state-room. He said he would have to put me in with somebody else. Said I,
"Do the best you can." I gave him my name, Mobley, and he asked if I was from Du-
buque ? I told him I was. Then he said, "I know you ; I used to be second clerk on the
steamboat Lamartine, where your son-in-law was first clerk ; my name is Kinuey. There
was a large man standing by, and hearing that I was from Dubuque, and that somebody
was to be put in with me, said, "Put me m with him ; I am from near Chicago ; there are
three of us here." I said, "That will do — all right.'' I went out on the guard and said,
" Sir, what are you doing here ?" Said he, "We are looking after a cotton farm." Said I,
" You are very rash; you northern men can't live in this country. These people have no
sympathy or friendship for you ; they will injure you in person and property. You are not
only risking your money, but your lives, and my advice is to get out of this country just as
fast as you can. The only way northern men can live here is by coming in large columns.
The people of all this country, from all I can gather, have a deadly hatred of northern men."
On the cars as I passed along I heard a southern man say, "One of our men is worth all
the Yankees that were ever born." We passed on ; they stopped in Alabama, still clinging
to the idea that they would buy a cotton farm. They were the only northern passengers I
saw. One of them had been a colonel. He had talked with leading men, and they had en
couraged him in introducing nof them capital and skill as the only way to recuperate the
condition of the southern plates. But I saw how the man was deceived, and told him so, as
to the temper of the masses.
Mr. Kinney took me up in his state-room when the boat started, and told me that when
the war broke out he was running a boat from New Orleans to Memphis. He was a northern
man, and his family lived at Memphis. But, said he, "The rebels, on suspicion, took my
boat away. I went back to Memphis. I could not afford to lose all, and, having a family
to support, I went in for Jefferson Davis and the southern confederacy my whole length.
They gave mo back my boat again, and now I am all right. My freinds in the south bought
this boat, and I am running it. I am known as a friend of the confederacy, hence I do all
the business."
I spent a night at Selma, about eighty miles below Montgomery by water fifty by land.
In the morning early I met a young planter, about thirty years of age. Said he, " I have a
large plantation on the Alabama river. I have seventy -five negroes ; they are all free, and,
damn 'em, I can't drive 'em off my place. They are hanging round, eating up all I have. I
threatened to shoot them if they didn't leave ; but they won't go. I had eighty-seven
shoats ; they have eat up eighty of them. A friend of mine sent up an ox into the cane-
brake to fatten. He got so fat he could hardly waddle, and the other day I found his hide
hanging up on the brush ; theyv'e eat him up. Damn 'em, I believe I will shoot 'em when
I get back. A few days ago I told a number of the boys I would shoot them if they didn't
leave. Said they, ' Where shall we go ?' Said I ' I don't care if you go to hell.' And when
I returned, I met one of the boys, and said I, ' Has them niggers left ?' ' No,' said he, ' and
they ain't agwiiie till^ifter Christmas.' Said I, * Damn 'em, I don't know what to do with
'em.' "
Question. Did you hear anything said in Alabama about any design on the part of the
negroes to seize upon the lands at Christmas ?
Answer. No, sir; there was only this idea throughout all the southern States, that the
20 RECONSTRUCTION.
negroes would not engage — would not make a contract to work beyond Christmas ; that
they expected something favorable was to turn up by Christmas. That was all, and that
impression was universal.
Question. What was it that was expected to turn up ?
Answer. They thought that the lands of the leading rebels were to be confiscated and
given to them. That was the idea. I noticed another thing, that not a single loyal news
paper was circulating through those States; but I could find the New York News, the
Chicago Times, and papers of that class, being sold by the boys.
Question. What is the character of those two papers ?
Answer. Those two papers, if I understand it, have been very decidedly in the interest of
the copperheads, in opposition to the government in its efforts to put down the. rebellion,
and in sympathy with the south. That is well understood — better by you, I suppose, than
by me. I never found a loyal paper until I reached Vicksburg, on my way back, and that
was the Chicago Tribune. The people will not let them circulate.
Question. Did you hear anything said about circulating loyal papers at the south ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Proceed with your narrative.
Answer. There was no incident worthy of note till I reached Jackson, Mississippi, where
I arrived on Saturday, at dinner-time. I did what little business I had to do that evening.
I went to the hotel about half past 8 o'clock. I told the landlord, about half past 9 o'clock,
to show me to bed. He told me to go up and turn to the right, and take any bed I found.
I found a large room with six beds in it. I got into one of them and went to sleep. They
never lock the doors. About half past 10 I was aroused by a heavy noise. Some drunken
fellow had run over a candle-stand, and he cursed and swore, and directly went down and
came back with a negro boy holding a light. He was mad, and cursed the clerk below for
sending him up in the dark. He told the negro that he had quarrelled with a man down
stairs, and had told him that he held him responsible for what he said, and would fight him in
the morning. He put his bowie-knife on the table, at the foot of the bed, after taking off his
coat and vest, and sent the negro down for something. The moment the negro went out he
saw that I was not asleep, and he came up to me and said, "Who are you?" "I am a
stranger," said I. " Where do you belong?" said he. " I live in Washington city," said I.
"But I want to know where you were in this fight we had," said he. " I was in the north,"
I replied. "Then," said he, "you are a damned rascal, and I wouldn't blame a southern
man if he murdered you outright. Damn you, you fight against us and then attempt to
come travelling through our country with impunity. Looking for cotton farms, are you?
Damn you, you may buy them, but you shall never live on them."
Question. Was he drunk ?
Answer. Yes, sir, just drunk enough to speak out what he felt. He held up his arm, and
feeling of it said, " You had too much muscle for us ; you had too many men ; you whipped
us, but, damn you, you have not subdued us; we will try you again, yet." He had been a
colonel in the confederate service from Georgia.
Question. Did you get his name ?
Answer. No, sir. In the mean time I said nothing. Then said he, ' ' A single man, at my
mercy, as you are, I would not hurt." I felt a great deal better altor that; I breathed
easier. 9 •
Question. Had you any arms ?
Answer. I never carried arms in my life. Then he tempered down into a better humor
and sat down and commenced telling about his quarrel down stairs. In the mean time the
negro came back. Then he put on his coat and vest and buckled on his knife and said to
the negro, " You must go with me." " Yes, masser," said the negro, "I'll go." They left
the room. I lay there a moment or two turning over the situation and feeling uncomfortable.
I said to myself, "This won't do ; that man may murder me ; I can't lie here." So I got
up, dressed myself, and went down to the office. I found nobody there but a black boy ; the
others had all gone to bed. It was very near 11 o'clock. Said I, "Boy, did you see that
drunken man come down?" "Yes, sir." " Where is he?" " Gone out." " For what?"
"1 think for more whiskey, from what he said. He made the negro boy go out with him so
as to pilot him back; he had to go many squares to get to the saloon." Said I, "Ishe
coming back to sleep in that room to-night?" "Yes, sir." Then I told the boy what
occurred, and felt that I was in danger of being murdered, being a northern man. Ihe ne
gro said that the fellow was a desperate man and had a big knife and might do it, as he was
drunk. I told him I would not sleep iu that room ; I would sit up rather. Said the negro,
"I'll give you another room." " That will do," said I ; " but, mark it, that fellow will be
back; he will miss me, and perhaps will be'still thirsting for my blood and will want to know
where I am." "Well," said the boy, " he shan't know ; I won't let him know." Then he
took me right across the hall into a lower room where there were five beds ; three of them
occupied. I took an unoccupied bed, and in twenty minutes the boy hunted up a key to
that room and handed it to me. . " Take that," said he, "and lock the door." Said I, " Is
there anybody else to corne in?" "No," said he. About one o'clock I was aroused again —
somebody trying to force the door. They worked at it some time, but the door did not give
way, and they left. I did not know who it was. I tried again to go to sleep, and after wor-
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 21
rying through the night, I slept a little about daylight. It did not occur to me till the next
morning that the government had a military force there. I went to Major Barnes, whose
father I had known in Illinois. He was in command of eight hundred negro troops, as tine
as I ever saw. I told him my night's experience. Said he, " Can you identify the man?"
Said I, " I cannot; ] would not know him, and we shall have to let him pass, but I will not
stay another night at that hotel; I will stay with you at headquarters." Said he, " \Ve will
take care of you." I learned that Lieutenant Eliott had determined to go to Vicksburg that
day. I felt very much relieved. I put myself under his protection. He and I wejit down
to the depot, or where it had been, for it had been burned by our troops. The cars were due
at half past one o'clock, but did not come. There was a large number of southern people
standing around waiting for the cars, and among the rest a man about fifty years old. dressed
in homespun, just drank enough to make fun. He was a man of some intelligence and a
great deal of wit. The lieutenant and I stood together. Finally this fellow walked deliber
ately up to the lieutenant, put his hand on his buttons and shoulder straps, and said. "I
don't like you." " Why?" said the lieutenant. " Because," said he, " you are all adamned
set of thieves and robbers; that's why. Damn you; you came down here and destroyed
our property, stole our niggers, and there are your friends, (pointing to the negro soldiers ;)
take them and clear out from here ; we don't want you here ; and I tell you, if I had the
power, I would send the whole of you to the regions of damnation ; I would murder you
right here if I dared to do it ; I would saw you in two ; I would be even with you in some
way." That speech was appreciated by all those around, who seemed to feel gratified. He
being drunk, spoke with impunity what they all evidently felt.
Question. What did the lieutenant say ?
Answer. Nothing at all ; as the man was drunk, he let it pass. The next day I reached
Vicksburg and went on board the boat to Memphis. On my way from Memphis to Cairo I
made the acquaintance of a citizen of Memphis. Said he, "I am an old citizen of Memphis ;
I have been a prominent man before the people ; we have had a great deal of excitement ;
my family are up in Illinois, and I am going to join them at Lebanon. I have got some
eighteen or twenty thousand dollars, but such is the insecurity of life and property in the
southern country that I dare not invest it, and I will not do it."
Question. That was last December ?
Answer. Yes, sir, early in December. At Cairo I got in conversation with a man from
Ohio. Said he, "I have just been to Memphis, where I took a large lot of brooms for sale.
The merchants acknowledged they wanted them, but finding I was from Ohio, they told me
flatly they would not have anything from northern men, but from their own people. So I
was compelled to ship nearly all the brooms to New Orleans ; I succeeded in selling a few to
a commission merchant." At Cincinnati I got into conversation with a Jew merchant from
Memphis. We had noticed each other on the train. I told him I had been to the south, and
how the people felt towards northern people. "Well," said he, "we have got a store in
Memphis and in Montgomery. In Memphis we had some military goods in the store, and
there was an officer's coat hanging at the door. One of those butternut fellows from the
country came along and looked at that coat, and commenced using the most bitter oaths in
the English language. He cursed the man who made the coat ; he cursed the man that
might wear it ; he cursed the man that offered to sell it, and then passed on. Said I to the
clerk : ' Take that coat down, and hide all the federal uniform clothes with these shoulder
straps.' And we boxed them all up. I found we could not sell anything to people from the
country while they saw those goods there."
Question. Did you hear anything said by the southern people about still forming a sepa
rate independent people ?
Answer. I did not hear that discussed at all.
Question. Did you hear them say anything about their inclination or disinclination to have
intercourse, social or commercial, with the northern people ?
Answer. On all occasions when I heard them talk, they had no inclination to have any
intercourse at all with the people of the north. Just before I got to Jackson, one of the
editors there had stated in his paper that the moment military authority was withdrawn they
would run every Yankee out of the State. And they would do it, in my opinion, or they
would assassinate the northern men. There is nothing to restrain them but the military
power. What is the protection which the southern civil courts afford northern men ? None
in the world. They would just as lieve shoot a Yankee as a negro, and a negro as a hog.
The idea is, that they have been crushed by the northern people and their property destroyed,
and now to think that these hated Yankees are to come down and undertake to make gain
of their misfortunes by renting cotton farms or buying them, is the straw that breaks the
camel's back, and they feel like killing every man that comes there. I went there with kind
feelings towards these people : I have come back without a particle of sympathy for them.
I have mixed with all classes, and heard them talk, drunk and sober, and I have come back
the strongest kind of a radical.
Question. Were you ever in the military service of the United States ?
Answer. No, sir, except mustering here.
Question. Do you consider yourself to be naturally and constitutionally a man of resolu
tion — as firm and courageous as ordinary men are ?
22 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir. I am excitable ; when I think a man intends to insult me I am excited
in a moment. It takes a good deal, however, to get me up to the fighting point ; but then
I have no fear of danger. But I have no desire to get up to that point, and avoid it as much
as I can.
Question. On that occasion at the hotel you were unarmed and in the power of a drunken
man who was armed 1
Answer. Yes, sir, and in the power of that man in the car, who would have shot me as
quick as he would have shot a hog if I had got into an altercation; therefore, although I
knew his speech was intended for me, I thought prudence was the better part of valor.
Question. Is there any substantial Unionism in those States which you visited ?
Answer. No, sir. I will mention another thing : At Jackson, Mississippi, I met a man,
one of the tax commissioners, who had been a Union man all the time, at the risk of his life.
He said to me when I left, "I regret most seriously to part with you, for you are the only
man I have mek that I can sympathize with politically. I have not a friend here. There is
no sympathy. My business calls me here, and I have to stay ; but I am no longer anxious
to stay. The feeling here is in opposition to the United States."
Question. Have you anything further to say on this subject ?
Answer. One thing more. I have two letters in my pocket from a reliable Union man,
which I have received since I got home. I will read a few extracts:
Extract from a letter dated November 22, 1865, and received at Memphis.
" I really pity the conservative element of this beautiful State. They have been over
slaughed in the congressional election in the selection of fire-eaters and black-flag men to
represent them in the national council, and the legislature is distributing offices and patronage
only to that class. They have this day chosen as State printer the Montgomery Advertiser,
the vilest of the vile. Oh, when will this thing end? Will Congress admit to seats the
present members elect? Methinks that rather the troops should be doubled — nay, if neces
sary, quadrupled, at each post of any importance, and the people made to feel the force of
military government for a while longer, to teach them the right. The antipathy to the freed-
inan amounts to hatred, and the majority evince but little less of feeling towards what is
known as toryism and Yankee sympathizing."
Extract from a letter dated Docember 14, 1865, from the same.
"Our political atmosphere is still hazy overhead, and I still hope the representatives may
not be admitted for some time — at least till the people shall exhibit a greater appreciation of
the clemency of our most magnanimous government. I should deprecate with all my heart
a removal of a single blue coat or bayonet from this State, but on the contrary, I should hail
•with joy their increase, both for the sake of the northern men, who have already and still are
investing heavily for the production of staples. If the troops be withdrawn, I care not
what amount of cotton may be grown ; not one Yankee will succeed in getting his crop to
market. It will be burned or stolen."
" I neglected to mention, in connexion with the removal of the troops, the necessity, in my
judgment, of their remaining, if not increased, for the protection of the freedmen. I can
only say, if the troops be removed, God help the freed people ! for they can look for nothing
practical from their former masters. They, in truth, utterly despise them, not thinking it
possible for them to be possessed of a single noble or manly sentiment."
WASHINGTON, January 27, 1866.
Ezra Hienstadt sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Please state your age, residence, and occupation.
Answer. I am forty-nine years of age; my residence is in the city of New Orleans, where
I have resided for the last thirty-six years continuously since. 183b; I am by profession a
lawyer.
Question. Were you in Louisiana duriug the war 1
Answer. I was there from the commencement to the close of the war, and for many years
previously.
Question. Will you state the disposition of the people of that State, at this time and from
the beginning of the war, in reference to the power and authority of the government of the
United States?
Answer. Shortly before the so-called ordinance of secession was passed in Louisiana
there was considerable opposition among many of the people of the State of Louisiana to any
attempt to break up the government of the United States. After the secession ordinance was
passed, and the war had been commenced, that class of persons almost universally acqui
esced in the so-called secession, and the most of them either became active during the war in
ARKANSAS— GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI— ALABAMA. 23
favor of the rebellion or sympathized with it. That was the condition of things throughout
pretty much the entire State of Louisiana, and particularly in the city of New Orleans. The
population of the city, so far as any expression of opinion and any acts were concerned, was
almost entirely in favor of the rebellion. It being a large city, there were a considerable
number of persons in it who were Union in feeling, and who maintained their attachment to
the national government during the whole difficulty. But the feeling of opposition to the
government soon became so rife that it became dangerous to express any opinion of adhesion
to the government. That continued to be the case up to the time of the capture of the city
by Admiral Farragut with his fleet and the arrival of General Butler— so much so that within
a very few days after General Butler took military possession of the city of New Orleans, a
meeting of the Union people was held privately and not publicly. There was a small num
ber of individuals, who had maintained their integrity to the government, who resolved to
have a meeting among themselves, for the purpose of arranging a meeting with the general
and opening a communication with the authorities of the government. That meeting was
held privately, in a masonic lodge-room, and consisted, I think, of fifteen persons. It was
dangerous even then for a person to be known as an adherent to the cause of the govern
ment. There were doubtless at that time a considerable number of persons in the city who
were truly loyal men, but who from the previous existing circumstances were absolutely
afraid to make their position known. On the taking possession of the city, the organization
of the city watch and the giving employment to a large number of the poorer classes, repair
ing the levees and streets, and upon public works of that kind, a large number of the work
ing men of the city came over to the government, all of whom, so far as appearances went,
were truly loyal.
This state of things continued during the administration of General Butler in the city of
New Orleans, as well as during the administration of Military Governor Shepley, and up to
the arrival of General Banks. The subsequent administration of General Banks, in inau
gurating the State government, by orders to hold an election for governor, treasurer, auditor,
&c., strengthened and gave activity to the Union feeling. And that was also kept up by
the administration of Governor Halm, who was elected at that election. The election of a
constitutional convention, and its adoption of the constitution of J 864, was also another step
in that direction. And the re-establishment of a general feeling of loyalty seemed to be in a
condition of flood-tide, if I may so express it, until the commencement of the administration
of Governor Wells.
Governor Wells assumed office upon the resignation of Governor Hahn, and commenced
his administration by removing many of the appointees of Governor Shepley and of Governor
Wells, and appointing in their places, in most cases, men who had been engaged in oppo
sition to the government during the war. And this was particularly visible in the city of
New Orleans, when the governor appointed as mayor of the city a man who pursued the
same policy as Governor Wells pursued, by turning out many of the old acknowledged
Union men, and appointing in their places men, many of wrhom had but recently taken the
oath of allegiance. Many of the appointees of Governor Wells, as I have already stated,
had at some time or other been actively engaged in the rebellion, as is well known to all the
old residents of Louisiana.
After the final surrender of the confederate forces, this course was pursued by Governor
Wells to a greater extent than ever, so that there are now few if any — I do not remember
any — of the appointees of either Governor Wells or Governor Hahn in office ; their places
having been filled by persons who have been, either actively or passively, engaged in the
rebellion. Of course this policy of Governor Wells had a direct effect to encourage and em
bolden those lately in rebellion to take into their hands the entire administration of the
State and city governments, as was shown by the last November election. That election re
sulted in the election of persons, almost without exception, lately hostile to the government
and engaged in the rebellion.
Immediately after the capture of the city, those citizens who had fled on the advent of
the fleet and the forces of the government returned to the city, many of them most deeply
embittered in feeling against the government, on account of finding their property taken
possession of by the government, and in some instances confiscated. The society of those
formerly in opposition to the government became reorganized, which gave boldness to an
expression of dislike to the cause of the government, and particularly against those citizens
who had adhered to the government during the rebellion. This teeling was manifested to
such an extent as to make it evident, to the loyal citizens at least, that there was a deep
feeling of hostility towards them. Many individual facts might be stated to show a deep
determination to drive them from public position politically, as well as to ostracize them
from all public and private employment.
It is within my personal knowledge that persons formerly engaged in piloting steamboats
on the rivers, now find it difficult to find employment in that capacity on account of their
having piloted government steamers during the war, and an association of Red River pilots
has been formed to discountenance the employment of pilots of that class, as I have been
informed by such persons. It is difficult, however, for me to state particular facts from per
sonal observation.
On the recent meeting of the State legislature, this state of feeling on the part of those
24 RECONSTRUCTION.
formerly opposed to the government was made manifest in the election of subordinate officers
of both houses of the legislature, without exception, from among those lately returned from
the confederate army, and some of whom wore their confederate uniforms openly in and
about the two houses of the legislature. I have been informed by many commercial men
that many persons in the country object to receive anything but gold and silver in payment
for their cotton. I have heard many persons say they had no regrets for what they had
done, and are only sorry that they did not succeed. I cannot say. however, that this feeling
is general among those lately in hostility against the government, but I am certain it is the
feeling of many who hold prominent positions. I am also certain that there is a deep feeling
among that class of persons against the payment of the national debt, as' well as against the
revenue laws of the government of the United States. The recent organization of the State
militia in the country parishes, being composed almost exclusively of those lately in hostility
to the government, had had a tendency to foster a feeling of opposition to the government,
and to create a deep distrust in the minds of the emancipated blacks, who look upon it as a
measure almost exclusively levelled against them, as that militia is composed entirely of
white persons, while the laws provide for the enrolment of all classes. And there is also a
strong opposition on the part of all classes of those lately in hostility to the government to
the education and moral improvement of the blacks. In the country parishes, so far as my
information goes, and I will say it is derived principally from others, the framework of
society is in a very disturbed condition. In many parts of the State life and property are
very insecure. The papers of the country contain almost daily accounts of robberies and
murders, so that it is considered by many unsafe to travel in some of the remote parts of the
State distant from the city and from the general thoroughfares. So far as a public
expression in the newspapers of a feeling of attachment to the government of the United
States is concerned, that is now almost entirely confined to two papers in the State. All
the others are entirely passive in that respect, and many of them are daily publishing
articles which militate against the policy of the government and the emancipation laws. I
have thus, in ansAver to your question,, gone over the general outlines as they present them
selves to my mind. 4
Question. In your opinion, what has been the effect upon the rebels in the State of Louisi
ana of the acts of clemency and favor on the part of the State authorities, to which you have
referred 1 Have they tended to increase or to diminish their hostility to the national govern
ment 1
Answer. My opinion is, without being able to state particular facts, that the tendency has
been to increase the feeling of opposition to the government ; that those who were in the re
bellion, or who sympathized with it, have drawn themselves into a marked and distinct class,
until now there is a complete line of demarcation existing between those who adhered to the
government during the rebellion and those who were engaged in the rebellion.
Question. In your opinion, what has been the effect upon those rebels of the acts of clem
ency towards them on the part of the federal government 1
Answer. So far as I have been able to observe, the tendency has been to embolden them
in the opinion that they were encouraged to take possession and control of the State govern
ment, and in the opinion that it was the policy of the federal government to have them do so ;
at least such have been the opinions I have heard expressed. I will illustrate by this re
mark that has been frequently made to me by some of my old acquaintances: "We," re
ferring to themselves as those who have been secessionists, "We have now the power and
possession of the government, and we will control matters according to our own liking."
Question. In your opinion, would it have been better or would it have been worse for the
interests of the people of that State had the vigorous administration of General Butler and
General Shepley been continued ?
Answer. I think, had the administration of affairs been continued as it was under both of
those officers, and such as it was under General Banks at the time when he left the State of
Louisiana, it would have had a great tendency to create in a short time a general acquies
cence in, if not respect for, the operations of the government.
Question. Would it or not, in your judgment, be safe for the loyal people of Louisiana, both
white and black, to withdraw from that State at this time the military power and supervision
of the federal government ?
Answer. I unhesitatingly say that I do not consider it would be safe for them to do so.
My opinion is, that if the entire force of the federal government were withdrawn from the
State of Louisiana the Union men. as we call those who were loyal during the rebellion,
would be driven from almost all the rural portions of the State at least, if not from the city of
New Orleans, and the condition of the blacks would to a certain extent be worse than it was
when slavery existed there, for they would be controlled by force in such way as to be left
very little liberty whateveY
Question. What is the feeling there generally among those who have been in the rebellion
as to managing the blacks properly without physical compulsion ?
Answer. The general impression is that it cannot be done ; that the negroes will not work
unless by the application of physical force to compel them to do so.
Question. Suppose the power of the federal government were withdrawn, in your judg
ment what would be the course of the people in legislating in regard to the blacks ? Would
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 25
they seek in spirit to restore a system of servitude, or would they in good faith carry out the
spirit of the emancipation amendment of the Constitution ?
Answer. As to that I would refer you to the enactments of the legislature of Louisiana re
cently in session. They passed most stringent laws, making it a highly penal offence for any
one to do anything that might be construed into encouraging the blacks to leave the pei'sous
with whom they had made contracts for labor; and also making it a misdemeanor for the
blacks to do so, subjecting them to be arrested as vagrants and sold as such during the re
maining portion of the time for which they had contracted, and giving the preference in buy
ing them at such rate to the persons with whom they had made contracts. There have been
several instances in the parishes — equivalent to counties in other States — where the local au
thorities have passed most stringent ordinances upon that subject, but which have been over
ruled by the military authorities. I will refer here to what was done in one instance. When
Brigadier General Fullerton assumed the control of the affairs of the Freedmeii's Bureau in
the city of New Orleans, some time during last fall — I do riot remember the exact date — he
issued an order that all persons of color in and about the city of New Orleans who did not
produce evidence immediately of being employed should be arrested as vagrants.. The con
sequence was that in the course of twenty-four or forty-eight hours a very large number of
colored persons who were found upon the streets without evidence of employment with them
were put in prison. After that state of things had continued for some forty-eight hours the
order of General Fullerton was revoked by order of General Cauby, the commander of the
department, and those persons were set at liberty. I will make this general statement, that
from the habits, the universal and long-continued habits of life of the white population of
Louisiana* in the government of slaves, it is very generally believed by them that the negroes
will not work — that they will become an idle and thriftless population unless their labor can
be controlled by force ; that is the general impression. My own opinion upon that subject,
formed from long experience in Louisiana, and a pretty general acquaintance with the plant
ing interests, is that in a short time, when the negroes shall experience the necessity of labor
in order to live, they will become an industrious population. A great deal of the labor of the
city of New Orleans is now being performed by them-.
Question. Are the negroes now willing to work for those who they believe will treat them
kindly, and give them fair wages ?
Answer. Well, sir, so far as my observation extends — and I have looked into this subject
considerably — the disposition of the negroes generally is to go to work for those who will
treat them properly and pay them a fair compensation.
Question. What is the prevailing sentiment among the rebels in regard to allowing negroes
to become landholders in the State ?
Answer. There is a very general opposition to that, as well as to the education and moral
improvement of the negro race. But the opposition to negroes holding property is not so
great in Louisiana as it is in some of the adjoining States, from the fact that from time im
memorial free negroes have been landholders in Louisiana. I will add that this opposition
is more particularly directed against those negroes who were lately slaves than against what
we call in Louisiana free colored persons, of whom there have been a very large number in
the State for a great many years.
Question. Judging from your observation and means of information, what would you sug
gest as the suitable remedy to be employed by the federal government for the evils to which
you have referred as existing in the State of Louisiana ?
Answer. The first great requisite, that which I imagine would have thie best influence in
settling the state of things in Louisiana, would be to maintain there for some years a rigid
administration of the Freedmeii's Bureau, to protect the blacks in their rights, as well as to
see that they complied with the reasonable and proper contracts they might make. I con
sider that such an establishment would stand as a barrier to the encroachments of one class
upon the rights of the other. In regard to political matters, I consider that it would be a
solicism in government for us to have States containing different classes of population, one
class of which, almost equal in numbers to the other class, being entirely debarred from the
exercise of the elective franchise. There is in Louisiana a very large number among the
colored population that may be called highly intelligent. They are a mixed race, resulting
from the condition of things existing in that State for years, when the proportion of white
women was smaller than the number of white men. That class of mixed persons are property-
holders to a large extent, both in the city of New Orleans and in the parishes of the State.
They are almost all educated, and in New Orleans they comprise some of our best mechanics
in the various mechanical departments.
Question. Would it, in your opinion, be better or worse for the commercial and other in
terests of the State for the federal government to relinquish its authority there at this time?
Answer. My impression is that it would be positively beneficial to the commercial and
agricultural interests of the State of Louisiana for the federal government to continue its au
thority there for some time to come. I think such a course is necessary, until society settles
down again into its normal condition.
26 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, January 30, 1866.
Major General George H. Thomas sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUT WELL:
Question. What is your rank in the army of the United States, and what is your present
command ?
Answer. I am a major general of the United States army, and command the military
division of the Tennessee, with my headquarters at Nashville, Tennessee.
Question. What States are included in your command?
Answer. The States of Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi.
• Question. Will you state to the committee the results of your observation and information
in regard to the condition of the people of Alabama, with reference to their loyalty or dis
loyalty to the government of the United States?
•Answer. The people of Alabama are extremely anxious to be under the Constitution of the
United States, and to have that State in its regular position in the Union. But they are not
yet personally friendly to Union men. They are desirous to live under the government of the
United States, and have attempted to pass laws as judicious as they could at the time to regu
late the affairs of the freedmeu. One of those bills was not considered constitutional by the
governor, and was vetoed by him. He thinks now that the legislature will pass a just and
fair bill to regulate the affairs of the freedmen of the State.
Question. In the absence of personal good will towards the Union and Union men, on what
is founded the desire of the people of Alabama to live under the government of the United
States ?
Answer. They have had a fair trial in their attempt to gain independence, and have failed
completely in that attempt. They now profess to have given up the contest, and express
themselves as desirous of resuming their relations with the government of the United States.
Question. What proposition of the people of Alabama may be regarded as radical and con
tinuing Union men ?
Answer. That is a very difficult question to answer, for this reason : Originally, and before
secession, and during the discussion of that measure, a majority of the people of Alabama
were for the Union. And when the subject was first submitted to the people a majority voted
against secession. And I am informed that the State of Alabama was eventually taken out
of the Union by means of political trickery on the part of prominent leading and 'determined
secessionists in the State. Then the people, finding themselves in that condition, and being
desirous of preserving their property, acquiesced in the result, and in many instances seemed
to give up their Union sentiments and advocate the cause of the confederacy. And some of
those original Union people have remained rebels, and are now strongly in sympathy with
the enemies of the government. Others have expressed their gladness that the rebellion has
been crushed, and profess to Desire to have the State back in the Union. But their interests
and sympathies have such a hold upon them at this time that it is very difficult to obtain a
clear expression of the sentiments of any man there.
Question. So far as you are able to judge, what proportion of the people of Alabama, at
the present time, are avowed Unionists, to the extent of condemning the rebellion and enter
taining a desire to be under the national government, even if it were possible for them to
establish the confederacy ?
Answer. Well, sir, I am inclined to think that a very small proportion of them would be
willing to sacrifice their property and interests in the south for the sake of the Union. They
did not do it before, and it is fair to presume that they would still adhere to the advancement
of their own private interests in preference to the interests of the national government.
Question. What is the state of feeling existing between those who have been avowed
Unionists through the war, and those who have been identified with the rebellion?
Answer. In some portions of the State there is a very bitter feeling ; in other portions of
the State the people all seem to desire to be friendly with one another, and to adhere to
the government.
Question. In which part of the State is there the best condition of feeling among the
people in reference to the national government ?
Answer. In some portions of north Alabama the public sentiment is decidedly in favor of
the government ; in other portions of the State I think the sentiment of the people may be
expressed in this way: if they thought they could establish a southern confederacy they
would prefer it : but seeing no hope of that, they desire to live under the Constitution of the
United States. There is in Alabama a strong and decided disloyal sentiment, though I
think the Union sentiment predominates in many portions of the State.
Question. Do you know of anything being said, or any measures taken, in reference, to
recovering from the United States payment for claims or compensation for losses sustained
by the people during the war?
Answer. I have not heard of any combination for that purpose.
Question. Have any measures been taken by the legislature of Alabama, or by any officers
there, to ascertain the amount of such losses ?
Answer. I do not think there have been. If any such measures have been taken it has
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI— ALABAMA.
27
been done very quietly, so as not to have been observed by the officers of the government
stationed in the State ; at least they have not reported it to me.'
Question. In the elections that have taken place in that State, has it or not been common
for candidates to put themselves before the people as having participated more or less actively
in the rebellion 1
Answer. I do not know that it was a universal thing for that to be done. There were two
distinct parties in northern Alabama, and the Union candidates for Congress were defeated.
But I think the Union candidates there for the State legislature were either all of them
elected, or a majority of them were elected.
Question. How was it in central and in southern Alabama ?
Answer. I think the successful candidates in central and southern Alabama were either
officers of the rebel armyf or active and working rebels. A report of frauds in the elections
in certain districts in Alabama was forwarded to me — I forget now which districts. Those
reports have been forwarded to Washington, and I suppose they are now on file in the Adju
tant General's office.
Question. Will you state generally what was the nature of the alleged frauds?
Answer. That improper persons were permitted to vote ; that was the charge, and it was
substantiated, as I have been informed.
Question. And those persons were not entitled to vote for what reasons ?
Answer. On account of their participation in the rebellion. I think voters were required
to take the oath of allegiance, or were required to swear that they had not taken part in the
rebellion ; neither of which conditions was enforced in some districts.
Question. What is the condition of the State generally with reference to personal safety ?
Answer. Up to this time Union men and the freedmen have not been, to a very great
extent, in danger of their lives. But a few instances of personal violence have been reported
to me. Generally speaking, the presence of the United States troops and of the officers of
the Freedmeu's Bureau have been sufficient to put down any demonstrations of hostility.
Question. What is your opinion of the expediency of removing the troops of the United
States from Alabama?
Answer. I do not think it would be expedient to remove the troops until the people show
that they are themselves willing and determined to execute the civil law with impartial
justice to all parties.
Question. Do you know of any combinations among any classes of employers with
reference to the wages to be paid to freedmen, or the conditions on which they shall be em
ployed ?
Answer. I have heard of combinations, but my information has been of an indefinite
nature. I have, however, on all such occasions warned the officers of the Freedmeu's
Bureau to take steps to prevent any undue advantage being taken by employers over the
laborers they employ; and that has been sufficient to prevent any combinations from
becoming prominent, even if they had any existence. I have had no positive reports made to
me of combinations of such a character being entered into.
Question. Is there any disposition to allow the freedmen to become freeholders, or to pre
vent them from becoming such — any such disposition as would amount even to a public sen-
ment?
Answer. I think public sentiment is divided in that respect. I have heard of no legislation
on that subject, either to empower them to become freeholders or to forbH them from
becoming freeholders.
Question. If the national troops and the Freedmen's Bureau were removed from Alabama,
what results would you anticipate in regard to freedmen ?'
Answer. If that were done at this time, I do not believe that the freedmen or that Union
men could have justice done them.
Question. What form would the injustice be likely to take?
Answer. It would commence with suits in the courts for petty offences, and neighborhood
combinations to annoy them so much that they could not reside in the neighborhood. I am
satisfied that until a better state of feeling shall arise there, if all restraint should be removed,
the freedmen would be thrown back into a condition of virtual slavery ; that is, they would
be compelled by legislative enactments to labor for little or no wages, and the legislation
would assume such a form that they would not dare to leave their employers for fear of
punishment.
Question. How would it be with men who during the war have been avowed Union
men ?
Answer. Unless they had very warm personal friends they could not live in the State.
They would be annoyed so much in various ways that they could not live there in any peace
and comfort.
Question. What is the feeling of the people, so far as you know, in regard to receiving
emigrants from abroad, or from the northern and western States? Would they be received
kindly or otherwise ?
Answer. I think that emigrants from abroad would be kindly received. But I think emi
grants from the north, or Union men, would be treated coldly or with indifference.
Question. What is your opinion in regard to the propriety of removing the negroes, if
28 RECONSTRUCTION.
territory could be assigned them where they could become freeholders ? Would they be dis
posed to go, or have they any opinions on "that subject ?
Answer. I do not know that any effort has been made to ascertain whether or not the ne
groes would be willing to remove to any territory assigned to them; but from my knowledge
of the negro character I think they would object to it. I think that the mass of them desire
very much to continue to live in their old neighborhoods, and with their old masters invaria
bly where they have been treated well as slaves.
Question. Will you state generally what have been your opportunities for obtaining a
knowledge of the characteristics of the negro race ?
Answer. I was born in a southern State, and reared to the age of nineteen in that region of
the country. Since I have been in the army my services have been mostly in the southern
States and on the frontier bordering on the southern States?
Question. What is your opinion of the danger of trouble with the negroes if they remain
where they are and are justly treated ?
Answer. There is no danger from them whatever, unless the whites treat them so badly
that they are compelled in self-defence to rise up against them.
Question. Has anything been done in Alabama since emancipation in reference to the
education of negroes 1
^ Answer. There is one section of the State of Alabama where the people, under the direc
tion of a philanthropic gentleman of that State, have gone to work of themselves to establish
a freedmen's court, or something like it or equivalent to it, through which they propose to
administer fair and impartial justice between the employers and the negroes. And they have
also undertaken to establish schools for the religious instruction of the negroes, and for edu
cation in the primitive branches of knowledge.
Question. What is the disposition and capacity of the negroes for education ?
Answer. The disposition is universal among them, especially among the younger portion,
to acquire education. Their capacity for receiving instruction has not yet been fully devel
oped. But from all I can learn from conversation with different persons, tjiey possess a fair
capacity for acquiring knowledge. I think the 'second generation can be instructed much
more easily and much more thoroughly than the present generation, because, in a measure,
the mind of the negro is entirely undeveloped at present, except in the matter of practical
observation.
Question. What is the disposition of the negro to labor ? Is there any trouble with him in
that respect if he is offered fair wages and assured of receiving his compensation?
Answer. I think in every instance when the negro has become assured that he would be
paid fair wages he has gone to work willingly, and has continued to work as long as the con
tract has been faithfully performed on the part of his employer.
Question. Will you state, in general terms, how the condition of Georgia differs from that
of Alabama, if at all ?
Answer. I do not think that the condition of the State of Georgia differs materially from
that^of Alabama. There may be there somewhat more of personal hatred towards the" negro
in his relation as a freedman, but as yet it has been easily controlled through the Freedmen's
Bureau, and that feeling is constantly improving in all of the States.
Question. How does Mississippi differ from Alabama, if in any way ?
Answer. The people of Mississippi appear to me to be more impulsive and more prone to
stand up for Bid assert their opinions. It is a difficult matter to describe the difference be
tween the people of those two States ; yet there is a difference.
Question. If I understand you, you consider Mississippi the least promising of the three
States of which you have spoken ?
Answer. Yes, sir; the people of that State do not listen to arguments and discussion with
as much calmness as the people of Alabama do.
Question. What is the state of the public mind now in the three States you have described,
with reference to the government, as compared with the condition of the public mind soon
after Lee's surrender?
Answer. I do not know that I am competent to give a decided answer to that question, be
cause the reports I received soon after Lee's surrender were generally from persons who trav
elled hurriedly through that section of the country. I think that in the great majority of
cases they were disposed to look on the most favorable side, immediately after the surrender
of Lee and the downfall of the confederacy, and perhaps they did not investigate as closely
as persons would at. the present time. The universal report made to me by persons travelling
through those States at that time was to the effect that the mass of the people were very happy
at the downfall of the rebellion and at their prospect of soon getting again under the Consti
tution and government of the United States.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 29
WASHINGTON, February 2, 1866.
Major General George H. Thomas re-called and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Do you know anything, from information or report, of secret organizations in
the south said to be hostile to the government of the United States ?
Answer. I have received several communications to that effect ; but the persons who have
given me this information have desired that their names should not be mentioned, and as yet
no direct accusations have been made in regard to any one person or any class of persons.
There have been steps taken to ascertain the truth of the matter. The persons communica
ting with me are reliable and truthful, and I believe their statements are correct in the main.
But how far this disaffection exteijds I am not as yet able to say. It does exist to a certain
extent, and I am taking measures to obtain as mucfi information on the subject as I can.
Question. To what States does this information relate ?
Answer. It relates to all the States lately in rebellion. I think there is no real danger to
be apprehended, because the military authority and power of the government is not only
feared in those States, but I think it is ample to put down any serious demonstration.
Question. Is this information from different sources, each entirely independent of the
other ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. So far as you are informed, what are the nature and objects of this organiza
tion ?
Answer. To embarrass the government of the United States in the proper administration
of the affairs of the country, by endeavoring or making strong efforts to gain very import
ant concessions to the people of the south ; if possible, to repudiate the national debt in
curred in consequence of the rebellion, or to gain such an ascendancy in Congress as to
make provision for the assumption by Congress of the debt incurred by the rebel govern
ment ; also, in case the United States government can be involved in a foreign war, to watch
their opportunity and take advantage of the first that occurs to strike for the independence
of the States lately in rebellion.
Question. Do you know of any persons of influence being implicated in this movement ?
Answer. As yet I have not ascertained that any persons of influence are implicated in it.
And I will further state, injustice to the people of the south, that I know of many men who
were prominent in the rebel army, who I believe are now honestly trying to become good
citizens of the United States. They have been paroled by the military authority, have ap-
Elied to the President of the United States for pardon, and are awaiting his decision. They
ave set themselves to work quietly to earn an honest livelihood in some practical and
peaceful manner, thereby setting a good example to the other people of the south.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 30, 1866.
Major General Clinton B. Fisk called, sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. State the nature and extent of your acquaintance with the people of Alabama
since Lee's surrender, and the results of your acquaintance in reference to their loyalty or
disloyalty.
Answer. From the month of June until November, that portion of Alabama north of about
the 34th parallel, including all the territory north of the mountains known as the Valley of
the Tennessee, was included 'in my district of the Freedmen's Bureau. My opportunities
for meeting the people of that section were very good during all those months, and even
now. I found a good many loyal people in northern Alabama, inasmuch as there has been
a very healthy emigration from the northern States there, including a very considerable
number of officers mustered out of our own service, and have bought or leased plantations
in northern Alabama, and, in fact, I should say that half the industry of that section of country
was in the hands of northern men this year. Perhaps half the business houses in Huuts-
ville, its principal city, are conducted by northern men and northern officers. The old slave-
holding population of northern Alabama are as rebellious in spirit as ever. There is there a
large population of non-slaveholders, very poor people, who are denominated "Alabama
Yankees," inhabiting the Sand Mountain region, who have from the beginning of the strug
gle been loyal. I was in northern Alabama, travelling through there during the canvass for
members of the State convention, attended the hustings and heard their speeches from the
stump. Returned rebel officers were among the candidates and were usually successful at
the election.
60 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. From the information you have, how does northern Alabama compare with the
other sections of the State in reference to loyalty ?
Answer. I think it is in a better condition than any other portion of Alabama. I judge
from information as to the other portions of the State.
Question. Do you know of any combinations among employers for the purpose of regulat
ing the price of labor among the freedmen ?
Answer. There were such combinations made early in the summer, among the planters in
their conventions, fixing a very low rate of compensation for the labor of the freedmen. But
the combinations were broken up by the officers of the Freedmen's Bureau. My orders pro
hibited any combinations of the people, or of communities, fixing any rate of wages. My
directions to my subordinates were, to let labor, like any other commodity, compete in an
open market.
Question. Are the officers of the army and of the Freedmen's Bureau generally received
kindly by the old inhabitants of Alabama, or otherwise?
Answer. A great many of the old inhabitants, the largest slaveholders, and most intelligent
men, were among those who most heartily co-operated with me ; while there would be others,
who were apparently their equals in wealth and intelligence, who resisted me with all their
might. But neither officers of the government, civil or military, or citizens from the north,
are received into the social circle in Alabama ; they are shut out completely.
Question. What is the disposition of the people in reference to the education of the negroes,
and their improvement generally ?
Answer. In northern Alabama there are no old Alabamians who give it any encourage
ment at all. The educational interests are all in the hands of northern societies. There is an
excellent system of schools in northern Alabama, established there by northern aid commis
sions, and doing a great work. There is hardly a family in all that section who would per
mit a teacher of colored children to board with them; consequently, the teachers sent there
by northern societies and benevolent enterprises have found it necessary to establish them
selves in their own houses ; and if not aided by the government, could not obtain a building
to teach in.
Question. What is the disposition of the negroes, as far as you have observed, in reference
to laboring, if they are properly paid ?
Answer. With fair wages, promptly paid, there is no trouble at all. There is a great de
mand at this present time for laborers in northern Alabama by persons who have leased the
large plantations.
Question. Is there a disposition on the part of the landholders to sell their lands or to hold
them?
Answer. There was more of a disposition to sell three or four months ago than at present —
to sell to emigrants. There was no disposition at any time, upon the part of any of the old
Alabamians, to encourage negroes to acquire or hold property.
Question. Are there any negroes who have any means of buying property at present?
Answer. Yes, many of them have means. There is one negro in the city of Huntsville
who pays taxes on a large amount of property ; his name is Robinson.
Question. Was he free before the war ?
Answer. He was. Negroes who have had the means and opportunities of cultivating lands,
as some of them have in northern Alabama for the last two years, under the protection of the
government, have done so with great success. Much the best cotton marketed in that neigh
borhood the past year has been raised under their direction.
r Question. Do you apprehend any danger from negro insurrections in that country ?
Answer. Not the least. During the lew weeks preceding the holidays there was great fear
upon the part of the people of my district, in many portions of it, that there would be an in
surrection ; that when Christmas came the negroes would rise en masse and kill off the white
people. During the holidays I went into the most thickly populated negro sections of my
district and met the people in large numbers, without distinction of color, and talked with
them about that. I did not discover that there had been the least cause in the world for the
apprehension; The negroes passed through the holidays without a single disturbance in the
district, not one. They all knew of the apprehension of the white people, and talked about
it. But they said there was nothing in it ; that none of them thought of such a thing. Still
a portion of the Memphis press and the Mississippi press particularly were filled with it
every day, warning the white people to be well armed, to watch and to kill every negro on
the first demonstration. That frightened some of the negroes, who thought it was an attempt
on the part of the white people to create a disturbance in order to massacre them. Many of
the it-turned negro soldiers who had their arms got ready for any demonstration or any trouble.
<I went myself into northern Mississippi to look after a reported insurrection of negroes there,
and found the whole thing had grown out of one negro marching through the woods with his
fowling-piece to shoot squirrels to feed his family. It was magnified into hundreds of negroes
marching upon their old masters with bloody intent by the time it reached Memphis and the
papers in the north. One of the most serious obstacles we have to encounter in that section
of country is the course pursued by a majority of the newspapers. The city of Memphis
has five or six sheets edited by the men who wrote up the rebellion and now hate the gov-
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — A LAB AMA. 3 1
ernment of the United States. They circulate freely through northern Mississippi, for Mem
phis is located within a few miles of the State line, and the Memphis and Charleston railroad
runs into northern Mississippi and then east through northern Alabama. It seemed, from the
reading of some of these papers at that period, that it was the intention of the editors to
create an insurrection if possible. But the holidays pass, the negroes did not insurrect, and
there was no trouble of any kind. They did not contract as freely for labor as they did after
the holidays. There is no doubt but what a majority of the colored population in those States
down there positively believed that the government would take the plantations, with their old
masters who had been in the rebel service, cut them up into forty-acre parcels, and give them
to the colored people. Many of our soldiers told them, as the army marched victoriously to
the Gulf, that we were to give them the plantations and make them the lords of the soil here
after. I have had occasion to disabuse the minds of negroes of that idea, who had received
it from the troops of my own command in Mississippi. Then tho rebel masters of that s$c-
tion very generally stated, in the presence of their old slaves, that if the Yankees succeeded
in subjugating them they would take their plantations away and distribute their property
among the negroes. Then they had heard, of course, of the establishment of the Freedmen's
Bureau, and of certain abandoned lands, in reference to which the .negroes were to enjoy
certain rights, the right ofl easing, and after three years, of purchasing at a certain valuation.
They understood all that, and I found, on going among them, that they fully believed the
lands were to be so divided. When they were disabused of that impression, and found there
were no lands to be given to them, most of them were ready to contract for labor. The first
twenty days of this month the Memphis agency made contracts with 7,280 persons for labor.
They made contracts covering not only West Tennessee, but southern Mississippi and eastern
Arkansas, Memphis being central to all that great section.
Question. What have been your means of information in regard to Georgia since the sur
render of Lee ?
Answer. Of southern Georgia the same as southern Alabama ; of the southern part of the
State as far south as Atlanta.
Question. How does the public sentiment and conduct of the people there compare with
that of the peoprh of southern Alabama ?
Answer. Just about the same, as far as I can judge.
Question. What has been your acquaintance in Mississippi during the same period of
time?
Answer. Of southern Mississippi the same as of the other States I have mentioned. I
have had the same opportunities for knowing the condition of matters there.
Question. What is the condition of that part of Mississippi compared with southern Alaba
ma and Georgia ?
Answer. Mississippi is in a worse condition than that of either of these States ; that is to
say, there is more brutal treatment of freedmen, and there is more persecution of white loyal
citizens — much more. The legislation there has been against the freedmen decidedly. Re
cent laws enacted by its legislature prohibit the negroes from holding lands. They enacted
a law which describes the negro, not as a fugitive from slavery, but as a deserter from em
ployment, making it an offence for any white person in the State to give him a cup of cold water
or a piece of bread, it he happens to be a deserter from employment. He must go back to the
place where he was employed. There is a very decided opposition to justice being done gen
erally to freedmen in northern Mississippi. I received a few days since a letter from a large
planter, living in De Soto county, in response to a communication asking him to surrender a
little girl he had in his possession to her mother, who was then living in Memphis, but who
was formerly his slave. He declined to give up the girl, and wrote me a long letter in rela
tion to it, which closed up by saying : "As to recognizing the rights of freedmeu to their
children, I will say there is not one man or woman in all the south who believes they are free,
but we consider them as stolen property — stolen by the bayonets of the damnable United
States government. Yours truly, T. Yancey." That is a sample of very much of the corre
spondence we have with that class of people. The original of that letter is at the Freedmen's
Bureau here in Washington. I sent it to General Howard. I have to-day received the
statement of two very respectable colored men who went into northern Mississippi from
Nashville and rented plantations. Both of them were men of means, and one a reputed son
of Ishani G. Harris, former governor of Tennessee. Both were very intelligent colored men.
They have been driven out and warned not to put their feet within the State again. Their writ
ten statements and affidavits I have, and will cheerfully place them in the hands of the com
mittee if they desire it. They are reliable men ; I know them both.
Question. What, in your opinion, would be the result of withdrawing the troops from
Georgia, Alabama and Mississippi, and of suspending the operations of the Freedmen's
Bureau ?
Answer. I think it would be disastrous — indeed, a great calamity to that section of the
country.
Question. In what way would it be disastrous ? What results would you anticipate ?
Answer. It would destroy their industry almost entirely. The freedmen would not remain
there. There would be no cheerful, contented, productive labor in that section of the coun-
32 RECONSTRUCTION.
try. Unless the laborer is assured that he has a government agent set for his protection and
defence, lie would withdraw, and the condition of things would be too unpleasant for noith-
ern men of enterprise to live in that section of country.
Question. Has there been any change of public sentiment that is apparent, within the last
six months, in reference to this government, favorable or unfavorable?
Answer. In the early months after the surrender there seemed to have been a much better
feeling of submission to the logic of events manifested than subsequent to that period. The
people grew insolent, were full of criticism of the conduct of the government, and treated the
government officials shabbily. Then that seemed to wear away, and a better feeling came
over them ; a sort of intermittent submission, if I may so describe it, prevails among the peo
ple of that section of country. I have never met a man down there who went into the rebel
lion and did all he could, either in a military or civil capacity, who expressed the least regret
in the world that he went into it, or in the least sorry for anything in connexion with it, except
that the confederacy failed. They wish it had been a success. Of course there are a great
number of people down there who recognize the fact that, having appealed to the arbitrament
of the sword and been defeated, the best thing they can do now is to become and remain good
citizens. If the women of the south, the ministers of the south, and the press of the south
were right, there woulS be no difficulty. There would be real loyalty found there if it could
be encouraged properly. I do not mean to say the ministers go into the pulpit and preach
against this government. But as a class, they have more influence as pastors at the south,
moving quietly among the people, than, perhaps, they do in the north. They, to a greater
extent, make the sentiment there, and the great mass of them oppose, bitterly, this govern
ment. The newspapers are full of editorials asking the people, not to allow these nasal-
twanged, blue-bellied, s'pmdle-shanked Yankees to settle in their midst. An editorial of this
kind appeared a few days ago in one of the leading papers of Memphis. I heard it read in a
railway train, and it rejoiced a great many southern men. They said, " That's the sort of
talk. We are not going to have these people come down here nosing around and making
money off our misfortunes. We will make it too hot for them." Of course, there are a great
many sensible people down there, who advise against such talk, who condemn such editori
als, and who would be glad if their ministers would take a different course. dPne °f the chief
causes for the late disturbances in northern Mississippi was the arming of their local militia.
They were ordered by the adjutant general of the State to disarm the negroes and turn their
arms into the arsenals. That caused great dissatisfaction and disturbance. We immediately
issued orders prohibiting the disarming of the negroes, since which it has become more quiet.
The enactment and enforcement of just laws, laws that would give impartial justice to the
freedmen of the south, would do more to tranquillize and secure prosperity than anything
else ; and until that is done, I could not advise the withdrawal of the troops or the protection
of the government over a single foot of the territory of which I have been speaking.
Question. Can we expect such laws from the local authorities there at present ?
Answer. Not at present. The legislation in Alabama, thus far, has been better than in
either of the other States, and Alabama may be said to be in a better condition than either.
Question. State if you know anything of the condition of Arkansas.
Answer. My knowledge of eastern Arkansas is the same as of the northern portions of. the
three States in reference to which I have spoken. We have had very much to do* with the
contracts of the freedmen in that portion of Arkansas contiguous to Memphis — of the portion
of the State east of the St. Francis river.
Question. State the condition of Arkansas as far as you know it.
Answer. Arkansas would compare very favorably with northern Alabama. The condition
in that State is better than in Mississippi. The planters in eastern Arkansas have treated
tljeir freedmen Avith greater generosity and fairness than they have in either of the other States.
They are quite disposed to rent their plantations for a share of the crops to their freed people.
For instance, the planter furnishes the teams, implements, seed, &c., and the freedmen do
the work and receive one-third the crop. I saw, the other day, a freedman from one of the
plantations in eastern Arkansas, who sold his share of the crop for 1865 for $1,100. He de
posited the greater portion of his earnings in the Freedman's Savings Bank, bought spelling
books for his children,' and a little outfit of supplies for his family and returned That por
tion of the State is sparsely settled, and there has not been, in the aggregate, very much of
the evil over there which has been experienced in other States.
Question. Is there still a necessity for the army and the bureau to be continued in eastern
Arkansas '.'
Answer. There is a necessity for the bureau, and the bureau needs the army — that is, the
presence of a military force. It would aid greatly in that section of country if men, who felt
right, who believed right, and are right, would be active instead of passive in the presence of
wrongs to the freedman or injustice to white Unionists. If they would meet in conventions in
their counties and declare against these wrongs — against these evils — and determine they
should stop, it would do a great deal toward putting them down, but there is but little active
sentiment in behalf of loyalty and justice. /
Quesiion. What is the opinion of the truly loyal men, those who have been on the side of
the Union during the war, on the question of retaining the troops and the bureau ?
Answer. They are unanimous for the retention of both.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA. 33
WASHINGTON January 31, 1866.
Brigadier General Charles H. Howard sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. You are in the military service of the United States ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What is your rank?
Answer. Brevet brigadier general of volunteers.
Question. On what service are you now ?
Answer. I am an inspector in the Freedmen's Bureau.
Question. You are a brother of Major General O. O. Howard ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. State whether you have been on service in the States of Virginia, North Carolina,
and South Carolina.
Answer. I have been on service in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida for about three
months past.
Question. Where have you resided principally ?
Answer. My headquarters were at Charleston, S. C.
Question. Where are they now ?
Answer. I am now ordered here for duty in this District.
Question. Are you conversant with the state of feeling in South Carolina, the prevalent
state 6f feeling among the rebels, in regard to the government of the United States ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think I am. I have had a good opportunity to be conversant with it.
Question State in general terms what have been your opportunities to observe the state
of feeling in South Carolina.
Answer. From my residence in Charleston since early in September last, and from my
residence in South Carolina since the beginning of April last, and from several inspection
tours which I have made through different counties of South Carolina. These are the means
of my knowledge of the sentiments of the people there.
Question. State whether you spent considerable time on these tours of inspection. t
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have often spent a day, or two or three days, at a place and in a
county.
Question. Did you visit many towns and cities in the State?
• Answer. Yes, sir ; I visited all the principal cities in South Carolina.
Question. And the principal villages ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I was in pretty much every county in South Carolina, with one or two
exceptions, and at different times.
Question. Did you mingle freely in conversation with the rebel portion of the community?
Answer. Yes, sir ; in my travels in the cars and in stages, and on visiting different planta
tions, and in stopping at hotels, and in my official intercourse, I was necessarily brought in
contact with them.
Question. You talked with them freely? .
Answer. I made it a purpose to converse freely because I was an inspecting officer, and
my duty, as I interpreted it, was to get at the condition of things, get at the facts rather than
anything else.
Question. From the opinion which you thus derived, state what appears to be the feeling
down among the people of South Carolina toward the government of the United States ; is it
friendly, or is it unfriendly ?
Answer. I think that the feeling of a majority of the people of South Carolina is not kindly,
and can hardly be called friendly, towards the government of the United States. I did meet
with old gentlemen who seemed to express an undoubted disposition to be faithful in their
duties as citizens hereafter; but I met with a great many wno exhibited ill-feeling, and a
disposition to get around, in anyway they could, the requirements of the government; a
disposition to oppose, if they could, the purposes of the government, especially in reference
to the negro. This I found to a very large extent. Their feeling as exhibited toward men
who had been Union men and loyal from the beginning was unmistakable."
Question. Was it bitter?
Answer. Yes, sir; it was bitter. I found that that class of men felt it deeply and com
plained of it, and complained also that the government had, as they thought, allowed their '
enemies, as they' called them, and the enemies of the United States, a hearing, and had not
given to them any opportunity of expressing their views and feelings. They complained that
the result was that they were actually ostracised in the matter of all government offices, and
agencies, and influence. That same feeling I found very marked in reference to northern
immigrants' those who had come there with a disposition to settle. I found also, in conver
sation with these northern residents, that they agreed to the same; that there was no disposi
tion to foster northern immigration ; and they expressed to me the opinion that unless the
United States agencies and authorities were continued there, it would be almost impossible
for them to remain there. In some counties they thought they would be forced away. Still
there was some difference in that respect. Some communities were not so bad as others.
3 A G M A
34 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What is the military force in the State of South Carolina ?
Answer. The force has been diminishing constantly during1 these three months. There are
comparatively few troops there now, although there are some in nearly every county — a small
garrison.
Question. Suppose the Union military forces should be withdrawn now from South Caro
lina, what would be the effect of their withdrawal ?
Answer. I think that it would be a source of great injury to the freedmen throughout the
State; I think they would suffer from it in their persons and property, and in all their busi
ness relations and affairs. In fact, they would be' prevented, in the present state of public
sentiment, from carrying on any legitimate business in the State by those who are felt to be
their enemies, and who seem to be naturally opposed to them — former slaveholders as a
whole. Another ill effect that would doubtless follow the withdrawal of the troops would be
the complete ostracism of the old Union men ; and a third ill effect would be the injury to
northern residents, and the prevention of northern immigration. I consider these things ineV
itable.
Question. Would it be safe for the old Union men of South Carolina and the northern
immigrant to remain in the State after the withdrawal of the forces?
Answer. In some portions of the State I am convinced that no northern residents could re
main, unless they curried favor, in some way, with the ex-rebels. The Union men who live
there, and who have lived there, are very few in South Carolina, much fewer than in Georgia
or Florida. Those who have been there might remain undisturbed, but th^ would never
have any political privileges whatever. I can say a great deal more with reference to the
ill results that would come to the negroes from a withdrawal of the United States forces.
Question. State your opinion freely as to these results ; that is one important branch of
our inquiry.
Answer. In addition to what I have said in reference to the negro, the public sentiment in
regard to the education of the negro is very clearly defined. There are very few exceptions
among these ex-rebels of South Carolina who are not positively opposed to the education
of the negro.
Question. Why ?
Answer. Some on the ground that it is labor lost entirely ; that it would be useless
to undertake such a work ; and others on the ground that it would be a positive injury to
labor ; that the negro would not work as well ; in fact, upon the general ground that the
education of the laborer is injurious to the interests of labor. They take that ground in
argument. *
Question. As a principle of political economy, I suppose?
Answer. Yes, sir; and chiefly, I believe, from their old prejudices against the negro.
They would not be able to state what you would consider a valid argument why the negro
should not be educated, except the folly of it and the uselessness of it. They would all
agree upon giving that as a reason ; but their feelings are very strong upon that point against
educating the negro and against any one who has anything to do with it. They would never
receive on any social equality the lady teachers who go down there, whatever might
have been their social position at the north. They never receive them into, social equality,
and they try to make it uncomfortable for them. In fact, I have had great difficulty to con
tend with in locating female teachers, particularly in towns. It has been almost impossible
to procure boarding-places for them. People who need the pecuniary advantages of keeping
boarders would refuse to receive teachers into their families because they were negro teachers.
The same feeling existed in each of the three States — South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
It was shown, too, in refusing to allow us public buildings. It was part of my duty to locate
schools ; and this disposition against the education of the negro appeared particularly in their
refusing to give up buildings that were not used for any purpose whatever, and which might
as well have been devoted to that purpose as, not. For instance : I found a comparatively
small village where there were two academic buildings, which had not been used during the
war. I proposed that I should be allowed to take the building that was most out of repair,
in order to use it for a school for colored children, the colored people there promising that
they would repair it and put it in good order, and offering to use it only for such time as a
building could be erected by them. They were willing to do that work, but it would take
some time, and they wanted to locate their school at once. The prominent citizens
of the place positively refused to allow the building to be used for that purpose, stating
that white people would never again send their children there, and the building would
ever after be useless as a school for white children. This was stated to me by prominent
citizens, judges of the district, and men who were apparently conservative, as they were
called, and as I considered them; men who were apparently well-disposed towards the
United States government. They were so positive in this matter that the idea had to be
relinquished. •
Question. State whether the blacks are anxious to obtain education generally.
Answer. Yes, sir; 1 found that not only general, but I can say universal. I have never
found any community of blacks, never addressed them at public meetings or individually,
wheie I did not find in them an eagerness to learn, either on their own part or especially for
their children. Sometimes on plantations, when I urged the necessity of the blacks renewing
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 35
their contracts for another year, they have given as the prominent reason why they wished
to change employers and go elsewhere, their desire to get near a village where they could
have a school for their children. That was so universal that I considered it rather remarkable
that there should be such a unanimity on the part of them all for education. $
Question. Compared with the white children, how much capacity for learning do the negro
children exhibit ?
Answer. I visited a short time since a school that we have in Charleston, South Carolina,
and made it a special object to examine the scholars as to their proficiency. The school
consisted of a thousand pupils, with an average attendance of about eight hundred. It is
in charge of a colored man, an educated man, a native of 'Charleston, but who was away
from there during the war. The scholars are all colored, and many of the teachers are
colored. I went from room to room and examined the scholars in different branches, in
grammar, arithmetic, and geography. I found that many of the scholars had made an equal
proficiency with the same classes in other schools in the north with which I have been familiar.
This school has been only in operation since the taking of Charleston, of course. There
seemed to have been a wonderful proficiency, taking into account the short time it was in
existence. I had heard, and was somewhat of opinion myself, that the colored people were
disposed to learn by rote; that they memorized matters pretty readily and repeated them
parrot-like, and that the depth and profundity of their knowledge was rather limited. That
was my impression before going into these schools, but I was happily disappointed in ex
amining individual cases to find that they understood the reasons of things. In the grammar,
for instance, they could give the rules and the reasons, and in arithmetic they could explain
the problems. They seemed to understand the reasons so far as I conducted the examination.
I was surprised to fiud the thoroughness of their education, and it convinced me that really
there was not that limit which I previously thought there was in regard to the thoroughness
of their learning.
Question. Do you mean to be understood as saying that you have observed no inferiority,
in point of capacity, of colored to white children ?
Answer. As far as my observation went in those schools, I must acknowledge that, con
sidering the time they had been at school, I could not see that there was any inferiority to
what I would have expected in white children, and I have had experience in teaching, myself,
in former years. I would not be able to express the opinion that there was any inferiority,
considering the circumstances.
Question. How extensive in South Carolina is that prejudice of which you spoke against
the education of blacks; is it confined to any particular class of whites?
Answer. It is pretty universal. I would not say that it is^confined to any particular class.
Question. Is that feeling as intense among the higher classes of whites in South Carolina
as it is among the lower classes ?
Answer. As a class I think it is ; that is to say, among the wealthy planters. It exists as
much among those who are merchants and mechanics. That is the way they divide the
classes there.
Question. What is the sentiment among the lower strata of society ; among the poorer white
people of South Carolina ?
Answer. As a general thing, my observation is that that class has been so moulded, in con
tact with the others in South Carolina, that they have not a true appreciation of education
themselves, and they have as blind a prejudice about the negro as any others.
Question. Is it not somewhat more intense?
Answer. I think it is more intense than among the better educated people — the better
thinking men. There are some among the first classes of South Carolinians, educated men
and Christian men, as I believe them to be, who are not so bitterly opposed to the education
of the blacks, although they seem to regard it as a folly. I never have seem in South
Carolina any who felt interest enough in it to advocate it, or to take measures, either in their
legislature or elsewhere, to bring about the education of the blacks. Yet there are some
among the better portion of the community who are not so much opposed to it. In Georgia
and in Florida I found some of the* better classes of the community who are in favor of the
education of the blacks, but not many, comparatively a small number.
Question. How would a proposal to allow a negro to vote be accepted in South Carolina?
Answer. They are utterly and unqualifiedly opposed to negroes voting.
Question. Have yoii any knowledge respecting the state of things on the sea^-islands, as
they are called ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have visited the sea-islands recently.
Question. How many of these islands are there ?
Answer. There are some eight or ten or more of the larger islands.
Question. Famous for their production of cotton ?
Answer! Yes, sir; sea-island. cotton.
Question. Can you state how these islands are now principally occupied ?
Answer. A number of plantations on each, 'and sometimes entire islands, have been for
mally restored to their former owners. They were all abandoned during the war. On sev
eral of the islands negroes have been located and have been engaged in cultivating the laud.
Some, and a considerable number, previously to General Sherman's celebrated order, issued
36 RECONSTRUCTION.
last winter at Savannah, and a large number under the provisions of that order, have heen
located on the different islands. A considerable number have received formal titles to forty
acres each on these islands. Where there were large numbers of them on any given plantation
they still remain in possession ; but where there were very few on a plantation, the plantation
has been, in some cases, restored. The understanding was that the orders were that where
there were very few negroes on a plantation the plantation should be restored if the negroes
were properly provided with homes.
Question. How long is it since they were restored ?
Answer. They have been in process of restoration since the latter part of October, more or
less, all along. It was by direction of the President.
Question. What has become of the blacks who were formerly located on them ; are they
chiefly there 1
Answer. As I stated, the limitation has been to where there were only a few negroes on a
plantation, and these few sometimes have made contracts to work for the former owners at
fair rates, while some of them have preferred to leave altogether. The general disposition is,
when they cannot get titles themselves, that they would rather leave altogether than make
contracts with their former owners.
Question. They would prefer to be owners themselves ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and I may add that there is a strong desire, amounting almost to a pas
sion, on the part of a large number of the more enterprising of the blacks, to obtain land by
lease, or to own land, and that there is a corresponding repugnance on the part of the citizens
of South Carolina to allow them either to obtain land by lease or purchase. That is the case
in Georgia also. In fact, I may say that there is a determination on the part of the old white
residents, so far as I could see, not to allow them either to own or to rent land.
Question. Is that feeling very general ?
Answer. That feeling is universal among the white residents ; so much so, that, meeting the
other strong desire on the part of the blacks, it produces a great deal of distrust and ill feeling
which would not otherwise exist.
Question. Judging from what you know of the popular feeling in South Carolina on the
subject of negroes owning- real estate, would not the legislature of that State, if left unre
strained by act of Congress, prohibit the black race entirely from owning land within the
State ?
Answer. I think they would.
Question. Have you any doubt about it in your own mind, judging from what you know
about the popular feeling there ?
Answer. I have no doubt that the majority of the people of South Carolina would insist
on such a thing.
Question. In such a case as that, what is the idea of the South Carolinians as to the dispo
sition to be made of the black race — what would they do with them ?
Answer. They would put them in a condition of compulsory labor. Those who have the
kindest disposition, apparently, toward the negro, seem to consider it as inevitable that he
shall be under some compulsory system of labor. They do not seem to have a proper under
standing of what free labor is, or else their feelings towards the blacks are such as to prevent
them considering the question fairly.
Question. In such a case as that, would they allow the negro to stand as a free contracting
party in regard to his own. labor without restraint or compulsion of law ?
Answer. Judging from what I know of the public sentiment, and from the laws passed
already, I should say not.
Question. They would not allow him to be a free contractor?
Answer. No, sir. They did give him a certain appearance of fairness in contracting, but
they threw about him so many compulsory regulations in the matter of making contracts,
and in 'the fulfilment of contracts, and in all the business of the plantation, that it virtually
amounted to the same thing as depriving him of the power of making free contracts, as you
understand it.
Question. What is the general feeling among the whites there in regard to the domestic
relations of the freedmen ?
Witness. Do you mean in the direction of bringing about any reformation?
Mr. HOWARD. Yes.
Answer. I have found a lamentable absence of interest in the moral well-being of the
negroes.
Question. Is there a willingness on the part of the whites to concede to the black race the
rights of husband and wife, and parent and child, as regarded and guarded by law /
Answer. Yes, sir; I think that the legislature made moves to that end ; but there is such
a total indifference to the matter on the part of the people that very little would be accom
plished, although the laws were correct in that respect Very little would be accomplished
in bringing about a reform ; and a reform is needed, because of the condition to which the
blacks have been reduced by the former system of slavery. That is something which I con
sider to be important — to be taken hold of by some exterior agency ; and if the Freedmen's
Bureau continues, that would become a legitimate subject for it to take up and regulate, as
1 have recommended iu my written reports.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 37
Question. As to the domestic virtues among- the black people in South Carolina, what can
you say as to the chastity of their women and the chastity of their men as the matter at pres
ent exists ?
Answer. I have to say that I have not observed so great a lack of chastity on the part of
the women as I had been previously led to suppose existed ; and I have been somewhat sur
prised at this fact as I found it. But I found numerous evidences (although it does not
come within the scope of your question) that their chastity had been disregarded by the
whites in times past. I could name a great many instances of that kind.
Question. Suppose the shield of legal protection should be thrown around their domestic
relations, would that protection be respected by the whites in South Carolina practically ?
Answer. If it was mere law, I should apprehend that it would be entirely inadequate in
the present state of public sentiment. In fact, I may say generally that laws may be made
impartially in South Carolina, but with the existing public sentiment they would not be suf
ficient for the protection of the negroes in their rights.
Question. Suppose a white man should dishonor a black husband, by having illicit inter
course with his wife, obtained either by violence or seduction, would the black husband, in
a South Carolina court, have much prospect of obtaining redress ?
Answer. I think not.
Question. Would a white jury give him damages?
Answer. I think not, sir.
Question. How strong is your conviction on that subject ?
Answer. I feel certain that he would not get adequate redress. They might award' him
something as a cover, for the appearance of the thing ; but the great difficulty would be that
in the existing state of sentiment the negro would not dare to bring any prosecution what
ever. He would not dream of such a thing.
Question. Why not?
Answer. The fear of personal violence to himself, and because he would think it would be
utterly futile to attempt to seek any redress.
Question. Suppose a black man should bring a suit in a State court there for the redress of
any other wrong to his person or property, would he be likely to obtain adequate redress ?
Answer. I believe not ; I cannot say how it would be under a new law.
Question. A black man there is not allowed to testify as a witness in the State courts, I
believe ?
Answer. Except under the new regulations, which have not gone into force.
Question. The new regulations only include cases where a negro is a party to the suit —
either a party plaintiff or defendant ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. But he is not allowed to testify in a case where the parties are both white ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. What is your idea as to the ground of such exclusion of blacks as witnesses in
cases where the parties are whites ?
Answer. They assert that the colored man would favor his own race, and that he cannot
be trusted when one of his own race is involved. Why he should not be employed as a
witness when none of his own race are involved, the only reason any one would attempt to
give is his unreliability as a witness ; but they would be unable to sustain that position,
because they rely upon him as a truthful man in other respects.
Question. Is not the negro of South Carolina as much a truth-teller as a white of South
Carolina, both being in the*ame condition as to education and position ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I think so. Where I find an intelligent negro, I find that he tells me
the truth, and the whole truth, the same as an intelligent white man.
Question. You know of no difference between the two races in that respect ?
Answer. No, sir. I have found it so as a soldier at all times when I wanted to get inform
ation of roads or anything that was of importance.
Question. How do the whites there feel towards the negro race for the part which they
took in the war ?
Answer. I have not often heard any antipathy expressed against them on that ground.
The whites do not often accord to them importance enough to acknowledge any antipathy on
that ground.
Question. Do they not regard the negro as the great occasion of the war ?
Answer. Yes, sir; but the innocent and unconscious occasion of it.
Question. If the whites there had the power would they not again reduce the black race
.to complete slavery?
Answer. Yes, sir, unquestionably.
Question. Would they be likely to wait a long time before accomplishing that object I
Answer. I think not.
Question. Do you think of any other fact that is of interest in regard to South Carolina ?
Answer. The matter of violent treatment to negroes, and in some cases to soldiers, has not
been brought out. In my tour of inspection in the western and interior portion of South
Carolina I found a great many complaints of ill treatment towards the negroes that had to be
adjudicated by our military authorities and by the agencies of the bureau, which were ideii-
38 RECONSTRUCTION.
tical in South Carolina. We had military agencies in every county throughout the State.
I found in some sections of South Carolina the utmost bitterness towards the United States
soldiers, towards the flag, towards the uniform, manifested in their faces and in their talk,
and in violence even towards our soldiers. Three soldiers were killed in Anderson county
while I was there. I helped to investigate the case — it is now on trial. There were some
respecftible citizens committed for trial on the examination at which I was present.
Question. So far as you have been informed, did these soldiers give provocation for the
violence ?
Answer. No provocation. I am positive that they had given no provocation ; it was not
claimed that they had given provocation.
Question. Were they under your orders ?
Answer. No, sir. They had no connexion with the Freedmen's Bureau, which is more
obnoxious than any other form of United "States agency. But they had no connexion with it.
In some sections the returned rebel officers were wearing their uniforms, and seemed rather
disposed to make a display of them than otherwise. In some sections they had been required
to take off their buttons and insignia of rank. In other sections they were not required and
did not do it. Some of the railroad cars that wef*e made during the war still bear the rebel
flags as decorations painted upon them, with pictures of battles in which confederate soldiers
dressed in gray are seen pursuing Yankee soldiers. These things were somewhat interest
ing, and, I must confess, a little annoying to me. I think it worth while perhaps to mention
them jas exhibiting" the state of things there. Every section of South Carolina is not equally
embittered in this respect. Still my feelings weje very much worked up by these causes
while travelling as a United States official, although generally going incognito For in
stance, in the cars sometimes little children would be set to sing the rebel songs — songs that
would be very obnoxious to United States soldiers — songs containing reproaches upon the
flag and upon everything that we hold sacred. To see little innocent children, now that the
war is over, taught to sing these songs and imbibe these sentiments, seemed to me one of the
very worst features of the country. The feeling is very intense among the female portion of
the community, without exception, against the United States government and all northern
men.
Question. The women appeared to be more bitter and prescriptive than the men ?
Answer. Yes ; especially more so than the men who expect to have any business contact
with the people of the north.
Question. How were you treated by educated and respectable gentlemen of South Carolina?
Answer. I was generally well treated by such men, for instance, as Governor Orr and
Governor Perry, on whom I called at their residences. I took tea with Governor Orr. Such
men as seemed to be looking forward to positions in connexion with the national government
I found to have more enlightened views of their duties as citizens, and they were better dis
posed to the negro than other men.
Question. How is the social intercourse between the commercial classes in South Carolina
and northern men — whether northern soldiers or citizens ?
Answer. Those who are in actual contact in commercial relations are disposed to ignore
the question as much as possible ; yet there are many of" them resident in Charleston who
have the intensest bitterness still against the United States government, and who in fact, I
believe, never did regard the United States government with any friendship. They con
sider it hostile to the interests of South Carolina.
Question. There has been a race of men there for the last fifty years who so regarded it ?
Answer. Those men are not all dead yet. *
Question. What did you hear on the abstract legal question of secession among the whites
of South Carolina who are capable of understanding and discussing it?
Answer. They have not, so far as I have observed, changed their opinion as to the legality
of secession, but they consider it a question settled forever.
Question. Settled in what way ?
Answer. Settled by the power of the United States government.
Question. By the arms of the government ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you notice any disposition to revive that question among them ?
Answer. No, sir, I never have. I have had the question exactly stated by some of their
most educated and conservative men, best disposed towards the government, somewhat in
this way: that there had been a mistake in former times about the matter of State sover
eignty with South Carolinians ; that really South Carolina was not altogether absolutely sov
ereign ; that they were mistaken in that ; but still that she had a degree of sovereignty ; and
that there was a mistake north and south — the north saying that a State was not sovereign at
all, and the south saying that a State was the sovereign power. Now they hold that to a cer
tain extent South Carolina is sovereign, but not absolutely sovereign.
Question. Do you think of anything else that you wish to mention in regard to South Car
olina ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Now, in reference to Georgia and Florida?
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 39
Answer. I went through the State of Florida in October, and spent nearly a month in in
specting thoroughly Georgia and Florida last December. I have my report here.
Question. In general terms, was the condition of those two States much the same as that
of South Carolina, which you have detailed ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; very much the same. Certain sections of Georgia are in no material
respect different from South Carolina. They are certainly no better disposed towards the ne
groes, towards the old Union men, or towards the late immigrants from the north. But there
are certain portions of Georgia where there always has b*en an element of Unionism ; and in
those sections I found a somewhat better state of things. And much the same may be said
as to Florida. Theje are some Union men in Florida who have always been so, but the pre
vailing sentiment — I mean by that the sentiment which is bound to control — is similar to that
in South Carolina.
Question. Have you a copy of the report which you have made to the bureau?
Answer. Yes.
Question. Will you furnish it to the committee ?
Answer. Yes, sir. It gives, in the first place, a simple statement of where I went and
what I met with and saw. There are a few observations at the close. It was made to the
head of my bureau.
Question. Are you at liberty to furnish this copy ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I obtained liberty to do so. I have not obtained the permission of the
Secretary of War to furnish it ; but Major General Howard said to me that if I were sum
moned by any of the committees I should bring my report and submit it if desired to do so.
I have not the permission of the Secretary of War.
Mr. HOWARD. Then I will take it, and be accountable to the Secretary of War.
(The report is annexed to this examination. )
Question. During your residence in and journeys through those States, have you noticed
any facts, or heard any conversations, among leading men going to create in your mind the
suspicion even that there are combinations now going on at the south, the purpose of which
is to renew hostilities, or make another attempt to get out of the Union ?
Answer. In reply, I would say that I have no evidence of such intention, but that I have
seen threats in public print in some of the more obscure southern papers which looked that
way, and which I cannot explain precisely on any other ground. But your question calls to
my mind something which has a bearing, to some extent, upon it. I have had conversations
with different persons in Georgia and these other two States, which led me to believe, even
so far as to be convinced, that if we had a war with Mexico now the fighting men would
generally take sides with Maximilian, Some of them express that unhesitatingly to me ; and
others, more cautious, say that the United States would do well not to get into difficulty with
Maximilian. I think that their hostility, generally, when brought to expression, and some
what of exasperation, takes that form rather than the one you speak of.
Question. You mean to say in your answer that you have no ground to suppose there exists
a conspiracy of that kind in the south at this time ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What has become of the famous order known as the Knights of the Golden
Circle at the south ?
Answer. I believe that that exists still. I never knew much about the purposes or inten
tions of that order myself. But in the investigations with reference to the murder of the
Union soldiers alluded to, I was led to believe that one of the witnesses was influenced by
connexion with that order. •
Question. What is the general feeling, according to your observation, in regard to the pay
ment of the confederate rebel debt, or the State rebel debt, in any of those States ?
Answer. I think there is a pretty universal feeling in favor of paying the State rebel debt,
but for pretty obvious reasons they would not be willing to shoulder any further the con
federate debt.
Question. How do they feel in regard to the payment of the federal debt for carrying on
the war ?
Answer. Their feeling is unquestionably opposed to it ; but still they generally expect to
be compelled to aid in the payment.
Question. Suppose the question was left to the votes of the constituents in South Carolina,
Georgia, and Florida. Suppose the electors at the polls were voting on the question of pay
ing the federal debt, would they vote for it 1
Answer. They would not ; I think not.
Question. Would they then, knowingly and willingly, elect representatives to Congress
who would vote to pay the federal debt, supposing that question should be made an issue at
the polls or in the canvass ?
Answer. If that question were the main issue ?
Question. Suppose it to be the sole issue ?
Answer. If it were the sole issue, I have no doubt that the man who advocated the pay
ment of the federal debt would lose his election. But there might be personal considerations
in favor of candidates wjiich would affect that question very much. Your question has
brought to my mind something which has been quite frequently expressed to nie directly,
40 RECONSTRUCTION.
and has been told to me by northern men, as being found to be the invariable sentiment —
that the government of the United States should take measures to pay for the slaves.
Question. Do they seem to entertain that expectation ?
Answer. A large number of men in the interior seem to think that since the late indication
of the sentiments of the government, (as being conciliatory and disposed to grant them
favors,) some measure would be taken to remunerate them for the loss of their slaves. I
would not say that was very unanimous or universal, but I found that there were quite a
number thinking that way. ' »
Question. What is the foundation of that expectation — any party combinations ?
Answer. Not that I know of. I have an idea that the expectation would never have arisen
in the form of an expectation but for a certain policy which they think has" been put in oper
ation by the government. They regard it as a change of policy since the first establishment
of peace.
Question. Has President Johnson's liberal policy in granting pardons and amnesties, gen
erally increased or diminished the respect of the people for the govemment of the United
States ?
Answer. I think it has decreased the general public respect, although it has produced in
individual cases a certain degree of interest and regard for the government which did not
exist before. The general public respect has unquestionably been diminished, and the dis
position to be open and blatant in their talk, expressing their peculiar southern views, as
they call them, has been very much increased by the recent policy of the government, I
think.
Question. It has had a tendency rather to increase their contemptuous expression toward
the government?
Answer. Yes, sir; I should like to have it put down in those words. I say this not only
as the result of my personal observations and conversations with these people, but as the
testimony of such United States officials and Union men as I conversed with in those parts.
Let me add here, that every time I use the phrase " Union men," it brings to my mind the
condition they are placed in by that very policy that I speak of. Their situation is actually
painful. They complained to me bitterly that such men, for instance, as Howell Cobb —
who has been their oppressor for the past four years, not only a leading rebel, but a positive
individual and personal oppressor to those persons — should come back now and lord it over
them. If ever I heard eloquence, it has been in talk like that.
Question. Do you .know Cobb ?
Answer. No, sir; I do not. These people say: "Why does the United States govern
ment take such a course?" They must certainly stir up the feelings of pity and sympathy
in any loyal man who has been fighting for this government. It is a mistake to say that
there are no Union men in the State of Georgia or Florida. There are some there, but very
few, and they seem to have been ignored by those who are leaders in the politics and public
sentiment of their own State. They feel and see that they have been ignored by the officials
of the United States government, who they had a right to suppose should be their friends
and supporters.
Question. What, in a rough estimate, is the proportion o£ Union men in South Carolina ?
Answer. I have been speaking now of Georgia and Florida. Such men are extremely
rare in South Carolina. I believe there are many counties in that State where you will find
none at all. In going through every county I found but one or two whom I considered to
be of that description.
Question. They were not quite so rare in Georgia and Florida?
Answer. No, sir ; not so rare. .
Question. State anything else that strikes your mind.
Answer. The difficulty that the freedmeu have to overcome, I would like to say, is not al
together from ill-feeling on the part of the whites or a disposition to do them harm ; for I
have found a number of persons, in various parts of the three States, who, I believe, wore
disposed to treat the negro with justice ; but the white people, from their past experience
and education, are unfitted and disqualified from treating the negro as a free man.
Question. They do not seem to know how to get at it?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they do not know how to do it. I believe they are wc^l-inteutioned.
That covers, I think, nearly every class of persons.
Question. Considering the present state.of feeling in those three States, do you believe it
safe for northern immigrants to go there to settle ?
Answer. Not unless the United States authorities are there in sufficient power to give them
safety and protection.
Question. If the people of those three States were left to themselves, would it then be safe
for northern men to go there and settle ?
Answer. I think, unquestionably, not; and I am supported in that opinion by those who
have taken up their residence there. When they knew that I was coining to Washington
they took particular pains to express that opinion to me. They said they considered it abso
lutely necessary for their protection that the United States authorities should remain there.
The people who have in good faith gone to Savannah to reside there, find that they are kept
from all part in the city government, and that those who govern arc? determined that north-
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 41
era settlers shall have no part in it. The Georgia legislature have passed a law that no im •
migrant who comes into the State shall acquire the right of State citizenship for two years.
The northern people consider that as almost a bar to immigration there ; and it was, un
doubtedly, aimed directly at that ; so that northern men should have no voice in the govern
ment, and could not, therefore, interfere in the regulation of matters within the State ; for
instance, in the matter of legislation in regard to black men.
The following is the witness's report to the head of the Freedmen's Bureau, alluded to
and produced in the course of his examination :
CHARLESTON, SOUTH CAROLINA,
December 30, 1865.
GENERAL : I have the honor to submit the following jeport of a recent tour of inspection
in Georgia and Florida :
Leaving Charleston, S. C., December 7, instant, I called at Beaufort, S. C., on my way
to Savannah. Among other matters of the bureau to which my attention was called "ST |
Beaufort was the operation of the new order from the assistant commissioner of South
Carolina, establishing a public cotton-weigher. The freedmen had been defrauded in various
ways^by speculators in the disposal of their cotton ; sometimes by false weights, sometimes
in making the change, &c., &c. A public cotton- weigher was therefore appointed as an
agent of the bureau, and the freedmen having cotton for sale were required to have it
weighed by him, all expenses to be paid by a moderate toll defined in the order. This regu
lation, I found, was working well and had proved a great protection to the freedmen.
There had been, of late, considerable suffering for want of food for colored refugees com
ing into Beaufort from the main land, in transitu to their old homes on the islands or else
where. An order from the district commander had established a military board to meet once
a month and examine all applicants for rations, make a list of the indigent who were unable
to work, and confine the issues strictly to this list. The result of this is that the local
bureau agent is prevented from getting rations for the destitute refugees above alluded to,
and great suffering has followed, and in some cases death from starvation. I instructed the
agents to obtain requisitions to meet these cases, properly signed and approved, in accord
ance with circular No. 8, from bureau headquarters, and if the rations were not given, (by
reason of the military order above referred to,) to report the fact at once to .the assistant
commissioner of the State.
On the 9th of December, proceeding to Savannah, I met there General Tillson, assistant
commissioner for Georgia, and was present at a meeting he had appointed with the planters
in the afternoon, and at another of the leading colored people in the evening.
The great difficulty before us was the reluctance on the part of the freedmen to make con
tracts for the coming year. General Tillson was visiting this section of the State with the
purpose of making every effort to induce the freedmen to make contracts for the coming year.
At the meeting of the planters he stated distinctly that if they would offer liberal wages he
would bring all the influence of the bureau to bear tto this end, and would use authority to
secure the fulfilment of such contracts when made. Many of the planters seemed to differ
from him as to what ought to be considered fair or liberal wages. They talked about eight,
ten, and twelve (8, 10, and 12) dollars per month; most agreeing that ten dollars and food
was good wages for a full hand. General Tillson was positive in his declaration that their
offers were too low, and that he would not approve contracts giving less than from twelve
(12) to fifteen (15) dollars per month, with food, for males, and from eight to ten (8 to 10)
dollars for females ; that they were at liberty, of course, to secure such contracts as they
could, but that if they desired his co-operation they must offer what he believed to be fair
wages. Some few of the planters agreed to his terms.
At the meeting of the colored people plans .were proposed for defraying the expenses of
their hospitals and their principal school, to render them entirely self-supporting. The peo
ple readily assented to a plan for soliciting regular contributions from all the colored popula
tion of the city, made practicable by the census recently taken by the agent of the bureau,
giving the place of residence, occupation, and amount of property of all colored persons in
Savannah.
One of the strongest motives preventing the making of contracts is the hope of possessing
lauds of their own. Notwithstanding the many orders on this subject, and -the continued
efforts of agents to correct the false impression, many freed people in South Carolina,
Georgia, and Florida still hope that the government will give them lands. At this meeting
some other reasons for the hesitation in entering into contracts for another year were given
by the freedmen themselves. One was their reluctance to work under overseers, especially
the same overseers they had had in slavery. It was explained to those present that over
seers, or leaders of gangs, were necessary in free labor, and are employed in all parts of the
world where a number of hands are working together. But I would respectfully suggest
that the recommendation be given to those desirous of employing freedmen, to procure, if
42 RECONSTRUCTION.
possible, overseers from the north, or, at least, not to insist upon the same ones they had
under the old system. The freedmeu distinctly aver that they have been beaten and ill
treated by these overseers, and now, as freemen, refuse positively to work under them.
At this meeting instances were reported of freedrnen who had received, under General
Sherman's order, a patent for twenty (20) or forty (40) acres of abandoned lands situated on
the Savannah river within thirty (30) miles of the sea, and wiio had located and worked the
same. Now the old owners are returning, and the freedmen are unwilling to give up the
laud. In fact, I am not aware that any order has been issued requiring them to relinquish
it. A branch bank of the National Freedmen's Trust Company having been set in operation
at Savannah by Mr. Alvord, the bureau inspector of finances, the matter was presented by
him and others to this meeting, and the importance of such an institution, to the freedmen
strongly urged.
The next day, December 10, I took steamer for Darien, Georgia, intending to reach the
Gulf railroad at Doctortown, its present terminus. At Darien^ was a company of the 103d
United States colored troops, just about to be relieved by one o'f the 12th Maine volunteers.
The resident freedmeu complained to me that the latter regiment, when stationed there last
summer, ill-treated the colored people, robbing their houses and committing many acts of
violence unrestrained. They expressed great fears at their return. I reported this to the
commanding officer of the detachment, who promised to prevent like occurrences in the future.
On the other hand, some of the white residents were rejoicing at the removal of the colored
troops, for which they had petitioned General Branuou. They claimed that their influence
was bad upon the freedmen, and some complained that they were generally lawless. But,
from particular inquiry of resident northern citizens and others, I concluded that the latter
complaint was without good foundation. I saw there some freedmen who had recently re
turned from the interior of the State to their old homes, whence they had been taken by their
masters during the war to work leased plantations, situated from one to two hundred miles
or more in the interior. They said their masters had recently left them without paying them
any wages or giving them any share of the crop of last season, and they had constructed
flats or merely rude rafts, and, embarking their families, had floated down the Altamaha
river. They found the old plantation barren of any present means of subsistence, and now
they must surfer. They hoped to make contracts with their former owners, or, preferably,
others owning plantations in that vicinity, but meanwhile their means of living were ex
ceedingly precarious. Some procured work upon the docks at Darien, but only a small
proportion of the enfire number who have thus migrated to the coast.
I have dwelt upon this matter because I found that these cases were examples of a general
evil existing in that part of Georgia. And if the bureau is compelled to provide rations for
a considerable number of these people during the winter, it should be understood that the
cause is not alone the improvidence of the freedrnen, nor is it possible to remedy the evil, in
the present scarcity of agents, by enforcing a fair division of the crops, for me people are
thrown upon our hands some two hundred (200) miles, more or less, from the places where
they have worked during the past season.
I was informed that there were nine hundred (900) colored people upon Sapelo, who
intended leaving the island in case one of the former owners (Mrs. ) returned to re
sume possession of her plantation, upon* which they had been located under the provisions
of General Sherman's order.
There was need of a bureau agent at Darien. The officer who had been in command
stated that he had orders from General Braunon not to interfere at all with freedmeu' s affairs,
but if they had any complaints, to direct them to go to Savannah. As this is a distance of
one hundred miles, and no transportation could be furnished them, few of the freed people
could expect to gain redress for any wrongs, or to get information of their rights and duties.
One case of outrage, too flagrant to be passed without notice, was authentically reported
to me. It occurred at South Newport, fifteen (15) miles from Darieu. A colored woman
after much maltreatment, made her escape. She says that her master insisted that she and
her children were not free, that he cared nothing for "Lincoln's proclamation," and when
she asked to be allowed to go away and take her children she was confined on bread and
water? and finally got away as best she could, leaving her children behind, but promising to
get help and come for them.
It is proper to state that General Tillson visited Darien and Brunswick the following
week and appointed resident civilians agents of the bureau, who, he believes, will carry out
orders and deal fairly by all parties.
Ascending the Altamaha river I reached Doctortown December 13. Upon the boat I con
versed freely with several planters and other residents of the country. All manifested great
opposition to the colored troops ; and meeting Captain Richardson, (J 2th Maine volunteers,)
the sub-assistant commissioner for Altamaha district, at Doctortowu, I found that he was
also of the opinion that the presence of the colored troops in the country had a tendency to
unsettle labor, and in some other respects was harmful to the freed people. I therefore
wrote a letter to General Tillsou recommending that, if practicable, white troops be substituted
in that district.
None of the citizens with whom I conversed were in favor of the immediate withdrawal of
all United States troops. They said they were needed for the preservation of order and the
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA— MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 43
protection of the whites. Most of the white residents of this section took ground against
schools for the education of the freed people, not only as labor lost, but some held that it was
injurious to all working classes to be taught from books. Many talked hopelessly about the
prospect of procuring steady labor from the negroes without some means of exterior com
pulsion. All set the wages at a lower rate than that proposed by General Tillson.
Remaining two days at Doctortown, a good opportunity was afforded for obtaining in
formation of the condition of the freed people in that region. The officer in command of the
garrison confirmed my previous impression as to the large numbers nocking from the interior
to the coast. Most of them were very destitute of clothing, and often on their arrival they
had no supply of food. Many of the planters in this -locality had been unwilling to give
their hands a share of the crops or any other recompense for the labor of the past season,
generally claiming that they have not worked well enougfc to deserve any wages. Some
cases of violence and other ill treatment of the negroes had come to the knowledge of this
officer. He said he had received no instructions to attend to freedmen's affairs, but that his
military duties would admit of it, and he would cheerfully undertake the matter — in fact,
had taken upon himself to correct some flagrant abuses. I requested him, as far as lay m
his power, to remedy all such evils in future, to encourage the freed people to remain at their
present homes, and to this end to see that they were properly recompensed for their labor of
the past season, and that fair contracts, correctly drawn, were made for the coming year.
On' my way from Doctortown to Thomasville by railroad (upwards of a hundred miles) I
conversed with the officers on garrison at the different stations, and found that what has been
said of Doctortown was substantially true of all the rest. I therefore gave written authority
to the sub-assistant commissioner of the district to call upon the military officers to act as
agents of the bureau until the resident civilians should be appointed for each county,
in accordance with General Tillson's plan, approved by the State convention and the pro
visional governor. Some of the officers had before voluntarily rendered much assistance to
the sub-assistant commissioner where cases of misconduct in which freedrneu were involved
had come to their knowledge. It is now made their duty to investigate every complaint and
reported abuse from either party.
The sub-assistant commissioner of Altamaha district, who was travelling in company with
me at this time, was engaged in investigating a case where certain parties were charged
with kidnapping colored children and shipping them to Cuba. Other cases were reported,
but there was no conclusive proof that any children from that section had actually been taken
to Cuba for this purpose. In the case mentioned two children had mysteriously disappeared;
but on the arrest of their former owner, and his being put under bonds to produce the
children, he was able to find them in Florida and brought them back, but could not satisfac
torily explain their sudden transfer to that State without their own or their parents' consent.
The sub-assistant commissioner was also engaged in assuming formal possession of various
"confederate government " buildings at the different'stations along the railroad.
At Quitman, Valdosta, and Thomasville, respectively, there were buildings of this descrip
tion, arid there being two at each place, one of which was of inferior value, and the freed
people being desirous of having schools, authority was given to use one of the buildings in
each place in repairing the other for school purposes. The freed men readily agreed to fur
nish the requisite labor. But afterwards, finding that the buildings at Thomasville could be
profitably rented, and as it would consume considerable time to re-locate and make the
necessary repairs upon the one for a school, ascertaining that there were two unoccupied
brick buildings, built for an academy, in the outskirts of the town, I proposed to negotiate
for the use ot one of them for a school for colored children. Visiting them, I found one a
good deal out of repair. Some of the leading colored people promised that their people
would fit this up if allowed to use it for schools.
One small school was already in operation, taught by a colored resident, but it had been
found impossible to procure a suitable building for it. Meeting some of the principal white
citizens, I proposed to them to use one of the academic buildings mentioned, at least until a
school-house could be built, for colored children. They were unwilling it should be done,
saying that, prejudice though it might be, yet their citizens would never consent, and
if either of the buildings were taken for that purpose, none of their citizens would ever send
their children there to school again. I urged upon them that only one would be used, and
that the poorest, and that if the schools for whites were to be opened, another place would be
procured for the blacks, meanwhile. But as these were among the fairest and most liberal
of the citizens, embracing two judges of the district, and they persisted in asserting that the
mere fact of trie blacks having used one of the buildings would prevent, forever afterwards,
the maintenance of any schools there for whites, and stating that it was proposed to have a
seliQol for whites opened there on the 1st of January proximo, I yielded to them, partly to
prevent the ill feeling which I saw would arise, and partly to encourage the reopening of
the schools for whites, which I believed no less important in that section than those for
blacks.
I stated to them that I would not have yielded to such a groundless prejudice except for
the latter reason, and that I should expect a flourishing school for whites to open there at
the beginning of the new year.
The colored
members of the church at Thomasville have decided to separate from the
44 RECONSTRUCTION.
whites,, and have raised means to build a church of their own. Two-thirds of the member
ship of the Baptist church are blacks, and they have also decided to separate, and have of
fered to purchase the church edifice, but the price required by the whites they think is more
than the entire value of the church ; whereas, they claim that two-thirds of it rightfully be
longs to them. The colored members readily gave their consent to the use of this church for
a school, and if the teachers, expected from the northern benevolent associations, arrive be
fore the new school building is completed, the sub-assistant commissioner was instructed to
use this church temporarily for the school.
At the solicitation of the white citizens, and the urgent request of the sub-assistant com
missioner, I arranged to return to Thomasville and address the colored people on the even
ing of December Id. The white citizens claimed that the freed people, having no confidence
in them, would not heed their ad^ce, and that a word from an officer of the bureau had more
weight with them than from any other source, and the local agent desired that I should con
firm what he had explained to them of the importance of immediately renewing contracts for
another year.
Taking a private carriage to Tallahassee, (35 miles,) I had an opportunity to converse
with the inhabitants along the road. In this way I ascertained that contracts had been very
generally made the past season in this section, under the supervision of the bureau officers ;
the most of them fair, giving one-fourth (£) as the share ot the crop for the laborer ; but
some had been made for too small a share, viz : from one-sixth (^) to one tenth ( jV) Most
of the freed people had expressed a willingness to contract for another year on lair terms.
Some wished to change employers ; some said they would like to go where their children
could go to school ; all, except one, met on the route going to and leturning from Tallahassee,
had employment now and seemed to have no notion of living without working.
Near Tallahassee I met an intelligent freedman, who, in answer to my question, disclosed
the fact that he had received for the labor of the past year fifteen bushels of corn and one
hundred pounds of pork and a small measure of peas. He had, as in former times, with the
help of his family, cultivated a small garden of his own, but the products of this had been
taken from him.
Meeting Colonel Osborne, the assistant commissioner for Florida, at Tallahassee, I spent
two days chiefly with him, having interviews also with Generals Foster and Newton, com
manding the department and western district of Florida, respectively, and conversing with
several citizens of Tallahassee and vicinity. From the district superintendent of education
(for the bureau) I learned that a number of schools had been started since my last visit to
Florida in October. There is a great demand for books and teachers. There are two teachers
from a northern association at Tallahassee. Some two or three of the planters in that district
had proposed to pay half the salary and expenses of a teacher to come upon their plantations
and open a school for the colored children. They were convinced that this measure would
do more than any other to make their laborers contented, and thus secure to them steady and
effective labor.
From conversation with Lieutenant Colonel Apthorpe. one of Colonel Osborne's inspectors,
as well as from the other sources of information I have mentioned, I became convinced that
there were rather more exceptions in Florida to the general rule prevalent in southern Georgia,
of prejudice and unjust dealing against the freednien, but that still, with the majority of the
people, there was the same unwillingness or moral incapacity to treat them with fairness and
as free men. I was informed by a high military official, that since the hanging of a citizen
for murder at Tallahassee, convicted by a military court, and the pending trial of another for
shooting a negro, he had received letters from parties declaring that they would not "live in
a country where a man must be hung for resenting an insult with arms, and where a man
must be tried for his life for shooting a nigger." He informed me, also, that certain of these
parties had carried out their threats of leaving the State, and had gone to Texas to reside.
From the same official, I was gratified to learn, as a testimonial to the good discipline of
some of the colored troops, and as an offset to the complaints against them in southern
Georgia, that all the principal citizens of JaspeV, Florida, petitioned for the return of a com
pany of colored troops which had been ordered away from there.
The constant quarrelling between discharged Union and rebel soldiers resident there, ren
dered the presence of troops necessary.
The colored troops were sent back to continue garrisoning the place.
There was the same disposition to depreciate wages in Florida as in Georgia, but I learned
that a new demand for labor had sprung up at Ferimndina, and that agents had been sent to
Tallahassee for freednien to work in the lumber business, offering $1 and $1 2o (one dollar
and one dollar and twenty-five cents) per day and board. Thirteen new saw-mills had been
put in operation there by northern men, and it had been found impossible to get all the hands
they desired. This will tend to raise the price of labor throughout the State. I would re
spectfully ask attention to certain provisions of a recent circular (No. 9) from the office of the
assistant commissioner for Florida :
]. The general appointment of all judges of probate, without regard to special fitness, as
agents of the bureau, and in a similar manner, in some districts, clerks of courts and justices
ot the peace as assistants. It is to be feared that in many cases these officers, from their
prejudices and other personal qualities, are entirely disqualified to be impartial agents of the
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 45
bureau. They would not have the confidence of the freedmen, and the latter would therefore
hesitate to apply to them for redress.
2. These officials are not required to signify their acceptance of the appointment. Hence
it will not be known to the assistant commissioner whether he has any agent in any given
district or not. Besides, no provision is made for informing the freedmeu as to who is the
agent for their locality.
3. They are to enter upon their offices immediately upon the sight of the order, even in a
newspaper. Hence they are not required to take any oath of office, or to familiarize them
selves with existing orders of the bureau.
4. They are not required to make any reports, or in any manner make themselves respon
sible to the assistant commissioner for their acts or measures as agents of the bureau.
It is proper to state that, as a corrective of some of these -evils, the assistant commissioner
had divided the State into five or more districts, and had appointed a competent inspector for
each.
As recommended in person to the assistant commissioner, I would further urge that these
inspectors have authority to reject any of the judges of probate found unfitted for the duty,
for any reason, and to nominate some other person in their stead ; that they all be required
formally to accept the agency, take an oath of office, and to make reports.
Returning to Thomasville, I addressed a large audience of colored people, according to ap
pointment. Having heard it stated by the planters that some of the freed people were re
luctant to make contracts because of a belief that it remanded them to seven years of slavery,
I put the question to vote as to whether any present believed this report. They unanimously
declared their disbelief of it, and that they were Avilling and expected to make contracts. A
few contracts had been made for another year. Some of the freedmen informed me that they
had desired to rent land but had been told by citizens that no black man would be allowed
to have land by lease. They had, therefore, procured the offices of a white man to rent a
plantation for them, and contracted with him to have all the crop above a certain amount.
Some cases of difficulty from the irregularity and unnatural condition of the marriage re
lation came to my notice ; and this is a fruitful source of disquiet and immorality among the
freed people. A sweeping regulation like that passed by the Georgia legislature, legalizing
all existing marriages, is not what is needed, but a discriminating law which shall require
all parties continuing to live as man and wife to be legally married, but shall permit, with
proper restrictions, the old involuntary contracts of this kind to be set aside when mutually
desired, and shall give some suitable regulation by which one husband and one wife may be
fixed upon where several are living as the result of the slave system.
From Thomasville I proceeded by private conveyance to Albany, Georgia, fifty-five miles.
This mode of travelling gave me the opportunity of visiting different plantations. I found
generally in this section that the contracts for the last year had been at the rate of from one-*
sixth to one-tenth of the crop, and the latter for the greater number. Where no written con
tract, properly signed and approved, has been made, I gave directions to the sub-assistant
commissioner that an officer or agent of the bureau visit these plantations and make an equita
ble division of the crops. The division had not been made at the plantations visited by me
except in one case not far from Albany.
From the small number of officers allowed to the bureau the districts in Georgia have been
far too large to be properly cared for.
There seemed to be a general disposition in this section (southwestern Georgia) to set
wages too low, and to keep the freed people as nearly as possible in their former state of
servitude.
The sub- assistant commissioner at Albany (Major Hastings, 12th Maine volunteers)
seemed to be an efficient officer, but had been there only a few weeks. He proposed to start
a school of 150 scholars if books and teachers could be furnished. There had been a small
private school there for colored children taught by a young lady from New York. Here,
also, I heard of another instance of a planter in a neighboring county who desired a school
for colored people upon his plantation.
There was great call for agents to superintend the division of crops in this section. The
freedmen were not satisfied unless some United States officer or bureau agent were present.
After one night at Albany I proceeded to Andersonville, where I found a small garrison -
some twenty men and one officer. This officer had given some attention to freedmen's affairs
by virtue of a general order from headquarters of the department. But being the only officer
there, and having no horse, he was limited to plantations and places comparatively near.
The same old complaints of being turned off with no payment for last season's work were
common. I learned of some cases in that locality of renewal of contract for another year.
Mr. II. A. Welton, a Union citizen Of Georgia, who had been imprisoned for his loyalty
to the United States government seven (?) months during the rebellion, and who is now'
employed by the quartermaster's department as superintendent of the Audersonville burial-
ground, had started a school for the colored people at Andersonville. A "confederate"
building was used for a school-house, and a sergeant of the 147th Ohio taught adults in the
evening.
At Macon were prosperous schools and a good hospital. The bureau officer now there
(Lieutenant Colonel Lambert) had been on duty only two weeks. There was the usual
46 RECONSTRUCTION.
complaints of reluctance of the freedmen to make contracts. On investigation I found that
the prevailing offers of wages were too low, and that in this region the .share given the
laborer last season was generally one-tenth (-^j.) Hearing of disturbances and much ill-
treatment of negroes in Twiggs county, I recommended that a garrison be sent there.
At Atlanta there was more of an accumulation of destitute freed people than I had seen
elsewhere. The armies had more completely devastated all the country around. Many
whites, at least three hundred (300) families, as estimated by the sub-assistant commissioner,
will suffer greatly this winter unless relieved by government agency. The bureau officer
had assisted some of these destitute refugees by transportation and rations. He was
endeavoring to find places for all the able-bodied colored people, and had already considerably
diminished the number. By the help of the assistant commissioner of the State, he will be
able to apprentice most of the homeless children. Many cases of violence to negroes in that
section are reported to him, but his district is so large that he cannot, he says, rectify these
evils except in comparatively few cases. "Several good schools and a hospital are in successful
operation at Atlanta ; the former, as at Macon, being chiefly sustained by the benevolent
associations of the north.
At Augusta, meeting again the assistant commissioner of the State, General Tillson, at his
headquarters, I made a report of my tour in Georgia, and secured the adoption of some
measures of immediate and practical importance to different localities visited. General
Tillson had just returned from Waynesboro', where he had addressed a large meeting of
freedmen (some few planters also being present) to encourage the making of contracts.
The schools at Augusta are flourishing under the immediate supervision of the bureau
State superintendent of education. I obtained information while there from officers and
agents of the bureau, as well as from the military authorities and the newspapers, that the
militia organizations in the opposite county of South Carolina (Edgefield) were engaged in
disarming the negroes. This created great discontent among the latter, and in some
instances they had offered resistance. In previous inspecting tours in South Carolina much
complaint reached me of the misconduct of these militia companies towards the blacks.
Some of the latter of the most intelligent and well-disposed came to me and said: _" What
shall we do ? These militia companies are heaping upon our people every sort of injury and
insult, unchecked. Our people are peaceably inclined and we are endeavoring to inculcate
good feeling ; but we cannot bear this treatment much longer." Many are beginning to say :
44 We have oeen patient long enough. We are free men now, and we have submitted to
such usage as long as we can." And again they ask: "What shall we do?" I assured
them that this conduct was not sanctioned by the United States military authorities, and
that it would not be allowed.
They then asked what they should do when the United States troops were withdrawn, say
ing they had nothing but evil to apprehend from these militia organizations.
Now, at Augusta, about two months later, I have authentic information that these abuses
continue. In southwestern Georgia, I learned that the militia had done the same, sometimes
pretending to act under orders from United States authorities. I reported these facts to
General Branon, commanding the department of Georgia, and to General Sickles, com
manding the department of South Carolina.
I am convinced that these militia organizations only endanger the peace of the communi
ties where they exist, and are a source of constant annoyance and injury to the freed people ;
that herein is one of the greatest evils existing in the southern States for the freedmen. They
give the color of law to their violent, unjust, and sometimes inhuman proceedings. I would
earnestly recommend that these organizations be abolished and prohibited in these States for
at least several years to come, and that some suitable substitute be instituted as a general
police force to preserve order and maintain the laws until it again becomes safe to allow the
organization of militia.
Orders had just been issued for the muster-out of the greater part of the troops remaining in
Georgia. General Tillson, the assistant commissioner, was apprehensive that the efficiency of
the Bureau would be much impaired by the loss of these troops. Not only would the means of
executing orders and punishing crime be taken away, but his sub-assistant commissioners,
already far too few in number, would be mustered out with their regiments. He would thus
be deprived of all except one or two of his most efficient agents.
Another evil, of less extent, and, it is hoped, of shun duration, would arise from the
muster-out of the colored troops raised in that or neighboring States. The men would thus,
for the present, at least, be thrown out of employ and regular wages ; just let loose from
military restraint, they would be an exciting element, not prepared to settle down to steady
labor, at once, themselves and their influence tending to disturb others. Besides, while
receiving pay as soldiers, they could make their families comparatively comfortable ; whereas
• now this means of support is suddenly cut off, and it must necessarily be some time before
they can make satisfactory provision for their families.
From Augusta I returned via Savannah to Charleston, South Carolina, having been absent
twenty-three days.
As the result of this tour, I beg leave to submit the following general observations :
I. Agencies of the United States government, of some sort, similar to the existing bureau
agencies, are, for the present, indispensable in every part of the two States visited.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 47
1. Great suffering and starvation would ensue among the refugees and freedrnen in some
sections were all government aid withdrawn. •
2. Public sentiment is such that even should the laws be made impartial, the negro could
not obtain redress for wrongs done him in person or property.
3. There seems to be a moral incapacity with the majority of white residents to treat him
fairly in the ordinary transactions of business, as, e. g., in making contracts. His own in
bsolutely to p
though the expenses be paid by the benevolent associations of the north, and the many suc
cessful schools now in operation would be broken up in most places on the withdrawal of the
government agencies. The same general observation will apply to all missionary work by
northern agents ; and from special inquiry and investigation on this subject, I am convinced
that very little in the way of moral and religious instruction for the freed people is to be ex
pected at present from the members and ministers of the southern churches. On the other
hand, it is for the interest of the whites for these agencies to remain, and the better class of
the thinking men expressed themselves unhesitatingly in favor of it :
1. The prevailing want of confidence on the part of the freedmen in those who had been
slaveholders makes it necessary to have a third party (and a United States official is better
than any other) to induce the freedmen to enter into contracts. Many of the white residents
told me that no contracts would have been effected but for the bureau officers.
2. Such agents are needed often to secure the fulfilment of contracts on the part of the
freedmeu, both in explaining the exact meaning and force of the contract and enforcing it by
different motives and means.
3. For the protection of the whites against any hostile combinations of the blacks. This
will be needed as long as the present public sentiment of the whites continues, insuring a
corresponding distrust and hostility -on the part of the blacks. Our agents have already
done much to allay such ill feeling ; and however unreasoning and ignorant the freedmen
may be in any community, and however much their numbers may preponderate over the resi
dent whites, they will generally heed and be governed by the advice of United States officials.
II. In order adequately to protect the persons and property of the freedmen, and promote
their education, as well as for the proper regulation of labor for the benefit of all concerned,
the present number of agents should be increased.
III. United States troops are, at present, absolutely necessary as auxiliary to the agents.
1. There is no other means of executing orders and insuring justice to the freedmen.
2. In many sections United States agents would not be tolerated unless backed by military
force. I was assured by respectable and influential residents of the country that no northern
man could reside there were it not for the presence of the bayonet, and that, in their opinion,
such would be the case for ten years to come. I am not convinced of the truth of this state
ment, yet with my own observation I am led to conclude —
3. That the troops should remain for the protection of northern residents and to encourage
immigration.
4. As desired by the better part of the whites, to maintain good order and peace.
5. Wherever United States troops are withdrawn a militia organization at once springs into
life, which invariably tends to disturbances between Avhites arid blacks, and to the latter is,
I am convinced, an unmixed evil.
IV. As the result of this and other tours of inspection, as well as from my experience and
observation while on duty in the States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida for the past
nine (9) month, I beg leave to submit further, that, in view of the acknowledged necessity of
United States troops, and the fact that many now there are soon to be mustered out, and all
of the volunteer white troops are desirous of going home, and must sooner or later be dis
charged, a provisional force might be raised in the southern States, officered by the War De
partment, (preferably from meritorious officers lately discharged from the United States vol
unteers, and selected with a view to peculiar fitness for this service, ) which would meet the
want, and for other special reasons, (besides the general reasons given for the retention of
troops in these States,) would be highly beneficial to the country. For example —
1. Such force, recruited in the south, would easily be substituted for the militia, which for
every consideration of safety to the peace of the country and justice to the freedmen ought to
be abolished for some years to come. Officered by the War Department, it would be subject
to discipline and a control, giving to it the character of United States troops, and in no re
spects resembling the present militia.
2. Its officers could be used as agents in the affairs and interests of refugees and freedmen,
without the inconvenience and injury to the service of having frequent changes and losses
incident to the inevitable muster-out of the present volunteer force.
3. Most of the officers and men of the present volunteer white troops are discontented, and
thus more or less disqualified for their duties, believing, as they do, that they should be al
lowed to go home now that the rebellion has been crushed.
4. This would be the means of enlisting on the side of the government a dangerous and
otherwise troublesome class throughout the south, and finally secure among them and their
families a permanent loyal sentiment.
48 RECONSTRUCTION.
5. Many who would thus be arrayed on the side of law and order are at present without
lucrative means of support. * They have been absent three or four years in the rebel army, or,
as in Florida, some in the Union army, and by the habits acquired, in addition often to the
fact that they never were accustomed to steady industry in early life, are unfitted and indis
posed to enter into any suitable business, even if other circumstances favored it.
6. The greater part of the class referred to are unable to read and write. Gathered into
companies and regiment sunder suitable officers, they could easily be taught in the rudiments
of education, as has been done in the case of many of the colored regiments. Two or thne
regiments of this description might easily be raised in each State with comparatively little
expense, and for such term of service (say three years) as it may be thought probable that a
military force will be needed in the States lately in rebellion. This plan of a provisional force
in the south was urgently recommended to me by some of the present prominent military
commanders in the States mentioned.
If this measure cannot be adopted for want of a basis of law, similar results might be at
tained by the recruitment of some two or three regiments for the regular army in these States,
if the army is to be increased. But this recruiting should begin at once and no time be lost,
as is obvious from what has been said of the disabilities connected with the retention of the
present volunteer force.
Respectfully submitted :
C. H. HOWARD,
Brevet Brig. Gen., Inspector for South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Major General O. O. HOWARD,
Commissioner Bureau of Refugees, Sfc.
WASHINGTON, February 1, 1866.
G. H. Kyle sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Where is your residence ?
Answer. In Dallas county, in the State of Arkansas, about seven miles from Arkadelphia,
the county seat of Clarke county : I live on the east side of Wachitaw river.
Question. How long have you resided in Arkansas, and where did you previously reside ?
Answer. I have lived in the State of Arkansas seven years last December ; I was born
and raised in East Tennessee, in Hawkins county, and lived there until I was twenty-four
years old ; I then moved to the western part of the State, and lived in the neighborhood of
Jackson and Madison counties some twenty-five years before I went to Arkansas.
Question. What has been your position and experience during the rebellion ?
Answer. I was educated in a school of politics that impressed upon my mind indelibly
that I owed a paramount allegiance to the government of the United States, in all things
guaranteed to that government by the Constitution of the United States. In respect to this
question of State sovereignty, State nationality, as some of our politicians were foolish
enough to call it, I never believed in it, only to the extent that all powers not delegated to
the general government were reserved to the people and the States.
I opposed secession always. I was a young man, just taking notice of public men and
measures in 183*2 and 1833, when that great conflict came up here between Mr. Webster and Mr.
Hayne. I had those debates, and I have read them, with General Jackson's proclamation
to South Carolina ; and upon the question of nullification and secession, I was always op
posed to that doctrine ; I was a whig in politics; Mr. Clay and Mr. Webster were always
my beau-ideals of politicians.
I have served in the Tennessee legislature, in the State senate, in 1847 and 1849, two
sessions, from the western district of Tennessee. That is enough in regard to my antece
dents, I suppose. In 1858 I immigrated to where I now live, in Dallas county, Arkansas.
I had been there something over two years when these troubles broke out. I was made — uu-
williugly, for I was a stranger in the country — the Union candidate in Dallas county. The
secessionists had a meeting in our county seat m February, 1861 ; it was cold weather and
I was nut very well, and 1 did not attend it ; li ntended to have attended it and resist them
there. They nominated a lawyer there for their candidate, and the friends of the Union ap
plied to me to meet him. I insisted upon their getting somebody else who was better ac
quainted with the country than I was at that time. But at last I consented, and met him in
six townships out of the eight townships in the county, and I made the Union ticket beat
the other in every township except one and the county township, where there were many
lawyers and young men who ran wild on that subject — on secession. The secession ticket
was carried by a very small vote ; the county township decided the vote.
After the State seceded 1 just said to my people there that I believed the whole thing wrong,
and that 1 had done all I could against it. But I was identified with the State of Arkansa
and whatever her destiny was, ot course it would have to be mine, and that I should have to
submit to the de facto government erected over me. I did so, paid my taxes, never sought
ARKANSAS GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA. 49
any office from the confederate government, and remained at home until the spring of 1663, I
believe, when General Steele made his expedition from Little Rock to Camden.
I .was the subject of rebel persecution all the time I remained at home. They were stealing
my horses and mules. In resisting secession, I had necessarily to arraign certain men, such
as Rhett, of South Carolina, Yaucey, of Alabama, Toombs and Iverson, of Georgia, and all
that kidney of politicians, at the bar of public opinion. And by doing so I incurred the dis
pleasure of some men living eight of ten miles from me. My neighbors were all with me in
sentiment. But two votes were given in my neighborhood for secession out of about sixty
votes. The men whose displeasure I incurred said that 1 made very good northern speeches.
When General Steele made this expedition and came to Arkadelphia, about eight miles
from my residence, the rebel General Shelby was encamped about twelve miles below Arka
delphia, on the Washita, and his scouts were hanging along on the rear of Steele's army.
There came a scout to my house th." day after Steele got to Arkadelphia, and reported them-
se'ves to me as federal soldiers. I doubted it, and told them I did not believe they were federal
soldiers, and said if they were they were the first I had seen. They were dressed in blue coats,
but buttoned all up, so that you could not see the gray that was usually worn by southern sol
diers. I was on my guard. 1 knew I had some enemies, and supposed some of the rebel soldiers
would be sent upon me, and I was looking for them constantly. They said they were federal
soldiers and belonged to General Steele's army, then in camp at Arkadelphia, and that they
belonged to General Carr's division — to the first Missouri cavalry.
Said one of them to me, "Are there any Union men in this neighborhood ?" I said, "There
have been Union men here, and if things could b? put as they were before the war there wrould
be a great many more than there ever was here. But you say you are federal soldiers. Why
are you inquiring for Union men?" I was afraid they were rebel soldiers. I said, "I un
derstand you do not treat them any better than you do southern men. You take their stock
and everything that suits you." '" O. yes," says one of them, "we do that. We are greatly
in need of stock. We have a very heavy pontoon train, and we are obliged to have stock,
and we understood you had some very good mules." I had had several mules stolen from
me. 1 replied to him that I had a few mules, but I needed them very much. I had a large
family. My white family consisted of seven or eight, and I had some thirty negroes. I told
him I could not spare my mules.
Said he, upon the subject of the Union, "The negro is the cause of the war, and slavery
must be abolished befoiv this war can cease." That thing misled me more than anything
else, it was so much like what I had seen and heard, and I began to think they were federal
soldiers. I had some boys ploughing not a great ways off, out in a field there. They went
out into the field, and I went with them. They took four very valuable mules and a negro
boy to help them off with them, and they told me to go to Arkadelphia the next morning,
and to go early, for General Steele's army would perhaps move, and inquire for General
Carr's headquarters, and I could find their regiment, the First Missouri cavalry, and probably
I could get some of the mules back or vouchers for them.
Pretty soon after they left there came another scout to my house. I met a small squad of
men, and I wanted to satisfy myself whether those men who took the mules really did belong
to Steele's army. I smarted down towards the Camden road, where I knew they would pass.
I learned there was a scout from Steele's army on the east side of the Washita river. My"
daughter, who lived down on the road, wrote me, that a scout of the federal army was down
there and had taken a mule, for which she had been given a receipt, which she sent to me.
I started down that way, and fell in with a scout of about sixty men. They told me they
were federal soldiers. Said they, "We are going to your house; we have heard that you
have some forage, and we are going to your house for some." Said I, " Where is your cap
tain'/" They pointed him out, and I rode up to him and said: "These men," pointing to
two I had met in advance, "these men say they are, federal soldiers." He did not pretend
to contradict it at all, and I was so excited and troubled about the others having taken my
property, that it really did not occur to me to look at the men's clothing to learn what they
were.
I said, " If you are going to my house we will turn back." I turned back with them, and
we were talking about various things as we were going along. I really believed at the time
they were federal soldiers, knowing that Steele's army was so near there. They asked me
some questions about the politics of the neighborhood. I told them that the whole neighbor
hood had been Union, but I could not tell so Avell then what men thought of the matter since
the war was inaugurated ; but I supposed they would be Union men if things were as thej
once were. Something was said about some cotton. I do not recollect how the subject was
introduced. I remarked in a jocular manner to the captain, that I would like to trade some
cotton for sugar and coffee. Said I, " we have had none here for a long time, and I expect
a good cup of coffee would exhilirate me so much that I do not know as I would sleep for a
night or two. He asked me how much cotton I had. I said I had some twenty-five bales
packed, and some not bagged.
We went on to a lane in front of my house I began to look about, and I saw that
although some of the soldiers had on blue coats, the most of them had on gray clothes. I
was alarmed immediately, and I remarked to the captain, " I don't believe you are federal
soldiers ; I believe you are southern men."
4 A G M A
50 RECONSTRUCTION.
However, not to make too long a story, I discovered that the first lieutenant, named Hick-
man, and some of the men were masons, and on their advice I got out of the way, and it was
because they told me that they had come there for the purpose of taking me away with them.
Tlie next morning very early I went to Arkadelphia. I met nobody ou the way until I
crossed the river, when I met two federal soldiers and was conducted into town.
I saw General Steele, and had some conversation with him. I went to General Carr's
headquarters and inquired for the first Missouri cavalry, and then I found that those fellows
who had taken my horses and mules d.d nof belong there.
I was wilhih General Steele's lines and couklnot get out. I wanted to go home that even
ing. 1 found the mule that had been taken from my daughter by General Steele's army, for
which 1 had a receipt, and Captain Henry, General Steele's quartermaster, gave me a voucher
for it. 1 had to stay there till the next morning, and there were some six or seven of my
neighbors there also.
General Steele left the morning after we got in there, and that morning I started back
home. I got to the Washita river and met a son of mine, in his sixteenth year, with a mes
sage from his mother and my immediate neighbors that it would not do for me to come home ;
that on the day 1 was in Arkadelphia that scout of about sixty men had returned to my house,
had drawn a pistol on a neg"o man, and made him g*o and show them the bagged cotton,
which was in an out-house about a mile from home. I had about four hundred bushels of
corn in one end of the house. They set fire to the house and burned the cotton and com all
up. They pillaged my house, and took off one or two guns, and broke one. I had a very
good supply of guns, for game is plenty in that country. They broke open a trunk of mine
and took a very valuable "watch and $.500 in confederate money, which was worth nothing,
of course, but it was all we had to pass there, for they came and foraged on us and we had to
take that money. I do not remember what else they took. They just sacked the house,
and told my wife, " Now you have heard talk of federal soldiers robbing secesh houses ;
now we will show you how secesh will rob a Union man's house."
When I met my son I consulted with some of my neighbors who were with him ; I went
into town and saw some of my friends, and they advised me to take protection with General
Steele's army. The rear of the army was just leaving town, and I followed ou and over
took General Steele eight miles west from Arkadelphia, on the road towards Washington.
As it happened, when I overtook the army they had stopped and were taking a snack. Gen
eral Steele and several officers of his staff and General Kice, of Iowa, were there. I related
to them what had happened, and told them that my object was to take protection with the
army for awhile, until those fellows could get away from my neighborhood. I remarked to
General Steele that I had a son-in-law living at Pine Bluff, on the Arkansas river, and that
I -supposed there would be trains passing back to Little Rock, and that I could get to my
son-in-law. General Steele said there would be some trains passing after awhile ; and Gen
eral Rice was kind enough to say to me, "Sir, you make my headquarters your home as
long as you are with us." I did so, and went with the army down to Camdfen; and Cap
tain Henry, the quartermaster of whom I have spoken, gave me a little employment at Cam-
den — some writing to do, for which he paid me two dollars a day. There was a train came
along from Little Rock to Pine Bluff and Camden with supplies for the army. I made ar
rangements to return with that train to Pine Bluff. We started and travelled two days, and
at Mark's' mill we were intercepted by Fagan and Shelby. It was said they had 0,000
troops, and I suppose they had. They took about 1,200 prisoners. 1 stood at a cabin at the
side of the road there, when that battle was going on, until the timber all around me was
torn down and split up; I then rode out into the woods and stood in the bushes something
like an hour, when I saw a federal officer coming along. He was Captain McGili. of In
diana, whom I had seen at General Rice's headquarters. There were some 00 cavalry with
him. I supposed they were going down on the left to prevent the right of the rebel army
from flanking them. They had gone but a little distance before they were fired upon, and
turning right up by me, said McGill, ''Are you here, old man ?" I said, "Yes." Says he,
"The whole thing is gone up ; we are defeated ; our colonel is wounded and dismouted, and
•we will all be taken within twenty minutes unless we can get out of here." I said, "I have
been here one hour, and there is no firing off to the northwest. I have some knowledge of
the geography of this country, and if you will follow me 1 think we can get out. '' We" laid
whip to our horses, went through the woods about two miles, and struck a road bearing off
in a northeast direction. We put spurs to our horses and went ten miles above and crossed
Sabino river, swam our stock over, ferried ourselves and our saddles over in a little skiff and
got, to Pine Biuff at 10 o'ciock that night, and Captain McGill reported to Colone! Clayton
in command there. I remained a refugee there and at Little Rock for about four months.
Question. I do not think ir, is necessary for our purpose that you should gd so much into
details. Have you held any office under the rebellion ?
Answer. No, sir. I remained at home quietly after what I have been stating, until, as
you are informed by that<nemorial of ours, (see appendix A to this deposition,) a Stale gov
ernment, had been got up at Little Rock in 18i>:5. Governor Murphy was appointed pro
visional governor by our Stale convention. Afterwards we held an e ection for governor and
members of the legisla'uie from counties within the federal lines. Governor Murphy was
elected, receiving- twelve thousand or thirteen thousand votes, and a legislature was
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 51
organized. And the northern counties in the State within the federal lines — some of them,
at least — had civil officers appointed for them. Down in southwestern Arkansas, where I
live, some eighty miles southwest of Little Rock, the rebel scouts were passing through that
country constantly.
Question. Did you continue loyal all the time?
Answer. I felt all the time I owed paramount allegiance to the government of the United
•States.
Question. Have you held any office under the confederate authorities during the rebellion?
Answer. At the time the rebellion broke out I was an acting justice of the peace in the
township where I reside. I tendered my resignation, but they would not receive it ; and I
was informed by some men that it' I resigned they would take it as prima facie evidence that I
was not "loyal to the south," as they termed it. I held that ministerial office for a while ;
but just as soon as I could get clear of it I did get clear of it.
Question. And you have held no other office ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. So far as you know, what is the present condition of the district from which
you come with reference to loyalty or disloyalty, considering the whole white population?
Answer. My district is composed of sixteen counties, and I visited the county seats of
fourteen of them and made public addresses there. I considered at that time — and I have
seen nothing to change that opinion, and a letter from General Reynolds informs me that
things are more encouraging there than last fall — at that time I considered the bonajide citi
zens of the country as loyal. I could see a subdued feeling and spirit pervading the whole
country. It is true there are some fiery, restless men, such as you will find in all commu
nities. I had five competitors, and two of them canvassed with me. They pandered to the
prejudices of the people upon this negro question, telling the people that Cuftee, as they
called him, would be re-enslaved again, some day or other, when the State could get their
rights and could act under State authority. I met that question boldly, and told them
that slavery was gone ; and in answer to that, even where the people were so sore, having
lost their property, what I consider the bonajide citizens of the country told me I was right
in my position upon that question; that the negroes were free, had been made free by the
fortunes of war, and cannot be re-enslaved. It is true but few of the people voted ; but few
of them could vote at the time of the election, which was on the 9th of last October. There
were hundreds of the people who had never taken the amnesty oath. Some of them had no
chance to take it. I looked upon those people in my district, what I consider the real, sub
stantial citizens of the country, as loyal.
Question. Counting the whole number of the people — all the white men who have been
voters, whether they have now the right to vote or not — what proportion of them are truly
loyal to the government of the United States, without any compulsion and upon their own
inclination?
Answer. I am inclined to think that a great many of the persons who were in the rebel
army would vote for a candidate who had believed with them, who had been on their side
of the question, as we call it, sooner than they would forme. But among the old substantial
men I am inclined to think that loyalty generally prevails. There are restless men who
would perhaps rather vote for a man who had been on the other sic!o or the question. But
the very men who would do that would tell you the war was over, the thing was done, the
die was cast, and it could not be helped, and they were disposed to submit to whatever the
government of the United States might impose upon them ; that we are obliged to be one
people, and we cannot help it. But when you ask me about their preferences, I must say
thav a majority of those men who have been in the army down there would vote for a man
who had been in sentiment with them, rather than vote for me, or for anybody else always
considered a, Union man.
Question. What number of votes did you receive in that district?
Answer. There were six candidates, and the district voted between 2,500 and 3,000 votes.
I never did see a statement of the votes. But my vote was some 500 or 600, I think, in that
neighborhood — not lar from ;>0().
Question. How many votes did the other five candidates receive in the aggregate ?
Answer. They must have received about ti,000.
Question. Were any of the other candidates who opposed you Union men, who had been
so during the war ?
Answer. There was one who was said to have been a Union man, but he did not canvass
the district. I think he got less than 100 votes. And there was another, a lawyer in Union
county, bordering on the State of Louisiana, who was said to have been a Union man. But
he was the most violent and ultra man we had in the canvass in advocating disorganizing
measures, opposing the law of the State disfranchising rebels. He got a decided majority of
the votes, but they were thrown out.
Question. He received more votes than you received ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. But those votes were rejected?
Answer. Yes, sir.
52 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. If all had voted who would have had the right to vote if the rebellion had not
taken place, what would have been the aggregate vote of that district?
Answer. My impression is, that in that district of sixteen counties, if all the white males
over twenty-one years of age had voted, there would have been some G,OOU votes — not more
than that.
Question. As far as you know, how does your district compare, as regards loyalty, with
the rest of thy State of Arkansas ?
Answer. I have always regarded the balance of the State as more loyal than my district.
There is more disloyalty in the tier of counties running along the Louisiana line, in my dis
trict, than in any other portion of the State. I judge my district was decidedly more dis
loyal than any other district in the State.
Question. Have there been any combinations or meetings in Arkansas to regulate the
price of labor ?
Answer. None at all.
Question. Do you know of any combinations, or leagues, or secret societies among the
secessionists since the close of the rebellion ?
Answer. No, sir ; I have heard of none.
Question. What is the disposition of the negroes with reference to working if they are as
sured of their pay and reasonable compensation is given them ? Are they disposed to work,
or otherwise ?
Answer. I learn since I have left home that they are disposed to work.
Question. Have any steps been taken to educate the negroes by the people of the State?
Answer. Only to this extent: I got acquainted pretty soon with the agent of the Freed -
men's Bureau at Arkadelphia. He bound out a few small negroes there, and I have seen
him taking bonds and obligating the persons to educate them. But there are no public schools
tnere yet, but persons obligate themselves to educate negro children who are bound to them.
Question. What is the disposition of the public in regard to allowing negroes to buy land
and hold it, if they have the means to pay for it ?
Answer. I never heard any objection to it at all.
Question. What is your opinion as to the expediency of removing the military and the
Freedmen's Bureau from the State of Arkansas ?
Answer. So far as my information extends, I think in my immediate neighborhood there
would be no risk run at all in removing the bureau. I believe the people would do what was
right by the negroes. I have seen no spirit in my neighborhood to domineer over or abuse
them, or to withhold from them what was their due. There is rather a spirit to commend the
negro for his good, behavior during a contest in which he knew his liberties were involved as
well as the white people knew it. They all remained at home and behaved themselves, in
many places where there were hardly any white persons except a few old men, and did no
violence except such as might be done ordinarily. There is a disposition on the part of the
people to really commend the negro for his good behavior during the war, and I have known
none abused there.
Question. How would it be with the men Avho have been loyal during the war if the mili
tary were now removed? Would they be in any danger from the persecutions of the rebels?
Answer. 1 think not, unless there was a private feud or something of that kind. I do not
think upon the score of political questions there would be any difficulty at all. Having been
opposed in politics during the war might excite private feuds more than otherwise would be
the case. But as far as my knowledge extends, the people have resolved to let bygones be
bygones, and go to work and be one people. That is the doctrine I have preached to them
all around through the counties where I have been ; that it was nonsense to contend about those
things any longer ; that we must accept our status, let it be what 'it might, and go to work
and build up our waste places.
Question. How many persons are disfranchised by the laws of Arkansas on account of
their participation in the rebellion ?
Answer. A great many are disfranchised ; all the young men who were in the rebel army
were disfranchised, and the old men consider themselves disfranchised, because the oath re-
r'red them to swear that they had not, directly or indirectly, aided the rebellion. Some of
m said they had fed hungry men, soldiers, passing along to and fro, and that might
be cousidered\'is aiding the rebellion, and they would not take the oath on that account,
when otherwise they might have taken the oath and voted. Indeed, the legislature did not
consider the mere act of feeding hungry men as rendering such aid and comfort to the re
bellion as was intended to disqualify them from voting. I suppose, taking the young men
who entered the armed service of the rebellion, more mar halt the voting population of the
State were disfranchised at the time of the election. The clerks, in some places, charged
seventy-five cents for administering the oath; and a great many did not take the amnesty
oath because they had but little money, and wanted that for their families.
Question. If there should be universal amnesty and enfranchisement of all the white citi-
xeus of the State of Arkansas, would not the 'political power of the State come into the
hands of men who have been in the rebellion or sympathized with it ?
Answer. I think not; such a man as Bob Johnson, who has been here in the United States
Senate for a long time, and such other men who used to control the destinies of the State,
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 53
could not be elected to any office ; the people are done with such men, and I believe to-day —
and I do not say it boastingly, for I do not expect to be a candidate again, as I am an old man —
I believe that on a fair field, giving every man a vote, I could beat any of that class of men
in a fair contest. I do not believe the people will elect those old politicians and secessionists.
Question. What is the disposition of the white people of Arkansas in reference to allowing
any of the negroes to vote?
Answer. I think a majority of the people of Arkansas would be opposed to negro suffrage.
I think they would feel about this way about it— indeed I have heard them say so : that the
question of suffrage is one that ought to be kept in abeyance for a while, and see what im
provement the negro can make intellectually and morally, and see what can be done for
him ; and hereafter, if he shows a disposition to do something for himself to acquire property
and make a good citizen, they would have no objection to giving him the right of suffrage.
That is my view of the question ; that is the way I feel about the matter. As to the pro
posed amendment to the Constitution of the United States that passed the House yesterday,
I think if any amendment is to be passed, that is about the best— basing representation upon
all the population ; and if the negro population is excluded from the right of suffrage, then
exclude that population from the basis of representation ; I believe that is fair and right
Question. Would your State ratify that amendment ?
Answer. I believe it would.
APPENDIX A.
Memorial of Hon. Wm. Eyers, G. H. Kyle, and James M. Johnson, representatives from
the State of Arkansas, for scats within the hall of the House of Representatives.
To the honorable House, of Representatives of the Congress of the United States :
The memorial of William Byers, G. H. Kyle, and James M. Johnson, citizens of the
State of Arkansas, represents that on the ninth day of October, 1865, they were elected
representatives to the thirty-ninth Congress, certificates of which, from the executive office
of said State, they desire to present to your honorable body.
Your memorialists further represent that in January, 1864, the loyal citizens of the State
of Arkansas elected delegates, held a convention, formed a constitution, and established a
provisional State government, until the proper officers under the constitution could be elected
and qualified. This constitution, first, abolished slavery ; second, declared void the ordinance
of secession ; third, repudiated the rebel war debt ; and, fourth, provided for the election of
officers and for the ratification or rejection of the constitution by a vote of the citizens.
Your memorialists further represent that in March, 1864, an election under the consti
tution referred to was held, and that constitution ratified and adopted by a majority of twelve
thousand votes. That on the 18th. of April following, the governor elected under the same
was inaugurated and assumed the function? of the executive office, and the different depart
ments of the State government was put in successful operation.
The State legislature assembled and passed a law which provided that no person shall
vote at any election until he has first taken and subscribed an oath that he will support the
Constitution of the United States, and the constitution of the State of Arkansas, and that he
has not voluntarily bore arms against the United States or the State of Arkansas, or aided,
directly or indirectly, the rebellion since the J8th day of April, 1864. The legislature also
ratified the amendment to the Constitution of the United States abolishing slavery.
Every county in the State has been regularly organized by the electiou«of county and
local officers. The courts have been held, and taxes assessed and collected.
The United States district court for the State has been held, and the laws administered
therein, for more than one year past.
The United States direct and internal revenue taxes have been and now are being col
lected without obstruction.
The citizens of Arkansas are loyal, peaceable, and well-disposed towards the good order
and happiness of the United States government.
Your memorialists were selected as representatives with especial regard to their loyalty to
the United States. In the governor's proclamation for an election for members of Congress
it was also proclaimed that no one should be permitted to vote without first taking the oath
prescribed by act of legislature, (heretofore referred to,) and also that no one should be
eiected to Congress who could not conscientiously take the oath prescribed by act of Congress.
Your memorialists can honestly take that oath, and desire to do so.
In the formation of the present State government, and in the organization and pro
ceedings of the several executive departments, there has been a studied effort to comply with
aud to conform to every requirement of the Constitution of the United States and of the
federal government.
Your memorialists further represent that they are entitled, by virtue of the loyal and
regenerated condition of the State which they were elected to represent, to as much grace
54 RECONSTRUCTION.
and to equal favor from your honorable body as that of the representatives from any other
JState once in rebellion. The Committee of Elections at the close of the last Congress re
ported in favor of the admission of representatives from Arkansas, which report was not
acted upon by your honorable body for want of time.
In support of these facts your memorialists rei'er to the constitution and laws of Arkansas;
the governor's proclamation; a statement of Hon. Mr. Pomeroy, United States senator from
Kansas, made before a committee of the Senate; and to a report of Major General Reynolds,
commanding1 department of Arkansas, made to the War Depaitment.
And your memorialists pray that they may be permitted to occupy seats within the hall
of your honorable body, and that a resolution be passed for that purpose.
APPENDIX B.
Submitted to the Committee on Reconstruction by me, February 1, 18G6.
G. H. KYLE.
To the voters of the second congressional district :
The undersigned, district committee from the county of Pulaski, without waiting" for
concert of action with the other counties of the district, which, however desirable, would
consume more time than the exigencies of the coining1 canvass will permit, have thought
proper to address the voters of the district upon the topics involved in the coming election.
We call attention, first, to the resolution adopted at a mass meeting1 of the national Union
men of Arkansas, held at the State-house, in the city ot Little Rock, on the 29th of August
last, and participated in by a number of citizens from other counties of the district. They
embody, it is believed, the principles of the national Union men of the State, and were cordi
ally concurred in> by the meeting- referred to. WTith their preamble they run as follows :
Whereas the present unsettled and conflicting1 condition of political opinion in our midst
renders the organization of those who favor the perpetuity of our national government abso
lutely essential, in order that the principles and policy advocated by the friends of the gov
ernment may be known and felt, and may assist instrengtheuiugthe bonds of the Union, and
in promoting the happiness and prosperity of the people of our State : Therefore,
Rcsulvt'd, That we organize ourselves under the name of the "National Union Men" of
Arkansas, and announce as the principles advocated by our organization those contained in
the following resolutions :
Resolved, That we, the National Union Men of the State of Arkansas, regard the people of
the United States as a great nation, and not as a confederacy of independent States. That
we regard the unity and indivisibility of the national government as the keystone in the arch
of our liberties. That we believe that in the fullest and most extended sense the Constitu
tion of the United States, and the laws made in pursuance thereof, are the supreme law of the
land, anything in the constitution or laws of any State to the contrary notwithstanding.
Resoltr.d, That the best interests of the people and the future welfare of the State of Arkan
sas will be subserved by the promotion of educational institutions of all kinds, and especially
by a judicious system of free schools.
Resolved, That a sound public policy demands the largest encouragement to immigration
to this State; that manufactures should be fostered and commerce facilitated ; that railroads
and navigation are the avenues of wealth to every people, and that our legislature should en
courage both.
Resolved, That we regard the negro as a free citizen of the United States and of this State ;
that the agricultural and commercial interests of the State will be promoted by improving
and elevating his moral and mental condition ; that he is entitled to all the " absolute rights"
of a citizen, namely: personal security, personal liberty, and private property, and to the
necessuiy legislation to secure to him the lull and perfect enjoyment of those rights.
Resulted, That we are prepared to co-operate with the friends of the Union in other portions
of the country in carrying out any measure calculated to promote the speedy reconstruction
of the States lately in rebellion, and to restore peace and prosperity to Arkansas.
Resolved, That we will take prompt measures for the enforcement, under all legal penalties,
of section G of the act of the legislature of this State of May 31, 1664, in regard to the re
quirements of the election oath.
To the brief discussion of these resolutions we now ask your attention.
That the time for seriously entertaining the doctrine of secession has passed away, every
candid man will admit. The die has been cast, the issue made, and the advocates of State
sovereignty, in the sense taught by John C. Caihouu and the school of politicians which he
founded, have lost, and now, at the close of a long and bloody war, the integrity of the
national Union is reaffirmed with additional emphasis. The importance and value of that
Union in all its comprehensiveness cannot be overestimated. It is, indeed, " the keystone
in the arch of our liberties," and without it we would be in danger of lapsing into the discoid
and anarchy that have ruined so many of the republics of earth. History teaches by exam
ples, and if the American people are wise, they will avoid the rocks upon which other free
nations have split.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA—MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 55
That the best interests of our State " -will be subserved by the promotion of educational
institutions of all kinds, and especially by a judicious system of free schools," no one will
deny. Theirvalue in giving tone to the public- sentiment of a people, and irr shaping the
material interests of a State, cannot be ovr>r-estirnated. The ignorance of the masses is the
first cause of instability in a Suite, provokes passion, turmoil, war. and if not dispelled, will
wreck all theories of government. The donations of laud to the State of Arkansas for com
mon-school purposes have been sufficient to build a school-house in every township in the
State, but the funds have been very badly, if not criminally managed, and practically the State
will be compelled to build again fiom the foundation. A judicious common-school system is
one of the chief bulwarks of a State ; and in Arkansas all good citizens will, no doubt,
concur in any plan for cany ing such a system into operation as rapidly as our improving
condition and finances will allow.
That a sound public policy demands the largest encouragement to immigration to this
State, that manufactures should be fostered, and commerce tacilitated, and that railroads
should be built, we believe will not be questioned. There is no reason why Arkansas should
not take prominent rank among the States of the Union. In area she is one of the largest,
in location eligible, and in natural resources unsurpassed. Our citizens know this, and in
view of the desolation of war and the consequent embarrassment of our pecuniary interests,
we respectfully submit that it is the duty of all to encourage the introduction of capital as
well as labor from the more populous and wealthy States. Both can be procured, and thw
opportunities for their employment are abundant. The State is capable of immense develop
ment. The eyes of thousands are already fixed upon it, and, whether we will it or not, the
capital and industry of the north are coming here. It remains for us. therefore, to shape the
course of this stream, to guide the waters as they flow in ; and if this is done, Arkansas will
take that position in the Union to which, inherently, she is entitled.
What shall be done with the negro is also a question to be considered. The war has made
him free ; and this fact, first of all, must be accepted. All our theories, our conduct, and
our legislation must proceed upon this hypothesis. The fifth resolution. declares that "he is
entitled to all the 'absolute rights ' of a citizen, namely: personal security, personal liberty,
and private property, and to the necessary legislation to secure him the full and perfect en
joyment of those rights," and by legislation these rights should be promptly secured. The
right of suffrage, which is not an absolute right, we believe should be held in abeyance.
The regulation of its elective franchise has always been regarded as principal among the
rights reserved to a State, and, we submit, should not be departed from. Let the future
determine ike status of the negro in this respect. Even if it were to be attempted, the issuo
could not be settled in the coming election. If members of a State legislature were to be
voted for, the agitation of this subject might be profitable, for they are the law-making power,
but at present its treatment is regarded as unnecessary and premature.
We come now to the consideration of the seventh resolution, which relates to the enforce
ment of the act of the general assembly approved May 31, 1864, and prescribes in section 6,
as a pro-requisite to voting, that the voter shall take an oath that he has not voluntarily
borne arms against the United States or this State, or aided, directly or indirectly, the so-called
confederate authorities since the 18th day of April, 1864. This law, it is due to the voters to
say, will be enforced. It matters not that the legislature who made it did not represent the
entire State. They represented the loyal citizens of the State, and their acts are valid. The
government organized in Arkansas under President Lincoln's proclamation of December 8,
J8(J3, is and was the government of the State, and is being and will bt, sustained by his suc
cessor in office. Nor should those old citizens of the State who have been identified with the
rebellion complain. They voluntarily renounced their allegiance to the government of the
United States and their citizenship in the State of Arkansas as a State in the federal Union.
By that act they ceased to be citizens of the State, and those who, true to the Union,
remained within her limits, exercised an undoubted right in controlling State affairs and
shaping State policy. They invited all in rebellion to return. President Lincoln's amnesty
was open to them, availing themselves of which, they could vote for State officers, upon the
adoption of the new free-State constitution, and have a voice in choosing the law-makers of the
State. But they sinned away the day of grace, and have themselves alone to blame. The
legislature met and passed this disfranchising law while the issue between the general
government and the rebellion still hung tremblingly in the balance, regarding it as a pro
tective measure, to which they had a perfect right to resort. By some this law is pronounced
unconstitutional, and by others its disregard is counselled. Whether the former position is
tenable or not, it is not for us to determine. While this law stands unimpaired by judicial
decision its authority is paramount, and every law-abiding man will obey it. In this prin
ciple rests the safety of a State. If it can be disregarded in one instance it can in any. Tho
partition walls between the different departments of the government must not b« broken
down, otherwise the convenience of to-day will be the disaster of to-morrow. The remedy in
a case of this nature lies ;n the courts, and at the proper time the question can be judicially
passed upon.
It is believed also in some quarters, and fault is found accordingly with the law in ques
tion, that under the amnesty of May '2f>, 1865, those who take it are restored not simply to
all rights of property, but to full citizenship. This, we respectfully submit, depends entirely
5 6 RECONSTRUCTION.
upon the laws of the State to which the amnestied party returns, and if by those laws his
rights are abridged, he must submit to the deprivation. We are aware that the cry of pro
scription is following this law ; but the term is altogether too strong for the occasion. To
proscribe is to doom to death, exile, or outlawry, and certainly this is not the predicament of
those who have availed themselves of President Johnson's amnesty, or who are included in
the excepied classes. They are, indeed, still under disabilities; but these are believed to be
temporary in their character, and will and ought to be removed whenever the safety of the
State and its complete operation in harmony with the known policy of the general govern
ment are secured. Before that time it is entirely safe to say they will not be, and opposition
now to the laws of the State will but recoil upon those who attempt it. It will exasperate
where a kindly disposition prevails, and have a tendency to bring about the time when the
extreniest issues of the country will be forced upon the people.
Our attitude before Congress is also a matter of the deepest moment. It is important to
the State that it should be represented in that body at its next session; but to secure this
result the representatives chosen must be men of undoubted loyalty, and should likewise
reflect the policy of the administration. We have reason to believe that Arkansas, Tennessee
and Louisiana, by reason of their reconstructed State governments, will stand upon a better-
footing than the remaining rebellious States; but whether a uniform rule of admission will
be adopted or not, it is very important that our representatives should reflect and be in
harmony with the loyal government at home.
We have thus, fellow-citizens, sought to place before you some of the topics involved in
the coming congressional election. G. H. Kyle, esq., of Princeton, Dallas county, who was
put in nomination by the mass meeting to which allusion has been made, will receive, it is
to be hoped, the votes of the district, lie was a resident of the State before the war, is
knou-n well and favorably, has suffered much from the rebellion, is thoroughly loyal, and
would creditably represent the district.
n\ _ „
le found in an unknown and possibly far-off future?
O. P. SNYDKIi.
W. J. PATTON.
A. W. BISHOP.
F. A. SAKAS1N.
F. J. DITTER.
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, September, 1885.
WASHINGTON, February 2, 1866.
William Byers sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Please state your age and residence.
Answer. My u- • is 55 years ; I reside in Batesville, Independence county, State of Ar
kansas.
Question. How long have you resided in the State of Arkansas ?
Answer. For twenty-nine years.
Question. Previous to that time where did you reside ?
Answer. I am a native of Pennsylvania, but I was raised in central Ohio.
Question. What means have you had for ascertaining the condition of public sentiment in
Arkansas since Lee's surrender ?
Answer. My means have been very good in the section of the State in which I live ; that
is, the northeastern part of the State of Arkansas. I have practiced law there for twenty-
nine years, during a portion of which time I was a judge. I have a general acquaintance
with the people throughout that whole country ; and 1 suppose my means of information
are equal to those of any man in that portion of the State of Arkansas.
Question. What was the state of public sentiment in regard to the national o-overmnent
within a month or two alter Lee's surrender?
Answer. The Union element, as a matter of course, was very much elevated and rejoiced
at it. The other element had a disposition, generally, to submit to anything, no matter
what. They were heartily tired of the war: they had been utterly ruined, aud,°as a general
rule, were willing to accept anything that was reasonable ; you would occasionally find an
exception.
Question. What is the present condition of public sentiment in reference to the national
government ?
Answer. I think the present public sentiment in that section of the country is well-dis
posed towards the government of the United States ; and there is an anxious desire to be-
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 57
come good citizens, and to be obedient and submissive to the laws. I have no doubt of that
at all.
Question. You are now here claiming a seat in the House of Representatives from the
State of Arkansas ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. When was the election held in the district in which you reside, and how many
votes were cast at that election ?
Answer. The election was held on the 9th of October last. I do not recollect the exact
number of votes cast in the district, but I think it was about 2,500. That district, in I860,
cast about 16,000 votes.
Question. Of the votes cast in October last, in your district, how many did you receive,
and for whom were the other votes given ?
Answer. I cannot tell you just the number ; I can only speak from general recollection.
I saw a statement of the vote after the election, but I have not that statement here. In or
der to explain the matter, I will say that the legislature of Arkansas, after we organized the
present Sta.c government, passed a law prohibiting any one from voting unless lie first took
an oath to support the Constitution of the United States and the constitution of the State of
Arkansas, and that he had not voluntarily borne arms against the United States or the State
of Arkansas, or aided or abetted the rebellion since the 18th of April, 1864. In some of the
counties there were votes cast by persons who did not take that oath ; those votes were not
counted
Question. How many such votes were cast in your district, as near as you can remember ?
Answer. I recollect that the whole number of votes cast was some 2,500, and it appears to
me that 1,800 and some odd votes were cast for myself. I only saw a statement published
in a Little Rock paper after the votes were counted. That is all I ever saw about it.
Question. Were there loyal votes cast that you did not receive ?
Answer. Yes, sir; there was some conflict about the law relative to the modes in which the
returns should be made. Under the old law the returns were to be made by the judges of
election to the county clerks, and by the county clerks to the secretary of state. Under the
new law, there was some provision that the returns should be made by the judges of election
directly to the secretary of state, and if I recollect aright, there were some 1,100 votes cast
for me by persons who had taken the oath, but only some 600 of the votes cast were returned
in exact accordance with the law to the secretary of state ; and I think there were 150 returned
according to the law, and some 400 given under oath for my opponent.
Question. Speaking generally, did all those people take the oath who could conscientiously
take it ?
Answer. I am satisfied that there were some who did not take it who could properly have
done so. We live in a section of country through which the armies were moving back and
forth, and the people, for the purpose of preserving their lives and property, frequently dis
sembled. There were conscientious men of that class who did not feel at exact liberty to
take the oath. They felt that they might have done or said something, although they were
not in the cause of the rebellion, that might be construed into giving aid to it.
Question. According to the best information you have, what number of votes could have
been given in your district, as compared with the vote of 1860, had everybody voted who
could have voted in J860 1
Answer. If the law had remained the same as in I860, when, according to my recollection,
there were some 16,000 votes given at that election, in that district for a member of Congress,
and if all had voted, I suppose there would have been some 12,000 votes given last fall.
That is a mere supposition, however, but it is according to my best judgment.
Question. If the franchise should be restored to all those people, how would they exercise
it with reference to the election of Union men, or men who had been connected with the
rebellion?
Answer. As a general thing, I think they would vote for Union men, if they could find
those whom they believed to be suitable men for the office. I have heard the universal ex
pression from those who were in the rebellion that they never would hereafter cast their vote
for an extreme man. They look upon it that the extreme men brought this war upon them,
and they will avoid them hereafter.
Question. Do you know of the existence of any organizations in your State with reference
to secession or separation should opportunity offer ?
Answer. No, sir, and I am satisfied there is nothing of that kind in that section of the country.
General Reynolds sent individuals to visit each county and make special inquiry, and tho
governor, a few days ago, sent me the report of Captain Payne, who visited a number of the
counties in my district. I put that report among the papers I enclosed to you. Captain
Payne says that he was informed by Captain Mason, of Fulton, and Captain Douthet, of
Lawrence, there are such organizations in those counties, but other good Union men of
those counties, who had equal opportunities of information, told him there were no such or
ganizations. He states how he received his information; that he received it from Captain
Mason and Captain Duuthet. Those two mt'U were captains in the Union army, and did
some things that could not be approved by even good Union men, and there is some personal
hostility against them in the neighborhoods where they live, and there may have been com-
58 RECONSTRUCTION.
binations among a certain few to injure those two men. That I would think was not alto
gether improbable ; but as to any organization or anything of the kind for separation or seces
sion, I am satisfied there is nothing of the kind in that country.
Question. If the military power of the general government and the Freedmen's Bureau
were withdrawn entirely from Arkansas what would be the treatment of avowed Union men,
men who have been loyal during the war ?
Answer. 1 have no doubt it would be good. There are there exceptional cases : there is
occasionally a Union man who acted badly when the Union army was there, who took ad
vantage of their presence to wreak his vengeance on some ol his secesh neighbors; and theieare
secessionists who acted in a similar manner ; and there may be personal feuds between a few
of the people. But as a general thing there is a determination on both sides to live in peae#
and quiet.
Question. If northern men were to migrate into your section of the country, how would they
be received ?
Answer. They would be received kindly. It has always been so in that section of the
country.
Question. Was it so before the war?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and is so yet.
Question. Do you know of any combinations in reference to the employment of freedmen?
Answer. No, sir ; there is none in that part of the country.
Question. What is the general condition of the freedmen ?
Answer. The freedmen in that section of the country are in a good condition. There were
not many slaves there before the war, arid those that were there were used kindly and well.
They had nearly as many physical comforts as the whites, and to their degree of intelligence as
u wLole were as happy. They were well cared for and provided for, and received the same
food and things of that kind as the families of their masters did. There were few large plan
tations in the immediate section of country where I live.
Question. But lew negroes together '!
Answer. Yes, sir. But along the Mississippi, in Phelps, Crittendeu, and some other
counties, there were larger plantations and more negroes, So far as I have learned they weie
well treated there.
Question. What wages do able-bodied freedmen receive now ?
Answer. From twelve to fifteen dollars a mouth and board; and the whites the same.
Question. They get the same as white laborers 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Has anything been done in your State in the way of providing schools for the
freedmen ?
Answer. Yes, sir, there has been something done. Some of the citizens have contributed
something, and there are one or two small schools for the I'reedmeu in the section of country
where I live. And so far as I have conversed with the people on the subject there was this
disposition : there is a feeling among the southern people in favor of keeping the black race
distinct from the white race ; in certain respects not to mix together. There would be a feel
ing of opposition in that country to black children and white children going to the same
school. They would want the blacks to have their schools and churches to themselves, and the
whites to have their schools and their churches to themselves. But there is a disposition there
to give the blacks all the civil rights the whites have, save that of voting. There is a dispo
sition, I think, to divide the school fund with them for the education of their children.
Question. Has your school fund been preserved during the war .'
Answer. The most of it has. The sixteenth section in every township is reserved for the
use of common schools. Many of those sections had been sold and the fund put at interest.
But a great many of the sections have not been sold at all, but still remain there for that pur-
Question. Have the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau been extended to your neigh
borhood ?
Answer. Yes, sir. Agents came there with the army after the surrender, and posts were
established at Batesville, Jacksonsport, and other places, and some officer connected with the
army had charge of making contracts for the freedmen.
Question. Is it the desire of the people that the Freedmen's Bureau should be removed ?
Answer. I think they are indifferent about it in that section of tlie country. We have no
objection to it, but we should have no doubt but what we could get uluug very smoothly
without it.
Question. Has the Freedmen's Bureau to your knowledge been used to oppress the white
people or to wrong them in any way ?
Answer. No, sir; not in that section of the country.
Question. It has been honorably managed there?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and, so far as I know, in tlmt section of the country it has been man
aged to the satisfaction and gratification of the whites and blacks both, because there has been
a general disposition on the part of both whites and blacks to accommodate themselves so far
as they could to their condition, and they were glad to have a mediator between them to
settle f*uy misunderstanding that might arise.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 5 9
Question. Is there any expectation among the people that they will be paid by the gei.eral
government for the losses they have sustained during the war ?
Answer. Not by tho rebel people. The Union people there who have suffered losses have
been looking forward to the time when they would receive some remuneration.
Question. Did you remain in Arkansas during the war ?
Auswrer. Yes, sir, all the time ; I was taken down with what some physicians called palsy,
others neuralgia, and others rheumatism, about a year before the war commenced, and a
great portion of the time I was confined to my house.
Question. Did you take part in the war in any way ?
Answer. I was elected judge under the old law. When the convention met and passed
the ordinance of secession, they also passed an ordinance requiring every officer in the civil
government of the State to take an oath of allegiance to the government of the Confederate
States within a certain time, or their offices would be declared vacant. I held courts for
about six months alter secession, but I never took any oath of allegiance to the Confederate
States, and when it would be necessary either to do that or not to hold the courts I tendered
niy resignation. If that was a participation in the war, holding the courts after the ordi
nance of secession was passed then I participated in it.
Question. You took no oath to support the confederacy ?
Answer. No, sir ; and when General Curtis came into that section of country he adopted
the general rule that Union men and all should take the oath of allegiance to the United
States government, and I think I was among the first who took it. lie told me he wranted
me to do it as an example to others. When the amnesty proclamation was issued by Presi
dent Lincoln, I took the oath of amnesty ; and wrheu President Johnson issued the proclama
tion again, I took the oath again. I did that to encourage the people to take it.
Question. Have there been any pardons granted by the President to persons in your
vicinity ?
Answer. Very few were under the necessity of asking for pardon. In the immediate sec
tion of country where I live, I do not know of any ; I know of one or two in some of the
adjoining counties. There were very few of the excepted classes there.
Question. So far as you know, how do the civil rights of negroes differ from those of the
whites in the State of Arkansas ?
Answer. Before the rebellion, free negroes could sue and be sued, and acquire and dispose
of property, real and personal ; I do not recollect of any statute specially authorizing them,
to hold real property, but I know they did buy and sell real property in Arkansas. Sec. 1,
Part II, chap. 51, Gould's Digest of Statutes of the State of Arkansas, provides, "Free
negroes and mulattoes shall be liable for trespasses and felonies to the same extent and man
ner that white persons are, and tried in like manner, except that persons of their own color
shall be competent witnesses to testify for or against such free negro or mulatto." Sec. 25,
chap. 18 J, Gould's Digest, provides that, "No negro or mulatto, bond or free, shall be a
competent witness in any case, except in cases in which all the parties are negroes or
muiattoes, or in which the State is plaintiff, and a negro or mulatto, or negroes or mulattoes,
are deiendants." Such was the law before the adoption of our present State constitution.
Under their present status, I suppose they could make contracts, sue and be sued, acquire
and dispose of property, real and personal, the same as tho whites.
WASHINGTON, Ftbruary 3, 1866.
Mailton J. Safford sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. State your name, age, and residence.
Answer. My name is Mailton J. Safford ; my age is thirty-seven ; I reside at Montgomery,
Alabama.
Question. How long have you lived in Alabama, and in what have you been engaged
while living there ?
Answer. Since 1856. I have been residing in Montgomery, practicing law.
Question. \Vhere did you reside previous to that time ?
Answer. Previous to that time I resided in Dallas county and in Lowndes county. I was
born in Dallas county.
Question. What means, if any, have you had since Lee's surrender of ascertaining the
sentiments of the people of Alabama, or any portion of them ?
Answer. I have been a practicing lawyer in Montgomery, connected in a good degree with
politics, reading the public papers, and communicating with prominent men in various parts
of the State, personally and by letter.
Question. Does the legislature of the State sit at Montgomery ?
Answer". Yes, sir.
Question. Has it been in session since Lee's surrender?
Answer. It has been in session since the 1st of December, I believe, or since some time in
November. The precise time I do not remember. It is now in session.
60 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Have you any means of knowing the opinions of its members?
Answer. I have this means: I have mixed with them, conversed with them, observed their
proceedings, their votes, &c.
Question. What conclusions have you reached as to the loyalty or disloyalty of the people
of Alabama ?
Answer. My opinion is that the, political control of the State is now in the hands of men
who have heretofore been prominently disloyal to the United States government, and who
now propose to keep the power of the State in their hands. The purpose for which this is
done is, of course, to protect themselves against the opprobrium which might attach to their
condition of treason and disloyalty. I sent to Mr. Sumner some two months ago a long,
elaborate exposition of my views, which I suppose he has laid before this committee. That
would give a more extended and thorough exposition of the whole subject than I shall be-
able to give in this short verbal examination.
It will be necessary for me to say, before coming to the precise condition of the people of
that State at the present time, that at the time of Lee's surrender there was organized in the
State of Alabama what was understood to be a Reconstruction or Union party. That party
had a controlling majority in the lower house of the legislature. The old senate, under the
constitution adopted about the date of secession, held over, so that the senate remained
pretty much as it was at the time the State seceded. The house could accomplish nothing
without the co-operation of the senate, and no progress was made. During the year 186o
the Union or Reconstruction party, of which I was a member, had a very confident hope of
obtaining the governorship and the senate, which was for the first time to be elected under
the new constitution, and so obtain control of the State. But the invasion of the State by
General Wilson and by the 16th United States army corps happened about the time
the election was to take place, and a new phase altogether was presented.
Immediately after the surrender of the confederate forces, the rebel influence was very much
appalled, overthrown, and destroyed there. The rebels were very much subjugated, to tell
you the truth, and made strong professions of submission to the government. For a time,
the Union men of the State, those of us who had antagonized the rebels for four years, thought
their power was entirely broken and gone. But soon afterwards they began very industri
ously to propagate the idea (and the policy adopted by President Johnson seemed to favor
the idea) that they might have great hope of regaining their ascendancy to some extent iu
that State. I say they entertained that hope from facts which carne into my possession.
They represented, for instance, that President Johnson thought more highly of rebel influ
ence than he did of that of Union men. They would cite such instances as this : that a prom
inent Union man would go to see the President to get his pardon, and state to him that he
had been as much of a Union man as a man could be in his circumstances for the last four
years. President Johnson would say, " I am delighted to hear that." But, in the course of
the conversation, the Union man would teli the President that at one time it became neces
sary for him to become somewhat complicated with the rebellion ; that he was compelled to
sell some cotton to the southern confederacy to raise means, and, being worth $^0,000, he
therefore came within the exceptions of the President's proclamation. The President would
reply, "Well, sir, it seems you were a Union man who was willing to let the Union slide,
and now I will let you slide." Another man from the other side would come in, as they tell
it of Judge Cochran, of Alabama, representing to the President that he had been a very prom
inent rebel ; that he had done all he could to bring about secession ; that when his State se
ceded he took his gun and fought in the ranks as a private; that he regretted very much the
war had resulted as it had ; that he was very sorry the rebels had not been able to sustain
themselves longer. In all respects he represented himself as a very rabid, bitter, unrepeutiug
rebel. The President asked him, "Upon what ground do you base your application for
pardon ? I do not see anything in your statement to justify you iu making'such an applica
tion." Judge Cochrane replied. "Air. President, I read that where sin abounds, mercy and
grace doth much more abound, and it is upon that principle that I ask for a pardon." The
President immediately directed the pardon to be given. In that way they have represented
that the President is with them. Others have represented that the President is proposing to
build up a party, composed of a united south, the northern democracy, and such influ
ence as he can bring to bear, by virtue of his patronage, upon the republican party, to control
the government and re-elect him President in 1868. That seems to be their policy, as far as I
could learn. So great wus their confidence that they immediately set to work to obtain the
control of the convention called to take the State back again into the Union. They succeeded
in obtaining a large majority of that convention and in controlling the election of members of
Congress and of members ot the legislature. They have succeeded in manufacturing a public
opinion which makes treason creditable and loyalty to the government discreditable. They
have ostracised, so far as they conveniently or prudently could, all Union men from the po
litical power of the State. They denounce men who have adhered to the United States gov
ernment as traitors, and charge them with being the cause of the failure of the confederacy,
by creating a division of their councils. That is the present condition of Alabama. There
is really a strong Union element there, which, if it could be organized, would be very valu
able to the United States government.
Question. What proportion of the people of Alabama, if left to themselves, would prefer
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA. 6 1
the national government to the establishment of the confederacy, if the establishment of the
confederacy were possible ?
Answer. Taking the entire voting population, if the matter could be presented under all
the influences as they exist just now, I should suppose there would be twenty or twenty-five
thousand Union votes in the State.
Question. What is the aggregate vote of the State ?
Answer. My present impression is, without being able to ascertain very definitely, that it
is somewhere about seventy-five or eighty thousand. An explanation would make that more
satisfactory. About all the northern portion of the State, with the exception of the rich,
alluvial lands on the Tennessee, particularly the mountain counties, including several large
counties in eastern Alabama, and the lumber counties in south Alabama, have heretofore
• had a large population which might have been called a non-slaveholding population, a poor
white population, though possessing, many of them, a good deal of intelligence. There has
always been a certain degree of antagonism between them and the planters occupying the
rich interior counties of the State. They have for a long time felt that the free institutions
of the north were more calculated to advance their interests than the slave institutions of the
south. A great many of them showed their adhesion to the United States governmeur dur
ing the war. Now, if the government would foster and encourage Unionism in Alabama,
until that population could by proper appliances be concentrated and organized, there is the
material for a large, reliable, white Union party in that State; but, at the present time, while
the disloyal men have not only the control of the political power of the State, but are per
mitted to manufacture a public sentiment to suit themselves, very little can be done by the
Union men, especially while the disloyal men hold with much plausibility that the President
is entirely with them, and virtually looks to them, as the men who have heretofore controlled
the reins of government, to whip in the Union party to his and their support. Any man in
Alabama now, who would come out arid openly avow himself in favor of co-operation with
the Union party at the north, would at once be placed under the ban of this proscription.
He would be charged with being a radical, with being in favor of negro suffrage, as one in
favor of negro equality, who would invite the negro into his parlor, to marry his daughter,
&c. A terribly prescriptive power would be brought to bear upon him. As to particular,
isolated facts of acts of cruelty upon the colored population by those who have been in the
rebellion, I do not know that I could give many of them. I was told by a gentleman whom
I regarded as a man of character that in the southern part of the State some of the white
men who, alter the occupation of Pensacola by the United States military forces, went into
the federal lines, and since the surrender have returned to their old homes, have been driven
out, some of them hung, and some of them shot, by squads of rebel soldiers, who would
organize, take rations for three or four days, go off, and, after two or three days, come back
and report that they had not seen or heard of anybody ; but in a few days it would transpire
that some men had been hung, some shot, and others run off. So this gentleman told me,
and he is a man whom I consider reliable. The disposition of the people of Alabama towards
the colored man is indicated by the public acts of the legislature. For instance : the legisla
ture recently passed a bill which had for its ostensible object the protection of the freedmen,
which provided that where any citizen rented to a freedman any house or tenement he should
become responsible for his taxes, for his physician's bill, &c. It was well understood that
the object was to drive the freedmen out of the cities on to the farms, the responsibility placed
upon landlords who should rent property to them being so great us to amount practically to
an inhiimiou against renting to freedmen. That indicates the character and feeling of the
rebels there. There is no question that but for the protecting power of Congress they would
really 01 virtually enslave the freedmen again. At the same time, I think a good many of
these men, who were formerly rebels or secessionists, are earnestly desirous of becoming, and
are trying to make, good citizens ; but they are not those Avho have heretofore mixed much in
polities, or have had any controlling influence in forming the public sentiment of the State.
Question. Has there been any other legislation in Alabama in reference to the freedmen ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; there were three bills passed by the legislature before their adjourn
ment for the Christmas holidays. I should prefer to get you a copy of the bills and send
them to you, rather than undertake to state their substance from memory. They were pretty
much the same in their tenor and purpose. Governor Patton, under the enlightening in
fluence of the holidays, vetoed them after he returned. Governor Patton is a man of great
purity of private character, and was originally a conservative man, opposed to secession and
rebellion, but he is not a mau'of great firmness of character. He is such a man as could be
made to bend under rebel influence. It is well understood in Alabama that he was elected
under rebel influence in the last election. They were afraid to run and elect a man who had
been prominent as a rebel : they preferred a man not obnoxious to the charge of having been
a rebel, but who was sufficiently pliable to yield to their influence: and so they took Gover
nor Patton and elected him. The members of Congress from Alabama are none of them
reliable Union men; they were elected by the rebel element, every one of them. Governor
Parsons, who I find is exercising considerable influence here, was unquestionably a Union
man during the war. I co-operated with him in every convention and e\ery caucus. The
only misfortune in reference to Governor Parsous's course has been, during the whole time,
one indicating great weakness, and when the surrender took place, and initiatory steps were
62 RECONSTRUCTION
taken towards reconstruction by the people of Montgomery, Governor Parsons then, un
fortunately, took the position that it was our duty to proscribe proscription; that the proper
course was one of conciliation towards the rebels, and to put them forward in any movement
looking towards restoration. He came on here and was appointed provisional governor by
President Johnson, bringing with him a letter in which he advocated authorizing Governor
Watts to convene th-3 rebel legislature, to take steps for bringing back Alabama into the
Union. I had a letter in which the plan of authorizing the provisional governor to call a
convention for that purpose was advocated. This plan Governor Parsons, in conversation,
strongly resisted, and it was finally arranged that both letters should be brought on here.
Since Governor Parsons returned to Alabama, he has carried out the policy of proscribing
proscription. H6 has yielded far more to the influence of the rebels than to that of Union
men. The Union men have less confidence in the judgment and in the disposition of Gov
ernor Parsons to do them service than they had at first. At the same time, I do not concur
in the wholesale attacks upon Governor Parsons I have seen made in some of the paper.s,
because I know that he unquestionably was a Union man ; I think he commits more errors
of judgment than of the heart. If I may be indulged in a word as to the future, I will say,
that if we can be assured of the protection of the United States government until we can ex
tend, for instance, the Union League, or some such organization of white loyal men, over
Alabama, with the rapid influx of northern men emigrating there, I think, in a short time a
strong national party, co-operating with the Union party of the north, could be organized in
that State. I will not say more at this stage of progress. If you compel us to carry through
universal suffrage of colored men over twenty-one years of age, without qualification, it will
prove quite an incubusupon us in the organization of a national Union party of white men there ;
it will furnish our opponents with a very effective weapon of warfare against us ; at the same
time, I want it understood that I have no prejudice whatever against qualified negro suffrage.
I think the government of the United States is committed, by all its past legislation, to the
policy of exercising some restriction upon the right of universal suffrage. Foreigners have
not been permitted to vote until after a certain term of residence in this country; minors
have not been permitted to vote until arriving at a certain age. If the United States govern
ment, then, recognizes the fact that some restrictions are necessary and proper, it would
seem to me that in an immense mass of colored people, who have just now had the chains
stricken from them, who have been kept down under an institution, one feature of which has
been founded in a belief that ignorance added to their value as slaves, it would not be wise
or proper to enfranchise the whole of them now ; at the same time, I concede that, with the
proper qualifications, I would as soon see a black man as a white man vote. I have no
prejudice against color. I think there are a great many white men there who ought not to
have the right to vote.
Question. Are there any obstacles in the way of the black man obtaining civil rights or
the ownership of laud in the State of Alabama ?
Answer. I think there is, and I can illustrate it in this way : I defended a case for com
mitment in Alabama before a magistrate. A body servant of General Davis, then command
ing in Alabama, was shot by a white man. It seems that the difficulty grew out of the lact
that during the term of slavery of this colored man, before the surrender, the white man had
been on terms of improper intimacy with a colored woman who this colored man wanted to
marry ; that he was prevented from doing so by the threats of the white man until alter the
surrender ; he then did either marry her or live with her without marrying ; at any rate they
were liviug together when this white man returned from the war to Montgomery. They
managed to get into some difficulty, in which the white man shot him. When the case came
up for trial, at the request of General Davis, I represented the colored man. Testimony oil
his side was given by a colored man, a friend of his, that the white man was the agressor;
that they got into some difficulty, in which the white man drew his pistol and shot him down,
uud as he rose shot him again. They then introduced on the other s:de two or three chil
dren not of sufficient age to have a character for truth and veracity. One swore that she
was looking out of a window, and the other that she was in an adjoining room, and that the
colored man diew his pistol and snapped twice at the white man. The point I made was
this : I was disposed to give more credeiice to the testimony of a respectable colored mail
than to that of two or three white children who could be found anywhere and made to swear,
but you could not find a white magistrate in the whole State to credit the testimony of a
negro, even as against a white child ; in other words, the public sentiment predominant in
the State is such, that I may answer your question by saying that, in my judgment, there
aie serious obstacles in the way of civil rights being accorded to the colored man.
Question. How is it in regard to the purchase of land by negroes?
Answer This same sentiment would antagonize it in to to.
Question In your judgment, would it be wise for the government to withdraw the troops
and the Fieedmeu's Bureau, and leave the affairs of Alabama entirely to the management of
the local authorities there?
Answer. I would give a very decided "No" to that.
Question. What would be its effect upon well known Union men?
Answer. Well, sir, J think public sentiment would so proscribe them, socially and politi
cally, that they would find a residence in Alabama so disagreeable as to rpsult in those who
were able to leave the State doing so.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. G3
Question. What would be the effect upon the emigration into the State from the north ?
Answer. I think it would prevent it; I think northern men would much prefer to look to
Congress than to the public sentiment of Alabama for protection.
Question. What would be the probable effect upon the freedmen ?
Answer. I think if the United States troops were withdrawn, and the militia organizations
of the State passed into the hands of ex rebel soldiers, the freedmen would be virtually en
slaved.
Question. Is there any State militia organization there ?
Answer. I think the legislature were about organizing one when I left there ; I think the
bill has since passed ; I will not be positive on that point.
Question. As far as you know, has there been any oppression of the white people by the
Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. I know of no instance.
Question. What is the opinion of the Union men of Alabama in reference to the Freed-
men's Bureau?
Answer. As far as I have been able to discover, the- opinion is that it is absolutely neces
sary fo rthe protection of the freedmen, and very desirable for the present organization of that
labor —that altogether it is beneficial and desirable.
Question. Do you know anything of any secret organizations in Alabama among those
who have been in the rebellion ?
Answer. I do not. My position is so well known they would very carefully conceal any
thing of the kind from me. I do not know of anything more than their ordinary party organi
zations.
Question. Is there any expectation expressed that the national government will compen
sate persons for losses sustained by the operations of the Union army in Alabama ?
Answer. Yes, sir; there is an opinion, or I might say a hope, that the national government
will compensate loyal men for the losses they have sustained. I do riot know tha* the rebels
have such a hope. Men who can show an unquestionable Union record entertain a sort of
hope that, if at some time the financial condition should be in a favorable condition, they
may be reimbursed. I do not know that they have any right to base such a hope upon any
thing that has been done.
Let me say, that I am not in favor of proscription. The only desire I have is, that such
a course may bo pursued towards our people as shall secure a predominant loyal sentiment
towards the United States government. 1 do not desire to see those who have been in the
rebellion treated with unnecessary severity or harshness.
» WASHINGTON, February 7, 18C6.
David C. Humphreys sworn and examied.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Where do you reside?
Answer. At Huntsville, Madison county, Alabama.
Question. How long have you resided there?
Answer. I have resided in Huutsville for twenty years past. I was born and raised in
(he State of Alabama.
Question. When did you leave there?
• Answer. I came uiiectly from there to this place on business, arriving here on the first day
of December lust.
Question. Have you had any official connexion with the State government of Alabama at
anv time ? and ii so, please state what connexion, and when.
Answer. Since 184.5 1 have been frequently a member of the legislature of Alabama, and
although I have never aspired to official position, I was all over the State in I860, speaking
in Uwor of the Douglas p.-esidential ticket.
Question. Were you a candidate for elector on the Douglas ticket?
Answer. No, sir, not exactly, I was a supernumerary ; I had been at the Charleston con
vention, in 166C, and had also been in the State of Illinois, and 1 went over the State of
Alabama, speaking in favor of the Douglas ticket. In J848 I was a candidate for elector
on the Cass presidential ticket.
Question. What means have you had since Lee's surrender of ascertaining the public
scnnment of the people of your vicinity, or throughout the State of Alabama ?
Answer. I have ming'ed wi;h the people in the county where I reside by attending pub
lic meetings there, and I have conversed with persons from the whole valley region who
have visited me at Huntsvil.e. I have seen men from the southern portion of the State,
though I have not been there myself since the surrender. • I have not visited the southern
portion of the State since J8I54.
Question So far as you have observed, what is the sentiment of the people with reference
to the government, loyal or otherwise ?
Answer. I want to be carHul and particular about my statement, and it would require a
little explanation.
64 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Make your statement in your own way, with all the qualifications you may
consider necessary.
Answer. So far as armed opposition to the national government is concerned, I think the
people are convinced that it would be utterly futile to attempt anything of the sort and I
apprehend nothing of that sort will be thought of at present, if ever. It is rather difficult
to get at the precise state of feeling there. There is a feeling of hostility to the Union in
the minds of a large portion of the people ; that is, a hatred of the idea ot submitting to the
laws of the United States, when they think they occupy the attitude ot a subjugated people.
Then there are a large number of our people who have always been attached to, and in tifie
tion truly loyal to, the Union. A portion of the people have been in favor et the Union
from judgment and from motives of interest. But taking the entire population together,
thi* is the conclusion that I reach— and the result of the election shows its correctness— that
they are not now or were not at the time of the election, in u situation to appreciate properly
the changed condition of affairs, and if left to themselves they would not tor years give t
the freedmen that share of civil rights to which, by the amended constitution and the changed
condition of affairs, they are now entitled. There is no doubt in my mind upon that point.
Even the Union men would not be prepared to do it at present, and it might be years before
they would do it; and even then, if the pressure upon them was not permanent it wouk
be natural for them to try to keep a class of the population below them. It all who are
Union, or who might easily be led to become so, would act together, I do not think those
who are hostile to the Union could long keep the control of affairs, lo use the language ot
General Grant, the sensible, thinking men are willing to abide the result ; but there is too
much disposition among many of the leaders, those who seek position, to pander to the preju
dices of the people; and such is the state of things there that the thinking men are not now
controlling the mass of the people. 1 think that is about as correct a representation ot the
general sentiment of the people as I can give. It is my opinion that the tone, temper, and
disposition of the State are not sufficiently up to the requirements and spirit ot the times
make it advisable to leave the State authorities to make all local regulations m regard
freedmen or to people of Union sentiments.
Question. If the military of the government and the Jreedmen's Bureau were to-be wholl}
withdrawn from Alabama, what, in your opinion, would be the condition ot the Lnio
_ only judge in regard to that from the acts which the legislature attempted
to pass' ""The legislature met in December, and took a recess at Christmas. Its acts were all
discriminating against the negro, and J think without the presence of government authority
we would have turmoil for a while decidedly. 1 think that, for the good ot the population
of the State both white and black, even of those who might be called secessionists or rebels,
I think that prudence and every consideration of the good of the whole people requires
the organized presence of the power of the federal government in some form should continue
to be exhibited there. There is this thiug*to be taken into consideration m this matter: tor
nearly five years everything has been in a disjointed condition there. Capital i
needed there; and if things could once more be settled down there, so that the orderly por
tion of the community could get the control of affairs, as they had before the disruption ot
society there, there would, perhaps, be no particular difficulty, and I think in the course ot a
year or two, with proper action by Congress here, the State would perceive that it must con
form its legislation to the policy of the government, and things might again become quiet,
except pci haps, in this respect*, in the cotton districts, where the negro population predom
inates, and where, 1 think, notwithstanding others may differ from me in sentiment, white
labor will not go. I do not look to the time when the whites can be safely reinvested with
exclusive political power.
Question. Is there any difference, in different parts of the State, with reference to the s<
ment of the people in regard to the Union .'
Answer From the best information I can obtain, I think there is much more Lmon sen
timent among the people in the northern part of the State. The Union sentiment is very
stroii" in what are called the valley and mountain counties— Jackson, Madison, Limestone,
and Lauderdale counties, north of the Tennessee river, and Franklin, Marion, Lawrence,
Fayette Walker, Blount, Marshall, DC Kalb, and St. Clair counties, on the south si
of the river: and in two or three of those counties I can say that the Union sentiment is now
the controlling sentiment. Since I came here I have seen a speech made by a man who was
a rebel colonel— Colonel Sheffield— and who is now a member of the legislature. He is from
Marshall county. They had a meeting there not long ago, and some civilian got up and sa
he was opposed to allowing negroes to give testimony in courts, and said several other things.
Colonel Sheffield said in reply that the country was at peace now ; that the war was over; and
if the fellow was mad and wanted to fight, he had better begin on the United States gamsc
there. As for himself he should advise the people to acquiesce in the policy ot
meut and be law-abiding citizens. But as you get down into some ot the southern <•,
of the State as I am informed, there, is a bitter feeling against nil those who eitl
the federal lines at the first of the war, or during the, progress of the rebellion urged a restora
tion of the authority of the government of the United States. Such is the attitude ot tne
present governor— the one elected last fall. He claims to be a Union man; he was fo
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA —MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 65
Douglas in I860, and he lias vetoed three of the bills passed by the present legislature dis
criminating against negroes. Pending the election I heard him make two speeches — one at
Huntsville and one at Vienna. In those speeches he took the ground that during the war,
while there was righting, he thought it was out of place for any man outside of the army to
favor a proposition for the cessation of hostilities. I considered his speech at Vienna, partic
ularly, a very insidious one, and one calculated and intended to throw suspicion upon men
who, during the progress of the war, had favored a restoration of the government of the
United States ; (and as I was one of those I felt it ;) to lead the people to believe that they
were not men fitted to be intrusted with the control of political afters, or with official posi
tions. Yet in his speeches he claimed himself to be a Union man, and to acquiesce in the
result of the war. Still, the aim and object of his speeches seemed to be to array, for local
purposes, the prejudices of the people against what I term Union men — those who exhibited
Union sentiments during the hottest of the rebellion, making themselves liable to arrest and
every thing else, and we considered his election as the triumph of those opposed to the real
Union sentiment of the State. I desire to say this much in justice to Governor Patton : He
is a man of high moral character, and I cannot say that he would engage in any secret com
bination for the overthrow of the United States government. Still, he wanted to have the
militia of the State armed, and did get a sort of half promise that it should be done, until
General Grant issued his order forbidding it. We could not see what the object or purpose
ot organizing the militia was ; we could not comprehend it. All the officers for this militia
were appointed from those who had been in the rebel sendee. Governor Parsons appointed
in our town a rebel colonel, who went into the service early in 1861, to command a battalion
of militia. The battalion was not completed. We looked upon the whole matter as so ridic
ulous that we did not believe the federal government would permit it to be organized, and
it was not allowed by the federal commander there.
Question. Have Union men, or those who have been rebels, been generally elected to office
in Alabama?
Answer. As a general thing, I may say almost universally, except to the State convention,
those men have been elected who most actively participated in the rebellion. It has been
claimed that they were elected on account of personal considerations ; it was so published in
the papers, that their election was a personal compliment to them for their position in the
war. There may have been some lew instances of other persons elected, but those instances
were rare.
Question. Do you know of any combinations among the landholders or planters to regu
late the price of wages to the freednien ?
Answer. I do not.
Question. .What is the disposition of the freedmen with reference to working, if they were
made sure of receiving fair wrages for their labor ?
Answer. In order that you may appreciate what I may say upon that subject, let me say
that I have been familiar with negroes all my life. I was nursed by a slave, and I was a
slaveholder myself. And I say. as the honest conviction of my mind, from thirty-five years'
experience, that the difficulty about the negroes working docs not arise from their fault. I
have found no difficulty in getting as many to work on my farm as I wanted. They are
there yet, and I hear that they are doing well. There are not kinder-hearted beings in the
world than the negroes when they are well treated. They are always kind, humble, and
obedient to those who treat them as they ought to be treated. Of course they must feel that
they are free now, and are different from what they were when slaves. And I am not the
only one who finds them as I have stated ; that is the case with all who have treated them
as human beings should be treated. Judge Hammond, who was a large slaveholder, who
worked a hundred hands on two of his plantations, has all his servants with him now. He
treats them like human beings. He made a very good crop last year, and will make a better
one this year.
No, sir, the difficulty is not with the negroes. They have sense, and feeling, and capacity ;
and any one who will treat them like human beings — who will even act up to the spirit of
the laws which we had against cruel treatment — can always get whatever work from them he
wants. If you act fairly towards them, they are as faithful and permanent laborers as any
class of people can be. The negroes are gentle, obedient, and polite, not only to me, but to
all who appreciate the changed condition of things, and will execute our directions and orders;
make a fair agreement with them and act up to it, and I have found no difficulty with them.
I do not say that such is the case with each individual negro, because there are worthless
ones among them as there are among white people.
The difficulty with the negro is among the class of men who have no particular permanent
interest in the Best good for the country, and that difficulty will be continued among them.
It will require the presence of power to keep it down. You will find cruel men who formerly
owned slaves, and such men the negroes will leave, as we all say they should ; and there is
not a man in the country there, whose moral standing you would rely upon, but would say
they ought to leave such masters. And if we could have had a law that such men should
never have owned any slaves, it would have been better. It is but the malicious prejudice
in ignorant minds that lea is men to say that the negroes are not docile and disposed to be so,
as a general thing, when well treated. They are the most quiet and law-abiding people in
5 A G M A
66 RECONSTRUCTION.
the world. The fact that one man can govern a thousand negroes, who at any time could do
what they please with him, is a proof of that.
t)f course time will work this matter out properly. We are in a better situation now than
we were at this time last year. The main thing is to see that just and proper laws arepassecl
here, and then wait for their effect upon the people. As I said to several members or Con
gress at the beginning of this session, whatever Congress can constitutionally do it should do,
and let those laws go into operation. I know there will be no attempt at present at violent
resistance. But the principal thing, the main point, is not to leave us there without the su
pervising and controlling power of the federal government. So far as I am individually
concerned, I should remain there and take the chances, even if the whole matter were turned
over to the control of the authorities there. But those of us who want to see the interest of
the country fostered and nourished, and peace, quiet, security, and prosperity restored, de
sire to see the influence of the national government exercised there. It will not hurt any
one. It will not hurt the white man. It will only give organization to the rights of allr
whites and negroes.
If there is anything in the world I understand, with which I have been conversant every
day and every hour of my life, almost, except the time I have been absent from Alabama —
and that has not been a twelvemonth altogether in my whole life — if there is anything I un
derstand, I think it is the character of the negro. Just let him know what the law is, and
he will cheerfully submit to it. Of course there will be individual instances of lawlessness
among them, just as there are among other people all over the country, and those individuals
are to be dealt with and punished by the law.
I do not think that Congress should wait for the people of the south to make regulations
by which, at some further time, the negroes will be provided with homes, have their rights
as freemen acknowledged, be given a participation in civil rights, and be made a part of the
framework of the country. They will not do that ; you need not Trait for it. If Congress
can constitutionally commence a system of educating and elevating the negroes, let them
4o it, and not wait for the people of the south to do it.
I am satisfied the white people in oar Stale will not willingly work. The negroes will
work ; they will be the working class. And as you hold out inducements to them to- work,
so will the amount of their work be. They are intelligent when they have opportunities to
become so. I have upon my place two or three who are remarkably so. One in particular
is a mulatto boy, whom I bought when he was but ten or twelve years old. He has travelled
with me all over the State, and has now a family. He is intelligent and shrewd; as careful
in a trade as I am, and would often get the advantage of me if I did not keep an eye
open, as the saying is. There are others, but I mention him particularly, because I like him,
and he likes me. We have had our little difficulties, but the negro has a very forgiving dispo
sition. All the best planters in the countiy will say the same thing. Judge Hammond, whom
I mentioned a few minutes ago — because everybody in the whole valley knows him as one
of the best farmers in the country, and who has always been considered as a humane man —
he will never find any difficulty in getting negroes to work for him, except that more will
apply to work for him than he will want ; and so it will be with all those who remained at
home and attended to their domestic affairs, and treated their servants well.
I understand that last fall, in one part of the county where I reside, there was a combina
tion among some of the people not to rent laud to negroes. But since I came away, I under
stand that a company of colored soldiers have been stationed right hi that place. That
corrects a great many things ; there is no mistake about that.
There is a dread, an apprehension in the minds of some narrow-minded people, that if the
negro is given any rights, he will go beyond them ; and that feeling will continue to exist,
niitil education and intelligence shall become more general among the people.
Question. Do you know whether there is any expectation among the people in your section
of the country, that the general government will pay them for losses sustained by them in
consequence of the war?
Answer. There was at oae time some idea among the people that they would receive com
pensation for their slaves ; but they have rather given that up now. 1 do not suppose you
will find half a dozen men there who expect any sucb thing now.
Question. Do they expect compensation for the loss of other property?
Answer. They would urge that, if they had any power to do so ; but that is a matter of
mere pecuniary interest which anybody might be expected to urge, whenever there was
any opportunity of getting it.
Question. What has been the effect of the amnesty proclamation and the pardons that have
been granted ?
Answer. In many instances they have had a beneficial effect, and have been prooerly grant
ed ; but, in other instances, there is no doubt that persons have deceived their friends, and
have deceived the President. Still, I do not know of any instance where any man, who has
had a pardon granted to him, attempting to set at defiance the authority of the government.
The most of those who have been pardoned, in our own section of the State, are those who
come under the $20,000 clause. Some of those men acted very differently before they were
pardoned, from the way they have acted since. But that, perhaps, ought to be ascribed to
their naturally feeling more independent since they have received their pardons, rather than
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA —MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. ' 67
any feeling of antagonism towards the government. I say this in order to be perfectly just
towards those men, although a great many of them are opposed to me, and perhaps will
continue to be so. I do not know of any in our section of the country who have been par
doned but what would submit willingly to the law when they found out what the law was.
Question. What has been the effect of these pardons upon the people at large — upon those
who are not under the necessity of applying for pardons for themselves.
Answer. There are a great many who have acted in good faith. There are some few,
perhaps, who would not act in good faith in regard to anything ; who would not feel the
obligation of an oath, or any moral obligation whatever ; who would disregard entirely all
obligations. I cannot say to what extent that would go. I think that in our section of the
State, although we were defeated politically, we have the substantial portion of the com
munity on our side, and if it was properly set to work to combat the rebellious disposition
there, it would overcome it.
Question. Do you refer to the whole State of Alabama, or only to the northern part of the
State?
Answer. I would say that it would be so in the whole of the State ; that is, with the help
of the federal government.
Question. How would it be if the army of the United States and the other influences of
the general government should be withdrawn ?
Answer. In that case I should say that we would be likely to have a pretty hot time of H
for a yea? or two. Perhaps it would lead the Union sentiment of the country through fear
to refrain from manifesting itself, not feeling that it was sustained, or supported, or backed
by the federal government. About last Christmas -we began to feel that we were not sus
tained by the general government. We thought we were being deserted by the federal
government, and we became a great deal alarmed when we saw proclamations made relieving
the provisional governors and turning everything over to the State governments ; and the
rebels and secessionists then became very busy and active in circulating the idea that the
troops of the general government were all to be withdrawn from the State, and all its affairs
were to be intrusted to the officers who were elected last fall ; and some foolish people got to
making their brags of what they would do when the troops of the United States should be
withdrawn, and they should once more get the control of affairs in the State. I must say
that a great many of our people became alarmed. I have received a great many letters from
Alabama, that were written about Christmas, against the government of the United States
turning the control of affairs over to the local organization there.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 8, 1866.
Robert A. Hill sworn and examined.
By Mr. HARRIS :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. Tishemingo county, State of Mississippi.
Question, How long have you resided ihere ?
Answer. Ten years past last fall.
Question. W'here have you been during the rebellion ?
Answer. I have remained there during the whole time.
Question. What is the state of public sentiment in that section of the State with which
you are acquainted at the present time ?
Answer. I left home late in November, and at that time there was every disposition to be
loyal to the United States. Since that time I have had letters from home, all indicating that
the same state of feeling continues to exist. •
Question. Is there any disloyal feeling there at the present time; what is the real senti
ment?
Answer. There are, doubtless, a few individuals who entertain disloyal feelings, but I
think they are exceptions to the general rule — to a very general rule. Those exceptions are
men who have lost heavily, and a few individuals who have been disappointed in their
calculations as to the result of the rebellion, and who were its originators.
Question. What is your own employment ?
Answer, I am and always have been judge of the probate court for a number of years, and
also special chancellor, under the appointment of Governor Sharkey, the provisional governor.
Question. Has your occupation led you to become acquainted with the sentiment of the
people in that region of the State ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I think I am well acquainted with the sentiment of the people in that
portion of the State.
Question. Were you a member of the constitutional convention ?
Answer. I was a member of the committee which drafted the ordinance amending the con
stitution.
Question. Now, Judge Hill, please state, as well as you can, your own views in relation
to the condition of the ireedinen there.
68 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I think, so far as my information goes in that section of the State, that their con
dition is greatly better than the most sanguine expected it would be at this time in so short
a period. So far as I can learn they are receiving employment and fair wages. A very-
largo number of them are women and children, and are really an expense to those with whom
they live. The younger men and women, as a general rule, left in 1862, entered into the lines
of the army and went in different directions. I speak now of the region of country near
Corinth, embracing the county where I live and portions of adjoining counties.
Question. Are they generally employed by their former masters ?
Answer. They are generally employed by their former masters. Very few, indeed, have
left home since the latter part of 1862 and early in 1863. Indeed there has been no involun
tary servitude in that county since that time. They could have gone at will at any time; I
know of no forcible means having been used to restrain them. They have remained at •will.
Question. Has the Freedmen's Bureau any offices through that region?
Answer. There has been an office at Corinth, but it has had little business to do ; very little.
Question. Any in the adjoining counties ?
Answer. lit the adjoining counties I don't think there is. I do not think there is one in
Itawamba county. That is the county immediately south of me. If there is one in that
county I have not heard of it ; I do not think there is. There has not been one in Pontotoc
cgunty. I have not heard there is one in Tippah county, but perhaps there is.
Question. What you have said in reference to the freedmeu applies to all the counties so
far as you know ?
Answer. So far as I know it applies to the northern tier of counties bordering on the State
. of Tennessee, going, I would »ay, two counties south.
Question. What part have you had in this war?
Answer. I have taken no part in it whatever.
Question. You have been engaged in professional and official business during the whole
period ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I would add further, in that connexion, that by permission of the mili
tary authorities our local institutions have been kept intact daring the war, under the re
striction that nothing was to be done in aid of the rebellion or detrimental to the interests of
the United States. I would further say, in that connexion, there was no officer of the county,
as officer of the county, sworn to support the constitution of the Confederate States, neither
myself nor any other.
Question. What has been the legislation of Mississippi since its reorganization as a State
in reference to freednien ?
Answer. I have not seen the acts ; my understanding is, however, that they passed an act
lect the precise period.
Question. Under what penalty ?
Answer. The penalty was, I think, to be treated as vagrants; that is my recollection.
Question. If they do not procure employment, that they shall be taken to be vagrants?
Answer. Yes, sir; unless they can show that it was impossible for them to do it. .
Question. What other legislation ?
Answer. They further provided that their contracts should be entered into in writing in
presence of a justice of the peace, and that if they left their employ withoixt sufficient cause,
to be adjudged of by the justice of the peace, they were to be arrested and returned, and the
expense of their arrest and proceeding was to be charged against them.
Question. Any corporeal punishment ?
Answer. There is no corporeal punishment inflicted upon negroes except that which is in
flicted upon white persons for equal offence.. There is no corporeal punishment so far as
labor is concerned. They also enacted they should be disarmed, which grew out of an ex
citement in the country at the time there was likely to be an insurrection. There was a good
deal of excitement in different parts of the country. It was believed to exist by the officer
of the Freedmen's Bureau for the State, but which I think was without foundation, and is
now so understood.
Question. Are the freedmen being educated?
Answer. There is not only no opposition to their being educated, but, so far as my informa
tion goes, a desire that they shall be. I am satisfied of that. There is a large school in
Aberdeen, to my personal knowledge, of over 100 scholars.
Question. Taught by negroes ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; negro teachers and negro pupils.
Question. Where is Aberdeen ?
Answer. In Monroe county, 75 miles south of where I live. I gpent the greater part of
the fall in holding court there. The equity court is located at that point, and that is the
reason I am familiar with the proceedings there. Schools of freedmen are taught by a num
ber of clergymen who live in the place. That is a county wjiich has a very heavy colored
population, * They are so far south from us that they did not leave.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 6 9
Question. Is there anything else which you know that will give the committee any light
on the real condition of things there ? If so, I would be glad to have you mention it.
Answer. The information I derive from letters from different portions of the country, and
from those upon whom I can rely, shows an improved condition since the commencement of
the year. My information is that the negro population have procured homes and gone to
work with a fair prospect of making a good crop. I have that from various portions of the
country and believe it to be true. I would like further to state, if it is not protracting the
examination too far, that, by the constitution as amended, the legislature was required to pass
such acts as were necessaiy to protect the freedmen in their persons and property, using prop
erty in its broadest sense. An amendment was proposed restricting it to personal property,
which received but a few votes. I am informed that some of the circuit judges have held
these restrictive laws passed by the legislature to be in violation of that provision of the con
stitution. I have not seen the opinions, but that is the information I have received ; I have
no doubt that the courts will so hold. These laws were passed when there was unusual ex
citement in the country, growing out of the suddenly changed conditions of the State, at
least of that race. I had no idea they would be passed on mature deliberation; I am satis
fied of that.
Question. When did you elect your legislature ?
Answer. We elected our legislature on the third Monday of September.
Question. Is your election annual ?
Answer. No, sir; once in two years — biennial.
Question. What do you think is the prospect of the cotton crop for the ensuing year ?
Answer. I think it will be about one-half of what was made prior to the war. I refer to
the whole State. I think it will be over that.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 13, 1866.
Robert A. Hill recalled and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Have you testified before the Committee on Reconstruction before to-day ?
Answer. I have.
Question. Do you wish to make any additions or alterations in your testimony ?
Answer. Yes. I wish to state that it is believed that the court will hold the restrictive act
on fr<iedmen unconstitutional. I think I stated in my examination that my information was
that they had done so. That was my information at the time, but I find myself corrected.
That question has not been before the court. It was the other question. I stated in my ex
amination that, from the best information I had received, about half the average cotton crop
was expected. The correction that I wish to make in that is, that unless the levees are re
paired one-third of the usual crop is as much as may be expected. I wish to state, further,
that the legislature has provided for the admissibility of evidence of freedmen ; also, that the
superior loyalty of the section of country in which I live has been greatly produced by the
liberal course of policy used by General Thomas and the officers under him towards the citi
zens and returned rebel soldiers.
WASHINGTON, February 14, 1866.
Brigadier General James S. Brisbin sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. What is your age, and in what service have you been engaged ?
Answer. I am in the regular army as a captain at present. I have been a brigadier gen
eral of volunteers. I am twenty-eight years of age.
Question. Where have you been in service during the war, and where are you stationed at
present ?
Answer. I have served in the States of Virginia, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Arkansas. I
served last in the State of Arkansas, until within fifteen days past, when I wus mustered out
of the volunteer service.
Question. How long had you then been in Arkansas ?
Answer. About three months.
Question. What opportunities did you have for ascertaining the sentiments and conduct of
the people of that State ?
Answer. I have travelled over most of the State in a military capacity. I visited Little
Rock, Pine Bluff, Duvall's Bluff, and other sections of the State which are the most densely
populated. I have had a fair opportunity to ascertain the temper of the people, and I have
conversed with a great many of them.
Question. As the result of your observations, what is your opinion of their loyalty ?
Answer. I do not think their loyalty is good. I do not believe it would be well to restore
7 0 RECONSTRUCTION.
them to their former relations to the federal government as long as they hold to the opinions
they now entertain. I find an almost universal disposition among them to elect to all their
offices persons who have served against the government during the late war, and to exclude
Union officers and Union men from any participation in public affairs.
Question. What would be the, effect of withdrawing the national troops from that State?
Answer. I think it would lead to the expulsion of Union men, and especially of northern
men who might desire to go there and settle.
Question. Will you state any facts within your knowledge which confirm the opinion yon
entertain of the people of Arkansas ?
Answer. Where the troops have been completely withdrawn from any section of the State
there has been a general disposition shown to prevent Union men from going into that part
of the State, and in some instances they have manifested a decided disposition to expel them.
Were it not from fear of the military authority that still has control over the State, they would
do so.
Question. How are the freedmen regarded and treated ?
Answer. Their freedom is recognized by the people, and there is a disposition to hire them
and pay them fair wages for their labor ; but I think many of the people entertain the belief
that if the State was once more in operation under a State government, and in full practical
relation with the federal government of the United States,' and they had all the civil officers
they are entitled to, they could then regulate the black population by a system of vagrant
laws amounting to slavery. It seems to be the idea of the people that strong vagrant laws
are necessary to compel labor.
Question. What is the disposition of the freedmen in reference to work if they can be fairly
hired arid be assured of receiving their pay?
Answer. It is good ; the freedmen are disposed to work, and to work well, where they are
treated with any reasonable degree of fairness. They are anxious to labor, wherever they
can receive a fair day's wages for a fair day's work.
Question.. What wages do able-bodied »icn receive in Arkansas ?
Answer. They are now receiving, some of them, as high as twenty and twenty-five dol
lars a month and their food.
Question. They clothe themselves ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I believe they do ; but they are furnished writh what is called " corn and
bacon " for food, and they provide their own clothing. However, many different kinds of
bargains are made with them.
Question. Something was said about Christmas time in regard to a negro insurrection.
Do you kuow any facts that lead you to believe that anything of the kind was contemplated,
or is likely to occur ?
Answer. No, sir. There was a rumor circulated through the south, and especially in Ar
kansas. But I think it was got up altogether by people who were anxious that something
of the kind should happen, in order that they might have some grounds for complaint against
the freedom of the negroes. I know nothing of any insurrection ; I do not think it was
meditated at all ; I believe if they treat the negroes fairly and justly, there is no more danger
of their revolting, and not as nmchj as there is of the whites getting up an insurrection
against the black population.
Question. Do you know of any combinations among the white people to regulate the
price of labor and the terms on which the freedmen should be employed ?
Answer. Nothing more than this : that there was an effort made to start companies in the
south to bring in white laborers from various quarters of the country .and from Europe, with
the view of forcing down the price of black labor.
Question. What was your command in Arkansas?
Answer. I was in command of a brigade of colored troops, one regiment of which is now
stationed at Helena, one at Pine Bluff, and the other at Duval's Bluff.
. Question. Have you known 'of any combinations or secret organizations among the wkite
people since Lee's surrender for purposes hostile to this government ?
Answer. No, sir ; I have not.
Question. Has there been any change since April, May, or June last, in the sentiment of
the people of Arkansas towards this government?
Answer. I was not in Arkansas at the time the war closed; but since I went there I think
the temper of the people there has become worse, and is gradually growing worse, wherever
I have been in the south.
Question. How do you account for that ?
Answer. I think it is owing to the lenient manner in which the general government has
treated them. When the war terminated they expected from the general government nothing
more than permission to live and subsist in the country. If they escaped with their lives it
was all they hoped for, but by the treatment they have received from the government they
have been led to believe that they still have all their former rights ; that there were certain rights
thev had not forfeited by the rebellion, as they themselves supposed they had till they were
told differently from the north.
Question. Do you know whether the constitution and laws of Arkansas, as they now are,
disfranchise any of the people of Arkansas on account of their participation in the rebellion?
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI— ALABAMA. 7 1
Answer. Not to my knowledge. I have read recently a copy of the laws enacted by the
Xate legislature of Arkansas. I do iiot now recall any provisions in that legislation to de
prive any person of voting on account of their having been in the rebellion.
Question. So far as you know, what has been the result of the operation of the Freed men's
Bureau in Arkansas ?
Answer. I think it is an absolute necessity for the preservation of the rights and the proper
care of the colored people of the south. So far as I have seen, I believe it prevents a great
many abuses that would be practiced if it were broken up or withdrawn.
Question, What degree of intelligence is possessed by the adult colored people of Ar
kansas, so far as you have observed ?
Answer. It is, I think, good; I believe it compares favorably with that of the white pop
ulation. There is a class of men south, wealthy men, who, with their children, have had
the benefit of education; but there are a great many poor white people there, and I think
there are as many of the blacks, perhaps, who can read and write as those of the poorer
classes of the white people.
Question. What is the disposition of the freedmen in reference to getting property and
saving their money ?
Answer. They are very anxious to acquire property; and so soon as the laws of the State
are corrected, so that they can buy and sell property as other men can, they will rapidly ac
quire property. They save their money, and I. believe some of them will become very
wealthy men. I know a great many negroes in Arkansas who have made from $700 to $800
and $1,000., and in rare cases $1^500, during last year, by growing cotton on shares with
their former masters.
Question. Is there now any impediment in the way of negroes buying land in Arkansas ?
Answer. I do not know that there is any law prohibiting it; but there is no law expressly
giving them the right to do so, and the black people have been so long under oppression that
until they have the right secured to them by laAV they will hesitate about investing their
money in laud, because they know the sentiment of the white people is strongly against if.
If they could invest their money according to any law allowing them to do so, kthey would
do it very readily, and I believe they would accumulate property very rapidly.
Question. We desire to learn all we can in reference to the condition of public sentiment in
Arkansas, so as to be able to judge in regard to the fitness of the people there to be restored
to their former relations with the national government. Do you think of any other facts
bearing upon that point?
Answer. As a soldier I should very much regret the restoration of the State of Arkansas,
or any part of the southern people, to their full practical relations with the federal government
at this time, and with their present temper. It is my belief that they desire and expect to
accomplish by political efforts all that they contended for, but failed to accomplish, when
they went into the rebellion. I can only sa'y that if I were called upon to vote I should most
emphatically deny them admission to their former rights. Their election of rebels (I mean
ex officers of the rebel army) to the highest offices in their gift, and their persistent exclusion
of Union men from office, is to my mind proof clear and abundant of their temper, and I
and toil and danger. When I recollect that the graves of my soldiers who fell in battle for
the country are not yet green, I cannot forgive and forget the acts of rebels who tell me they
have no regret for the past, und that their unholy rebellion that robbed those men of life was
rigbL
WASHINGTON, February 17, 1866.
E. Darwin Ayres sworn and examined,
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. At Little Rock, Arkansas,
Question. How long have you resided there, and what is your present business ?
Answer. I have resided there six years ; at present I am treasurer of the State organiza
tion, which is a small part of my business just now ; I am engaged in various pursuits.
Question. What means have you of knowing the opinion of the people of Arkansas about
political affairs ?
Answer. By association with them up till the time I left and by correspondence since.
Question. What is their 'temper in regard to this government, favorable or otherwise?
Answer. Favorable by compulsion. It is probably a divided question in Arkansas, and
perhaps nearly equally divided as to which cause should succeed. I do not think that we
have a majority, but inasmuch as it is lost, they recognize the fact that it is forever lost. They
feel fully whipped and cowed by the war, as they say themselves.
Question. If Arkansas were restored to her former relation to the Union, and all -were
72 RECONSTRUCTION.
allowed to vote who are entitled to vote among the white people, would they be likely to elect
old and tried Union men, or persons who are more or less complicated with the secession
movement ?
Answer. We can elect Union men, as was shown by our last canvass, when we elected
Union members of Congress from the first and third districts. In the second they beat us.
There is a number of small farmers in the third district who were never identified with slavery
After the arrival of the federal army at Fort Smith they raised 1,200 men in the first five
days. A large majority of the State was in favor of the Union on the question submitted to
them before the war, only they did not have the moral courage to assert it, and were ruled by
the 4,000 who had always ruled the people.
Question. What do you estimate the present voting population of Arkansas?
Answer. That would be a hard question to answer, just now ; but I should not expect it
to exceed one-half the vote of 1860, which was 54,000 and odd, unless we gain upon it by
northern residents that have come in in large numbers. Excluding the northern immigration
since the war, I am pretty well satisfied it would not exceed 25,000 or 26,000.
Question. What is the present condition of the negro population of Arkansas at present ?
Answer. I believe the negro population is doing better there than anywhere else. I left
Arkansas just before Christmas, before they entered into their contracts, and from all sources
of information — and I have been in constant communication with them — in business that
leads to that, I think they are becoming more settled and quiet. And I know they are get
ting high wages — $15 a month, with board and clothing. The rent of land is high — $10 an
acre on the Arkansas river. General Catterson hires three plantations on the river at a renS
of $10 an acre.
Question. Are the negroes disposed to work if they are properly paid ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I could work all I wanted. I know one instance on the Red river, where a
Mr. Stewart says he can get more work out of his negroes than he ever did. The story that
they won't work is got up by those who said that free labor could not be made to pay, and
who wanted it to come out so. By proper inducement, I see no reason why the negroes will
not work. *
Question. Any danger of negro insurrection, if they are properly dealt with ?
Answer. No, sir; but if they are told that they have no rights which white men are bound
to respect, and if federal bayonets are turned against them, they will secrete arms for the pur
pose of defending themselves. They know a great deal more than people give them credit
lor. I believe the southern master is the last man that does understand the negro, though he
pretends to know all about him. Mr. Stewart proposes to build a church, a store, and a
school for the negroes. By that means he will get as many men as he wants ; he will get
his pick out of them.
Question. What is the disposition of the people in regard to conferring the right to vote
upon the negroes ?
Answer. I should suppose that they would be almost universally against it, as near as I
can judge. The prejudice, however, is lessening gradually, and will continue to lessen as
the people become accustomed to education. But now they are afraid of it. They are more
sensitive on the question of negro equality thau on any other. You can hardly argue with
them on that question.
WASHINGTON, February 17, 1866.
Charles A. Harper swdrn aod examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. State your age, residence, and occupation.
Answer. Age, forty-seven ; residence, Little Rock, Arkansas ; by profession a lawyer,
now judge of the supreme court of that State.
Question. What period of time have you resided in Arkansas ?
Answer. Since the fall of 1H62 ; previous to that time I resided nearly twenty years in Texas.
Question. What means have you had since the surrender of General Lee of ascertaining
the opinions of the people of Arkansas with reference to their loyalty to the government ?
Answer. I have been present at Little Rock during the assemblies of the people since
that time — one of the colored people, and another of persons that met rather in opposition to
the present State government. I have seen men at Little Rock and in all parts of the State.
I have been in constant communication with them by letter, publicly and individually.
Question. When did you leave Arkansas?
Answer. About the 15t
15th of December last.
Question. At that time what was the state of public sentiment— more or less loyal than in
the month of June or May last ?
Answer. I just remained long enough to see the result of our convention that organized the
State government. They made something like a compromise with the State government.
Most of them concluded to sustain and support it. I can only answer by way of opinion
formed bv conversation with men I think there was a constant and decided improvement in
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 73
the State in sustaining the administration and our State government. I have various good
reasons for thinking so. We regard ourselves as much stronger than we^have been as a
State government.
Question. State those reasons.
Answer. One striking reason is, our State government is supported by the issue of scrip.
At first it was worth oaly from fifteen to twenty cents on the dollar. It has gradually come
up until it is now worth ninety-five cents anywhere, is in demand, and is hard to be got at
that. Tfyat is one evidence which satisfies me that we are gaining strength. My other evi
dence is derived from conversation with many persons who at first withheld their support,
but who say now that they are satisfied that we have done what was right, and who now
sustain us. I have evidence also from men who were in the secession army, many of whom
profess themselves perfectly satisfied with the State government who were at first hostile to
it. There are parties, however, who are still dissatisfied and still complaining.
Question. What proportion of the people now in Arkansas would prefer the establishment
of the confederacy if that were practicable ?
Answer. That would only be a matter of opinion. My own opinion is, that a great many
of those who originally were secessionists are glad now that they did not succeed. Hence
there is a very large proportion of the people of Arkansas now in favor of the federal govern
ment. I have no doubt it is so. I know personally many such, who are now glad they did
not succeed.
Question. How many votes were given at the last election for members of Congress?
Answer. I am unable to say; the vote, however, was unusually small ; there were various
reasons for it ; it was nothing like so large as was given for our present constitution.
Question. How do you account for that falling off?
Answer. There was an aspiration for seats in Congress; the Union party were somewhat
divided ; there were several candidates, and the mass of the people were so disgusted with
the scramble that a great many would not vote at all; they had no objections to two or three
of the candidates ; there were several who could take the oath, and only one who could not,
I think ; so the vote was very small in that district from that cause ; and a similar cause
probably reduced the vote throughout the State. There was no effort to get out the vote ;
there was a general want of organization. In the northwestern district both candidates were
Union, and there was no contest ; so also in the Helena district. In the other district where
there were several candidates, all Union men but one, who got only seventy or eighty votes.
There was no probability of his election, and hence no reason why they should all turn out
there so far as the result was concerned.
Question. What are the legal rights of the negro population in Arkansas ?
Answer. I have not as a lawyer examined that question fully, only on the question of hold
ing real estate. A negro wished me to advise him about buying land in Little Rock ; my itn
pression was that he could do so with safety, and on examination I had no doubt of it, and
so advised him. Without examining the question fully as to his rights, my opinion is that
he has all the civil rights of the white man with the exception of suffrage and bearing arms.
That was our purpose in the convention, and we think we have made sufficient change in
our bill of rights to carry it out. We think the negro can hold real estate and that his testi
mony is admissible ; but we did not grant him suffrage nor the privilege of bearing arms.
The word "white" is not stricken out in the constitution, but we understand that the negro
is not under civil disability, except as I have stated. That is the general opinion of our legal
men who have examined the question, but, as I say, I have not examined it fully. We in
tended to change the status of the negro except in regard to suffrage ; that the people were not
prepared for. You are well aware that there is a feeling existing between the poor whites
and the negroes, and we certainly could not have carried our constitution if we hud given the
negro all the rights of the white man.
Question. Is it not in the power of the legislature to extend suffrage under this constitution
to the negro?
, Answer. I have recently examined that, and while I think the legislature cannot restrict
suffrage, I think they can extend it. As a member of court I had to consider that question.
Question. Has that been decided ?
Answer. Yes, sir; we have decided that the legislature could not limit suffrage as granted
in the constitution. The question came up indirectly, and both of us, judges, were of opinion
that, while the legislature might extend suffrage, they could not restrict it — that nothing in
the constitution forbade its extension by legislative enactment.
Question. Is the case in which that decision was given reported ?
Answer. I think it has not been published. We have a reporter, but this is the only de
cision given.
Question. Will you give the name of the case ?
Answer. It arose on a question of voting, the commissioner refusing to let some person
vote without taking a certain oath that the legislature had prescribed. I cannot give tho
name of the case, but it is easy to get it if it has been published. It is the only case decided
touching the elective franchise under the constitution.
Question. In what way did the legislature undertake to restrict suffrage ?
Answer. They undertook to prescribe a test oath for voting. The object was to exclude
74 RECONSTRUCTION.
those who participated in the war, and the court decided that the legislature could not restrict
suffrage; and although \ve did not decide that they could extend suffrage, yet we were both
of that opinion.
Question. Then by the decision of the court the legislature has not the power to restrict
suffrage, even by excluding men who have been engaged in the rebel service ?
Answer. That is the opinion of the court.
Question. What is the condition of the iiegrp population of Arkansas intellectually ? Are
any of them educated ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I was present at a negro convention at Little Rock in December, 1865,
and I was very much astonished listening to their proceedings. I went there twice. There "
were two negroes in particular, from Helena, men of considerable education and intelli
gence. They addressed the congregation of their race, and their views were generally well
expressed. They seemed to comprehend precisely their situation, and all their purposes, as
stated, seemed to be satisfactory to any intelligent white man. The number of that class,
however, is not very large. I have alluded to two who showed extraordinary intelligence.
There were others of considerable intelligence ; so that altogether they made a much better
show than I supposed such a body of negroes in that State could do. I think there is con
siderable intelligence among them in Arkansas at this time, but of course it is only now and
then one of that kind ; the most of them are rather of a low order. As a general thing it is
so on the plantations.
Question. What is the condition of the poorer whites of Arkansas as regards intelligence ?
Answer. There is a great want of education among them; but, as I have observed there
and in Texas and all through the south, when you find a man who can neither read nor
write, he is not so ignorant a man as regards general intelligence as you find such a man to
be at the north. He seems to be ahead of the illiterate northern man. He seems to gather
more general intelligence from contact with others, so that it is not uncommon to find a man
who is illiterate, and still of considerable intelligence. But as a general thing the poor
whites are a feeble class.
Question. How are these people in regard to the government — loyal or disloyal ?
Answer. Nearly all loyal !
Question. How long have you been judge in Arkansas?
Answer. I was elected first, under the present constitution, in March, 1864.
Question. When did you abolish slavery in Arkansas ?
Answer. In the convention Avhich formed the present constitution, in January, 1864.
Question. What is your opinion of the operation of the Freedmen's Bureau in Arkansas
Is it beneficial or otherwise ?
Answer. Well, sir, I do not think we could well do without it for the present ; yet there
are some who find fault with it. The objection is more, however, to the administration of the
bureau than to the fact of its existence. I do not myself hear any objection to the establish
ment of the bureau. I have conversed with several intelligent men on the subject, and it
seemed to them that the thing was perhaps necessary ; northern men engaged in planting
cotton wanted it.
Question. What is the disposition of the negro in regard to working if properly paid ?
Answer. Well, sir, I know several gentlemen who employed them last year, and they tell
me that if they do right to the negro there is no difficulty. I know a gentleman — a New
Yorker — that has a hundred of them employed. I conversed with him at Helena. He says
the negro is very particular if you violate your word in the least respect, but if you come up
to your contract he says there is no difficulty. I know of two who work in partnership with
the negroes, and they like that best. They let the negro furnish some portion of the means ;
and some of them have some means acquired during the last two years. They think that is bet
ter than to hire them.
Question. Do you regard them as naturally thrifty, or otherwise ?
Answer. Well, sir, I think there is as large a proportion of them as of the poor white class
hat are disposed to be thrifty.
Question. How in regard to education ?
Answer. There are a number of schools in Little Rock. I do not know whether there are
throughout the State ; there may be. The reports of the teachers to me are that the negroes
are making wonderful progress. I noticed little boys and girls dressed up in clean clothes
who seemed to take an interest in the school.
Question. What proportion of the white men of Arkansas of t\venty-one years of age and
upwards have voted at any election since the State was taken possession of by our troops ?
Answer. At the general election, when they ratified the convention and elected members
of the legislature, I think there were over twelve thousand votes cast ; and, from the best
estimate we could make, there were only fifteen or sixteen thousand voters at that time.
Question. How many do you think there are now ?
Answer. It is hard to tell what has become of a great deal of our population now ; they
do *not seem to be there. I do not think there are twenty-five thousand now. If there are,
several thousand must be made up of men from the north who have got a six months' resi
dence. We know of neighborhoods and localities where the voters do not seem to be there.
I think the secession party undertook to get up some counter action against us, but they
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI— ALABAMA. 75
conld only muster, to sustain the old State government, some three thousand, and I think
they took all the soldiers in the army to make up that number. We were anxious to make
a proper estimate. We estimated only eight or nine thousand as the probable vote upon the
constitution and for members of the legislature out of an estimated voting population of fif
teen thousand, and we got twelve thousand. Perhaps our estimate of fifteen thousand was
too small, but that was the general estimate of the oldest citizens. There were two or three
hundred polled against us.
Question. Is there any disposition in Arkansas to allow suffrage to the negroes, or to any
class of them ?
Answer. Well, not generally. There is a good deal of prejudice on the part of the poorer
class. They are all willing to have slavery abolished ; but they want the negro out of the
country. I think, however, that that feeling is wearing away, and there are men who think
that the negro must have suffrage. But the majority, I must say, are not in favor of negro
suffrage at this time. It is not unfrequently that a man expresses himself as willing to give
it to those who served in the army, or who can read and write, but I do not think you will
find many advocates of general suffrage in Arkansas.
Question. If it were limited to those two classes, what would be the feeling, suppose Con
gress should exact that as a condition of their admission into the Union ?
Answer. Well, sir, I am not at all certain that we could give any suffrage to the negro at
this time. They might do it,, but I would not like to give an opinion if I could. I know
there is so much prejudice against the negro that there would not be a fair discussion. Men
would dislike to enter a contest upon it. If it was. to be given it would be only to those who
had borne arms and could read and write, or perhaps a property qualification to show that
the negro was thrifty. Something of that sort might be done ; but I would not like to give
an opinion that it could be. I believe our State would accept the proposed amendment and
take representation on the basis proposed. Many would comfort themselves with the idea,
"we will submit to that ; we will compromise on that." There will be a disposition to accept
that, but they would not then be disposed to let the negro vote. I think it is the opinion of
some that this prejudice will soon pass away, but it is very strong now. It is the poorer
class against the negro — a fear that it would bring him upon a par with them. Probably
you understand that as well as I can explain it to you.
Question. Our object is to find out the feeling of the people.
Answer. Well, we have a great many that are dissatisfied, and we occasionally have a man
who complains loudly. But we are gaining ground, and I will state why I believe it. Ten
months ago I would not venture out of Little Rock alone. In fact, all of us perilled our
lives in coming to the convention. The secessionists announced that they would massacre
every man who took part in that convention. That was the secession spirit before the sur
render of Lee. I can now go all over the State of Arkansas without running any risk what
ever. That shows that there is a very great change in public sentiment. I would not hesi
tate to go to any part of the State now, any more than before the Avar. There is no alarm,
no fear. I have friends that do go constantly.
WASHINGTON, February 19, 18C6.
Colonel Milton M. Bane sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Where do you reside?
Answer. Quincy, Illinois.
Question. Have you been connected with the army ; and if so, in what capacity and for
how long a time ?
Answer. I entered the service in August, 1861, as a colonel, and was mustered out of the
service at Rome, Georgia, in May or June, 1864.
Question. How recently have you been in either of the eleven States that have been in
rebellion ?
Answer. I left Nashville, Tennessee, about the last of May, 1865.
Question. While you were in the south did you become acquainted with any persons who
are now claiming seats in Congress from either of the eleven States which have been declared
in rebellion ?
Answer. Yes, sir; with Mr. George Houston, of Alabama, claiming a seat in the United
States Senate, who lives at Athens, in that State. I made his acquaintance while I was in
the military service.
Question. Do you know anything of his opinions in reference to the government of the
United States ?
Answer. While I was at Athens, Alabama, in command of a brigade, Mr. Houston, Mr.
Prior, and some other gentleman, came into my office, and in that conversation he expressed
some sentiments which convinced me of his animus towards the government. He spoke to
nv> about " violating the Constitution," which is a common expression with such men. I
told him that we were not there to discuss that question at all ; we had quit discussing such
76 --*; RECONSTRUCTION.
matters, and had come there to fight it out ; that I thought the men who had voluntarily
gone into the rebellion, giving it aid and comfort, presented rather a poor appearance stand
ing there talking to me about constitutional law ; that I was there under the authority of the
President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, and his commanding generals, and ex
pected to do my duty, Which was to whip the rebels. Mr. Houston replied to me that lie
thought Mr. Lincoln was as bad a traitor as Jefferson Davis, and ought to receive the same
treatment. I told him that I had no doubt he entertained those views ; that we on the other
side did not, a'nd that was what we were fighting about. A few days ago I met Mr. Houston
at Willards' Hotel, in this city. I accosted him, shook hands with him, and we passed a
few words. I asked him how he felt on the subject. Pie said, "About as usual," "Well,"
said I, "do you feel towards Mr. Lincoln and his friends as you did when you spoke to me
in Alabama a couple of years ago?" He seemed a little surprised, and asked me how that
was, and I told him. Said he, "Yes, sir ; I think to-day that Mr. Lincoln was a worse man
than Jefferson Davis." I think the words he used were, "worse traitor;" but I am not right
certain about that. I said to him, "Is that your opinion to-day?" "Yes," he said, "I
'have not changed it." Of course, I then left him, and have had no more to say to him.
That was the end of our conversation. Mr. Houston always treated me gentlemanly at his
house and in his visits to me.
Question. Did he claim or profess to be a Union man ?
Answer. No, sir ; not a Union man, but a constitutional man, as he termed it.
Question. What did you understand by that?
^ Answer. I understood that he claimed that we, the war party, were violating the Constitu
tion in a worse manner than Jefferson Davis and his friends. That was my understanding
of it.
Question. Do you know anything concerning others claiming seats as senators or repre
sentatives from either of those States ?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not, not personally.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 19, 1866.
George R. Weeks sworn and examined.
By Mr. BouTWELL :
Question. State your age, residence, and occupation.
Answer. I am forty years of age ; I reside in Little Rock, Arkansas, and am a physician
by profession.
Question. How long have you resided in Arkansas ?
Answer. Two years and a half.
Question. Before that time where did you reside ?
Answer. In Seneca county, Ohio, for the rest of my life.
Question. . Have you been in any way connected with the Union army ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. In what capacity ?
Answer. I was surgeon of volunteers.
Question. What opportunities have you had during your residence in Arkansas of becoming
acquainted with the opinions of the people concerning the government of the United States ?
Answer. I have been over a portion of the territory, and my facilities have been pretty
good about Little Rock, Pine Bluff, Fort Smith, and Helena. I had charge of the district of
Little Rock for over a year while in the army, mingling with the people, more or less, con
stantly. Since I have been out of the army I have been travelling a good deal throughout
the State, mostly from Pine Bluff to Fort Smith, up and down the river.
Question. As the result of your observation, what is the sentiment of the people with
regard to the government ; are they loyal or disloyal ?
Answer. I think some of the people are loyal and some are disloyal ; but my general
opinion in regard to the matter is, that they are in a better condition to-day than they were
six months ago ; that the spirit of disloyalty is dying out to some extent.
Question. If all the white men in Arkansas over twenty-one years of age are permitted to
vote, without reference to their participation in the rebellion, what would be the aggregate
vote in the State ?
Answer. I cannot answer that question positively. Travelling from Fort Smith I found
in the interior many more settlers from the army than I had expected to find. More men
have gone to farming than I anticipated. I have been of the opinion that the Union party
would sustain itself there now by a vote, but that, of course, is only an opinion of mine.
Question. What is the prevailing sentiment there in regard to the negroes ; is there a
disposition to educate and aid them, or to keep them in the condition of mere laborers ?
Answer. There are some who would educate them and' some who would not. On that
question the old residents are divided.
Question. Are the negroes disposed to work if they are properly paid ?
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 77
Answer. Yes, sir ; I believe that is the general sentiment on the subject. I have been in
Tennessee. Alabama, Texas, and Arkansas, and I believe that the negro is in a better con
dition in Arkansas than any other State I have visited. They are more generally at work
there, and are making their work more profitable. There are less refugees and less depending
on public support. In Little Rock particularly they are at work very generally, and also on
the plantations.
Question. Do they manifest a disposition to educate themselves ?
Answer. Very great.
Question. How is it about their accumulating property and acquiring lands ?
Answer. I have heard a very general desire among the best of negroes for land. There
are many individual instances that I could cite. Their desire generally is for forty or twenty
acres of land. If they could get that they would think themselves perfectly happy, and
they are laying up money for that purpose. I know one negro by the name of Albert who
has cultivated, with a little help, seventy acres of cotton and made fifty bales I offered him
$100 a month for his services to sub-superintend a plantation for me. He remarked to me
very quietly that he could not do it. I asked him why ; did he not like to work for me ?
He said, oh, yes, but that he rented a plantation of three hundred acres, and that he could
make more of it than he Could by working out, This spirit is growing very rapidly.
Question. Do you apprehend any danger arising from the negroes if they are properly
treated ?
Answer. No, sir ; not a particle.
Question. If the military should be withdrawn entirely, and the Freedmen's Bureau sus
pended, what would be the result to the Union men and negroes in the State ?
Answer. From this time forward, the laboring season being present, and idleness being the
great incentive to crime, I should think there would be very little danger, if any. The people
generally are going to work, and I do not think there is very much opportunity for them to
commit depredations. I think when they once get to work it will prevent any disturbance
whatever ; I do not expect any. In regard to the character of the negro, it is, in my estima
tion, very excellent. I have been at Little- Rock two years and a half, and during that time
I have not seen three negroes drunk. I wish I could say as much for the w>ite man. Their
general character and deportment has been civil.
Question. What is the feeling of the people in regard to conferring the elective franchise
on negroes or any part of them ?
Answer. In Arkansas we are divided into two sections ; those -who have recently come there,
and the original residents : of the latter class, I think two-thirds are opposed to negro suf
frage. Many who have been mustered out of the army have remained there ; many of those
are in favor of letting the negroes vote. It is my opinion that generally there is a majority
against negro suffrage — a small majority.
Question. If the negroes should be allowed to vote, any part or the whole of them, and
if a question should arise involving the safety of the Union, the preservation of the govern
ment, on which side would the negroes be likely to vote?
Answer. They would vote on the Union side, to a man. I think they are entirely reliable.
Question. Are there any of the adult male negroes who are unable to understand the
issues that were involved in tke war between secession and Union ?
Answer. I think there are very few but that have an understanding of it, some more per
fect than others. They all seemed to recognize the great fact of their liberation by the
northern forces. I was with General Sanburn recently, who has charge of the negroes in the
Indian territory, at Fort Smith. A negro walked up to him and said, " Sir, I want you to
help me in a personal matter." "Where is your family?" "On Red river." "Have you
not everything you want ? " " No, sir." " You are free ! " " Yes, sir, you set me free, but
you left me there." "What do you wrant? " "I want some land; I am helpless ; you do
nothing for me but give me freedom." "Is not that enough?" "It is enough for the
present ; but I cannot help myself unless I got some land ; then I can take care of myself and
family; otherwise, I cannot do it." They all seem to have a distinct idea that they are free,
and that they are indebted for it to the north.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 19, 1866.
Major General Joseph R. West sworn and examined.
By Mr. BouTWELL:
Question. State your age and residence.
Answer. I am forty-three years of age ; I reside in San Francisco, California.
Question. State how long you have been in the army of the United States during the
rebellion.
Answer. From August, 1861,- to January, 1866.
Question. What parts of the south, if any, have you visited since Le^'s surrender?
Answer. Alabama, Louisiana, and Texas.
7 8 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. When were you in Alabama, and what opportunities had you while there for
ascertaining the opinions of the people?
Answer. I was in Mobile shortly after its capture, and had some social intercourse with
old residents in the south. Immediately after the downfall of the southern confederacy, the
people were very much intimidated in consequence of their acts, and were more subdued
at that period than at the present time. I was with the first body of troops that went into
Texas. I was ordered from Alabama to go with Sheridan's cavalry to Texas. We went
through the capital of the State, Austin, and from there to San Antonio. A certain class of
the people evinced an attachment to the Union which I had not met in any other State, but
it was a very small proportion of them.
Question. So far as you have a knowledge of Alabama, what was the sentiment of the
people there in regard to the Union ?
Answer. They did not love it; they accepted the situation with very ill grace.
Question. Can the troops be withdrawn with safety from Alabama?
Answer. I think not.
Question. So far as you know, what has been the influence of the Freedmen's Bureau
upon the blacks, beneficial or otherwise ?
Answer. I do not think the black man would have a possible chance among them unless
he has the support of the government through that bureau. I was stationed in Arkansas and
served there quite extensively; and, from the nature of my command, I was thrown more in
contact with the people at large than any other officer there ; I had a movable command — a
cavalry command.
Question. For what time were you in Arkansas ?
Answer. From April, 1864, to February, 1865.
Question. What, during that time, was the state of public sentiment in Arkansas with regard
to the Union?
Answer. You must understand that nearly all the men with whom I came in contact were
those who were professing loyalty at that time to the United States ; it was very difficult to
find a male rebel.
Question. Where were they at that time ?
Answer. Scattered about in the army of the confederacy. There were a few non-combat
ants and old men. They were patient, and had no opportunity of expressing their true sen
timents. I was present at the inauguration of Governor Murphy, and I also came in contact
with the legislature of the State. I was there at a very critical time, and had a good many
conferences with all the representatives.
Question. Was that a legislature elected by Union votes exclusively ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have you any means of knowing what proportion of the citizens of Arkansas
over twenty-one years of age were engaged in the rebellion ?
Answer. At the outset I should say that at least three-fifths of the people of Arkansas were
in favor of secession. At the time of the reorganization of the State government and the
adoption of the State constitution, almost every man left in Arkansas, out of the confederate
service and lines, (which occupied the southwestern portion of the State, ) was in favor of
the new organization, the abolition of slavery, and the re-entering into the Union upon those
conditions.
Question. Have you been in Arkansas since the return of the rebel soldiers?
Answer. I have not.
Question. From your knowledge of the negro race, are they disposed to labor if they are
properly paid ?
Answer. Not if they can get a living in any other way. Any person who has ever been com«
pelled to an occupation thinks that his greatest liberty consists in casting of that trammel,
and I think that the negro's indisposition to work is more attributable to that reason than to
any natural slothfulness on the part of the negro. His task is lifted from him, and he feels
that the only enjoyment which his liberty has brought him is exemption from labor.
Question. Will he not learn his mistake after awhile?
Answer. I think he will.
Question. Do you entertain any danger of negro insurrection if the negroes are properly
treated ?
Answer. Not a bit, if they are properly treated.
Question. If the military and the Freedmen's Bureau were withdrawn from the south,
what would you anticipate as the result upon the truly loyal whites, and upon the negroes
in the south?
Answer. The loyal whites would have to flee the country if they could get away. The
negroes would be coerced at the will of the secession population.
Question. Do you know any of the persons from Arkansas claiming seats in the House or
Senate? If yea, what is their reputation for loyalty ?
Answer. I know Mr. Snow and Mr. Baxter claiming seats as senators. Baxter's reputa
tion for loyalty even among the rebels was unquestioned. He never submitted to their dic
tation in any way. Mr. Snow had to accept the situation, and, although protesting against
their rule, he lived for some time under it. Of the members claiming seats in the House of
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 79
Representatives I only know Colonel Johnson, and his public record is such that I can fully
assent to it, as being a thoroughly loyal man, and as having served in the military service
of the government.
Question. Where were you born, and where did you live previous to the rebellion?
Answer. I was born in the city of New Orleans, Louisiana, from a Pennsylvania parent-
a-ge. I went to Pennsylvania when I was eighteen months old, and was educated there. I
lived south from my seventeenth to my twenty-fifth year, when I went to California, of which
State I have been a resident ever since.
Question. If there is anything you wish to add you are at liberty to do so.
Answer. You asked me what would be the consequence if the Freeduieu's Bureau and the
soldiers were withdrawn from the south. I would like to except Arkansas from my answer.
I think that a very small body of troops can protect the Union people of Arkansas, with the
assistance of the Freedmen's Bureau. I think that that is indispensable. I think that Ar
kansas is in that condition that with the Freedmen's Bureau and a small military force the
loyal people there will be able to retain possession of the government, but in other States it is
very different. I have no confidence in the loyal feeling that is alleged to be common in some
of the others — not a bit. I have a brother in the south, a merchant in New Orleans, and I
consider him as big a rebel as any.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 19, 18G6.
William D. Snow sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. State your residence and age.
Answer. My residence is Pine Bluff, Arkansas ; my age is thirty-four.
Question. Are you here claiming a seat in the Senate from the State of Arkansas ?
AnsAver. Yes.
Question. How long have you resided in Arkansas, and what has been your occupation
while there ?
Answer. I resided there between five and six years ; perhaps contractor would express my
occupation better than anything else.
Question. L»id you take part on either side in the war ?
Answer. I should prefer that you ask that question of others who know me. I can only
say that my sympathies during the entire struggle were with the United States ; that I took
no part in the war as against the United States, and by all means in rny power, and as soou,
as opportunity offered, I accomplished all that I could in favor of the Union.
Question. Have you held any office in Arkansas previous to your appointment as senator?
Answer. No, sir."
Question. What means have you had of knowing the condition of Arkansas since Lee's
surrender ?
Answer. A continuous communication with most of the leading men on both sides. I
mean those whom I know to be Union men and those who participated in the rebellion.
Question. What do you estimate the voting population of Arkansas to be at the present
time ?
Answer. I think there ought to be, under all circumstances, between 20,000 and 25,000
voters in the entire State now, of all shades of opinion. S* %.
Question. WThat was the vote in 18(50, before the war?
Answer. If I remember correctly, it was about 54,000.
Question. How do you account for the loss ?
Answer. I account for it first by the decimation of the confederate army. I understand
there were about 17,000 volunteer troops from Arkansas in the confederate army. If my
memory serves me right, there were some 20,000 conscripts, making about 37,000 troops in
the confederate service from Arkansas. The best information I can get as to the number of
troops who have entered the federal service is from the Adjutant General, who states it at
about 13,000, making in both armies nearly 50,000 men taken from the voting population. I
learned from the paymaster who pays the Arkansas troops that the average number of re
cruits to each of the Arkansas regiments was something between 1,400 and 1,500, the deaths
having been very large. I arrive at my conclusion from the fact that on the confederate side
of the line, in October, 1863, an election was held four months prior to the election at which
was inaugurated our government, and in that election I was informed by A. H. Garland, late
confederate senator, Avhose brother was elected to Congress, that such had been the losses of
the Arkansas troops in the confederate army, and so sparse was the population comprised
within their lines, that in both the army and in that section which they occupied they got but
3,500 votes, perhaps less. Our vote in the succeeding March was, 1 think, between 12,000
and 13,000.
Question. Have not a large number of men returned from the rebel army at the close of
the war to their old homes in Arkansas ?
Answer. I am unable to say. The impression that I got from my letters is, that they were
80 RECONSTRUCTION.
not a very large number ; that the Arkansas troops suffered terribly. For instance, ther«
were 5,000 Arkansas troops taken at the Post of Arkansas who were transferred to Virginia,
and very few of whom, comparatively, returned. Kirby Smith's army lay inactive for 18
months, the troops rotting in camp, until the Arkansas contingent, as I understood, fell even
below the Missouri contingent.
Question. Do your laws disfranchise those who participated in the rebellion ?
Answer. We had a disfranchising act, but the supreme court, at a recent session, declared
the act unconstitutional. #
Question. So that hereafter all will vote ?
Answer. Hereafter the late rebels will vote under the provisions of the amnesty proclama
tion.
Question. What proportion of those 20,000 men would prefer the government of 'the
United States to the confederate government if it were possible to establish the confederate
government ?
Answer. I think a large majority would prefer the government of the United States. I
judge so from the fact that the election held to adopt the constitution was as free and fair an
election as was ever held anywhere. The people turned out with vigor, and I know that a
very. material change has taken place in the feelings of the people.
Question. Suppose it should prove to be true that one-half of those who had gone in the
confederate army had returned and were at home in Arkansas, what then would be your
opinion as to the sentiments of the people ?
Answer. Supposing that one-half of the 37,000 had returned, I think that sympathies
would be more equally balanced ; the turbulent secessionists having volunteered and very
many of the conscripts being Union men. In other words, I believe that, under such cir
cumstances, and under proper auspices, such as a certainty that the officers elected to Congress
would be admitted, and that the support of the United States government was back of them,
we could get 18,000 to 20,000 votes to-day in Arkansas.
Question. Is the condition of Arkansas such that it would be safe to withdraw the mili
tary ?
Answer. In regard to that I am unable to say. I can only judge from the almost entire
tranquillity of the country, and from the expressions contained in my letters, and from con
versations which I have had with gentlemen from there. I think that order would be pre
served beyond doubt. Having been absent from there since the 25th of April last, I cannot
say from my personal knowledge. The testimony I get is in favor of the idea that the State
government, particularly if recognized, would be able to sustain itself, »and ^at government
is entirely in the hands of loyal men.
Question. Do you regard the continuance of the Freedmen's Bureau as important to your
State, or otherwise ?
Answer. I have been gratified to see that the relations of the people of Arkansas to the
freedmen are of a more amicable and satisfactory nature than they have been, elsewhere,
judging from newspaper reports. The necessity for the Freedmen's Bureau I do not regard
as being as great in Arkansas as it is elsewhere. I do not think that the loyal people, or
even a majority of the people, have any objection to it ; and, if I do not mistake, they would
prefer it. Honestly administered, it promptly settles disputes between master and servant,
fixes wages, gives both an inexpensive court of appeal in the nature of arbitration, and, in
the existing condition of the African race, affords certainty to labor and investment.
Question. Have you any personal knowledge of any of the other States that were in
rebellion, except Arkansas ?
Answer. No, sir; I cannot say that I have to any extent, not to a sufficient extent to give
an opinion that would be of any value.
Question. Are the negroes in Arkansas disposed to work if they are properly paid ?
Answer. I can give you my experience, and perhaps it may illustrate the experience of
others in that respect. Having a good deal of confidence in the black man, if once allowed
to take the proceeds of his own labor, my father undertook to gather the crops of two 01
more plantations in the vicinity of Pine Bluff, and in his absence I acted for him, thus bringing
me in direct contact with the hands he employed. I think that he employed about two
hundred and fifty. My estimate was, after analyzing the reports of the different parties in
charge, who kept an exact record of the time and work of each hand, that at that early day,
when the freedmen were yet disturbed, while they were not fully aware of the obligations
belonging to their new status, about seventy-five per cent, of them worked faithfully and
satisfactorily. My conviction was and is, that under proper treatment, with a little patience,
as they acquire experience the percentage will be largely increased, and that the number of
inefficient ones will be no greater than with any other people of the same class. I was rather
surprised at the facts. What the state of affairs may be now in respect to the freedmen, I
am unable to say from personal knowledge, but my information and belief is that it is im
proved, and that it will continue to improve as they become educated to their new status.
Question. Is there any danger of a negro insurrection if the negroes are properly treated ?
Answer. None at all, sir.
Question. What is the disposition of the negro in regard to education ?
Answer. My experience has been that they are eager to learn, anxious for educationt This
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 81
is the result of my observation of some of my own servants, taught by my wife, and also of
a general observation wherever schools were established.
Question. Are they disposed to save their earnings .'
Answer. At the time I was in contact with them, immediately after the arrival of our arm y,
and while money was new to them, and they had scarcely learned its use, they were not
disposed to save it. My information on that point since is, that they have improved very
greatly, and are buying land. At that time they were more like children — trusting, dependent,
lavish, and improvident.
Question. What distinction is made by your laws in the civil and political rights of negroes,
as compared with those of white men ?
Answer. I have been examining that point with more particularity since I arrived here ;
the equality of civil rights being generally conceded at home, and having had no occasion
to examine it there. I have with me the old constitution of Arkansas and the new one. Both
constitutions retain the word "white" in that clause which permits the franchise. The old
constitution, section 1 of article 2, reads :
"That all free men, when they form a social compact are equal, and have certain inherent
and indefeasible rights, amongst which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty,
of acquiring, possessing, and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own
happiness."
Our convention, recognizing the manhood of the negro, struck out the word "free," and
now the section reads in the new constitution :
"That all men, when they form a social compact, are equal," &.c.
Section 10 of toe same article in the old constitution reads :
"That no free man shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, or
privileges, or outlawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty,
or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the lawr of the land."
In the new constitution, the convention struck out the word "free," so that it now reads:
" That no man shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties or privi
leges,'' &c.
So far as I have been able to learn, the question in regard to the perfect equality of civil
rights has not beenraised as against the negro. I think the question has been raised in regard
to the possession of real estate, and by an almost concurrent opinion the decision has been
arrived at that there was no distinction. In regard to testimony, I do not think the question
has been raised as against him, but it seems apparent to rne that the intention of the con
vention was (and this' seems to be the general opinion of all) that there is an equality of civil
rights under the organic law of our State.
There is one other clause in the constitution to wrhich I may refer. The old constitution
and the new constitution are identical in this : The old constitution declares, "that the tree
white men of the State shall have a right to keep and to bear arms for their common defence."
The new constitution retains the words "free white" before the word, "men." I think I
understand something of the reasoning of the convention on that score. At the time this
new constitution was adopted we were yet in the midst of a war, and, to some southern eyes,
ilirn- was yet an apparent chance as to which way the war might terminate ; in other words,
the rebellion was not entirely crushed. Two years ago in January, there was also some un
certainty in the minds of timid men as to what the negro might do, if given arms, in a tur
bulent state of society, and in his then uneducated condition ; and to allay what I was confi
dent was an unnecessary alarm, that clause was retained. In discussing the subject, the
idea prevailed that that clause, being simply permissive, would not prevent the legislature,
if at a future time it should be deemed advisable, from allowing the same rights to the col
ored man. I understand that that principle was kept in view also in the decision of the
supreme court in regard to the disfranchising act of the legislature ; that is, that the court
decided that the legislature could not restrict the right of franchise under the constitution,
but might enlarge it. I understand that that has been the decision of the supreme court in
our State. I learn it directly from one of the judges. I have not seen the decision.
Question. What is the present opinion of the people as to conferring- suffrage on the negroes
or on any class of them ?
Answer. I do not think they are prepared for it. I may say this, however — (and I do say
it with certainty, for the question was canvassed with a number of members of the legisia-
' ture) — that they would rather have given suffrage to loyal black men, had it have been ne
cessary, than to have been controlled by rebels. A portion of the legislature of Arkansas, as
last assembled, would have been willing to have granted the right of suffrage with educa
tional qualifications. The chief reason Avhy that was not attempted was this: Our consti
tution provides that, whenever three-fourths of one legislature propose an amendment, and
three-fourths of another legislature ratify it, it becomes an amendment. The question was
discussed in caucus, as to whether or not it was practicable to carry that amendment in view
of the prejudices of the rank and file of the people who were brought up in the midst of
slavery, and it was decided that it would not be safe to divide the Union men on that sub
ject while the State was still inchoate and unrecognized, and the rebels were acting as a unit.
Question. If the negroes were enfranchised, and a question should arise involving the sep-
aiation of Arkansas from the United btates, on which side would the negroes vote/
6 A G M A
82 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I should have very great confidence in their voting on the side of the Union.
But, in that connexion, justice to the loyalty of Arkansas and to the acquiescence au>l good
conduct of the mass of our people of all classes requires me to say that a majority of the peo
ple of Arkansas, I am satisfied, beyond the shadow of a doubt, would to-day vote the >n\n>'
way. With the negro voting, it would be no surer than it is to-day. With him it is sure ;
without him it is equally sure. I have no question but that the negroes would vote almost,
if not quite, unanimously, in favor of the Union. I should have more confidence in their
voting right on the question of the Union than I should on financial questions and questions
of foreign policy.
Question. If you desire to state anything else to the committee you may do so.
Answer. -Something has been said in reference to the paucity of the votes at the last State
election. I think an explanation of the fact may be offered. It arose from two or three con
siderations: First, that in two'of the districts all the candidates were loyal, and there was no
contest except on the question of personal preference ; second, that the loyal men of Arkan
sas had already elected representatives to Congress, who had been rejected. There was a
feeling of discouragement and despondency, a general feeling that another election was prac
tically useless. The delay of justice had paralyzed, though it has not eradicated, the vigor
of their patriotism. The life and energy which should attend an e'lectiou of that kind were
lost, That, superadded to the fact that the country is very poor, that post offices are not yet
generally established, that polling places were scarce and the roads in bad condition, having
been torn up by the war, was calculated to make the vote a very light one. In many coun
ties there was really no contest.
(Witness presents to the committee a copy of the constitution of the State of Arkansas,
framed by the last convention which met for that purpose, and which is attached to his testi-
rfcony. ) .
Under the permission you so courteously accord to state such other facts as occur to me, I
desire to call the attention of the committee to the following facts, which I state under the
obligations of my oath:
First. The movement which resulted in the establishment of the existing free State gov
ernment in Arkansas was the spontaneous act of the loyal people themselves, while the war
yet subsisted with great vigor, in the face of many military discouragements, and when de
feat, which seemed possible to many, even at the north, would have been an immediate sen
tence of death or extradition, with a total abandonment of their all, to every man who engaged
in it.
Second. It was commenced under these circumstances, with the encouragement, as the
result proved, of more than one-half of the then existing voters of the State, within six weeks
of the capture of the capital, and before the issuance even of President Lincoln's proclama
tion of December 8, 1803, and was not the result of any inspiration, military or civil, from
Washington ; though when the proclamation was kuoj.vn and the countenance of President
Lincoln secured, they were laid hold of by the loyal people thus moving as the sheet anchors
of their hope.
Third. The mode and manner of accomplishing the glorious result which has been achieved
in Arkansas, or the results themselves, anticipating, as they did, by nearly two years, even
the demands of advancing public opinion in the north, as expressed by Congress and the
President, in repudiating, through the constitution, the rebel debt, so far as Arkansas could,
(first two paragraphs ot the constitution;) in abolishing slavery and carefully guarding even
apprenticeship during non-age, (page 13, art, 5, constitution;) in awarding equality of civil
rights to all men, (sec. 2, art. 2; sec. 10, art. 2 ;) in declaring not alone the ordinance of se
cession, but all political acts of the secession convention null and void, (constitution, 1st and
2d clause;) and in providing by ordinance that "no act of the legislature of the State pro
hibiting the education of any class of the inhabitants thereof shall have the force of law." I
say that the mode and manner of accomplishing these results, nor the results themselves,
were not, as has been charged, prescribed by presidential intervention, but were the volun
tary acts of the State into whose status you are now inquiring, the self-evoked ideas and
prim-iples of a loyal and aggrieved people, who had learned in the school of suffering at once
the perfidy and enormity of slavery and the confederacy. In corroboratiou of this, I beg to
hand you the following telegraph from President Lincoln, dated several weeks after the con
vention had adjourned, and which I know to be authentic:
"WASHINGTON, Februarys, 1864.
** To I. MURPHY :
"My order to General Steele about an election was made in ignorance of the action your
convention had taken or would take. A subsequent letter to General Steele directs him to
aid you in your own plan, and not to thwart or hinder you. Show this to him.
Fourth. I desire also to call your attention to this peculiarity in the State of Arkansas ; so
harmonious were the people in a desire for the resumption of federal relations, even during
the initiatory of the free {Suite government, that it was not even deemed neces.-ury by Presi
dent Lincoln to appoint ti provisional governor, clothed with military or any other power.
The people themselves, the almost umuiiuiuus source of this indisputably republican State
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 83
government, cheerfully sustained the power of the provisional governor appointed by the
convention, and on the ratification of the constitution by twelve thousand majority, the State
passed as quietly and naturally from the hands of the provisional governor of the convention,
into those of the authorities and the same governor, elected by the people, as it ever did from
one administration to another.
Fifth. More than a year after, though our representatives had not been recognized, and
no act of sustenance or support, or word of appreciation or encouragement from Congress
had ever greeted the ears of loyal Arkansas, the legislature unanimously ratified the consti
tutional amendment, showing an undiminished patriotism, and an abiding faith in the sym
pathy and ability of a majority of the people to support them.
Sixth. The State is now fully organized, county officers being appointed and acting in
every county of the State ; courts are established in every judicial district ; their decrees are
respected and judgments executed without molestation or disturbance, and in no single in
stance, to my knowledge, has the commander of the department been called upon to aid iu
the execution of civil law by active military interference.
Seventh. The returned rebels now very generally give in their adhesion to the State gov
ernment, with all its concomitants and consequences to the negro. So unanimous is the
belief in the tranquillity of affairs, the stability of the free State government, and through it
in the harmonious resumption of federal relations, that our State credit at home, no bad bar
ometer of public confidence, has risen,until our warrants, without recognition, and with an
empty treasury, are in demand at ninety (90) cents on the dollar. There is not, to my
knowledge, any man of distinction in the State, formerly identified with secession, now
openly opposed to the Union. Recusants there may be, and are, but they are without
weight of character or influence. Their first object of attack would naturally be the State
government, yet though an attempt has recently been made to assemble a State convention
against that, as the beginning of an opposition party movement, after a two month's notice,
and unwearied efforts on the part of the few irrepressible malcontents, but fourteen (14) dele
gates assembled, who, conscious of the abortion, made haste, without taking any action, to
adjourn.
Eighth. There is a very general desire for northern immigration. No social proscription
or political ostracism is exercised towards northern men that I am aware of; it may possibly
exist in some remote neighborhoods, but is not general. On the contrary, northern immi
gration, capital, and inventions, are warmly invited, as the general rule. In illustration of
this, I may mention that of the thirty (30) officers of our " Immigrant Aid Society,'* scat
tered among eminent men all over the State, twenty-five or six are old citizens of Arkansas,
while two are ex-federal, and two ex-confederate general officers. This is not a mere paper
institution, but is an active organization, well adapted to, and vigorously carrying out, the
work for which it is designed.
Ninth. In further illustration of the earnest and honest desire of the people of Arkansas
to harmonize thoroughly their policy with that of the government in national affairs, I offer
the following resolutions, adopted by the house of representatives of the general assembly, to
insure the election of uncompromising Union men as senators in Congress :
A copy of resolutions of the house of representatives of the general assembly of the State of
Arkansas, passed prior to going into election for United States senators, requiring each can
didate to take and subscribe to the test oath prescribed by the United States Senate, and pro
pounding certain questions, with the answers thereto, by William D. Snow, one of the senators
elect from Arkansas, and a candidate at said election :
Resolved, That whereas it devolves upon the general assembly of this State to fill the
vacancies now existing in the federal Congress, by the election of two United States sena
tors, and that this house, feeling the deep importance of the duty so devolving upon them,
desires that the most fit persons be selected to fill such vacancies ; and believing that
patriotism, honesty, and capacity are the only measures by which such fitness can be truly
judged : Therefore be it
Ifesolced, That any person who may or shall offer himself as a candidate for the suffrages
of this house for the position of United States senator must, prior to going into the election
of United States senators, file with the clerk of this house a plain and unequivocal answer to
the following questions, and also take and subscribe the test outh prescribed for United
States senators, and that such oath and such questions shall be subscribed and sworn to
before the clerk of this house :
1. Have you ever taken an oath to support the constitution of the Confederate States ; if
you have, under what circumstances ?
(Answered,) "No."
£. Have you ever signed any petition or paper requesting any convention, body, legisla
ture or assemblage of citizens to authorize or request them to transfer the State or Arkansas
from the federal Union, or to acknowledge the right of secession from said federal Union by
said Arkansas, or to request said body, assemblage, convention or legislature to pass any act
84 RECONSTRUCTION. «
or resolution of secession, or if, when passed, did you indorse such procedure; if so, under
what circumstances ?
(Answered,) "No."
3. Have you ever held any elective or military office in this State since the supposed act
of secession of the State of Arkansas ; if so, what was such office 1
(Answered,) "No."
4. Have you ever aided or abetted, directly or indirectly, the secession of the State of Ar
kansas from the federal Union 1
(Answc^,) "No." WILLIAM D. SNOW.
TEST OATH.
I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the
United States since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid,
countenance, counsel or encouragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto ; that
I have neither sought nor accepted, nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office
whatever under any authority or pretended authority in hostility to the United States ; that
I have not yielded a voluntary support to- any pretended government, authority, power or
constitution within the United States hostile or inimical thereto. And I do further swear
(or affirm) that to the best of my knowledge and ability I will support and defend the Con
stitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic ; that I will bear true
faith and allegiance to the same ; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental
reservation or purpose of evasion ; that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the
office on which I am about to enter : So help me God.
Subscribed and sworn to before me this 1st day of May, 1864.
Chief Clerk House of Representatives.
In relation to the vote of.Arkansas, I desire to say that, to the best of my recollection, so
heavy had been the draft of the war on the voting population of the State in the first year or
eighteen mouths, that when Henry Rector, who had been legislated out of office by th'e con
vention, ran against Horace Flannigau for governor, (Rector having announced his dissatis
faction with the confederacy, and being supported by many conservative men, and the con
test being a vigorous one, ) the vote of the entire State had already fallen to about thirty-t wo
thousand from the fifty-four thousand of less than two years previous. Of the forty four
thousand votes cast at the election for members of the convention, the Union candidates
received a popular majority of about eight thousand. The secession ordinance was defeated
at the regular session of the convention, and was only passed at an irregularly called session
with only twenty days' notice after some months' interval, and the ordinance never was
referred to the people. To show the manner in which our people regard immigration, as a
means of material, moral, and mental growth and expansion, and that there exists not only
no prejudice, but, on the contrary, that an earnest effort to promote it is being made, I hand
you one of the circulars of the Arkansas Immigrant Aid Society, previously mentioned by me,
remarking that this is only one of a series still being issued.
CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS.
We, the people of the State of Arkansas, having the right to establish for ourselves a con
stitution in conformity with the Constitution of the United States of America, recognizing
the legitimate consequences of the existing rebellion, do hereby declare the entire action of
the late convention of the State of Arkansas, which assembled in the city of Little Rock on
the 4th day of March, 1861, was, and is, null and void, and is not now, and never has been,
binding and obligatory upon the people.
That all the action of the State of Arkansas, under the authority of said convention, of
its ordinances, or of its constitution, whether legislative, executive, mdicial or military, (ex
cept *s hereinafter provided,) was and is hereby declared null and void: Provided, That
tins ordinance shall not be so construed as to affect the rights of individuals, or change county
boundaries, or county seats, or to make invalid the acts of justices of the peace, or other
officers in their authority to administer oaths, or to take and certify the acknowledgment of
deeds of conveyance or other instruments of writing, or in the solemnization of marriages :
And provided , further, That no debt or liability of the State of Arkansas incurred by the action
»f said convention, or of the legislature or any department of the government under the au-
thoritv of either, shall ever be recognized as obligatory.
And we the people of the State of Arkansas, in order to establish therein a State govern
ment loyal to the government of the United States, to secure to ourselves and our posterity •
the protection and blessings of the federal Constitution, and the enjoyment ot all the rights
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 85
of liberty and the free pursuit of happiness, do agree to continue ourselves as a free and in
dependent State by the name and style of "The State of Arkansas," and do ordain and es
tablish the following constitution for the government thereof:
ARTICLE I.
Boundaries of the State.
We do declare and establish, ratify and confirm the following as the permanent bounda
ries of the State of Arkansas — that is to say : Beginning in the middle of the Mississippi
river, on- the parallel of thirty-six degrees north latitude to the St. Francis river; thence up
the middle of the main channel of said river, to the parallel of thirty-six degrees thirty min
utes north, from the west to the southwest corner of the State of Missouri ; and from thence
to be bounded on the west to the north bank of Red river, as by acts of Congress of the
United States, and the treaties heretofore defining the western, limits of the Territory of Ar
kansas ; and to be bounded on the south side of Red river by the boundary line of the State
of Texas to the northwest corner of the State of Louisiana ; thence east with the Louisiana
State line to the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river; thence up the middle
of the main channel of said river to the thirty-sixth degree of north latitude, the point of
beginning — these being the boundaries of the State of Arkansas as defined by the consti
tution thereof, adopted by a convention of the representatives of the people of said State,
on the 30th day of January, anno Domini eighteen hundred and thirty-six, being the same
boundaries which limited the area of the Territory of Arkansas as it existed prior to that time.
ARTICLE II.
Declaration of rights.
That the great and essential principles of liberty and free government may be unalterably
established, we declare :
SECTION 1. That all men, when they form a social compact, are equal, and have certain
inherent and indefeasible rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and
liberty ; of acquiring, possessing and protecting property and ^reputation, and of pursuing
their own happiness.
SEC. 2. That all power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded on
their authority, and instituted for their peace and happiness. For the advancement of these
ends, they have at all times an unqualified right to alter, reform, or abolish their govern
ment in such manner as they may think proper.
SEC 3. That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worship Almighty God ac
cording to the dictates of their own consciences, and no man can, of right, b'e compelled to
attend, erect or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry, against his con
sent; that no human authority can, in any case whatever, interfere with the rights of con
science, and that no preference shall ever be given to any religious establishment or mode of
worship.
SEC. 4. That the civil rights, privileges or capacities of any citizen shall in no wise be di
minished or enlarged on account of his religion.
SEC. 5. That all elections shall be free and equal.
SEC. 6. That the right of trial by jury shall remain inviolate.
SEC. 7. That printing presses shall be free to every person, and no law shall ever be made
to restrain the rights thereof. The free communication of thoughts and opinions is one of
the invaluable rights of man, and every citizen may freely speak, write and print on any
subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty.
SEC. 8. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating the official conduct of
officers or men in public capacity, or where the matter published is proper for public inform
ation, the truth thereof may be given in evidence, and in all indictments for libels the jury
shall have the right to determine the law and the facts.
SEC. 9. That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions,
from unreasonable search and seizures ; and that general warrants, whereby any officer may
be commanded to search suspected places without evidence of the fact committed, or to
seize any person or persons not named, whose offences are not particularly described and
supported by evidence, are dangerous to liberty, and shall not be granted.
SEC. 10. That no man shall be taken or imprisoned, or disseized of his, freehold, liberties
or privileges, or out-lawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed, or deprived of his life, lib
erty or property, but by the judgment of his peers or the law of the land.
SEC. 11. That in all criminal prosecutions, the accused hath a right to be heard by himself
and counsel ; 'to demand the nature and cause of the accusation against him, and to have a
copy thereof, to meet the witnesses face to face; to have compulsory process lor obtaining
witnesses in his favor ; and in prosecutions by indictment or presentment, a speedy public
trial by an impartial jury of the county or district in which the crime may have been com
mitted ; and shall not be compelled to give evidence against himself.
SEC. la. That no person shall for the same offence be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb.
8 6 RECONSTRUCTION.
SEC. 13. That all penalties shall be reasonable, and proportioned to the nature of the
offence.
SEC. 14. That no man shall be put to answer any criminal charge, but by presentment, in
dictment or impeachment, except as hereinafter provided.
SEC. 15. That no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate under
any law of this State.
SEC. 16. That all prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient securities, unless in capital
offences, where the proof is evident or the presumption great. And the privilege of the writ
of habeas corpus shall not be suspended, unless where in case of rebellion or invasion the
public safety may require it.
SEC. 17. That excessive bail shall in no case be required, nor excessive fines imposed.
SEC. 18. That no ex post facto law, or law impairing the obligations of contracts, shall ever
be made.
SEC. 19. That perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a republic, and
shall not be allowed ; nor shall any hereditary emoluments, privileges, or honors ever be
granted or conferred in this State.
SEC. 20. That the citizens have a right in a peaceable manner to assemble together for their
common good to instruct their representatives, and to apply to those invested with the power
of the government for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by address or remon
strance.
SEC. 21. That the free white men of this State shall have a right to keep and to bear arms
for their common defence.
SEC. 22. That no soldier shall, in time of peace, be quartered in any house without the
consent of the owner, nor in time of war, but in a manner prescribed by law.
SEC. 23. The military shall be kept in strict subordination to the civil power.
SEC. 24. This enumeration of rights shall not be construed to deny or disparage others re
tained by the people, and to guard against any encroachments on the rights herein retained,
or any transgression of any of the higher powers herein delegated, we declare that every
thing in this article is exce'pted out of the general powers of the government, and shall forever
remain inviolate ; and that all laws contrary thereto, or to the other provisions herein con-
turned, shall be void,
ARTICLE III.
Of departments.
SECTION 1. The power of the government of the State of Arkansas shall be divided into
three distinct departments, each of them to be confided to a separate body of magistiacy, to
wit: Those whjch are legislative to one, those which are executive to another, and those
which are judicial to another.
SEC. 2. No person or collection of persons, being of one of those departments, shall ex
ercise any power belonging to either of the others, except in the instances hereinafter ex
pressly directed or permitted.
ARTICLE IV.
Legislative department.
SECTION 1. The legislative power of this State shall be invested in a general assembly,
which shall consist of a senate and house of representatives.
Qualifications of electors.
SEC. 2. Every free white male citizen of the United States who shall have attained the age
of twenty-one years, and who shall have been a citizen of the State six months next preced
ing the election, shall be deemed a qualified elector, and be entitled to vote in the county or
district where he-actually resides, or in case of volunteer soldiers within their several military
departments or districts, for each and every office made elective under the State or under the
United States : Provided, That no soldier, seaman, or marine in the regular army or navy of
the United States shall be entitled to vote at any election within the State in time of peace :
And prorided, further, That any one entitled to vote in this State in the county where he re
sides may vote for the adoption or rejection of this constitution in any county in this State.
Time of choosing representatives.
SEC. 3. The house of representatives shall consist of members to be chosen ever}' second
year by the qualified electors of the several counties.
Qualifications of a representative.
SEC. 4. No person shall be a member of the house of representatives who shall not have
attained the age of twenty-five years, who shall not be a free, white male citizen of the
I'nited States, who shall not have been an inhabitant of this State one year, and who shall
not at the time of his election have an actual residence in the county he may be chosen to
represent.
ARKANSAS GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 87
Qualifications of a senator.
SEC. 5. The senate shall consist of members to be chosen every four years by the quali
fied electors of the several districts. .
SEC. 6. No person shall be a senator who shall not have attained the age of twenty-five
Crs, who shall not be a free, white male citizen of the United States, who shall not have
11 an inhabitant of this State one year, and who shall not at the time of his election have
an actual residence in the district he may be chosen to represent.
SEC. 7. The general assembly shall meet every two years, on the first Monday in Novem
ber, at the seat of government, until changed by law, except that the general assembly for
the year 1864 shall meet on the second Monday in April of that year.
Mode of election and time and privileges of electors.
SEC. 8. All general elections shall be viva voce until otherwise directed by law, and com
mence and be holden every two years, on the first Monday in August, until altered by law,
(except that) the first election under this constitution shall be held on the second Monday in
March, 1864, and the electors in all cases, except in cases of treason, felony, and breaeh of
the peace, shall be privileged from arrest during- their attendance on elections and in going to
and returning therefrom.
Duty of governor.
SEC. 9. The governor shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies as shall occur in
either house of the general assembly.
SEC. 10. No judge of the supreme, circuit, or inferior courts of law, or equity, secretary
of state, attorney general of the State, district attorneys, State auditor or treasurer, register
or recorder, clerk of any court of record, sheriff, coroner, or member of Congress, nor any
other person holding any lucrative office under the United States or this State, (militia offi
cers, justices of the peace, postmasters, and judges of the county courts excepted,) shall be
eligible to a seat in either house of the general assembly.
SEC. 11. No person who now is or shall be hereafter a collector or holder of public
money, nor any assistant or deputy of such holder or collector of public money, shall be
eligible to a seat in either house of the general assembly, nor to any oflice of trust or profit,
until he shall have accounted for and paid over all sums for which he may have been liable.
SEC. 12. The general assembly shall exclude from every office of trust or profit, and from
the right of suffrage within this State, all persons convicted of bribery, or perjury, or other
infamous crime.
SEC. 13. Every person who. shall have been convicted, either directly or indirectly, of
giving or offering any bribe to procure his election or appointment shall be disqualified from
holding any office of trust or profit under this State, and any person who shall give or offer
any bribe to procure the election or appointment of any person shall, on conviction thereof,
be disqualified from being an elector or from holding office of trust or profit under this State.
SEC. 14. No senator or representative shall, during the term for which he shall have been
elected, be appointed to any civil office under this State which shall have been created or
the emoluments* of which shall have been increased during his continuance in office, except
to such office as shall be filled by the election of the people.
SBC. 15. Each house shall appoint its own officers and shall judge of the qualifications,
returns, and elections of its own members. Two-thirds of each house shall constitute a
quorum to do business, but a smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and compel the
attendance of absent members in such manner and under such penalties as each house shall
provide.
SEC. 16. Each house may determine the rules of its proceedings, punish its own members
for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds of the members elected, expel
a member ; but no member shall be expelled a second time for the same offence. They shall
each from time to time publish a journal of their proceedings, except such parts as may
require secrecy ; and the yeas and nays upon any question shall be entered on the journal at
the desire of any five members.
SEC. 17. The door of each house, when in session or in committee of the whole, shall be
kept open, except in cases which may require secrecy ; and each house may punish by fine
and imprisonment any person, not a member, who shall be guilty of disrespect to the house
by any disorderly or contemptuous behavior in their presence during their session, but such
imprisonment shall not extend beyond the final adjournment of that session.
SEC. 18. Bills may originate in either house, and be amended or rejected in the other, and
every b\ll for an act shall be read three times before each house, twice at length, and in no
case shall a bill be read more than twice on one day ; and the vote upon the passage of any
k\\ shall in all cases be taken by yeas and nays, and by recording the same ; and every bill
having passed both houses, shall be signed by the president of the senate and the speaker
of the house of representatives.
SEC. 19. Whenever an officer, civil or military, shall be appointed by the joint or concur-
88 RECONSTRUCTION.
rent vote of both houses or by the separate vote of either house of the general assembly, the
vote shall be taken viva voce, and entered on the journal.
SEC. 20. The senators and representatives shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or
breach of the peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the general assembly and
for fifteen days before the commencement and after the termination of each session ; and for
any speech or debate in either house, they shall not be questioned in any other place.
SEC. 21. The members of the general assembly shall severally receive from the public
treasury compensation for their services, which umy be increased or diminished : but no
alteration of such compensation of members shall take effect during the session at which it
is made.
Manner of bringing suits against the State.
SEC. 22. The general assembly shall direct, by law, in what courts and in what manner
suits may be commenced against the State.
SEC. 23. The general assembly shall not have power to pass any bill of divorce, but may
prescribe by law the manner in which such cases may be investigated in the courts of jus
tice, and divorces granted.
Sflc. 24. The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, and all
judges of the supreme, circuit, and inferior courts of law and equity, and the prosecuting
attorneys for the State, shall be liable to impeachment for any malpractice or misdemeanor
in office ; but judgment in such cases shall not extend further than removal from office, and
disqualification to hold any office of trust or profit under this State. The party impeached,
whether convicted or acquitted, shall nevertheless be liable to .be indicted, tried, and punished
according to law.
SEC. 25. The house of representatives shall have the sole power of impeachment, and all
impeachments shall be tried by the senate ; and when sitting for that purpose the senators
shall be on oath or affirmation to do justice according to law and evidence. When the
governor shall be tried, the chief justice of the supreme court shall preside, and no person
shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds of all the senators elected : and for
reasonable cause which shall not be sufficient ground of impeachment, the governor shall,
on the joint address of two-thirds of each branch of the legislature, remove from office the
judges of the supreme and inferior courts: Provided, The cause or causes of removal be
spread on the journals, and the party charged be notified of the same, and heard by himself
and counsel before the vote is finally taken and decided.
SEC. 26. The appointment of all officers, not otherwise directed by this constitution,
shall be made in such manner as may be prescribed by law ; and all officers, both civil and
military, acting under the authority of this State, shall, before entering on the duties of their
respective offices, take an oath or affirmation to support the Constitution of the United States
and of this State, and to demean themselves faithfully in office.
SEC. 27. No county now established by law shall ever be reduced by the establishment of
any new county or counties to less than six hundred square miles, nor to a less population
than its ratio of representation in the house of representatives, nor shall any county be
hereafter established which shall contain less than six hundred square miles, or a less popu
lation than would entitle each county to a member in the house of representatives.
SEC. 28. The style of the laws of this State shall be, "Beit enacted by the general assem
bly of the State of Arkansas."
SEC. 29. The State shall from time to time be divided into convenient districts, in such
manner that the senate shall be based upon the free white male inhabitants of the State, each
senator representing an equal number, as nearly as practicable, and the senate shall never
consist of less than seventeen nor more than thirty-three members ; and as soon as the senate
shall meet after the first election to be held under this constitution they shall cause the
senators to be divided by lot into two classes, nine of the first class and eight of the second,
and the seats of the first class shall be vacated at the end of two years from the time of
their election, and the seats of the second class at the end of four years from the time of their
election, in order that one class of the senators may be elected every two years.
SEC. 30. An enumeration of the inhabitants of the State shall be taken, under the direc
tion of the general assembly, on the first day of January, one thousand eight hundred and
sixty-five, and at the end of every ten years thereafter, and the general assembly shall, at
the first session after the return of every enumeration, so alter and arrange the senatorial
districts that each district shall contain as nearly as practicable an equal number of free
white male inhabitants.
SEC. 31. The ratio of representation in the senate shall be fifteen hundred free white
male inhabitants to each senator, until the senators amount to twenty-five in number, and
then they shall be equally apportioned upon the same basis throughout the State, in such
ratio as the increased number of free white male inhabitants may require without increasing
the senators to a greater number than twenty-five, until the population of the State amounts
to five hundred thousand souls, and when an increase of senators takes place they shall from
time to time be divided by lot and be classed as prescribed above.
SEC. 32. The -house of representatives shall consist of not less than fifty-four nor more than
one hundred representatives, to be apportioned among the several counties in this State,
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 8 9
according to the number of free white male inhabitants therein, taking five hundred as the
ratio, until the number of representatives amounts to seventy-five, and when they amount
to seventy-five they shall not be further increased until the population of the State amounts to
five hundred thousand souls : Provided, That each county now organized shall, although its
population may not give the existing ratio, always be entitled to one .representative. And
the first session of the general assembly, after the return of every enumeration, the repre
sentation shall be equally divided and reapportioned among the several counties, according
to the number of free white males in each county, as above described.
Mode of amending the constitution.
The general assembly may at any time propose such amendments to this constitution as
two-thirds of each house shall deem expedient, which shall be published in all the newspapers
published in this State three several times, at least twelve months before the next general
election ; and if at the first session of the general assembly after such general election two-
thirds of each house shall by yeas and nays ratify such proposed amendments, they shall
be valid to all intents and purposes as paiis of this constitution: Provided, That such pro
posed amendments shall be read on three several days in each house, well as when the
same are proposed as when they are finally ratified.
ARTICLE Y.
Abolishment of slavery.
SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall hereafter exist in this State
otherwise than for the punishment of crime, whereof the party shall have been convictad by
due process of law ; nor shall any male person arrived at the age of twenty-one years, nor
female arrived at the age of eighteen years, be held to serve any person as a servant, under
any indenture or contract hereafter made, unless such person shall enter into such indenture
or contract while in a state of perfect freedom, and on condition of a bona fide consideration
received or to be received for their services. Nor shall any indenture of any negro or mulatto
hereafter made and executed out of this State, or if made in this State, where the term of
service exceeds one year, be of the least validity, except those given in case of apprentice
ship, which shall not be for a longer term than until the apprentice shall arrive at the age of
twenty-one years if a male, or the age of eighteen years if a female.
ARTICLE VI.
Executive department.
SECTION 1. The supreme executive power of this State shall be vested in a chief magis
trate, who shall be styled "the governor of the State of Arkansas."
SEC. ~l. The governor shall be elected by the qualified electors at the time, and where they
shall respectively vote for representatives.
SEC. 3. The returns of every election for governor, except those of the election of eighteen
hundred and sixty-four, which shall be sealed and directed as ordered in the schedule ap
pended to this constitution, shall be sealed up and transmitted to the speaker of the house of
representatives, who shall, during the first week of the session, open and publish them in
the presence of both houses of the general assembly. The person having the highest number
of votes shall be governor ; but if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes, cue of
them shall be chosen governor by the joint vote of both houses of the general assembly, in
such manner as shall be prescribed by law.
SEC. 4. The governor shall hold his office for the term of four years from the time of his
installation, and until his successor shall be duly qualified, but he shall not be eligible for
more than eight years in any term of twelve years ; he shall be at least thirty years of age,
a rtative-born citizen of Arkansas, or a native born citizen of the United States, or a resident
of Arkansas ten years previous to the adoption of this constitution, if not a native of the
United States, and shall have been a resident of the same at least four years next before his
election.
SEC. 5. He shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for his services, which shall not
be increased or dinmyshed during the term for which he shall have been elected ; nor shall
he receive within that period any other emolument from the United States, or any one of
them, or from any foreign power.
SEC. (>. He shall be commander-in-chief of the army of this State, and of the militia thereof,
except when they shall be called into the service o/«the United States.
SEC. 7. He may require any information, in writing, from the officers of the executive
department on any subject relating to the duties of their respective ofiices. 0
SKC. 8. He may, by proclamation, on extraordinary occasions convene the general as
sembly at the seat of government, or at a different place if that shall have become, since their
last adjournment, dangerous from an enemy or from contagious diseases. In case of disa-
, greemeut between the two houses with respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn
90 RECONSTRUCTION.
thorn to such time as he shall think proper, not beyond the day of the next meeting of the
general assembly.
SEC. 9. He shall, from time to time, give to the general assembly information of the state
of the government, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may de<-m
expedient.
SEC. 10. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
SEC. 11. In all criminal and penal cases, except in those of treason and impeachment, he
shall have power to grant pardons after conviction, and remit fines and forfeitures, under
such rules and regulations as shall be prescribed by law. In cases of treason he shall have
power, by and with the advice and consent of the senate, to grant reprieves and pardons,
and he may, in the recess of the senate, respite the sentence until the end of the next session
of the general assembly.
SEC. 12. There shall be a seal of this State, which shall be kept by the governor, and used
by him officially.
SEC. 13. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of Arkan
sas, be sealed with the seal of this State, signed by the governor, and attested by the secre
tary of state.
SEC. 14. There shall be elected a secretary of state by the qualified voters of the State,
who shall continue in office during the term of four years, and until his successor in office be
duly qualified ; he shall keep a fair register of all official acts and proceedings of the governor,
and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes, and vouchers relative thereto,
before the general assembly, and shall perform such other duties as may be required by law.
SEC. 15. Vacancies that may happen in offices, the election of which is vested in the
general assembly, shall be filled by the governor, during the recess of the general assembly,
by granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of the next session.
SEC. 16. Vacancies that may occur in offices, the election to which is vested in the people,
within less than one year before the expiration of their term, shall be filled by the governor
granting commissions, which shall expire at the end of the next term ; but if one year or a
longer period remains unexpired at the time of the vacancy, then, and in that case, the
governor shall order an election to be held to fill the vacancy.
SEC. 17. Every bill which shall have passed both houses shall be presented to the governor ;
if he approve it, he shall sign it ; but if he shall not approve it, he shall return it, with his
objections, to the house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter his objections at
large upon their journals and proceed to reconsider it; if, after such reconsideration, a
majority of the whole number elected to that house shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be
sent, with the objections, to the other house, by which likewise it shall be reconsidered; and
if approved by a majority of the whole number elected to that house it shall be a law ; but in
such cases the votes of both houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the names of
the persons voting for or against the bill shall be entered on the journals of each house re
spectively. If any bill shall not be returned by the governor within three days, Sundays
excepted, after it shall have been presented to him, the same shall be a law in like manner
as if he had signed it, unless the general assembly, by their adjournment, prevent its return,
in such case it shall not be law.
SEC. 18. Every order or resolution to which the concurrence of both houses may be neces
sary, except on questions of adjournment, shall be presented to the governor before it shall
take effect, be approved by him, or being disapproved, shall be repassed by both houses
according to the rules and limitations prescribed in the case of a bill.
SEC. 19. A lieutenant governor shall be chosen at eveiy election for governor, in the same
manner, continue in office for the same time, and possess the same qualifications. In voting
for governor and lieutenant governor, the electors shall distinguish for whom they vote as
governor, and for whom as lieutenant governor.
SEC. 20. He. shall, by virtue of his office, be president of the senate, have a right when in
committee of the whole to debate, and whenever the senate are equally divided, shall give the
casting vote. •
SEC. 21. Whenever the government shall be administered by the lieutenant governor, or
he shall be unable to attend as president of the senate, the senate shall elect one of their own
members as president for that occasion ; and if during the vacancy of the office of the gov
ernor the lieutenant governor shall be impeached, removed from office, refuse to quality, or
resign, or die, or be absent from the State, the president of the senate shall in like manner
administer the government.
SEC. 22. The lieutenant governor, while he acts as president of the senate, shall receive
for his services the same compensation which shall for the same period be allowed to tin1
speaker of the house of representatives, -and no more ; and during the time he administers
the government as governor he shall receive the same compensation which the governor
woultHiave received had he been employed in the duties of his office.
SEC. 23. In case of an impeachment of the governor, his removal from office, death, re
fusal to qualify, resignation, or absence from the State, the lieutenant governor shall exercise
all the power and authority appertaining to the office of governor until the time pointed out
by the constitution for the election of a governor shall arrive, unless the general assembly
shall provide by law for the election of governor to fill such vacancy.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 91
Srr. 24. The governor shall always reside at the seat of government.
SEC. "25. No person shall hold the office of governor or lieutenant governor, and any other
office or commission, civil or military, either in this State or under any State, or the United
States, or any other power, at one and the same time.
SEC. 26. Then shall be elected by the qualified voters of this State an auditor and treas
urer for this State, who shall hold their offices for the term of two years, and until their re
spective successors are elected and qualified, unless sooner removed ; and shall keep their
respective offices at the seat of government, and perform such duties as shall be prescribed
by law ; and in case of vacancy by death, resignation, or otherwise, such vacancy shall be
filled by the governor as in other cases.
Militia.
SEC. 1. The militia of this State shall be divided into convenient divisions, brigades, regi
ments, and companies, and officers of corresponding titles and rank elected to command
them, conforming as nearly as practicable to the general regulations of the army of the
United States, and all officers shall be elected by those subject to military duty in their seve
ral districts, except as hereinafter provided.
SEC. 2. The governor shall appoint the adjutant general and other members of his staff,
and major generals, brigadier generals, and commanders of regiments shall respectively ap
point their own staff, and all commissioned officers may continue in office during good beha
vior ; and staff officers during the same time, subject to be removed by the superior officer
from whom they respectively derive their commissions.
ARTICLE VII.
Judicial department.
SEC. 1. The judicial power of this State shall be vested in one supreme court, in circuit
courts, in county courts, and in justices of the peace. The general assembly may also vest
such jurisdiction as may be deemed necessary in corporation courts, and, when they deem it
expedient, may establish courts of chancery.
SEC. 2. The supreme court shall be composed of three judges, one of whom shall be styled
chief justice, any two of whom shall constitute a quorum, and the concurrence of any two
of said judges shall in every case be necessary to a decision.
The supreme court, except in cases otherwise directed by this constitution, shall have ap
pellate jurisdiction only, which shall be co-extensive with the State, under such restrictions
and regulations as may from time to time be prescribed by law.
It shall have a general superintending control over all inferior and other courts of law and
equity. It shall have power to issue writs of error, supersedeas, certiorari and habeas cor
pus, mandamus and quo warranto, and other remedial writs, and to hear and determine the
same. Said judges shall be conservators of the peace throughout the State, and shall have
power to issue any of the aforesaid writs.
SEC. 3. The circuit court shall have original jurisdiction over all criminal cases which
shall not be otherwise provided for by law ; and exclusive original jurisdiction of all crimes
amounting to felony at the common law, and original jurisdiction of all civil cases which
shall not be cognizable before justices of the peace, until otherwise directed by the general*
assembly; and original jurisdiction in all matters of contract, where the sum in controversy
is over two hundred dollars. It shall hold its terms at such place in each county as may be
by law directed.
SEC. 4. The State shall be divided into convenient circuits, each to consist of not less than
five nor more than seven counties contiguous to each other,«for each of which a judge shall
be elected, who, during his continuance in office, shall reside and be a conservator of the
peace within the circuit for which he shall have been elected.
SEC. 5. The circuit courts shall exercise a superintending control over the county courts,
and over justices of the peace in each county, in their respective circuits, and shall have
power to issue all- the necessary writs to carry into effect their general and specific powers.
SEC. 6; Until the general assembly shall deem it expedient to establish courts of chancery,
the circuit courts shall have jurisdiction in matters of equity, subject to appeal to the supreme
court, in such manner as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 7. The qualified voters of this State snail elect the judges of the supreme court; the
judges of the supreme court shall be at least thirty years of age ; they shall hold their offices
during the term of eight years from the date of their commissions, and until their successors
arc elected and qualified.
Immediately after such election by the people, the lieutenant governor and speaker of the
-use of representatives shall proceed by lot to divide the judges into three classes : The
mmission of the first class shall expire at the end of four years ; of the second class, at the
end of six years ; and of the third class at the end of eight years ; so that one-third of the
whole number shall be chosen every four, six and eight years."
92 RECONSTRUCTION.
SEC. 8. The qualified voters of each judicial district shall elect a circuit judge. The
judges of the circuit court shall be at least twenty-five years of age ; and shall be elected for
the term of four years from the date of their commissions, and shall serve until their success
ors are elected and qualified.
SEC. 9. The supreme court shall appoint its own clerk or clerks, for the term of four years.
The qualified voters of each county shall elect a clerk of the circuit court for the respective
counties, who shall hold his office for the term of two years, and until his successor is elected
and qualified ; and courts of chancery, if any be established, shall appoint their own clerks.
SEC. 10. The judges of the supreme courts and circuit courts shall, at stated times, re
ceive a compensation for their services, to be ascertained by law, which shall not be dimin
ished during the time for which they are elected They shall not be allowed any fees or
perquisites of office, nor hold any other office of trust or profit under this State or the United
States. The attorney general, the State's attorneys, and clerks of the supreme and circuit
courts, and courts of chancery — if any such be established — shall receive for their services
such salaries, fees, and perquisites of office, as shall from time to time be fixed by law.
SEC. II. There shall be established in each county in the State a court to be holden by
the justices of the peace, a court called the county court, which shall have jurisdiction in till
matters relating to taxes, disbursements of money for county purposes, and in every other
case that may be necessary to the internal improvement and local concerns of the respective
counties.
SEC. 12. The qualified voters of each county shall elect a county and probate judge, who
shall hold his office for two years, and until his successor is elected and qualified. He shall,
in addition to the duties that may be required of him by law, as a presiding judge of the
county court, be a judge of the court of probate, and have such jurisdiction in matters relat
ing to the estates of deceased persons, executors, administrators and guardians, as may be
prescribed by law, until otherwise directed by the general assembly.
SEC. 13. The presiding judge of the probate and county court, and justices of the peace,
shall receive for their services such compensation and fees as the general assembly may
from time to time by law direct.
SEC. 14. No judge shall preside on the trial of any cause in the event of which he maybe
interested, or where either of the parties shall be connected with him by affinity or consan
guinity, within such degrees as may be prescribed by law, or in which he may have been
counsel, or have presided in any inferior court, except by consent of all the parties. In case
all or any of the judges of the supreme court shall be thus disqualified from presiding on any
cause or causes, the court or judges thereof shall certify the same to the governor of the
State, and he shall immediately commission specially the requisite number of men of law
knowledge, for the trial and determination thereof. The same eourse shall be pursued in tl»e
circuit and inferior courts as prescribed in this section for cases of the supreme court. Judgi^s
of the circuit courts may temporarily exchange circuits, or hold courts for each other, under
such regulations as may be pointed out by law. Judges shall not charge juries with regaul
to matter of fact, but may state the testimony and declare the law.
SEC. 15. The qualified voters thereof shall elect an attorney for the State, for each judicial
circuit established by law, who shall continue in office two years, and until his successor is
elected and qualified, and reside within the circuit for which he was elected at the time of and
during his continuance in office. In all cases where an attorney for the State, of any circuit,
fails to attend and prosecute according to law, the court shall have power to appoint an at
torney pro temporc.
SEC. 16. The qualified voters of this State shall elect an attorney general, whose salary
shall be the same as that of circuit judge, who shall be learned in the law ; who shall be at
least thirty years of age, and shall hold his office for the term of four years from the date of
his commission, and until his successor is elected and qualified; and whose duty it shall be
to prosecute the State's pleas before the supreme court, and give his opinion in writing cm
all questions of law or equity, wfien required by the governor or other officer of State, and
perform such other duties as may be prescribed by law.
SEC. 17. All writs and other process shall run in the name of the "State of Arkansas,"
and bear teste and be signed by the clerks of the respective courts from which they issue.
Indictments shall conclude " against the peace and dignity of the State of Arkansas."
SEC. 18. The qualified voters residing in each township shall elect the justices of the
peace for each township. For every one hundred voters there may be elected one justice of
the peace ; provided, that each township, however small, shall have two justices of the peace.
Justices of the peace shall be elected for the term of two years, and shall hold their offices
until their successors are elected and qualified ; shall be commissioned by the governor, aud
shall reside in the township for which they are elected, during their continuance in office ;
the first election for justices of the peace shall take place on the second Monday in March,
1804, and the second election on. the first Monday in August, 1866, and at the regular elections
thereafter. Justices of the peace, individually, or two or more of them jointly, shall have
original jurisdiction in cases of bastardy, and irtall matters of contract, and actions for the
recovery of lines and forfeiture where .the amount claimed does not exceed two hundred dol
lars, and concurrent jurisdiction with circuit courts where the amount claimed exceeds one
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 93
hundred dollars, and does not exceed two hundred dollars, and such jurisdiction as may be
provided by law in actions ex delicto, where the damages claimed do not exceed one hundred
dollars ; and prosecutions for assault and battery, and other penal offences less than felony,
punishable by fine only. Every action cognizable before a justice of the peace instituted by
summons or warrant shall be brought before some justice of the peace of the township
where the defendant resides. They may also sit as examining courts, and commit, discharge,
or recognize any person charged with any crime of any grade. For the foregoing purposes
they shall have power to issue all necessfary process. They shall also have power to bind,
to keep the peace or for good behavior.
SEC. 19. The qualified voters of each township shall elect one constable for the term of
two years, who shall hold his office till his successor is elected and qualified, who shall, dur
ing his continuance in office, reside in the township for which he was elected. Incorporated
towns may have a separate constable and a separate magistracy.
SEC. 20. The qualified voters of each county shall elect one sheriff, one coroner, and one
county surveyor, for the term of two years, and until their successors are elected. They
shall be commissioned by the governor, reside in their respective counties during their con
tinuance in office, and be disqualified for the office a second term if it should appear that
they or either of them are in default for moneys collected by virtue of their respective offices.
ARTICLE VIII.
General provisions — education.
SEC. 1. Knowledge and learning generally diffused throughout a community being essen
tial to the preservation of a free government, and diffusing the opportunities and advantages
of education through the various parts of the State being highly conducive to this end, it
shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide by law for the improvement of such
lands as are, or hereafter may be, granted by the United States to this State for the use of
schools, and to apply any funds which may be raised from such lands, or from any other
source, to the accomplishment of the object for which they are or may be intended. The
general assembly shall from time to time pass such laws as shall be calculated to encourage
intellectual, scientific, and agricultural improvement, by allowing rewards and immunities
for the promotion and improvement of arts, science, commerce, manufactures, and natural
history, aud countenance and encourage the principles of humanity, industry, and morality.
SEC. 2. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or adhering
to its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless
on the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or his own confession in open court.
SEC. 3. No person who denies the being of a God shall hold any office in the civil depart
ment of this State, nor be allowed his oath in auy court.*
SEC. 4. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of an appropria
tion by law ; nor shall any appropriation of money for the support of the army be made for
a longer term than two years ; and a regular statement and account of the receipts and ex
penditures of all public money shall be published with the promulgation of the laws.
SEC. 5. Absence on business of this State, or of the United States, or on a visit, or nec
essary private business, shall not cause a forfeiture of a residence once obtaiued.
SEC. 6. No lottery shall be authorized by this State, nor shall the sale of lottery tickets be
allowed.
SEC. 7. Internal improvement shall be encouraged by the government of this State, and it
shall be the duty of the general assembly, as soon as may be, to make provision by law for
ascertaining the proper objects of improvement in relation to roads, canals, and navigable
waters, and it shall also be their duty to provide by law for an equal, systematic, and eco
nomical application of the funds which may be appropriated to these objects.
SEC. 8. Returns for all elections for officers who are to be commissioned by the governor,
and for members of the general assembly, shall be made to the secretary of state, except in
the election of 1864 they be made as directed in the schedule appended to this constitution.
SEC. 9. Within five years after the adoption of this constitution, the laws, civil and crimi
nal, shall be revised, digested, and arranged, and promulgated in such manner as the general
assembly may direct, and a like revision, digest, and promulgation shall be made within
every subsequent period of ten years.
Sue. 10. In the event of the annexation of any territory to this State by a cession from
the United States, laws may be passed extending to the inhabitants of such territory all the
rights and privileges which may be required by the terms of such cession, anything in this
constitution to the contrary notwithstanding.
SEC. 11. Imprisonment for debt shall not be allowed in this State, except when an allega
tion of fraud ou the part of the debtor shall be clearly proved.
SEC. 12. Any person who shall, after the adoption of this constitution, fight a duel, or send or
accept a challenge for that purpose, or be aider or abettor in fighting- a duel, shall be deprived
of the right of suffrage, and of the right of holding any office of honor or profit in this State,
and shall be punished otherwise in such manner as is or may be prescribed by law.
94 RECONSTRUCTION.
ARTICLE IX.
Revenue.
SEC. 1 . All revenues shall be raised by taxation to be fixed by law.
SEC. 2. All property subject to taxation shall be taxed according to its value — that
value to be ascertained in such manner as the general assembly shall direct, making the
same equal and uniform throughout the State. &> one species of property from which a
tax may be collected shall be taxed higher than another species of property of equal value :
Provided, The general assembly shall have the power to tax merchants, hawkers, peddlers, and
privileges in such manner as may from time to time be prescribed by law : A nd provided, further,
That no other or greater amount of revenue shall at any time be levied than required for the
necessary expenses of the government, unless by a concurrence of two-thirds of both houses
of the general assembly.
SEC. 3. No poll-tax shall be assessed for other than county purposes.
SEC. 4. No other or greater tax shall be levied on the productions or labor of the country
than may be required for expenses of inspection.
SCHEDULE.
SEC. 1. In order that civil government may be in full operation and effect at the earliest
day possible, it is further ordained and provided that a general vote on the ratification of the
constitution and ordinance of this convention, and a general election, shall be taken and held
throughout the State, as far as practicable, on the !<Jd Monday of March next, as follows, to
wit: Any number of persons, being white male citizens of the State, over the age of twenty-
one years, at the county-seat of any county, or (in case of volunteer soldiers in the federal
army) at the camp of their respective companies, having first taken the oath prescribed in
the President's proclamation of December 8, ]8G3, before any justice of the peace, or other
person authorized to administer an oath within the county in which they reside, or within
which they are encamped, may appoint a commissioner of elections, with power to appoint
such election judges as maybe necessary, who shall also be an enrolling officer for said county
or company, who shall proceed as follows, to wit : Said commissioners shall prepare an
enrolling and poll-book, to which shall be appended, the constitution, ordinances, and
schedule of this convention ; one column shall then be headed with the oath contained in said
proclamation of the President ; another column headed "constitution and ordinances rati
fied;" another column, " constitution and ordinances rejected;" other columns shall be ar
ranged so that a vote may be taken for all officers to be voted for within the county or com
pany where the election is proposed to be held ; said commissioner shall then take the oath
aforesaid before any justice ot the peace, or other officer authorized to administer oaths, and
enrol his own name at the head of the column, under the said oath, written out in full; die
said commissioner shall then, on the said 2d Monday of March next, within usual election
hours, proceed to hold an election, as follows: viva voce: And provided, also, That said com
missioner may keep the polls open for three days, to wit ; Every white male citizen over the
age of twenty-one years, of the county, or (in case of a military company) of the State, pre
senting himself to vote, and not being included in the exceptions contained in the said proc
lamation, shall take the oath contained in said proclamation, administered by any justice of
the peace, or other officer authorized to administer oaths ; and when his name has been there
after duly enrolled or subscribed in the proper column, the commissioner shall cau.se his vobe
to be recorded, first upon the question of the constitution and ordinances, and then in the
election of all officers to be voted for.
SEC. 2. That, within five days after the holding of said election, said commissioner shall
foot up the said vote, and certify the result over his signature as commissioner ; he shall then
make a duplicate of said book, (except that the constitution and ordinances of this convention
need not be appended to the copy,) and forward the said copy to Little Kock, addressed to tlie
provisional government; the original book shall be preserved by said commissioner, and
deposited by him, as soon as the counties are organized, with the clerk of the county wheu-iu
the election is held, or (in case of soldiers) in the county wherein the voters reside.
SEC. 3. Within ten days after the receipt of the said enrolling and election-return books by
the provisional governor, it shall be his duty, with the assistance of the secretary of state, to
examine the same, and declare the result by proclamation, as follows, to wit :
1st. Whether the constitution and ordinances of this convention have been adopted or re
jected within the meaning of the President's proclamation.
2d. He shall announce the whole vote polled for or against said constitution and ordi
nances.
3d. He shall declare what persons are elected to the various offices throughout the State,
except that of governor and lieutenant governor of State, deciding the result by plurality.
SEC. 4. All persons thus declared to be elected State officers shall enter upon the discharge
of their respt'ciive offices ,as soon thereafter as they take and subscribe an oath before any
justice of the peace, or other officer authorized to administer oaths, as follows: That they ,
will faithfully perform the duties of their respective offices ; that they will support the coi>-
stitution and laws of the State and of the United States ; and said oath, in case of State otii-
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 95
cers, shall be filed in the office of the secretary of state, and in case of county officers
they shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices immediately after the election, upon
filing said oath with the county commissioners.
SEC.. 5. At the first session of the legislature, and during the first week of the session, the
said provisional governor shall place the said return books before that body, who shall de
clare the result as to the election of governor and lieutenant governor, and secretary of state,
who, before entering upon the duties of their respective offices, shall take the oath herein
prescribed for other officers.
SEC. 6. It is also further ordained and declared, that in counties wherein, for any cause,
elections are not held on the said 2d Monday of March next, the same may be held for the
several local officers provided for in the constitution, ordinances, and schedule of this conven
tion, in the same manner as hereinbefore described, at any time thereafter, till the whole State
is fully organized and represented.
SEC. 9. The officers to be voted for in this election are, governor, lieutenanf governor,
secretary of state, auditor, treasurer, attorney general, three judges of the supreme court,
nine circuit judges, and nine district attorneys, (according to act of January 15, 1861,;
county judges, clerks, sheriffs, coroners, constables, justices of the peace, and all other officers
provided for in the constitution and ordinances of this convention, or which may exist by
law, and members of the legislature, according to the ratio or apportionment of senatorial
districts in force in the year 1860, and members to Congress in districts Nos. 1 and 2, accord
ing to the act approved January. 19, 1861, (no election being ordered in district No. 3, this
convention recognizing the election of Colonel James M. Johnson as the representative from
that district.) And it is further hereby declared that all laws in force in this State on the 4th
day of March, 1861, are still in force, not inconsistent with the provisions of this constitution,
and which have not expired by limitation therein contained.
JOHN McCOY, President of the Convention,
and delegate from Newton county.
LUTHER C. WHITE, Crawford county.
C. A. HARPER, do. do.
JOHN AUSTIN, do. do.
JOSIAH HARRELL, do. do.
HARMON L. HOLLEMAN, Sebastian county.
JNO. R. SMOOT. do. do.
RANDOLPH D. SWINDELL, do. do.
G. W. SEAMANS, Madison county.
JAMES T. SWAFFORD, Saline county.
W. HOLLEMAN, do. do.
JOHN M. DEMINT, do. do.
ENOCH H. VANCE, do. do.
MILES L. LANGLEY, Clark county.
J. M. STAPP, do. do.
C. T. JORDAN, do. do.
JOHN BURTON, do. do.
JOHN C. PRIDDY, Montgomery county.
ARKANSAS THE HOME FOR IMMIGRANTS.
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS, October, 1865.
No State in the Union presents greater inducements to immigration than Arkansas at the
present time. The State is as tranquil as before the rebellion. Civil law is re-established in
every county, and all parties are anxious that the arts of peace should again be fostered, and
the great resources of the State, agricultural, commercial, manufacturing, and mineral, de
veloped.
The emancipation of the slave has entirely changed the relations of labor to capital, and
now the way is open and unobstructed for immigrants, whether from other States or foreign
nations. For the purpose of encouraging and giving a practical direction to this immigra-
.tion, the Arkansas Immigrant Aid Society has been organized, and is now actively in opera
tion, disseminating such information as will be of value to the settler. The names of its
present board of officers (whose tenure of office is a year) are hereto appended, and commu
nications addressed to any of them will receive prompt attention. With Caleb Langtree,
esq., of this city, chairman of the bureau of agricultural lauds, publisher of a sectional map
of the State, and who is thoroughly acquainted with its resources, it will be especially ad
vantageous to communicate. Already applications for specific quantities of laud have been
made. Parties are told where they can be found and the price thereof. Titles are carefully
investigated, and, generally, the society is prepared to meet all the exigencies of its organ
ization.
96 RECONSTRUCTION.
The State of Arkansas extends from 33° to 36^° north latitude, and from 9^° to 94° west
longitude, and has an area of 53, 000 square miles. Although admitted yitothe teucial Union
in jc^o', she still possesses many of the characteristics of a new State, and otters a rich lii-id
for the capitalist, the artisan, and the farmer especially, since the desolation of war \n>.< n a-
tiered productive industry unusually necessary and remunerative. The internal resources of
the State can hardly he exaggerated. Eight rivers, the St. Francis, Black, White, Arkansas,
Saline, Bayou Bartholomew, Ouachita, and Red, all navigable, to a greater or less extent. :md
with numerous tributaries, themselves navigable at certain seasons, flow through it to the Mis
sissippi, and contribute to a fertility and diversity of soil unsurpassed on the globe. But the
testimony of thoroughly scientific men is probably better than our own with regard to the
quality of soil. The celebrated Dr. Peter, of Louisville, says that "Arkansas may boast,
among her river bottoms and in her cretacious and lower silurian soils, of as fertile lands as
any on the^coutinent. Some of her soils are so rich in carbonate of lime that they may be
classed as marls, rather than soils. Others contain so much oxide of iron, that they resem
ble in color, as, probably, in composition, the famous red soil of the island of Cuba, on which
the best cigar tobacco is raised. Others, again, may be employed as a cheap pigment for
common painting, being of the nature of red ochre or Spanish browrn, which are found to be
among the best paints which can be used for the preservation of wood, &c., which is exposed
to the weather."
The disposition, moreover, of the arable land of the State is eminently favorable to its de
velopment. The great diversity of soil, to which allusion has already been made, the suc
cession of hills and valleys, the number of creeks and springs, the rivers traversing nearly
every section of the State, and her great mountains, conspire to produce a diffusion oi advan
tages .that renders every county in the State desirable for settlement.
Within the limits proposed in this circular, it will be impossible to particularize to any con
siderable extent. Allusion, however, may be made, in a general way, to the productions of
different localities. In northern Arkansas, all the grains, such as wheat, oats, rye, barley,
and corn, are grown with great success, and the apple, the pear, the peach, the quince, and
the grape, and all species of the melon, thrive most abundantly. South of and along the
Arkansas river, which cuts the State into nearly two equal parts, from northwest to south
east, all these fruits are grown equally as well, and others of a more tropical nature, such as
the fig and apricot, are easily produced, and as for the variety and quality of garden vegeta
bles, Arkansas stands unrivalled. Cotton is, nevertheless, the great staple ot the State, and
for years to come its cultivation will unquestionably be remunerative in a high degree. Her
uplands produce from 800 to 1,200 pounds of seed cotton per acre. On the creek and river
bottoms, and other favorable localities, from 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of seed cotton per acre are
easily produced. In the valleys of various streams, scattered here and there throughout the
State, the walnut, pawpaw, elm, box elder, pecan, and other trees that indicate a varied and
fertile soil, thrive in great profusion. And passing along her larger rivers, observers are
struck with the quantity and size of the timber growing upon their banks. In the southern
portion of the State, the forests of white oak are immense, from which, in former years, great
quantities of staves were made and sent to the New Orleans market ; and from this section
came also the famous cypress rafts, that supplied with logs the mills of the lower Mississippi.
The timber on the uplands is abundant. It consists principally of the black, white, red, and
post oaks, hickory, yellow pine, dogwood, and maple, while along the margins of the little
streams there may.be seen the walnut, beach, elm, and gum.
Arkansas has also medicinal springs of great value, especially the Hot springs, in Hot
Spring county, southwest of Little Rock. The latter possess, in fact, most remarkable qual
ities. Many of them have a temperature ranging at the fountain head as high as 14d° Fah
renheit, surpassing the Warm springs of Virginia, in this respect, by f>0c, and having a most
potent effect in the cure of many diseases. Says the lamented Dr. David Dale Owen, late State
geologist: "in many forms of chronic diseases, especially, the effects of these springs are
truly astonishing. The copious diaphoresis which the hot bath establishes, opens, in itself, a
main channel for the expulsion of principles injurious to health, made manifest by its peculiar
odor. A similar effect in a diminished degree is also effected by drinking the hot water, a
common, indeed almost universal practice, among invalids at the Httf springs. The impres
sion produced by the hot douche, as above described, is indeed powerful, arousing into action
sluggish and torpid secretions. 'Ihe languid circulation is thus purified of inorbitic matters,
and thereby renewed vigor and healthful action are given, both to the absorbents, lymphatics,
and to the excretory apparatus, a combined effect which no medicine is capable of accom
plishing."
The mineral resources of Arkansas are also of undoubted superiority, and will richly repay
investigation and development. Upon this subject, Dr. Owen again says: "There are re
sources of the State in ores of zinc, manganese, iron, lead, and copper, marble, whet and
hone stones, rock crystal, paints, nitre-earths, kaolin, granite, freestone, limestone, marls,
green sand, marly limestones, grindstones, and slate, which may well justify the assertion
that Arkansas is destined to rank as one of the richest mineral States in the Union. Her zinc
ores compare very favorably with those of Silesia, and her argentiferous galena far exceeds in
percentage of silver the average oies of other countries. Her uovaculite rock cannot be ex
celled in fineness of texture, beauty of color, and sharpness of grit.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 97
"Her cn'stal mountains stand unrivalled for extent, and their products are equal in brilliancy
and transparency to any in the world. Numerous iron regions have been discovered, many
of •which are well worthy the examination of th«> iron-master. Wide belts of country have
been indicated where marble prevails. Sources have been pointed out where the best lime
stones can be procured, both for burning1 to lime, making1 hydraulic cement, and for the im
provement of land, as mineral fertilizers and physical ameliorators of the soil."
The State possesses, also, great advantages in her coal formations. The Illinois coal-fields,
covering parts of Indiana, of western Kentucky, and of Illinois, throw out spurs into Arkan
sas. Coal has already, indeed, been found and surveyed in twelve counties of the State, and
in those that are furthest from the great coal basin, which extends east of the Mississippi, a
fact said by scientific men to be indicative of a superior quality of coal, for the reason, as
stated by Dr. Owen, that the further the spurs are removed from the centre of the coal basin,
the more valuable becomes the coal, from the scarcity of the combustible material. Thus
arises the great value of the coal strata of western Arkansas, offering safe returns to capital,
and inviting the construction of railroads in a manner that will not long remain unheeded.
Promising surface indications of petroleum have likewise been discovered in the vicinity of
Little Rock and elsewhere, and the Arkansas Petroleum Company has been projected with
the prospect of a complete organization within a reasonable length of time.
The climate of Arkansas may be.designated as neither too cold in winter nor too warm in
summer. In the shelter of the valleys in the northern and of the caiiebrakes in the southern
part of the State, stock not only survive, but keep in good condition, the entire winter. The
tierce northers experienced in Texas are wholly unknown in Arkansas. But, aside from the
inducements of soil, climate, and production, Congress made, in times past, several valuable
donations of land to the State :
1 st. To encourage the manufacture of salt, twelve salt springs were selected by the State and
confirmed as her property, to which Congress added six sections of land to each, making seventy-
two sections in all. Many of these springs produce well, and have heretofore been freely
worked, the parties leasing from the State.
2d. The magnificent grant of the swamp lands, amounting, in the aggregate, to at least
ten millions of acres; and though the word "swamp" might, to strangers, convey the idea
of wet and irreclaimable land, yet that class of lands is very small indeed, compared with the
vast quantity of line agricultural tracts comprised in the grant. First-class swampland sold,
and very probably will sell again, at seventy-five cents per acre ; the second-class, at fifty
cents per acre — a price so low that the poorest and most humble worker of the soil will find
uo difficulty in securing himself a home.
3d. The sixteenth section in every township is also donated to the actual settlers in that
township for educational purposes. Many of these sections have been disposed of at good
prices, and the money loaned out at ten per cent, interest. Much of this fund will probably
be lost, but there can be no doubt that, under a judicious system of legislation, with the honest
co-operation of the county courts, much will be saved, thus forming a sacred fund to be used
for the instruction of the rising generation.
Thus, somewhat at length, but still doing by no means full justice to the State, and at
tempting but little of that detail which, in the progress of the society, will be made the sub
ject of a much larger publication, are exhibited some of the principal features of the State,
and the inducements to emigrate thereto.
Branch organizations are being established, to operate in the various portions of the State,
and furnish the central society lull, frequent, and accurate information, statistical and other
wise, all of which will be duly published and generally circulated.
There is no reason why Arkansas should not take one of the proudest positions in the gal
axy of American States; and the Arkansas Immigrant Aid Society, springing into existence
at the close of a desolating war, are nevertheless hopeful not only, but confident, that their
State can rapidly be settled up. The northern exodus has begun. Trade and commerce,
agriculture and manufactures, will soon assert their sway. Common schools abound, and
morality keeps pace with prosperity.
Officers of the, Arkansas Immigrant Aid Society. — Hon. Robert J. T. White, secretary of
state, Little Rock, Arkansas, president. His excellency Isaac Murphy, governor of Arkan
sas, Little Rock ; Hon. Liberty Bartlett, judge of the 5th judicial circuit, Little Rock ; Dr.
R. L. Dodge, Little Rock ; Hon. Jesse Turner, Dr. Richard Thruston, Van Buren, Craw
ford county ; Hon. John D. Smoot, of Fort Smith, Sebastian county : Gen. J. C.* Tappan,
of Helena, Phillips county; Hon. E. W. Gantt, of Washington, Hempstead county; Gen.
Powell Clayton, of Pine Bluff, Jefferson county ; Hon. Simeon D. Rosson, of Rich Woods,
Izard county, vice-presidents. Albert W. Bishop, adjutant general of Arkansas, Little Rock,
corresponding secretary. John P. Jones, Little Rock, recording secretary. John Whytock,
district attorney, 5th judicial circuit, Little Rock, attorney. Major D. H. Barnes, Little
Rock, treasurer. Caleb Langtree, esq., publisher of Langtree's Sectional Map of Arkansas,
Little Rock ; Hon. J. R. Berry, State auditor, Little Rock ; John B. Luce, esq., Fort Smitti,
Sebastian county, bureau of agricultural lauds. Lucien J. Barnes, esq., United States inteV-
nal revenue assessor for district of Arkansas, Little Rock; Col. M. LaRue Harrison, Fay-
etteville, Washington county; Hon. James Thomas Elliott, Camden, Ouachita county,
7 A GM A
9 8 RECONSTRUCTION.
udge 6th judicial circuit, bureau of commerce and manufactures. Wm. O. Stoddard, esq.,
TJnited States marshal, eastern district of Arkansas ; Dr. James A. Dibrell, Little Rock ;
Hon. Thomas Boles, judge 4th judicial circuit, Dardauelle, Yell county, bureau of mines and
mineral lands. J. S. Pollock, esq., Col. Win. S. Oliver, James Garibaldi, esq., Little Rock,
committee of ways and means.
Corresponding members. — General John Edwards, Fort Smith, Arkansas ; Henri Jacobi,
esq., Little Rock, Arkansas; Israel M. Moore, esq., Searcy, White county, Arkansas; W.
II. Halliburton, esq., De Witt, Arkansas county, Arkansas. [Others will be added.]
WASHINGTON, February 20, 1366.
Major J. W. Smith sworn and examined :
By Mr. BOTJTWELL :
Question. State your name, residence, age, and occupation.
Answer. My name is J. W. Smith ; age, forty ; residence, Little Rock, Arkansas ; occu
pation, additional paymaster in the army.
Question. What has been your means of information touching the condition of the people
of Arkansas and their opinions concerning this government '?
Answer. I have lived in Little Rock two years and a half; have travelled over a consid
erable portion of the State making payments to troops, and have met men from all por
tions ot the State and conversed with them.
Question. When did you leave Little Rock ?
Answer. I left there on the 9th of this month, I think.
Question. Is there or not a settled condition of public affairs there, so that business is at
tended to in the ordinary way?
Answer. Yes ; it is as settled now as it ever was in all that portion of the State where I
live. There is no trouble of any. kind whatever.
Question. Have any considerable number of soldiers from the rebel army returned to the
State since Lee's surrender 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have you any opinion as to the number ?
Answer. No ; I have not. They are coming in every day. I can form no idea of the
number.
Question. As far as you know, what proportion of those who went into the rebel army
have since returned ?
Answer. I believe that four-fifths, and perhaps more, of those who went into the rebel
army are dead. Several regiments and single companies were raised about Little Rock.
One regiment went out twelve hundred strong, and of some of the companies only four or five
are left, and some as high as twenty or thirty. Most of those living have come back.
Question. What appears to be their purpose concerning the future?
Answer. Judging from their present arrangements I should suppose their intention is to be
good, loyal men. Most of the prominent men have obtained, or sought to obtain, northern
men as partners, and that whole country is filled with southern men and northern officers or
men acting as partners in their business matters.
Question. Is the sentiment of the people, so far as you have observed it, more or less hos
tile towards the government than it was in the months of April and May last?
Answer. It is less hostile.
Question. In the elections there are the people more likely to sustain a man who has been
an avowed Unionist from the beginning, or a man who has been complicated in the rebel i ion ?
Answer. There has been no disposition at all to take a man who has been complicated with
the rebellion, because that would make their position still mure embarrassing. I think all
the members from Arkansas are good, loyal men. I know several of them personally.
Question. What ones do you know personally ?
Answer. I know Colonel Johnson, Judge Byers, Mr. Kyle, and Senator Snow.
Question. And you regard them all as those who have been loyal men ?
Answer. I do not think there is any question of it.
Question. Have any of them been connected with the rebellion ?
Answer. I think not, in any shape or form. Colonel Johnson raised a regiment of United
States troops, and has been in the service three years. Mr. Kyle left his home and came
within our lines early in the war, and has since been a thoroughly loyal man. Judge Byers
has from the first been regarded as one of the strongest Union men in the State, and is re
garded as an entirely safe man.
Question. What is the condition of the colored people of Arkansas ?
Answer. They are all at work who will work; there is employment for more laborers than
are in the State, and every one who will work at reasonable, or even large wages, is em
ployed.
Question. What is the general disposition of the negroes as to work ? Are they disposed to
work, or otherwise ?
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 99
Answer. They are generally disposed to work, and there is no difficulty in reference to
them. I have travelled up and down the valley of the Arkansas, and I know all the planta
tions, almost, within a hundred miles of Little Rock. I do not know so much about the
Red river country, personally but I see men from there almost every day. My office ad
joins the Freedmen's Bureau headquarters, and I know almost as much about the negroes
as if I were in the Freedmen's Bureau. They are all employed, and employed at good
wages.
Question. Is there a disposition among the negroes to be educated ?
Answer. As far as those who are in the cities are concerned, there is ; and I do not know
but there is as much disposition among those outside, but they have not the same opportu
nity. Arrangements are being made for the education of all the negroes in the towns.
Question. What is the disposition among the white people who are old settlers in Arkan
sas, in reference to the improvement of the negroes? Is it favorable, or otherwise?
Answer. I can give you one instance which is probably a prominent one. Bishop Lay
has been a southern man and a rebel ; he was with Hood's army all the time, as a mission
ary ; he has since been sent to Arkansas and the Indian territory, as missionary bishop ; he
is now the rector of a church in Little Rock ; he told me the Episcopal Missionary Board
had appropriated §6,000 for his field, and that he expected to devote a part of it to the edu
cation of the negroes. Two men beside himself will be stationed at Little Rock, and a por
tion of their time will be devoted to the enterprise of schools and churches for the negroes.
Question. Is there any desire among the negroes, so far as you know, to purchase land?
Answer. I do not know much about it. There have been a few sales of laud made to
negroes within my knowledge. Judge Watkins, late judge of the supreme court of Arkan
sas, I know, lately deeded some lands to negroes.
Question. Is there any prejudice or feeling against negroes becoming land-holders ?
Answer. I have never heard of any.
Question. What is your opinion of the operations of the Freedmen's Bureau in Arkansas ?
Are they beneficial, or otherwise?
Answer. It gives confidence to the negroes ; they think they have some one to protect
them and look after their interests. I do not see much disposition on the part of the land
holders to oppress them, nor do I think there is much danger of it at this time, from the feet
that they want their labor. There are many plantations lying idle because hands canuat be
obtained to work them.
Question. What is their average pay?
Answer. Twenty dollars a month is the average price of good field hands.
Question. How is it about their board and clothing?
Answer. They get their board and doctor's bills paid ; they clothe themselves ; the women,
who are first-class field hands, get $15 a month; those who are less useful get a less price.
There are a certain portion of the negroes at Little Rock who seem to fear going into the
country, who fear oppression, or something, they do not know what ; they are the more
ignorant class, and their number is not very large.
Question. Is the question of negro suffrage discussed at all among the people?
Answer. It has been discussed to some extent.
Question. As far as you have observed, what is the feeling there on that subject?
Answer. The citizens are opposed to it as a general thing.
Question. For what reason ?
Answer. I do not know, except the old prejudice, which still remains to some extent ;
partly, too, from the ignorance of the negroes.
Question. Is it not also true that many of the whites are ignorant?
Answer. Very. I have paid companies of Arkansas troops where very few of the men
could write their names.
Question. They all vote?
Answer. They do.
Question. Is there any reason given for negroes not voting, that is not applicable to a very
large class of white voters there ?
Answer. No, sir ; none at all.
Question. Is there any necessity for continuing a military force in Arkansas ?
Answer. I do not think there is, as far as the preservation of order is concerned. Thero
has been no disturbance of any consequence for a long time there. As far as I know, in a
circuit of 75 or 100 miles about Little Rock, there has been but one murder withiu the last
six months ; and that, I presume, would be considered a good condition of things even ill
one of the old States.
Question. The courts there are in operation ?
Answer. All in operation.
Question. Where were you born ?
Answer. In Connecticut.
Question. When did you leave there ?
Answer. I think in Iri46.
Question. Where have you resided since?
Answer. A part of the time in this city, a part of the time in Missouri, and a part of the
time in Vermont.
100 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, February 21, 1866.
Brevet Major General Rufus Saxton sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Have you been in the military service of the United States during the rebellion ?
Answer. I have.
Question. In what capacity ?
Answer. At the commencement of the war I was assistant quartermaster ; I was then pro
moted to be a brigadier general, and afterwards a major general by brevet of volunteers. I
have now been mustered out of the volunteer service, and am a captain in the quartermaster's
department, with the brevet rank of colonel.
Question. What have been your means of information, since Lee's surrender, concerning
the condition of public sentiment in the States of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Ar
kansas, or either of them ?
Answer. I have been an assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for the States
of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, since its organization, until the 15th of last month,
when I was relieved. The first part of the time I was assistant commissioner for the three
States I have named. In August I was relieved from the charge of Florida; in December
from Georgia, and in January from South Carolina. I have had opportunities of observing
the condition of affairs through the reports of my subordinate agents in those States ; from
my own observations during my inspections and from my intercourse in my own office with
the leading rebels.
Question. Confining your remarks to the State of Georgia, what is the condition of the
people there, so far as you know, and their temper and opinions concerning the government
of the United States ?
Answer. I think a small portion of the people earnestly desire to fulfil their obligations as
citizens of the United States to the best of their ability. But a large majority of the people,
I think, are disloyal at heart, and have no love for the Union, and look forward to the time
when they can set up a separate organization for themselves. The influence of this small
class who desire to do what it is right is not very great. I do not think they could live there
in safety without the presence and protection of the soldiers of the Union. I think, as a
general rule, they have no faith in the freedom of the blacks, and it is their desire to prove that
their emancipation is a failure ; that the best condition of the colored man is one of servitude.
Question. In the election of persons to office, who would be preferred by the people — those
who have been identified with the Union cause, or those who have been identified with the
rebellion ?
Answer. Those who Tiave been most strongly identified with the rebellion. The fact that
a person is and has been thoroughly loyal to the United States, I think, would be fatal to his
election to any office in the gift of the people ; at least that is the case, so far as my knowledge
extends.
Question. Has there been any observable change either way in public sentiment since
Lee's surrender ? If so, what change has there been ?
Answer. To the best of my knowledge there has not been, except that I think they are, if
possible, more openly disloyal now than they were at first.
Question. Did you have the means of knowing the antecedents of the men who were ap
pointed to office under the provisional government of Georgia ? If so, will you state whether
they were men who had been identified with the rebellion, or men opposed to it?
Answer. I cannot state from my own personal knowledge in regard to that. The general
impression upon my mind, without having time to investigate the matter thoroughly, but from
conversations I have held there, is, that it was a general rule to appoint those who had been
disloyal ; that their disloyalty was no bar to their appointment to office.
The reason I did not investigate the matter so that I could answer your question more
positively was, that it was so completely established in my mind that such was the case
that I did not even take the trouble to inquire about it. That was the general conversation.
1 arrived at this conclusion from my conversations with Union people, and also with those
who are disloyal. Union men, who have been true to the government throughout the war,
have complained to me that they have less influence now, if possible, than they had while
the war was going on ; and that that fact greatly discouraged them.
Question. You say the people are, if possible, more openly disloyal now than they were at
the time- of Lee's surrender. To what do you attribute that ?
Answer. I explain it in this way: When Lee's army surrendered, the leaders of the
army and a great portion of the intelligent soldiers believed that they would never after
wards have any political rights ; and they were surprised at the leniency which has beem
shown to them by the government of the United States. And the fact that they have received
so much encouragement I think has operated to make them more openly defidut than they
were before.
Question. IE it, then, your opinion that if a sterner policy had been pursued by the govern
ment, and pardons had been refused, or granted only in a small number of cases, the condi
tion of the country would have been better than it is now ?
\
ARKANSAS— GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 101
Answer. It is.
Question. What is the disposition of the people of Georgia towards northern immigrants
into that State?
Answer. I cannot say with regard to the cultivators of the soil ; but with regard to those
entering into commercial business there, I believe it to be the settled policy of the people-
not to give a northern man any chance whatever, if they can avoid it. I think the general
impression among all northern men who have gone into business there is that they are perse
cuted simply because they are northern men and Union men. I think that among the great
majority of the white population there, hatred to "the Yankees," so called, is thorough and
intense.
Question. If the military forces of the United States were to be withdrawn, what would be
the condition of avowed Union men and northern men there?
Answer. I think that their position there would be such that it wrould be hardly possible
for them to remain there ; particularly those who have taken any prominent part on the side
of the government. I do not think they would be allowed to express openly their Union
sentiments without the protection of the United States troops.
Question. So far as there has been any legislation or public action in Georgia, what do
you understand to be the policy of the State in regard to the freedmen?
Answer. The legislation with regard to the status of the freedmen in Georgia was not
developed until after I was relieved as assistant commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau for
that State ; and having been so thoroughly occupied with my business as commissioner for
South Carolina, I have not given the subject that attention which would enable me to answer
your question properly. It is my impression that the legislation of the State has been unfair
towards the freedmen ; but I have only general impressions in regard to that subject, and
cannot answer the question more definitely. I have looked over some of their acts, but have
not studied them sufficiently to enable me to answer distinctly. My opinions expressed here
are not founded entirely on my owrn personal observation and inspection, for my inspection
has been confined to small portions of the State; but I believe my expressions of opinion will
apply equally well to the other portions of the State which I have not visited. It is my
opinion that the former slaveholders, even if they earnestly desired it, could not be just to
their former slaves, for they do not know what justice to the negro means.
Question. Considering the negroes as a class by themselves, what is your opinion of their
disposition to labor if they are properly paid and properly treated ?
Answer. I think that the freedmen share with the rest of the human race a natural disin
clination to labor, but to no greater extent than it is shared by the white race. I think that
with proper stimulus to industry they would be as industrious as any other people. I know
this to be the case, because I have tried the experiment myself. The only stimulus they for
merly had to labor was that of the lash. That is removed ; but the stimulus of wages, and
their finding out that by the products of their own labor they can obtain those necessaries of
life which they desire, will be sufficient to make them a thrifty and industrious people.
Question. What is their disposition in regard to p.urchasiug land, and what is the dispo
sition of the landholders in reference to selling land to the negroes ?
Answer. The object which the freednian has most at heart is the purchase of land. They
all desire to get small homesteads and to locate themselves upon them, and there is scarcely
any sacrifice too great for them to make to accomplish this object. I believe it is the policy
of *he majority of the farm owners to prevent negroes from becoming landholders. They de
sire to keep the negroes landless, and as nearly in a condition of slavery as it is possible for
them to do. I think that the former slaveholders know really less about the freedmen than
any other class of people. The system of slavery has been one of concealment on the part of
the negro of all his feelings and his impulses ; and that feeling of concealment is so ingrained
with the very constitution of the negro that he deceives his former master on almost every
point. The freedman has no faith in his former master, nor has his former owner any faith
in the capacity of the freedman. A mutual distrust exists between them. But the freedman
is ready and willing to contract to work for any northern man. One man from the north, a
man of capital, who employed large numbers of freedmen, and paid them regularly, told me,
as others have, that he desired no better laborers ; that he considered them fully as easy to
manage as Irish laborers. That was my own experience in employing several thousands of
them in cultivating the soil. I have also had considerable experience in employing white
labor, having, as quartermaster, frequently had large numbers of laborers under my control.
Question. If the negro is put in possession of all his rights as a man, do you apprehend
any danger of insurrection among them ?
Answer. I do not ; and I think that is the only thing which will prevent difficulty. I
think if the negro is put in possession of all his rights as a citizen and as a man, he will be
as peaceful, orderly, and self-sustaining as any other man or class of men, and that he will
rapidly advance in the scale of civilization.
Question. It has been suggested that, if the negro is allowed to vote, he will be likely to
vote on the side of his former master, and be inveigled in the support of a policy hostile
to the government of the United States ; do you share in that apprehension ?
Answer. I have positive information from negroes, from the most intelligent freedmen in
those States, those who are leaders among them, that they are thoroughly loyal, and know
102 RECONSTRUCTION '
their friends, and they will never be found voting on the side of oppression. I think all their
instincts, that is, of all the intelligent ones, are on the side of the Union ; and there are in
telligent ones among them who will instinct the others how they should vote. I think it
vital to the safety and prosperity of the two races in the south that the negro should imme
diately be put in possession of all his rights as a man ; and that the word "color" should
be left out of all laws, constitutions, and regulations for the people ; I think it vital to the
safety of the Union that this should be done.
Question. What, in your judgment, would be the effect of withdrawing the military and
the Freedmen's Bureau from those States, and leaving the freedmen of the south to the
legislation and rule of the white population ?
Answer. I think the result of such a policy as that would be fearful to contemplate. I
fear it would lead to an insurrection, and to a war of races. I think the only way in which
the two races can live together in peace and prosperity is by giving the black race the same
political rights that the whites enjoy.
Question. What reason, if any, have you for supposing that the black people will not
submit quietly to the control and authority of the white race ?
Answer. I have it from conversations with intelligent freedrnen, men of thought and in
telligence, who have told rne so, and it is the result of all my experience of nearly four years
with those people. I know there is the strongest desire on the part of the freedmen to secure
arms, revolvers particularly, and I believe it is for future operations ; and I believe if justice
is not done them they will eventually attempt to obtain it for themselves. I will tell you
what the leader of the colored Union league and other colored men in Charleston said to me :
they said that they feared they could not much longer control the freedmen if 1 left Charles
ton, i do not recollect their exact words, but the substance was, that they feared the freed
men would attempt to take their cause into their own hands. My counsels to them were to
heed the lesson which the war had taught, never to act against the government, but always
to support it, and trust to it to see that they had all their rights as free men ; and I believe
that my teachings and counsels to them, in this respect, had great influence in keeping them
quiet.
Question. Do you know whether or not there was any foundation for the apprehensions
expressed by the white people of the south in regard to an insurrection of the negroes about
Christmas time ?
Answer. I do not ; but I think all such apprehensions were utterly groundless. I think
the rumor was intended for the purpose of injuring the freedmen. I believe that unless the
freedmen are oppressed there is not the slightest danger of an insurrection among them. I
do not think there was any danger of an insurrection among the blacks while they were
slaves ; but now they have had a taste of liberty, many of them have learned the use of
arms by service in our armies, and it is this feeling of a desire to protect themselves which
they now have which makes it so dangerous to pursue an unjust policy towards them. It
will be far safer for the south to give the freedmeu all their rights as citizens and men.
Question. Are the mass of the adult males among the freedmen sufficiently intelligent to
comprehend the leading questions of public policy, especially those questions which relate
to the preservation of the Union?
Answer. I think many of them are ; but of course the majority, having been slaves so
long, and being uneducated, cannot yet fully comprehend those questions. But I believe there
arelntelligent men among them who would lead them and guide them in such a way that
there would be no danger in giving them all their rights as citizens.
Question. What is the disposition among the negroes in regard to acquiring knowledge
and education?
Answer. They have an intense desire to learn to read and write. They crowd all the
schools that are established for their education by the beuevok-nt people of the north. There
are many night schools for adults, in which they make creditable progress in reading and
writing. 1 have here a petition signed by several hundred freedmeu asking that they may be
allowed the rights of citizenship. They are freedmeu who were in my district under my
charge. There are many who signed with a mark, but there are a great many names signed
by the parties themselves, and I am assured that the most of them have learned to write
since the war. Some of them may have known how to write before. You will observe,
upon examining the signatures, that they must have been made by men who have not long
known how to write, and the similarity of writing is like what is seen in persons taught by
the same teacher. And there is another thing to be noticed : having no names as slaves but
]>ub, Jim, Sam, &c., they have adopted such names for themselves as happened to strike
their fancy.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 21, 1866.
Miss Clara Barton sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Of what State are you a native?
Answer. I am a native of Massachusetts.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 103
Question. Were you raised and educated there ?
Answer. I was; in Worcester county, Massachusetts.
Question. What has been your employment during the last year?
Answer. I have, been searching for the missing men of the Union army.
Question. Where have you been engaged in that business ?
Answer. 1 have been engaged in it nere in Washington.
Question. Where else?
Answer. Nowhere else in that business. That business has led to other matters which
have called me away.
Question. State where else you have been, and in what you have been engaged.
Answer. I commenced to search in the spring of 1865. In the latter part of June, 1865,
I formed the acquaintance of a young man who had been a prisoner at Andersonville, and
who had brought away the death record of that prison. He requested an interview, and,
on giving it, I learned from him how the dead were buried in Andersonville, and I became
satisfied that it was possible to identify them. I carried the question before General Hoff
man, who, with the assistance, I think, of- the Assistant Secretary of War, laid it before the
Secretary, Mr. Stanton, who sent for me to come to him the next day. I did so, and stated
to him my impressions, requesting that parties be sent out to identify the graves at Ander-
souville, and to mark them. He declared his gratitude even at the suggestion, all having
thought it impossible ; stated that an expedition should be started immediately, and that he
would select some officer for the purpose, and he invited me to accompany it. We were
ready in a week, and on the 8th of July we left Washington. I requested that the young
man should also go with the party to identify the graves. We reached Andersonville, Geor
gia, on the 25th of July, and very soon the colored people there commenced to gather about
me.
Question. What did you discover in relation to the colored people ?
Answer. I discovered that they were in a state of ignorance, generally, at that time of their '
own condition as freed men. Some of them knew it. They all, of course, mistrusted it.
They had all heard it from one another. A few knew it from their masters, and only a few ;
and what they did hear they had very little confidence to believe. Hearing that a party of
Yankees, and especially a Yankee lady, was there, they commenced to gather around me
for the facts, asking me their little questions in their own way, which was to the effect, if
they were free, and if Abraham T.incoln was really dead. They had been told that he was
dead; that he had been killed ; but at the same time they had been informed that, now that
he was dead, they were no longer free, but would be all slaves again ; and with that had
come the suspicion, on their part, that he was not dead, but that it was a hoax to hold them
in slavery. They would travel twenty miles in the night, after their day's work was done,
and I would find them standing in front of my tent in the morning to hear me say whether
it was true that Abraham Lincoln was dead, and that they were free. I told them Abraham
Lincoln was dead ; that I saw him dead ; that I was near him when he died ; and that they
were free as I was. The next question was, what they should do. There were questions be
tween the negro and his master in regard to labor and in regard to pay. I saw or discovered
that the masters were inclined to get their labor without pay. Of course I had no way of
proving that, but I inferred it. They were at work. Most of them offered to work until
Christmas time, and to take a part of the profits. General Saxton, I should think, made
some regulation specifying just what portion of each crop the negroes should have. They
were all very anxious to hear the rules read. The commandant of each post had issued cer
tain rules and regulations. These they had never heard read, and they came to me to know
what the paper said. The rules were published daily in the Macon papers. They said they
had been told that General Wilson's orders said that they should work six days in the week
hard, and half a day on Sunday. They wanted to know if it was so. My course with them
was to read General Wilson's paper, as they called it. I have read it through sometimes
forty times a day. They stood around my tent in great numbers on a Sunday ; more than a
hundred, men, women, and children, and every day more or less.' Perhaps there were very
few hours that I was not engaged in advising them, and attempting to decide some causes
for them.
Question. Did General Wilson's order contain such a thing as that ?
Answer. Oh, no, sir; General Wilson's order was protective of them in its character.
The order was good, and the best of it was that they could understand it. When it was read
to them they never failed to comprehend the most important parts of it. It was well drawn.
I found that, if it had been read to them properly by their owners or masters, they would
have understood it ; for, as I read along to them, I would ask if they understood that ; "Oh,
yes," they would say, "we understand that." Then I would read another passage, and
ask them if they understood that ; " Oh, yes." " What do you understand by it ?" They
would put it in their own terms, and I saw that they understood it. 1
Question. Did they pretend to you that their old masters had given that peculiar version oi
General Wilson's order — that they should work six days iu the week hard and half a day a
Sunday ?
Answer. In many instances they gave me that impression. They told me that in so many
words, and said that they had been told so by the men for whom they worked. Some of them
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were not with their old masters, but were hired out, as they called it, to other parties ; but
that was the impression they were under. Of course they became relieved when they heard
the order and understood it. Sometimes they came with complaints of cruelty. I never found
myself, perhaps, fully drawn out, excepting in one instance of fearful cruelty. They came
with a great many little complaints. I could understand how that state of things would
naturally create jealousy on the part of owners, and perhaps make the negro more or less
unmanageable, and perhaps impudent. Of these little things I took no notice, for I thought
them natural. I simply advised them always to go back, for their own interest, and to work
faithfully until Christmas, and to take their part of the crop, as I could see there was no
money for them. I think they never failed to follow my advice. I know of no instance where
a negro went away whom I advised to return. On the 7th ot August I was awoke in the
morning by our colored cook coming to my tent and saying that a man wished to see me.
Immediately opposite my tent there was a colored man — a good-looking man, intelligent and
bright faced ; a yellow man, about a mulatto, I should think. He told me his name was Ar
nold Cater; that he had been born and raised as a house servant with Governor William Ra-
bon, of Georgia ; that he had been a few years ago sold to pay the debts of the family ; that
he was then (at the time I saw him) forty-five years old ; that when he was sold he was sep
arated from his wife and five children ; and that he was purchased by speculators and taken
to southwestern Georgia. Perhaps I ought to state how the negroes came into southwestern
Georgia. It is a poor section of the country, and the people there have been poor. They have
been emphatically "poor whites." They were not wealthy enough to own slaves. They did
their own work. But when the border States found it politic to sell their slaves, they sold
them at a lesser price to speculators, who found it to their interest to purchase them and to
run them into southwestern Georgia, and put them at a price at which these poor people could
buy them, so that every poor man bought one or two slaves, as he could afford it, just as he
would buy an ox or a cow. They kept them in their families and worked them like cattle.
The slaves had no respect for their masters. The slaves have no respect for a poor man who
owns them. They all seemed to apologize when they were asked where they came from.
They would say, " We were not raised here." They all dated back to better days. They had
been all raised in wealthy families in Virginia or South Carolina. This man that I have
been speaking of had been taken away from his wife and five children, taken to southwestern
Georgia, and sold to one Nick Wylie. Nick Wylie had a large number of slaves. During
the years of the war he had not been on his own plantation, but some two hundred miles
away, perhaps in the service ; I do not know. He had an overseer by the name of Jim Bird,
who must have been the personification of cruelty. This negro told me that some two years
before, he married, after their style of marrying, a young woman about eighteen years old,
who was a slave on the Wylie plantation. They had one child, who was then a little over
one year old. This man was a blacksmith. While he was at work, a few days before, his
wife had proved unable to do the task of spinning which was given her. She was again
within two months of her confinement, and was unable to do her task. She Complained that
she could not do it, and failed by a knot or two, as their term was, of completing it. When
he came home at night from his day's work he found her lying in her hut. She had been
bucked and gagged.
Question. Describe the process.
Answer. The person is seated upon the ground, the knees drawn up, the hands put under
the knees, and a stick run through over the arms and under the knees, the hands being tied
in front ; that makes them utterly immovable ; then there is a gag put in the mouth and
tied at the back of the head — this woman had been treated in that way — then the overseer
had come behind her, kicked her on the back, and thrown her over. She had been stripped
in the mean time, for they never whip the negro with the clothes on ; she was thrown on her
face, and lashed on her back, so that, when her husband found her, he said she was a gore
of blood, and she must have been ; she had been untied, and was lying there as she had
been left. He did not tell me that he remonstrated very much; I suppose he dared not.
Next day the woman was ordered again to her task ; she was utterly unable to do it, and
scarcely able to stand ; she bought all the yarn she could to try and make up the eight knots
that she had to turn in ; she failed to get quite enough, failing by a knot, or half a knot.
The overseer sent to her the next night, when her task was counted, and she had failed
again, ordering her to come to him the next morning at seven o'clock, as he was going to
whip her ; that he had not whipped her yet, but should do so the next morning. Arnold
then had no way but to gather up his wife, walking as well as she could; and, after night
time, they started for Americus, twelve miles below Andersonville. They were some twenty
miles in the country from Americus ; they dared not take the direct road, for they knew that
the overseer would mistrust that they had gone to Americus, and would overtake them ; they,
therefore, went around, travelling some thirty or forty miles. After two days they reached
Americus by a circuitous route. The overseer had been there, and had warned the military
authorities that he had two runaway slaves, a man and a woman, who were coming there,
and he wanted them returned. I think he stated he had punished them. They went into
Americus without going direct to the military authorities ; but the people saw them, and saw
that she was lame and hurt, and took her in somewhere. He went to work for people there
at blacksmithing at a dollar a day. He heard of me at Andersonville, and he thought to
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 105
reach me there ; he heard there was a settlement of Yankees forming at Andersonville : he
started with his wife, for, after being a week there, she had got a little better. He had been
paid for his work in confederate money, and, when he found himself on the train, the con
ductor would not take that money, and put them both off. He left the wife at Arnericus,
came to me at Andersonville, and told his story. I wrote immediately to the commandant at
Americus, stating the case to him, and asking him to send a sergeant and wagon, or team of
some kind, with that man back to Nick Wylie's to get whatever he had left— (he spoke of
having left chickens, furniture, bed and bedding, and the baby which he had been obliged to
leave) — and send them to me. He took the note to the commandant at Americus, and it was
done as I requested. Two days after, the whole assemblage drove up in front of my tent —
Cater, his wife and the baby, the chickens, and the bed and bedding. I took his wife into
my tent and examined her back ; she was a young, bright-colored woman, a little darker
than he, with a fair, patient face, with nothing sulky in her look; I found across her back
twelve lashes or gashes, partly healed and partly not, some of them cut into the bone. She
must have been whipped with a lash half as large as my little finger— it may have been
larger; any of these gashes was from eight to ten inches in length'; the flesh had been cut
completely out most of the way. It had been a curling whip ; it had curled around her arms,
cut out inside the arm, over the back, and the same on the other side. There were twelve of
those long lashes, partly healed and partly not ; she could not bear her clothing on her at
that time, except thrown loosely over her shoulders ; she had got strong enough so as to be
able to walk, but she was feeble, and must have been unable to work before that occurred ;
she was in no condition to work.
Question. She was in a state of pregnancy, then ?
Answer. Yes, sir; that was the difficulty. She was one who, from her face, would never
have rebelled against labor that she could have done ; of that I am satisfied.
Question. Do you know what became of her?
Answer. I referred them to Colonel Griffin, then in charge at Andersonville. The colonel
put Cater to work at his trade as a blacksmith, and gave them a house to live in. I would
have taken them away with me if I could ; but it was impossible, and I left them there
working for Colonel Griffin, he at his trade and she as a waiting girl.
Question. From your intercourse with the people there did you learn that treatment simi
lar to that was of frequent occurrence among the slaveholders ?
Answer. I should judge that it was not an uncommon thing. That was all that I ob
served myself. How far they would be inclined to exaggerate I cannot say. They might
magnify their wrongs ; but they told me a great deal of them. I believed what I saw. I
knew what I saw.
Question. When did you leave that part of the country to come back ?
Answer. I left on the 25th of August, I think, and came back to Washington through
Chattanooga and the west.
Question. What did you discover to be the feeling among the whites in Georgia, where
you visited, toward the government of the United States and toward the loyal people of the
United States ?
Answer. I should suppose that in no instance was I able to get at their real feelings.
They would be less likely to show their real feeling to me than to almost any other person.
That was shortly after the arrest of Wirz, and the impression was general when I went
there that I went to make observations with reference to further arrests. The women, sup
posing that I, a woman, had come to look after the women in particular, commenced to call
upon me the first day of my arrival. I speak of the white women who had lived in the
neighborhood during the time of its occupation as a prison. They appeared to associate
together in threes and fours, and came to call upon me very neighborly, very bland, all
taking the utmost pains to assure me that they had no part nor lot in the treatment of our
prisoners, but throwing it back upon Winder, who was dead and in his grave. They all
appeared willing enough to save Wirz. They, of course, would all have done better, and they
did not think that Captain Wirz was bad at heart, but that he was ordered to do all those
things by Winder. They wanted to screen Wirz, because if they could get the matter to
stop inside of him, that was the last would be heard of it — there was no going over that ;
but if it went over him, there was no knowing how far it would go. So they screened every
body but Winder, and themselves they made immaculate. They were all willing to admit
that the greatest atrocities had been committed on the prisoners, and that they had been
shocked at the sight. They were ready to admit everything that we had ever thought of.
They did not think, however, that Mr. Davis knew anything about it; but you would have
supposed, to have heard them talk, that old General Winder was answerable for every crime
and inhumanity ever committed in the confederacy; and he, fortunately, was dead, and no
harm could be done to him. They centred everything there. There was every reason why
none of them should tell me the truth, and there was a strong personal reason why they
should falsify to me, and I took it so. They were, as I saw, "making friends of the mam
mon of unrighteousness." I read at once what their standing was, and what their fears
were. So I have no idea that I got any truthful expressions from white people there..
Question. Did you examine the prison ground at Audersonville ?
Answer. I did, very thoroughly, every inch of ground used.
106 RECONSTRUCTION. '
Question. Of course you found it difficult to discover any trace of the barbarities practiced
there ?
Answer. Of course there were no prisoners there then : but the appearance of the whole
ground was sufficient evidence, considering the number of prisoners who had been there.
All spoke of inhumanity. It was impossible that that number of men could be kept within
the enclosure without the most intense suffering.
Question. Was the enclosure standing when you were there ?
Answer. Yes, sir. It is a stockade formed of pine trees twenty feet long, and from a foot
to a foot and a half through, set five or six feet in the ground, close together, and pointed at
the top.
Question. What was the area of the enclosure ?
Answer. From twenty-five to twenty-seven acres, more or less. It had been much less at
one time. It was originally only eleven acres. They had got some thirty thousand men
within that eleven acres. But they found it impossible, as prisoners were constantly sent
there, to keep them in that space, and the stockade was increased to the size that they called
twenty-seven acres/ I had it measured while I was there, and I made it some twenty-five or
twenty-six acres.
Question. Do you know how many prisoners they had there at any one time durino- the
war?
Answer. From thirty to thirty-four thousand.
Question. How was the enclosure provided with water ?
Answer. A slow, small, sluggish stream runs through nearly the centre of it. The ground
was unbroken woods when they commenced to enclose it. Two round hills are close to
gether, and between them runs a little brook formed of springs, for the whole laud there is
springy, and wherever two hills meet anywhere in that country a brook runs between them.
A little stream like that ran between these two hills. As I saw it in the summer, one could
almost have walked through it with common high shoes without wetting the feet. Still
with a rain it rose very rapidly. This stream ran through from west to east, and at the head
of it, just outside the stockade, they placed the cook-house and bake-house for the prisoners,
for the guards, and for all. Every impurity from both these houses that was thrown out
washed directly into the stream and went immediately into the stockade, and that was all the
water the prisoners had to use. 1 saw grease and refuse matter still adhering to the roots of
the coarse grass which grew upon the banks, which had run down and lodged there at the
time. This was some months after, and I can judge from that what it must have been.
Question. You say the current was sluggish— slow ?
Answer. Very slow.
Question. Was the ground along the immediate banks of that stream muddy and loose, or
hard ?
Answer. It is the red clay which is so changeable in its nature. It was very hard in dry-
weather, almost as a rock, but still the least rain softened it ; it became soft, slippery, deep,
and washed and gullied to almost any depth.
Question. Was that the character of the soil in all the lot ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What contrivances had there been there for the protection of the prisoners from
the rain, the sun, and the storms ?
Answer. There were a few sheds, with simply a covering over the tops, but no sides, on
the top of either hill ; but I have been told by prisoners that at first there were none of them,
and that the last five sheds (five on one end and five on the other) were only erected a few
weeks before the stockade was abandoned. I may almost say that there was no protection.
Some of the men had blankets and some of them had the little shelter tent. They put these
together as well as they could and gathered under them ; there was no other protection.
Question. Were there no other means of procuring water for the prisoners except from
those springs ?
Answer. Yes, sir; Sweet Water creek, which is fifteen feet wide and three feet deep, runs
within pistol shot of what was the old hospital.
Question. How near to the enclosure ?
Answer. The old hospital was just outside of the enclosure, at the south end of the stock
ade.
Question. Did you understand whether the prisoners were or were not allowed to procure
fresh water from Sweet Water creek ?
Answer. Oh, they could not have procured it.
Question. Do you know whether they were permitted ?
Answer. They were not permitted to go outside of the stockade.
Question. Why did not their keepers allow them to
keepers allow them to procure fresh water on Sweet Water
creek ?
Answer. That is a matter about which I am not informed. I can only speak of the proba
bilities. It is probable that the old hospital may have had such an arrangement ; but the
prisoners within the stockade, I should think, could not have.
Question. Were the prisoners in any way, either by themselves or keepers, supplied with
water from Sweet Water creek, or from any other source ?
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 107
Answer. That is a question which I cannot answer, and must not attempt ; but I can send
to you a person who does know, who was a prisoner all the time, and who can answer the
question.
Question. Did they bury any of the dead within the enclosure ?
Answer. There was one grave marked, one spot of earth against which there was a board
which showed that a man was buried there. That was all that I saw.
Question. Where were the dead buried ?
Answer. They were buried from three to four hundred yards from the stockade, in a piece
of ground which had formerly been an old church-yard in olden times ; that is the present
cemetery.
Question. Describe as well as you can the mode of their burial.
Answer. They were buried in trenches, from ]00 to 150 feet in length.
Question. How deep were the trenches ?
Answer. We could not see, as no trench was opened while we were there; but I suppose
they were sufficiently deep for the comfort and safety of the persons who were about there,
for there were three thousand rebel guards there. I presume the bodies wrere buried suffi
ciently deep for practical purposes.
Question. Can you state, from credible information, what was probably the number ol
prisoners who died there and were buried ?
Answer. There are 12,920, as near as I can estimate it, whose graves are marked in some
way, and we know of no ethers ; we have no trace of any more ; they lack a few of 13,000,
and we have no knowledge of there being any more there.
Question. Was the monster Winder there during the whole time until the stockade was
taken possession of by the Union troops ?
Answer. I cannot say at what time he left ; they pointed out quarters to me which they
said had been his residence.
Question. Were the dead buried in any other place except this old church-yard ?
Answer. Only such as died of small-pox. Half a mile from there they had a small-pox
hospital and buryiug-ground.
Question. Part of your mission there was to identify the dead ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. How did you identify them?
Answer. There was a numbered board placed at the heads of the men as they lay in the
trenches.
Question. Simply numbered ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; the trench was dug continuously, and as the men were carried out from
the hospital a paper was pinned on the breast of each, specifying his name, company, and
regiment. Space was only allowed for the body, the arms- being laid over it. As the body
was laid in, the paper was taken off and placed in the hands of a man whose business it was
to receive it and keep it carefully, putting it in its regular order after the one that came be
fore, never changing its position, and so on till all were laid in for the day and covered up.
Then he went with the papers to the young man who kept the death register and laid them
down, face downwards, in which order they were registered in the book and numbered. Then
the board was numbered corresponding with those numbers, and they were placed in regular
order in the cemeteiy.
Question. So that the identification would depend upon the accuracy of the correspondence
between the number given to the clerk and the number on the board at the head of the dead
body ?
Answer Yes, sir.
Question. Thus leaving it very liable to mistake ?
Answer. Oh, yes, sir ; there would be liabilities to mistakes. Still the matter was in the
hands of our own men. The dead were all buried by our own men, and they have assured
me that they always took the utmost pains to be correct. It was the young man who kept
the register from whom I gathered this information. He assured me that he believed the ut
most pains were always taken, and that, so far as he was concerned, he knew that he had
been tree from mistakes. He had been faithful, and he believed that the others had been so,
for it had been always in their minds to keep the thing correct. The dead had been their own
comrades.
Question. Did you make any stay in South Carolina?
Answer. No, sir ; we passed up the Savannah river.
Question. Are you able to speak of the condition of things in-South Carolina?
Answer. I am not prepared to.
Question. So far as you have been able to collect information, and so far as you believe,
what is the state of feeling on the part of secessionists in Georgia towards the government of
the United States?
Answer. I think they have no respect for it.
Question. How do they feel towards the freed negroes?
Answer. I think far less kindly than when they owned them themselves.
Question. Would they, or would they not, if they had the power, reduce them again to
slavery ?
108 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. That I cannot say ; but I should not want to take the chances of being a slave
there, were it in their power.
Question. Is there any other fact that you wish to state ?
Answer. I am not aware of any ; I think not.
Question. How did you find the feeling of the blacks towards the government of the United
States, and towards the loyal people ?
Answer. The very best of feeling— friendly, full of confidence in the United States gov
ernment, loving the northern people.
Question. Did you meet, with any blacks during your journey who were friendly to the
rebel cause?
Answer. I cannot say that I did meet one ; I heard no black person express himself or her
self in that way.
Question. How did the blacks tell you they had conducted themselves during the war ?
Answer. They said they had been "mity fraid."
Question. Did they seem to understand what was the object of the Avar, or what was to be
its final result as to them ?
Answer. They began to comprehend it. I think they understood it. I think, so far as
their intelligence will permit, they understand it as clearly to-day as we do ; they now <n-asp
it distinctly.
Question. Have you any reason to suppose that there were secret associations among the
negroes during the war, or before the war, by which intelligence was communicated from one
locality to another?
Answer. If I may believe what they say, it was so ; I have been repeatedly told so. They
have, in their crude way, attempted to describe to me their evening meetings, as they stole
away from one plantation to another, previous to the war, and during the war.
Question. You have had a good deal of intercourse with the blacks ; what is your idea
about their capacity to acquire knowledge ? Do they possess a capacity equal to that of the
whites, generally speaking?
Answer. In their present condition they can hardly be compared w^ith the whites ; still, to
a certain extent they learn as easily, as readily. I do not think that their reasoning powers
have been educated up to a standard that enables them to grasp subjects which whites can
grasp, but their imitation leads them to acquire many things as readily as white people do.
Question. What can you say in regard to their general truthfulness? How, in that re
spect, do they compare with white people in a similar condition of life, if it were possible to
suppose such a similarity?
Answer. They have been, in a great measure, taught to speak falsely and to act falsely.
Question. Taught by whom ?
Answer. Their very condition has taught them that; the condition of slavery teaches false
hood. But there is a principle of religious character in their nature which holds them above
white people of as low a grade. They are more religious, but the nature of their condition
has not made them more moral.
Question. Are they wanting in truthfulness in their communications with one another?
Answer. To a certain extent I think they are; but not more so, probably, than white peo-
?le under similar circumstances — if it were possible to imagine them. By that I mean that
do not think they are untruthful because they were created negroes, but from the condition
and station in which they have been placed. Naturally, I think the negro not less moral,
not less religious, not less truthful than any other race, only as his condition has made him so.
WASHINGTON, D. C., February 24, J866.
H. S. Welles sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In the city of New York ; I have lived there ten years or more.
Question. Do you hold any office ?
Answer. No, sir ; I never did.
Question. Have you recently visited the southern States, or any of them?
Answer. Within the last three weeks I have travelled from here through West Virginia,
East Tennessee, and Georgia, by Atlanta, Macon, and Milledgeville, back to Augusta, and
thence to Savannah. I was in Savannah over two weeks, and met a great many acquaint
ances—planters from southern and middle Georgia.
Question. What was the main object of your journey ?
Answer. I represent the Brunswick and Florida Railroad Company. The entire interest
of that road is owned by northern citizens. The road lies between the port of Brunswick
and the Atlanta and Gulf railroad, in southern Georgia. It was entirely taken up, the rails,
rolling stock, and everything, by the impressment act of the confederate government, and
the materials were scattered among the various railroads, gunboats, bomb-proofs, forts, &c.
I have been down there as the agent of the company, authorized to recover the property, or
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 109
to obtain compensation for it ; consequently, I have come in contact with great numbers of
people, and a great variety of people.
Question. Did you recover any of the property ?
Answer. I have got traces of almost the entire amount of property. The government of
the United States has possession of about one-half of it, which I expect to recover by the
government releasing it. The other portion is either held by railroads, or is on gunboats, or
sunk in the harbor of Savannah. Our counsel advises that we can recover from the rail
roads possession of the property, which was distributed among them by the confederate gov
ernment.
Question. Have you had pretty free intercourse with the people wherever you have been ?
Answer. I made it my business to talk with people and ascertain the trne position and
feeling, so far as I was able to judge.
Question. How do you find the general state of feeling among the secession element at the
south towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. With few exceptions, they accept the position of things as it is, by compulsion ;
they acknowledge that they are a conquered people, and have got to submit to the condition
of things ; in other words, the secession element is, as a general thing, about as much secesh
to-day, and as bitter in its feeling towards the government of the United States and the peo
ple of the north, as it ever has been. That is the impression made on my mind from my
intercourse with them.
Question. Among what class of people do you find this feeling most prevalent — the lower,
the middle, or the higher class ?
Answer. The lower class are more bitter in their expressions ; the business men, and the
more thinking men, are much more moderate, and express much more satisfaction than any
other class.
Question. What do the ex-officers and soldiers of the confederate army say about the state
of things?
Answer. They are disposed for peace. Those who were most active, and the officers of
higher rank in the confederate army, are much more disposed to accept the condition of
things, and to have peace and quiet, than those are who have had less experience of war.
Question. How do the common soldiers appear to feel it?
Answer. They say they have had enough of war. That is their expression.
Question. Among the masses of the people where you have been, nave you been in the
habit of hearing contemptuous or indignant expressions towards the government of the
United States ?
Answer. In a few instances I heard those expressions where I was not a party to the con
versation ; for instance, among passengers in railroad cars. It has been only in a few in
stances, and from persons exceedingly violent.
Question. What expressions have you heard most striking in their character ?
Answer. I have heard them say in those instances that they would take up arms at any
time, and never would regard the oath they had been compelled to take ; that they took it
to have the facilities of the United States mail, and for trading facilities. On the contraiy,
in most instances, judicious, thinking, business men, merchants, accept the condition of
things in good faith, and regard all their obligations to the government of the United States
in good faith.
Question. Have you heard anything said among them in regard to the payment of the
federal debt contracted in the prosecution of the war ?
Answer. I talked that thing very fully and specifically on many occasions, for I considered
it a test. I often purposely got parties excited in conversation so as to develop their real
feeling. I would most frequently put to them the question : " How would you vote on the
repudiation of the national debt if you were on the rloor of Congress, after all your debt had
been confiscated and your States left in the condition they are ?" In a majority of instances
the expression would be, "I would vote to repudiate the national debt." I thought that
was a test question.
Question. Have you heard these remarks frequently ?
Answer. Well, I would hear them every few days when I would seek conversations for
the purpose of feeling the position of these parties.
Question. How did such declarations seem to be received by the audience, if there was
any audience?
Answer. The more thinking and earnest business men did not countenance it ; but the
men who had lost largely in negroes, and the men who never had anything, were ready to
sustain that expression of feeling.
Question. It seemed to please them?
Answer. It rather seemed to please them.
Question. Did you, in the course of your journey and your stay at the south, hear any
thing said about a war between this country and a foreign country ?
Answer. I have heard expressions there that we were likely to get in a war with France,
and in some instances the expression was that they would take up arms in favor of France.
That expression was, however, from the most violent portion of them. It was not anything
like a uniform expression. It was only in occasional instances that I heard it.
110 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Did you ever hear that expression rebuked by any bystander ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; oh, yes ; it did not seem to be received with favor by the more thinking
portion of them. We were twenty-four hours in travelling1 a hundred miles on the railroad,
on account of broken track, broken engines, and bridges down, so that people were thrown
together and talked a great deal more than in ordinary railroad travelling.
Question. In what sections of the country did you mainly find these persons express them
selves in favor of joining the enemy in case of war ?
Answer. I heard it principally on railroad trains from persons who were entire strangers
to me. They did not know where I was from, and I did not know where they were from.
Question. You travelled, known to be a northern man?
Answer. Oh, yes ; I made no secret of it.
Question. Were you treated with any indignity ?
Answer. No, sir ; not in a single instance.
Question. How did the secessionists, where you have visited, feel in regard to the freed-
men arid the abolition of slavery ?
Answer. From long-continued education, regarding the negro as a slave and of no ac
count, they naturally look upon him as unfit to govern himself, and as requiring harsh treat
ment to keep him in subserviency.
Question. Did you hear any regrets expressed at the abolition of slavery ?
Answer. Oh, yes, sir.
Question. Were they common ?
Answer. Oh, yes, sir.
Question. Did you hear any intimation thrown out in regard to the future treatment of
the blacks by southern legislatures and southern people ?
Answer. Not by southern legislatures. The expression seemed to be, particularly in upper,
and middle, and southern Georgia, of great confidence in the Freedmen's Bureau, and of its
being the great means whereby the industry of the country was to be promoted. Much of
that arises from the able management of General Tiltou in Georgia. He manages all of the
State of Georgia except the coast. He has pushed the matter of inducing the negroes to
make contracts. To a certain extent he compelled them to do so ; that is, he has persuaded
them with energy, letting them know that if they would not go on and make contracts and
work industriously for the old planters, they should remove from there and not obstruct him
in having others to work. He is exceedingly popular with the planting community of the
State of Georgia, and is a very efficient officer.
Question. How do the blacks regard him ?
Answer. The blacks regard him with the highest esteem and confidence. My impression,
from inquiries, is that in the State of Georgia, owing to the efficient management of the bureau
there, there will not be less than three-fourths of the crop of cotton produced that was pro
duced in 1860; and some whom I regard as good judges think there will be a full crop of
cotton, equal to that of ft6U. It is not so with rice. The negroes on the rice plantations
on the Santilla river, and to a great extent on the Altamaha river, are idle, and decline to
make contracts. I introduced some of the rice planters to General Tilton at Savannah, ex
plained to him their position, and asked his interposition to induce the negroes to work and
make crops. They explained to him their own position and that of the negroes, and he said
he would do everything that lay in his power. The planters explained to him, however
that it was too late for a ric-e crop ; that if he or an efficient officer could have been there at
an earlier day it would have given confidence to the negroes, and induced them to go to
work, and they could have made very handsome rice crops this year; but the plantations
have to be dried, the banks are broken and flooded, and these low bottoms take a month or
two to be dry enough to plant the lice. It is too late for that now, so that there will be very
little rice crop raised in the State of Georgia this year.
Question. Do the negroes appear to have a dislike to work on rice plantations ? It is a
dangerous sort of labor, is it not ?
Answer. Oh, no, sir. My experience in the south for many years past is that a commu
nity of negroes who have been on a cotton plantation in the upper country, and who get
upon a rice plantation, never want to go back to the cotton plantation, from the fact that
they have fishing in the waters and hunting in the bottoms, and all that pleasant sort of life.
Negroes take naturally to the water. It wants a firm, steady, dignified hand in all the de
partments of the Freedmen's Bureau. It needs officers whom the negroes are compelled to
respect, and who have authority enough over them to force them to make contracts, or to
show that they have some business — some way of living besides stealing. The authority
of the United States should reach so far as to take from the plantations when the crops are
gathered, under the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau, sufficient to fulfil the contracts with
the freedmen, if the planter should neglect or refuse to comply with the contract. The
Freedmeu's Bureau, judiciously and ably conducted, is the salvation of the south. That is
my conclusion as to the Freedmen's Bureau.
Question. From what you have seen and heard from candid and thoughtful men at the
south, what would be the effect of a discontinuance of that bureau ?
Answer. I think it would be disastrous to the negro population, and I think it would be
equally injurious to the planting interest.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. Ill
Question. State in what way it would be injurious to the planting interest.
Answer. By restricting the amount of crops. The negroes would not work with any
thing of the efficiency that they will now, in the confidence they have in the Freeduien's
Bureau to protect their interests.
Question. Why would they not work? What would be the trouble?
Answer. Two things: first, their native, natural, indolent habits; and secondly, the fear
that they would not be paid according to contract by their employers, unless they had the
protection of the Freedmen's Bureau.
Question. Would they probably be reasonably paid by the planters?
Answer. I hate to answer that. I think in a majority of instances they would not. We
will say in many instances. I do not wish to say a majority.
Question. If the freedmen felt secure as northern laborers do that they would get a fair
compensation for their labor without the intervention of bureau authority, would they then
work ?
Answer. I do not think they would work with anything like the efficiency, keep as good
habits, and produce such good crops, as they would with the authority of the bureau over
them.
Question. State what your observation has been as to the general feeling among the intel
ligent and fair-minded planters about the necessity and utility of that bureau.
Answer. To the best of niy judgment, the fair-minded planters are for having the bureau
sustained with efficiency.
Question. In regard to the sea-islands, what is the trouble about them ? What is the
complaint in reference to them on the part ot whites and blacks? I want a plain statement
of the facts as you have ascertained them there.
Answer. The people there who are interested in those sea-islands and in the rice planta
tions back thirty miles from the coast regarded the authority of General Sherman's order as
valid so long as its necessity for military purposes continued; but when they came forward
and took the oath of amnesty, and complied with the proclamation of the President, they were,
or a majority of them on the coast of Georgia were, competent to reclaim this land, and they
made moves for that purpose. When this bill was introduced, which was to sequestrate their
lands for a term of years, continuing to keep them dispossessed without compensation, it
created great excitement among them. They deemed it an exhibition of a lack of good faith
on the part of the government of the United States, and it militated seriously against the con
fidence that they had in the Congress of the United States. They felt as though if the land
could be taken for three years it could be just as well taken for all time.
Question. Will you, in direct connexion with that subject, see to what clause of the bill
you refer?
(Witness refers to section 5 of the Freedmen's Bureau bill, recently vetoed by President
Johnson, as follows : )
"SEC. 5. And be it further enacted, That the occupants of land under Major General
Sherman's special field order, dated at Savannah, January sixteen, eighteen hundred and
sixty-five, are hereby confirmed in their possession for the period of three years from the date
of said order, and no person shall be disturbed in or ousted from said possession during said
three years, unless a settlement shall be made with said occupant by the former owner, his
heirs, or assigns, satisfactory to the Commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau: Provided,
That whenever the former owners of lauds occupied under General Sherman's field order shall
make application for restoration of said lands, the Commissioner is hereby authorized, upon
the agreement and with the written consent of said occupants, to procure other lands for
them by rent or purchase, not exceeding forty acres for each occupant, upon the terms and
conditions named in section four of this act, or to set apart for them, out of the public lands
assigned for that purpose in section four of this act, forty acres each, upon the same terms
and conditions."
Witness. This Is not exactly the thing they claimed it was. Their idea was this : that
having accepted the provisions of amnesty on taking the oath, they should be put in
possession of their property. Among the conditions prescribed in the orders promulgated by
the Freedmen's Bureau was that the negroes should have the gathering of the crop then
planted, or should be paid for the crops and improvements before the removal of the freedmen
from it. They say: ''We accepted these terms; we waited until the crop was gathered;
we then asked to be restored to our property, and the Congress of the United States steps in,
with a bill saying you cannot have it for three years." That was the construction upon it,
and it was the generally accepted construction of the law. It created very great dissatisfac
tion among all classes there. They regarded it as a stepping stone towards further absorp
tion of their real estate, and towards subjecting all their lands and property to be taken
possession of by the government without .the action of the confiscation laws to prove first
that they were rebels. They deemed it illegal and unconstitutional, and it created a great
deal of disaffection. The general freedmen's bill, aside from that item as to the lauds em
braced in Sherman's order, was, by the thinking portion of the people of Georgia, regarded
with favor; but with that provision* in, they deemed it highly detrimental to their interests,
against their constitutional rights, and contrary to- good faith, in view of the amnesty procla
mation.
112 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. About how many negroes have settled on those islands under General Shei •
man's order?
Answer. I have no competent data to go by, but judging from hearsay I should :udge
there were several thousand.
Question. Have they been cultivating the islands ?
Answer. Oh, yes, sir ; they have been raising good crops, as I have been told. All those
negroes who are there working as communities would be employed by the owners of the
laud, and I have no doubt a very large number more. In the instance of the heirs of Thomas
Butler King, they had taken their negroes into the interior and had fed them arid taken care
of them, all the time waiting to go back to the islands, and had made arrangements with
them for pay under the stipulations of the Freedmeu's Bureau. They themselves were not
allowed to go on the island, were not allowed to pay a visit to the island, as they informed
me, and their old negroes who were born and brought up there were not allowed to go back
either. It is a very elegant plantation, and strange negroes were put on there.
Question. How do the people of the south, so far as you have seen, feel in reference to
the education of the negroes ; do they seem to favor it, or are they opposed to it ?
Answer. I do not recollect hearing them make use of any expressions about it ; I think
that very few of them have thought enough about it. There is one instance further iu refer
ence to these islands which you ought to know about.
Question. State it.
Answer. I refer to the great Cumberland island lying off the coast of Georgia, the greater
part of which is owned by Colonel Stafford ; he was born and brought up there ; he is now
an old gentleman seventy-four or seventy-five years of age. About a year ago, before the
war ended, I visited him on his island ; he was living there all alone, attended by two or
three negro women, all the servants that were left to him on his immense plantation of thirty
thousand acres, of which ten thousand are under plough. When the war broke out the con
federates ordered off both islands all the people, white and black. In some instances they
did not go, and among those who remained was Colonel Stafford. The confederates came
in boats to remove his corn and his cotton ; he understood they were coming to remove his
cotton, and he determined they should not have it. He first asked them to let him alone,
saying he was an old man, beyond the conscript age : that he was on an island ; that he
wanted no excitement, and wanted to be let alone on his own little island. They determined
to remove his property and to remove him, but he declined to go alive, and they let him
alone. He had, as he informed me, six hundred bales of sea-island cotton of his own raising,
piled up and in his gin houses. He set his negroes to work piling up that cotton, and on
the approach of the confederates to carry it away, rather than they should have it, he fired
it and burned it up. He would have fired all his corn-cribs, but he could not do it without burn
ing all his buildings ; consequently they loaded their vessels with his corn and carried it
away. He had a twenty-thousand acre range of pasture land on which he had large droves
of cattle. The confederate forces drove off steamboat-loads of his cattle for their use ; the
federal gunboats came in and drove them away, and the federals helped themselves to beef, and
pork, and honey, &c., so that the old gentleman was awfully stripped by both armies, while
he never gave anything to either. Among other things, as he told me, three hundred of his
able-bodied negro men went either into the United States army or the United States navy,
and now the old gentleman says, standing on his porch, with tears flowing down his face,
and with his long gray locks floating in the wind, " Here I am with nothing but the land,
and the order of General Sherman takes me off the island."
Question. Has he left the island ?
Answer. I did not see him when I was down there the last time, and I do not know
whether he has left the island or not. Now there is the case of- a man, guilty of no belliger
ent act, who suffered from all parties, and now the Congress of the United States proposes
to legislate him off his land without compensation. You can see how, in the case of a man
known all through the south, and also well known in the north, such an act of Congress
strikes the mind of everybody in the south. They say, "My God ! where are we ? What
sort of a government do we live under?"
Question. How do they feel in that region about the negro enjoying the right of suffrage ?
Answer. Oh, they are deadly opposed to it.
Question. Do you suppose they ever would agree to it ?
Answer. No, sir, except it may be in a modified form
* Question. That is, under some restriction as to property or intelligence?
Answer. Yes, sir, under property or educational qualifications.
Question. Did you visit South Carolina ?
Answer. I was in Charleston two days.
Question. How did you find the state of feeling in that city?
Answer. I travelled from there through the State. The popularity of the Freedmen's
Bureau is not so favorable in South Carolina as it is in the State of Georgia. I judged that it
arose from a less efficient exercise of the functions of the bureau as to inducing or compelling
the negroes to make contracts and go on and work.
Question. Who had charge of the bureau in South Carolina while you were there?
Answer. I do not know. I think that General Saxton had been removed, and that General
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI— ALABAMA. 113
Scott had charge ; but whether he was in charge of the whole State or coast part I am not
aware.
Question. Did yon hear any other expressions among the South Carolinians in regard to
the government of the United States ? Have they changed their views as to the right of
secession ?
Answer. In"conversation they regard the matter of State rights^ or the right of secession —
to nse the expression of one of tbfcm — as played out.
Question. Do they evince a willingness to become loyal, fakhful citizens of the United
States ; to uphold the government and go on as friends of the government ; or aro they
looking for some future event by which they may succeed in getting out of the Union ?
AnsAver. I think they accept the condition of things as they are, without looking forward
to further revolutions.
Question. In case of a hard war between the United States and any foreign power, such
as England or France, by which we should be put to our utmost efforts to defend the national
honor and interests, and in case these people should discover, or should think they discovered
a fair chance to secure their independence and shake off the authority of the United States,
what course, in your opinion, would they pursue ?
Answer. I think that in case of a war with England, particularly, we would have al'most
the unanimous support of the southern soldiery ; but I think that if, independent of a foreign
war, these people had a reasonable show of success, a reasonable chance of gaining their
independence, they would embrace the opportunity. That is putting it strong.
Question. In such a case you would not expect to see much opposition to a rising among
them against the government? You would expect to see a pretty substantial unanimity
-among the people, would you not ?
Answer. The feeling in the past war was one of almost entire unanimity, so far as I have
been able to learn the sentiments a year ago and during this present season.
Quest-ion. What, in your judgment, has been the effect of President Johnson's liberal
policy in granting amnesties and pardons to rebels ; has it inspired them with respect and
love for the government of the United States, or has it increa'sed their contempt and hatre-1
of it ?
Answer. Among the masses of the people who availed themselves of that kindness it has
b&d a beneficial effect. It has promoted confidence in the government of the United States.
With some persons of violent dispositions, and with leading politicians, I think it has Imd
the effect of making them more contemptuous ; making them look upon us with a less decree
of respect.
Question. What political schemes do they really cherish, so far as you can observe, in case
they are re-admitted into thp Union ? •
Answer. I really have no definite idea of their plans.
Question. Do they look to an alliance with' the so-called copperhead or democratic party of
the north ?
Answer. I cannot say that I have heard expressions of that kind. •
Question. How do the leading planters and the solid men among the secessionists regard
northern democracy ?
Answer. They regard the ultra democratic party of the north as their friends and allies, .
and they look to them as their sustaiuers in opposition to the republican party.
Question. Have they at the same time a respect for the political principles of the northern
democracy ?
Answer. They regard the democratic pgrtyas their sustainers, the ultra democratic party ,
what we term here the copperhead party. That is the prevailing sentiment, according to my
judgment.
Question. Were you in the south during the war?
Answer. No, sir. I was on the coast of Georgia and in Florida from the latter part of
January, 1865, until about a month after the surrender of Johnston.
Question. Have you property in the south ?
Answer. Yes ; a large property in southern Georgia.
Question. Chiefly consisting of railroad property ?
Answer. Chiefly of railroad property and lands.
Question. Are you a native of Georgia ?
Answer. No, sir. I was born in Pennsylvania, and live in the city of New York
Question. Is there anything else you wish tt> state to the committee ?
Answer. No, sir.
WASHINGTON, March 1, 1866.
Brevet Lieutenant Colonel Hunter Brook sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Please give your name, age, and present employment.
Answer. My name is Hunter Brook ; I am thirty-five years of age; I belong to the United
8 A G M A
114 RECONSTRUCTION.
States army, and am acting provost marshal general and judge advocate of the department
of Alabama.
Question. What have been your opportunities, since Lee's surrender, of obtaining a knowl
edge of the condition of the people in the States of Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, and Geor
gia, or either of them ?
Answer. I have been in the State of Alabama on military duty constantly since, the 23d of
July, 1865. For the first month I was provost marshal ofnhe district comprising the twelve
lower counties of Alabama.* After that I was provost marshal general of the Stute. I receivi •<]
the reports of the local provost marshals of the different districts, of which there were four in
the State — Huntsville, Talledega, Montgomery, and Mobile. I received their regular reports,
and heard, of course, of any extraordinary event that occurred. I superintended, to some
extent, the administering of the amnesty oath, for which we had an officer of some grade in
nearly every county in the State. My instructions to subordinate provost marshals, in send
ing these officers out, was, that, in addition to their regular reports, they should also report
as often as possible the general temper and condition of the people as to loyalty. These in
structions were complied with only partially ; but I was in constant communication with these
officers, either personally or otherwise, arfd had opportunities of learning what their experi
ence was.
Question. Considering the latest accounts which you received, what was the condition of
the people of Alabama in reference to loyalty ?
Answer. The people seemed to be fretting, as a general thing, under military rale, and I
think entirely without cause. The result of this ^was, that we heard a great deal of dis
loyalty, and very little of loyalty, both from public men in the State and from private citizens.
In the city of Mobile, where I am stationed, there are, of course, many prominent citizens
whose behavior is unexceptionable, and whose general reputation for loyalty nobody could
impeach. But these men seem to differ with the government entirely as to its policy upon
the subject of slavery, and to adhere to their old teachings and feelings on that subject. I
do not know in the State of Alabama of a loyal newspaper upon that question. I understood
there was a paper published in Huntsville, called the Liberty Herald, or something of that
description, but I never heard of it in the State, .and if it is published, it is certainly some
temporary enterprise, conducted by parties from the north. It was never recognized in the
State. The whole tenor of the press of the State is to excite trouble and disloyalty con
stantly. You could scarcely, out of three prominent newspapers of Mobile, and one of
which is owned by a northern man, pick up a copy that does not contain a flhfg either at
the military occupation or the Freedmen's Bureau, although officially I have never been
called upon to offer any resistance, or interfere in any way as the military police officer of
the department in behalf of the Freedmen's Bureau in the State. They have always main
tained themselves. During the recent elections in Alabama the department commander
received information that the amnesty oath, which had been prescribed by the President as a
necessary qualification for voting, was generally disregarded. I instituted inquiry through
the local provost marshals, and found that to be the fact. A report of it was made and
forwarded through General Thomas to Washington. The department has never since
received any instructions about it, and the parties elected at that election to local offices have,
assumed, and arc now carrying on, the duties of their offices.
Question. If the people of Alabama were left to themselves to act as they pleased, would
they prefer to remain under the present government, or to see the confederacy established ?
Answer. I think a majority of them would prefer to see the confederacy established.
Question. What would bo the condition of the freedmen and of the Union men who have
been truly loyal during the war if the military and the Freedmeu's Bureau should be with
drawn ?
Answer. I think they would be subjected to a great deal of persecution, and finally com
pelled to leave the State. Just before I left Mobile there was a despatch published in the
papers as being authorized by Governor Fatten, stating that lie had received information
from General Thomas that the troops were to be withdrawn from the State, and that the
militia were to be furnished with arms and ammunition. That despatch seemed to create a
great deal of excitement among the resident Union men and the northern residents who had
settled* there and invested their capital both in the country and in the city of Mobile. Not
less than fifty men called upon me at my office, and I suppose a larger number did upon
General Wood, to know whether the despatch was warranted or not ; whether it was going
to be carried out, and how soon, which inquiries they made with the hope ^hat they would
Lave time to withdraw their investments, and leave the State when the military did. Of
course, the only reply wo could give was, that we had no official knowledge of it as yet, and
if we had, we had nothing to say. They then begged to know if we could not use some
military influence to delay it long enough for them to protest, and a number of reliable
persons with whom I was acquainted, ex-officers of the army and others representing a
of over a million dollars, stated that they would get up a remonstrance of that de-
Congi — ».-... * -
1 saw the morning of my leaving scenicd to be satisfied so far as we could assure them.
ARKANSAS —GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI—ALABAMA. 115
Question. In the elections that have taken place, were Union men or men who had been in
the rebellion generally elected ?
Answer. Almost invariably men who had been in the rebellion. They elected in Madison
county, iu the Huntsville district of the State, to the office of sheriff of the county a young^
man whom I know personally, and who I know before the war could not by any manner of
means, with the reputation he had, have been elected constable. But he was the murderer
of Brigadier General McCook, was distinguished in the war as a partisan ranger, and, as I
was informed by officers who were present in that locality at the time of the election, this
was considered his great merit. He was then under sentence for that murder. He was sub
sequently arrested, I believe, by order of the President of the United States and taken to
Nashville in irons. This was after he was elected sheriff.
Question. Do you know of any expectation that the government is to compensate the peo
ple for their slaves or for property destroyed or injured by our troops ?
Answer. There are people preparing and hoping for the allowance of such claims for prop
erty, but whether the expectation is very general or not I am not able to say. Some have
hopes of remuneration for such losses, especially those arising from Wilson's raid.
Question. As far as you have observed, what is the disposition among the negroes in re
gard to education and the general improvement of their race ?
Answer. They seern to be very ambitious in that way^. I have had very little to do with
them directly. My attention has been called to the subject in various ways indirectly. They
are very ambitious on the subject themselves, but get little or no encouragement wfhatever
from any influential people of the State that I know of. When General Howard was in
Mobile' he went with General Wood and called on a Dr. Nott, who is perhaps the ablest
physician in the State of Alabama, and a leading man in his profession, in reference to a
temporary occupation of the Medical College of Mobile, which was not in use at the time,
and for the use of which there was little or no prospect, it being out of capital and there be
ing few students in the State able to attend and pay. The use of the building I refer to was
for the establishment of a large colored school. I was informed by General Wood that Dr.
Nott replied to that request by saying he would rather see the building burned to the ground
than used for any such purpose. My impression is that they kept it any how, as they had
it" at the time.
Question. Please state any other facts in your possession pertinent to the subject of this
investigation.
Answer. In reference to the question of government cotton, I think the management of
that matter shows, to some extent, the temper of the people, as far as the government is con
cerned. We have heard the testimony in open court of as many as a dozen witnesses, con
sidered in the interior as responsible planters, to the fact that a large majority of the people
do not and never will recognize the title of the government to that property, and never will
give any assistance to the government in obtaining it, as they never have done. Frequent
collisions have occurred in different parts of the State between the people and the parties sent
there by the Treasury Department, and also by the military, for the collection of this cotton.
There are parties of citizens who band together to resist the officers of the government sent out
for this purpose. Within five or six weeks steamers loaded with that property have been
fired upon. The governor of the State has been officially notified that these occurrences are
going on in different sections of the State, but what steps He has taken, if any at all, upon
the subject, I do not know.
Question. What was the nature of the government title to the property you refer to ?
Answer. It was cotton surrendered by General Dick Taylor as being} the property of the
confederate government. It had been subscribed by private individuals for the support of
that government, but the title to it had gone out of the hands of the original planters. On
one occasion I sent a. man into the county of Choc taw to collect some information in reference
to cotton-stealing. I sent with him a lieutenant and twenty-men to protect him. That man
with his party were driven out of the county by armed citizens with the probate judge of the
county at their head. We had to send a battalion of cavalry to accomplish what we wished.
But that is dying away to some extent. The people feel exceedingly sore in reference to
their political position, and it is discussed very bitterly, publicly and privately. •
Question. Of what do they complain ?
Answer. Of the apparent impossibility of their procuring a representation in Congress.
Question. For what purpose do you understand they chiefly desire a representation in
Congress .'
Answer. I believe a majority of them desire it in order to establish themselves as citizens;
that is, to establish the identity of their State, give validity to their laws, and enable them
to declare their sentiments, and, if necessary, to make claims upon the general government
both individually and as a State. I believe their general behavior would be much better if
some such representation could be permitted. I have no opinion, of course, as an officer, as
to how it should be done. I am confident the people feel that they are degraded beyond what
they ought to be — whether they are right or wrong in that is another question — and that they
would behave a great deal better if they had some such representation. I do not believe that
the sober, sound sense of the State is led by their press, for it is an exceedingly weak press.
I have heard many of their citizens say, and it is certainly my opinion, that it is the weakest
116 RECONSTRUCTION.
press in the sonth. They are unwilling that their sentiments should be represented, or rather
misrepresented, as they have so fur been by their press, and they therefore would like to
have a representation pf some sort in the councils of the nation, where their opinions and
feelings might at least be published with some legitimate authority. As far as disregarding
the oath of amnesty as a qualification for voting is concerned, I was informed by soveiai
prominent gentlemen who were elected to office in the fall election that the convention of
the State had, by authority of the President, just before it adjourned, provided that it should
not be a requisite. I have not been able to find this among the records of the convention, nor,
has General Wood received it officially from the governor. I desire to say, further, that tire
people of Alabama generally believe that the policy of the President has always been for
their speedy restoration as a State with all their former functions; but this belief has been
based upon the perverted comments of their press. So far as this policy has been fairly un
derstood by officers on duty in the department, with proper modifications, this belief has been
encouraged in mere social intercourse, although nothing has been ever said officially. This
has been done in good faith, without instructipn, and with a view to secure general good
feeling and good order. I have heard that officers of the army are charged with discouraging
efforts for proper reconstruction, but I sincerely hope the officers of the department of Ala
bama may bo relieved from this charge as unjust and unwarranted.
WASHINGTON, March 1, 18G8.
W. A. P. Dillingham sworn and examined
By Mr. BOUTWELL ;
Question. What is your age, residence, and occupation ?
Answer. Forty-one; I reside at Waterville, Maine; I am partly a farmer; I will give
mv occupation as a gentleman.
Question. Have you been in either of the States recently in rebellion since Lee s surrender ;
and if so, in what States?
Answer* I have been in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Question. How much time have you spent in each since last March ?
Answer. Several months. I spent but a very little time in Tennessee. I was at Memphis,
and had business there which detained me but a short time. Most of the time I spent in
Mississippi, and a few weeks in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Question. When did you leave Mississippi ?
Answer. About the 20th of December last.
Answer. What was your business or occupation while there ?
Answer. Treasury agent at Natchez.
Question. What service, as agent, did you perform ?
Answer. I had charge of restricted commerce and commercial intercourse with insurrec
tionary districts.
Question. What means, if any, did that give you of ascertaining the condition and opin
ions of the people of Mississippi?
Answer. The business of the office was such that persons residing m different parts of the
State of Mississippi, having business there, came into the office, and I had an opportu
and sought the opportunity frequently, after the transaction of the business, to convert'
with them as to their views of the condition of the country, and other views, and also I had
quite a number of cases presented for my consideration and action by the frcedmeu.
Question. As far as you have observed, what was the prevailing sentiment of the people
concerning this government? Was it one of loyalty or disloyalty ?
Answer. I think that in last March, before Lee's surrender, the general feeling in Mis
sippi within the federal lines, of all classes with whom I had intercourse, was that ot entir
submission to the federal authority. At that time I very seldom saw persons troiu beyond
the lines having any business with the office.
Question. What has been the state of public sentiment more recently ?
\uswer. The fcclino- in Mississippi last spring was that of submission to the government,
and a disposition to accept readily any public officers the government might send there m a
civil or military capacity. There was a feeling that they had no rights : that those bad been
forfeited by the rebellion. They were disposed to accept kindly, so far forth as they had any
kindly feelings in their natures, whatever the government might propose. This was the teel-
ino- last spring, but subsequently that feeling seemed to disappear : and after the policy ; ot
President Johnson was thoroughly inaugurated, the old bitterness seemed to develop itself,
the feeling that they desired the management and control of their own State in tl
hands, and after their own methods. •
Question. Were the men appointed to office under Governor feharkey gener
1 Answer I came up the river at the time Governor Sharkey was returning from Washington
to Jackson ; I met him at Memphis, and had a brief interview with him on the boat; lie
ARKANSAS— GEOEGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 117
told me had been to Washington, and had been very favorably impressed with President
Johnson ; that the President received him courteously, and treated him with more considera
tion than he had anticipated ; that he had invested him*with more authority even than he
would willingly assume ; that the President assured him that no person should be appointed
to any civil position in the State without his nomination, and that the entire management of
the State should be in his hands. And then he told me he should issue his warrant re-es-
tublishing in office all the old officers under the State government in Mississippi, provided
they would take the oath of allegiance; and the governor very pleasantly remarked, "I
think in thirty days we will have the State of Mississippi ready to go back in the Union."
I am not aware that the governor appointed any man because he was disloyal, but I think
he appointed several who were unfriendly towards the government ; for instance, a judge at
Vicksburg, appointed by Governor Sharkey, had been a rebel colonel ; he had lost an arm in
•the sen-ice, and had recently come out of the army ; and several of the officers appointed in
Natchez had been notorious rebels.
Question. Do-you know-any thing of the views which these appointees of Governor Sharbe^
you refer to entertained at that time concerning this government ; whether they expressed a
disposition to support it in good faith, or not ?
Answer. The same evening I had an interview with Governor Sharkey. I also conversed
quite freely with one of the party of gentlemen who came to Washington with Governor
Sharkey. He used about this language : ''The slate is made up in this way at Washing
ton : the South is a unit, and the democrats and the conservative men at the north are to
rally around President Johnson, form ft new party and re-elect him to the presidency."
'And,'' said he, ''we accept that proposition very cheerfully." He said the radicals at the
north proposed even to educate niggers and give them the right of voting. The gentleman
who made this remark was one who accompanied Governor Sharkey ; and the same gentle
man also assured me that President Johnson told him he should be appointed United States
marshal of Mississippi soon. The young man had not been out of the rebel service but a
short time when he made thig statement. He cut the confederacy, as it were, and then
started at once for Washington. I would also state, in answer to your general question,
that last November, on my passage down the Mississippi river, I was in company with
General Dick Taylor for about a week, and became quite intimately acquainted with him.
We discussed the questions before the country very freely, and here is one point which
I will briefly allude to among many points that were brought up. We were speaking of the
feelings in the rebel States towards men nominated and elected to office. I asked the ques
tion why in the State of Mississippi the regular nominee for governor of the State conven
tion, called by order of Governor Sharkey, all the delegates to which wrere elected by the
people in the presence of no federal bayonets, was not supported? Judge Fisher, the
nominee of that convention, was a man of eminent learning, of high judicial position, a man
who had been a non-combatant during the war, his age releasing him from conscription, and
I asked why they did not elevate him to the governorship instead of General Humphreys.
The general was very frank in his reply. Said he, "The southern people, Mr. Dillinghain,
will support for either State or municipal office no individual who was indifferent to the suc
cess of the confederates during the war. Unless a man fought for his country, (meaning
the confederacy,) he could not receive the votes of the southern people." Said I, "General,
you retain all your old attachments, prepossessions, and prejudices of the southern people;"
" Certainly I do." Said I, "General, suppose President Lincoln were living, and for the
next presidential election Jeff. Davis and Lincoln were rival candidates ; whom would you
support?" Without hesitation, he said, "Certainly Jefferson. Davis."
Question. According to your observation, is it your opinion that the people of Mississippi
would prefer, if they had the power to choose, the establishment of the confederacy or the
maintenance of the Union?
Answer. They would prefer the establishment of the confederacy.
Question. Have you any opinion as to the proportion of people there who would prefer
the confederacy to the Union, if the confederacy were possible ?
Answer. I had conversations with many persons, and of the different classes of persons,
and those who expressed an attachment for the government and rejoiced that the confederacy
had failed were exceptions to the rule. I think three-fcurths to be moderate, in my estimate.
Question. If the people of the State of Mississippi should be left to execute their own will,
without interference from the national government in reference to the freedmen and those
persons who are known to have been supporters of the Union during the war, what would
be the probable policy of that State in regard to these two classes of persons ?
Answer. Of course they would recognize the emancipation proclamation, with their present
feelings towards the government and with the understanding that they must execute it; but
even after accepting that proclamation of emancipation they would do just this: they would
give the negroes their personal freedom, so that they should not be bought and sold, and if
their own views could bo carried out they would not allow them to buy, hold property, or
testify in the courts unless it was in cases between negroes, or to have schools, or exercise
the elective franchise, which, in their judgment, is the sum of all evils ; they would support
no loyal whites for office, and as far as they possibly could I think they would exclude toem
from their society, and that they would be generally under the ban of their displeasure.
118 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Do you know any of the men that have been elected by the people of Missis
sippi as representatives or senators in Congress except Governor Sharkey?
Answer. I do not. I have no personal acquaintance •with nuy other.
Question. Did you observe the operation of the Freedmeu's Bureau; and if so, \vhat is
your opinion of the bureau as to its being beneficial or otherwise ?
Answer. I think it has been serviceable. The officers, many of them in Mississippi, in
Natchez, and about there, I was personally acquainted with, and they were generally men
of good abilities, and discharged their duties acceptably and faithfully. Why, sir, the agents
of the Freedmen's Bureau were the sheet-anchor and hope for the poor colored men there.
I do not know what these colored men, many of them, would have done without their aid in
collecting their claims for services rendered, and meeting successfully the unjust and oppres
sive acts of the old citizens with rebel antecedents. I will furhennore state that I had occa
sion to go into Wilkersori county, thirty miies from Natchez, where there had been disturb
ances in the relations between the old masters and the freedmen. The freedmen felt that
unless they left their old masters, went away and sought new employers, somehow or other
they were still slaves, and would not receive any wages for their labor. Labor was in a very
unsettled condition there ; many whites also feared insurrection about Christmas. They
requeued that an agent, with a few persons connected with the bureau, should be sent there.
A few officers, perhaps two or three, were sent, and their effect, upon all that colored popu
lation, far and near, was most gratifying. The agent gave notice that he would address the
colored people, and they came from far and near. There must have been two or thre«
thousand persons at least. He spoke to them of their new re-ations and duties ; what the
government would do for them ; that it would see that they had their wages for the services
rendered ; then he enjoined upon them the duty of industry and fidelity. These people
went home, and several old citizens with whom I had conversation upon the subject
remarked the improved state of things the presence of the agent there had produced upon
the colored people.
Question. What, as far as you have observed, is the disposition of the colored people
with reference to labor for which they are properly paid ?
Answer. I can give you one case which, I think, is a representative one. I know James
McGill, who lives at St. Joseph, Louisiana ; who, by the way, is a very conscientious and
upright man, though he sympathized with the rebellion. I had a considerable acquaintance
with him in the Treasury Department, and theieibre 1 allude to his case particularly. He
accepted the new order of things, and told those who had been his slaves that they weie
free, (he had them drawn up about him where he could address them ;) that they could go
if they were so disposed ; but, he recommended them to remain with him, ami said, you
know whether I have been kind to you when I was your master ; you know whether 1 have
treated you kindly and justly ; now, I think it would be better for you to remain with me;
if you will do so I will pay you for your services so much a month; you shall have ho!i;e^,
and I will make you just as comfortable and as happy as I can. His people all remained
wi:h him, and at the close of the year he paid them according to agreement. He had very
little, if any, difficulty with them during the entire year. 1 saw him last December, when he
was about making new contracts with his freedmen, and he said his people1 worked better
under the free system than under the old slave system ; and furthermore, he said to me they
did better this last year than they did the year before. And where men employing them,
treat them kindly, and pay them justly, 1 have never heard of any serious difficulty about
the negro refusing to labor.
Question. As far as you have observed, what is the disposition of the negro in regard to
education ?
Answer. To improve every opportunity. That seems to be an extravagant statement, and
yet 1 can cleliberately and truly make it.
Question. How is it in regard to saving their earnings ; are they disposed to do so, or
otherwise inclined ?
Answer. I often heard the remark made in Natchez that the negroes have more green
backs than the white people have in that city. I think where there is a savings bank, and
incnds who have influence with them n'ould suggest to them the propriety of saving their
iii: uiis and investing them in United States bonds, they would heed such suggestion very
generally ; but otherwise, I think they would be disposed, like other people having money, to
spend it as other persons do.
Question. You spoke of an apprehension about Christmas of insurrection ; do you appre
hend any danger from negro insurrection ?
Answer. None in the least. I took pains to see Major Reynolds, provost marshal in
Natchez, in reference to that impression, which was prevalent even among seosible, intelligent
people of the old citizens. In Natchez some .of the old citizens went so far in their appre
hension of disturbance about Christmas as to call upon Major Reynolds and ask him to pro
vide against it. The major took a very sensible course. He invited several leading colored
men in Natchez to call at his room. They did so; and he asked them if anything of that
kind was in contemplation. The colored men made the remark that there would be no in
surrection upon the part of the blacks ; if there were any insurrection it, would be gotten up
by the whites. There is this noticeable and lamentable change in the state of public senti-
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. -119
ment between last -spring and the present winter. I frequently had occasion to travel on
the boats about the time Mobile fell and the government was giving transportation home to
rebel officers and soldiers, and on these boats at that time the rebel soldiers, of course, were
very quiet ami well-behaved. The officers occasionally would come into the cabin, but were
silent, and conducted themselves as though they were there by favor. During last winter I
had occasion again to travel considerably on boats on the river, and the change was marked :
rebels, open, bitter and defiant rebels, seemed to be as plentiful as blackberries, and rebel
officers, or those who had been officers in the rebel army, seemed to be the principal charac-
" ters on board the boats. Coming up the river in December, wo had as passengers a large
delegation of General Morgan's men, some of them most desperate characters, who had dis
graced guerilla warfare. They came on that boat, and they felt that they had been recon
structed fully. I saw a letter recently from a colored sergeant in New Orleans, written to
his old colonel in Waterville, Maine. He said that when colored soldiers were mustered out
of the army they go into the country to visit their friends, and they are subjected to all kind.1?
of outrages — hunted, bruised, and some of them shot. Here in New Orleans, if it is known
that a colored man has been in the United States army, he is not employed if it is possible
to find a negro who has not been in the army. And he adds : "In God and in Congress are
all our hopes ; if they do not do something for us, what will become of the colored man?"
Question. Can you give the name of the person you met in the steamboat in company
with Governor Skarkey, on his return from Washington?
Answer. That was Colonel Hamilton.
Question. Was he afterwards appointed or chosen to any office in the State? If so, what.
Aulwer. I am not aware that Colonel Hamilton received his commission as United States
marshal; but he had the assurance. He told me while in Washington that he should re
ceive it.
WASHINGTON, March 2, 1866.
S. R. Harrington sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. What is your age, residence, and occupation ?
Answer. I am twenty-eight years of age ; I am now a resident of this city, and am a
lawyer by profession.
Question. Have you been, during or since the war of the rebellion, in Arkansas, Missis
sippi, Alabama, or Georgia ?
Answer. I was in the State of Arkansas nearly three years during the wrar, and have been
there since.
Question. "When did you leave Arkansas?
Answer.' About the 1st of December, 1665.
Question. In what capacity, were you employed after the surrender of Lee?
Answer. I was then -out of the service. I was here when Lee surrendered. I visited
friends in the north, and returned to Arkansas in September last. I left Arkansas the first
time in January, lb'65, when I was mustered out of the service.
Question. What position did you occupy in the service?
Answer. I was major in the 5th Kansas cavalry, and for a portion of the time acting
assistant inspector general of the department*
Question. What portions of Arkansas did you visit when you were last there?
Answer. I was at Pine Bluff, on the Arkansas river, and at points in that vicinity, out
through the country among the citizens, and looking at plantations.
Question. So fur as you observed, what was the condition of the people and tVeir senti
ments and purposes with reference to the national government ?
Answer. They seemed cheerfully to accept the result of the war — that is, the large majority
of them, and are so glad to have peace that they do not regret the failure of the confederacy.
I speak of the officers who had served in the confederate armies. A great many of them told
me that they were glad the Avar had resulted as it did ; that they had been defeated ; that
they had looked upon the leaders of the confederacy at the commencement as patriots, but
that now they had different views of them ; that they considered their motives mere selfish
ness and a desire for power, and the moment they discovered they were not fighting fur
slavery they lost confidence in their leaders.
Question. If it were possible to establish the confederacy, would a majority of the people
of Arkansas, so far as you know, prefer its establishment to a continuance of the Union ?
Answer. I think a majority of the people of Arkansas now prefer the Union. The people,
in the northwestern part of Arkansas especially, are a poor people, and owned but few slaves.
They were devotedly attached to the Union. I was with them at the breaking out of the
war. The only channel through which the leaders could get them to espouse the cause of
the confederacy was the subject of the negro. Being an ignorant people, they are governed
120 RECONSTRUCTION.
by their prejudices, and when the people were made to believe that the war upon the part of
the government was for the purpose of placing the negro on an equality with them, they
seemed willing to go out of the Union. That was the only argument used by the speakers
in that part of the State. Many of the people, however, remained loyal% all through the war,
hundreds of them, especially, in the northwestern portion of the State. *Down on the cpttou
plantations there is a different class of people. There disloyal sentiments were much more
prevalent at the breaking out of the war. But I conversed since the war with many of the
most prominent men, such as Judge Compton, one of the supreme judges of the State before
the war, and he held the same position under the confederate government. He said the ques
tion had been decided by the best court known to man, the sword, and tie acquiesced in the
decision, although ho had ardently wished it otherwise. There was a confederate colonel
present^who remarked, ''Yes, because had we succeeded we would have gone on to hell."
There are a great many northern people settling there. Probably forty ex-officers who,servod
with me have settled in the vicinity of Pine Bluff, where they are farming or practicing their
Erofessious. They are welcomed by the citizens with much more cordiality than they would
ave been before the war. Although there is still much prejudice against the northern people,
there is more respect for them than before the war.
Question. Do you know anything of the men from Arkansas who are here claiming seats
in Congress ?
Answer. I was acquainted with Mr. Snow, senator elect, and Colonel Kyle, member of
Congress elect. I formed their acquaintance during the war, while I was an officer.
Question. Do you esteem them as loyal men through the war 1
Answer. Colonel Kyle has a record without a blemish. I had it from rebels during the
war, who said that he was always an old abolitionist, and that they ought to have hung him
before we came there. I never knew that Colonel Kyle professed anything else than loyalty.
It seems that many persons supposed that Mr. Snow was loyal to the confederacy before we
came. Mr. Snow, however, was very glad to receive us when we came, and welcomed us as
friends, and his conduct since then, so far as I have known, has been that of a patriotic,
loyal man.
Question. According to your observation, what is the condition of the freedmen in
Arkansas ?
Answer. So far as my observation went, there was universal satisfaction expressed with
General Sprague in his manner of conducting the Freedmeu's Bureau. There seemed to be
a desire that mere should be no doubt as to the qualification or right of the negro to make a
contract. Some of the returned rebels found some fault with the test oath, and some with
the amendment of the State constitution, striking out the word "free" wherever it occurred,
placing the white man and the negro upon an equality, so far as it regards contract, oath,
&c. There were, however, different views in regard to the legality of that act, or the full
meaning of it, among the lawyers of the State. Some contended that it gave the negroes
u right to vote. Others contended that striking out the word "free" did not affect the mat
ter any way. There was some quibbling about that, and some act of the State was desired.
Question. What would be the feeling of the people of Arkansas in reference to conferring
upon the negroes the right to vote, either universal or qualified suffrage ?
Answer. A qualified suffrage might find some supporters, a very respectable number ;
but unqualified suffrage would find hardly any advocates. There is a strong prejudice
against the colored man in that respect.
Question. What is the disposition of the negroes in regard to work ? Are they disposed to
labor?
Answer. Yes, sir, and they are equally sought for. There are not enough there to perform
the labor required, so many of the cotton plantafions have been opened up this year by north
ern men. The negroes show a disposition to contract with northern men rather than with
their former masters.
Question If the season is favorable, what do you anticipate will be the crop this year in
Arkansas, us compared with the crops before the war ?
Answer. Probably about one-halt.
Question. Why should there be so much diminution?
Answer. The plantations have been so much destroyed and overgrown with brush and
vvecds, and the fences and cotton gins have been destroyed to such an extent, and there
is such a scarcity of labor ; all these causes will have their effect.
Question. Dave you any information as to the number of ineu on both sides Arkansas has
lost during the war?
Answer. I have not.
Question. Of what State are you a native ?
Answer. Of the State of New York. I went to Kansas in 18o5, and was tL/?re all through
the troubles there.
AKKANS AS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI —ALABAMA. 121
WASHINGTON, D. C.. March 2, 186G.
General B. H. Grierson sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. State your age, residence, and occupation.
Answer. I am thirty-nine years of age. I reside in Jacksonville, Illinois. I have no oc
cupation at present.
Question. Have you been connected with the army during the last war ; if so, for how
long a period, and in what capacity ?
Answer. I have been, for nearly five years, in various grades, first as aid to General
Prentiss, afterwards major and colonel of the Cth Illinois cavalry, and brigadier and brevet
major general of volunteers.
Question. In what parts of the country have you been employed while, in the military ser
vice ?
Answer. In Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. I
have been in Georgia also, but only for a short timp.
Question, Have you had any means of ascertaining the condition of the people in either
of those States, and especially their opinions towards the national government since Lee's
surrender ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What means have you had, and what are the results of your observations ?
Answer. About the time of Lee's surrender I started with five thousand cavalry on an ex
pedition across the State of Alabama. From Mobile I marched into Georgia via Greenville
and Eufaula, Alabama, where I was stopped by the news of the armistice between General
Sherman and General Johnston. Upon receipt of official information of Johnston's surrender
Ifenoved with my command to Montgomery, Alabama, and, after Taylor's surrender, marched
from there to Columbus, Mississippi, a distance altogether of about seven hundred miles. I
think I had good opportunities to judge the people of the south correctly at that time and
since.
Question. When did you leave Alabama ?
Answer. In a short time after my arrival at Columbus, Mississippi, I was ordered to New
Orleans to organize a force for Texas. About the time I was ready, the rebels surrendered
there also. I then solicited an order to go home, as the war was over ; and I was afterwards
ordered to return to Alabama. I reported to General Woods, commanding department of
Alabama, on the 16th of September, and was placed in command of the district of Huuts-
ville. I remained in command until the 17th of January, I860, and did not leave Alabama
until about the 1st of February. At the time of the surrender of Lee and Johnston my im
pression of the people there was, that they were willing to accept almost any terms which
might be granted to them by the government. There appeared to be great fear manifested
by them that all their property would be confiscated, and that possibly they would not be
allowed to remain in the country. That appeared to be the feeling among the wealthy and
influential classes. I think at that time they would have been willing to accept any terms
granted to them ; but they have grown, from time to time, more exacting in theiv demands.
Many of them had the appearance, at first, of acepting the situation, and of being willing
to abide the result. This was particularly the case with the private soldiers and poorer
classes of the south. There were, of course, a few of the wealthier classes who felt very
bitter, and talked a good deal about leaving the south entirely, and about not being willing
to remain there, offering to sell their property at reduced prices. I think that, instead of
growing more willing to accept the situation, they are showing a more intense feeling of bit
terness towards the government. I speak o'f the leading men more particularly. They do
not appear to think that they have done anything wrong. Their only regret seems to be
that they had not the means to carry out their designs.
Question. Is the feeling of hostility to the government a feeling which controls a great
majority, or only a minority of the people in the region of which you have spoken ?
Answer. It is the feeling of the majority. At the time of the appointment of the civil
officers, a great many of those who had served during the rebellion were reap pointed ; there
was hardly a loyal man appointed to any civil office ; I do not know one who was. That,
of course, indicates the feelings of the people. Then previous to the election, officers were
stationed at different points to administer the amnesty oath ; but a great many would not
take" it, and voted at the election without regard to it. In many of the counties their votes
were taken without question. All who were elected were, so far as I know, men who had
sympathized with the rebellion; many of them had been in the rebel army, and were bitter
in their feelings against the United States government.
Question. To what do you attribute the change of sentiment between the time of Lee's
surrender and later on ?
Answer. That would be only a matter of opinion. I think that if the disloyal had been
dealt with more severely, there would have been less dissatisfaction and more loyalty in the
south to-day. Their demands have steadily increased. At the time I left, they complained
that their congressmen were not admitted, and they seemed to think that on that account
they were au injured people. I think that every congressman elected in the State of Ala-
122 RECONSTRUCTION.
bama was elected for his devotion to the cause of the rebellion ; some of them served at
Richmond as congressmen, and others as officers in the rebel army: but in no case, that I
know of, was a loyal man elected. The truly loyal people of Alabama do not wish the
present elected congressmen and senators from that State admitted into Congress.
Question. • Do you know anything of secret organizations among the rebels 1
Answer. I have carefully studied and considered that matter, and from many things that
I have noticed — a general murmuring in the south, and a great anxiety to organize the
militia, and to get rid of the army and the Freedmen's Bureau — I think there are such or
ganizations. Of course I only give my opinion on that subject from everything I could
learn, and from studying the southern people.
Question. What should you anticipate as the result of the withdrawing of the military and
of the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. I do not think it would be right ; I think it would result in great injustice and
injury to the colored people, and also to the poorer classes of whites, and all loyal white
men at the south.
Question. Do you know whether there is any expectation on the part of. people in that
section of the country that they are to be compensated in any way for their slaves, or for
their other losses incurred during the war?
Answer. Yes, sir; there is a great feeling of that kind; they seem to think that their
property has been stolen from them by the government ; they do not accept the condition of
the freedmen. In many places where there are no troops, I have known instances of ne
groes being forced to call their former owners masters, as heretofore, and of their being told
that, when the troops were removed they would be again forced into slavery ; that they
would be just as much slaves as ever.
Question. So far as you have observed,- what is the disposition of the negroes in regard to
work, if they are properly paid ?
Answer. I have been very agreeably disappointed in regard to that. I found the negroes
much more willing to work, and less disposed to depend upon the aid of the government,
than I had supposed they would be. I have been surprised to see them go to work so freely
and cheerfully I did not expect that a whole system of labor could be changed at once, as
it were, and have so few evil results. I feared that a very large number of the negroes
would have to be fed and supported a long time by the government; but perceiving their
anxiety to get work, and their willingness to work for those who they think will pay them
promptly, I have changed my mind entirely in regard to that matter.
Question. Is it your opinion that the negroes, if they had a fair chance, will be a self-sup
porting people?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What is their disposition in regard to education ?
Answer. They are manifesting a wonderful desire to learn to read. They have scarcely a
leisure moment that you cannot see them with a book in their hand learning to re-ad, par
ticularly those who have been soldiers or servants.
Question. Have you any apprehension that the influence of the negroes, whether they arc
or are not permitted to vote, would be thrown against the government under any circum
stances ?
Answer. Never, sir; in my opinion I think they are true. During my whole service in
the army I have never yet found a negro who was not true to the country. They were always
ready and willing to give information cheerfully — many times information of great value to
the service.
Question. Do they generally understand the nature of the controversies in their leading
particulars between the south and the north?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they have manifested a great deal more intelligence than they have got
credit for. In my trip through Mississippi I found in the centre of the State negroes run
ning away from their masters with no vague conception of freedom, I assure you. They
had a knowledge that the government was what they should stand by.
Question. What is the disposition of the negroes in regard to acquiring lauds and getting
homes ?
Answer. They desire it, and they desire to remain where they have lived heretofore. They
seem to be attached to their former homes or localities.
Question. What is the disposition of the white people in regard to allowing negroes to be
come land owners?
Answer. They do not favor it. The slaveholders felt* some responsibility for the negroes
when they were slaves, but they have thrown that off entirely now. They say : " The gov
ernment treed you, and now let the government take care of you." In hiring negroes they
try to hire those who have no old, or young, or feeble persons depending on. them. Former
slave owners will not lease or sell laud to negroes.
Question. Do you apprehend a negro insurrection in case the negroes are not properly
treated ?
Answer. I think the negroes have shown a remarkable degree of patience, although many
of them have been brutally treated since the surrender. They have manifested no disposi
tion to rise in rebellion. The whites were alarmed about Christmas. They feared that there
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 12 3
would be a negfo insurrection. The negroes believed that land was to be given to them,
and that they would be aided and helped by the government, and the people rather construed
that into an opinion that the negroes would rise up in arms against them ; but 1 did not see
any evidence to justify any such fear.
Question. If Alabama and Mississippi should be restored to political power in the govern
ment of the country, and if the elective franchise were left exclusively in the hands of the
white people of those States, what should you expect would be the political character of the
representatives from those States in regard to the payment of the national debt, the preser
vation of the Union, and the assumption of their own debts ?
Answer. I think there is a great desire manifested by them for the assumption of their debt.
They wish to bring that about, and many desire to be paid for their slaves. I think they
would oppose the payment of the national debt. I think they tyave no patriotism for the
Union. They appear to be nOw as much devoted to the cause of the rebellion as they -were
during the war. They appear to accept the situation because they cannot do anything else
at present, not because they are satisfied with it. I think that, if another election were held
for congressmen and senator!, they would elect men who are even stronger in their senti
ments for the south and against the government than those heretofore elected. They did in
some cases try to pick men who would not be objectionable in every respect ; but I think
these men now would be objectionable to the southern people. I infer this from a great
many things. For instance, all employes of railroad, telegraph, and express companies who
were loyal to the government, are having their "heads cut off" and their places filled by
sympathizers, with the rebellion, many of them heretofore officers in the rebel service. I have
received a letter from a telegraph operator who had been in the south d wring the whole war, and
who had married a southern woman, stating that they were' removing all employes not decid
edly in favor of the confederacy, and putting in their places those who were ; and he, knowing
thai, his turn was coming, resigned his position and wrote to me to know if I could get him
some position at the north. He states that to be the rule adopted. It had been carried out in
many cases before I left Alabama. . At the time of the surrender, and even after that, they
manifested a disposition rather to divide this thing; but that is entirely changed. ,
Juestiou. So far as you know, how do Alabama and Mississippi compare with Georgia
Tennessee in the particulars of which you have spoken 1
Answer. I think there is not very much difference. If any, it is in favor of Tennessee. I
think that Tennessee is rather the more loyal State.
Question. If you have any facts or views that you have not stated, you may state them
now.
Answer. I have mentioned something in regard to organizing the militia. There seems to
be a great desire on the part of the southern people for that, and to remove the Freedmen's
Bureau. There is an intense hatred to the Freedmen's Bureau and to its officers. It is looked
upon as a disgrace in that country, by those who now control it, to belong to the federal army ;
but, on the ovher hand, to have been an officer in the confederate army is a passport to soci
ety everywhere throughout the south. I believe that if the militia system were carried out, it
would be organized into brigades and divisions, and would be officered throughout by rebel
officers. I tried every way I. could to get correct information of the people, and to judge
them without any unkind feeling. I hoped that they would be loyal, or at least that they
would accept the situation sincerely ; but I am satisfied that they do not. I believe that there
is an organization existing now throughout the south for the renewal of the lebeilion. Many
circumstances -or things which have occurred since the surrender make me believe so. I have
a statement from a reliable man that one of the present State representatives of Alabama
said that an organization did exist throughout the whole south for that purpose, and I
learned from other parties that the "Historical Society" has something to do with it. You
may have observed notices of very large attendances at Historical Society meetings in Georgia
aud Alabama.*
Question. Did you have any interview with Governor Parsons, Governor Sharkey, or Gov
ernor Pattoii while you were in Alabama or Mississippi?
Answer. Xo, sir. Governor Pattou was in Huntville while I was in command, but he did
not call at headquarters. He seemed to be congratulating the people in regard to hi< success
* The following order of Governor Humphreys of Mississippi, published in the New Orleans Pkuyune, has
been received since the examination of General Grierson:
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, Jackstn, Miss., February 9, 1866.
SIR : Your suggestion, recommending the organization of Historical Societies in each couuty of ihe State,
must meet the cordial approbation of the people.
The actors in the great tragedy of the revolution are fast passing away, and much valuable information must
be lost by delay. One side of the story has been written — truth has been hushed by the dumb eloquence of
numbers aud the flush of success ; the world's verdict is rendered against the South and her people. Through
the labor of thes»e societies, durable,records, in the form of maps, charts, and diagrams of the movements aud
counts-movements of both armies — minute details of battles, skirmishes, robberies, conflagration.-, and van
dalism — together with the heroic part acted by our brave people, will be transmitted to posterity, to whom we
appeal for the vindication of the truth of history and the rectitude of our cause.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
BENJ. G. HUMPHREYS, Governor of Mississippi,
Col. J. L. POWER, Superintendent Army Records.
124 RECONSTRUCTION.
•with General Thomas as to the removal of troops from there, and as to the organization of
the militia. He told them it would be organized immediately. In fact, he appointed colonels
to whom he was to send commissions ; and I think before that Governor Parsons had ulso
sent commissions to them.
Question. What were the antecedents of the men thus commissioned ?
Answer. So far as I know, they were officers of the late rebel army.
Question. Is there any public sentiment in the country of which you have spoken in regard
to a foreign war. If so, what is it, and what are the ideas entertained ?
Answer. They seem to manifest a great desire to have this country involved in a war with
France in regard to Mexico. I think that, as a general thing, in case of such an event, they
would seize that opportunity to turn against the government. Of course, there are exceptions,
but that is the true sentiment of the leading people of the south, or of those there who have
a controlling influence; a»ud it is my firm belief, after all I have been able to learn of the
southern people during the Avar and since the surrender, that the spirit of resistance still exists
there as strong as ever, and that, in the event of this country engaging in a foreign war, the
enemies of the government of the United States throughout the^ south do meditate, and will
not fail, to seize that opportunity to attempt again its destruction. •
WASHINGTON, March 6, 1866.
Lieutenant Colonel Charles A. Henry sworn and examined.
By Mr. BoimvELL :
Question. What is your ago, residence, and occupation ?
Answer. I am thirty-four years of age ; I was formerly a physician, but am now a mer
chant by'occupation ; I am residing in Arkansas myself, but my family are at present living
near Cincinnati.
Question. Have you been in the service of the government since Lee's surrender ; and if
so, where?
Answer. I have been in service in the department of Arkansas until the 19th of October,
1865, headquarters at Little Rock, as chief quartermaster of the 7th army corps, with the
rank of lieutenant colonel.
Question. What opportunities have you had, since the war of the rebellion ceased, of ascer
taining the condition of the people of Arkansas, and their opinions upon political matters?
Answer. I have been in very familiar communication with the Union party of the State.
I was identified with them in their State organization of 18G3 and 18b'4. My office was
somewhat of a rendezvous for them. Part of the business of the people of the State of Ar
kansas with the quartermaster's department was done by me at my office at Little Rock. I
am personally acquainted with nearly all the prominent men in the State, both of the Union
and of the rebel clement.
Question. Considering all the voting population of Arkansas, without reference to the fact
whether they participated in the rebellion or not, would the majority be for the confederacy,
if it was possible to establish it, or for the union of the United States ?
Answer. So far as my knowledge goes, I think there are very few people in Arkansas who
would be in favor of restoring the confederacy. A great many of the men who were promi
nent in the rebellion have expressed themselves as convinced that they had made a^great
mistake in going into the rebellion, and are now anxious to become citizens of the United
States in good faith. Major General Fagaii, of the rebel army, who commanded the rebel
department of Arkansas; Governor Rector, who was governor of the State at the time of the
passage of the ordinance of secession ; Governor Fannigau, AV!IO succeeded him in that office ;
Mr. Garland, who was a member 'o"F the confederate senate, and several other men occupying
prominent positions, have expressed themselves as having become sensible that they hod
made 2 great mistake. Fagaii and Garland were Union men up to the passage of the ordi
nance of secession ; after that they went into the military and civil service of the confederacy.
Rector and Faiinigan were original Calhouu men.
Question. Are these men now confided in by the people who have been loyal all the time
during the war?
Answer. There is a disposition on the part of the Union people in Arkansas to receive in
good faith the assertions of these men, but not for the purpose of making them prominent
before the people. There is no disposition on the part of the Union men in Arkansas to con
fer office upon those who have been in the rebel service ; we are Avilling to have them come
into our church as conVerts, but are disposed to let them occupy back scats for some years to
come, as in the case of General Gantt. General Gantt has been a great deal of service to
the Union clement since ho left the confederacy, some three 'years ago; but he has never
been an applicant for office in the State.
Question. When was the last election in Arkansas?
Answer. In October, leiio.
Question. For the election of what officers was it held 1
ARKANSAS GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 125
Answer. For the election of members of Congress, and, I think, to fill a few vacancies in
county offices ; but the election was principally for members of Congress, as Governor Mur
phy had failed to call an election in the spring.
Question. How did the aggregate vote at that election compare with tho number of white
persons in the State, males, over twenty-one years of age?
Answer. The vote was a small one. I left Little Rock a few days prior to thf election,
but the conviiss was nearly completed before I left. After. I returned to Little Reck, in De
cember, I understood that the vote was light, and I was satisfied that it would be.
Question. To what was that due?
Answer. To the fact that the Union party had very little confidence that tho members
would be admitted into Congress ; Mr. Johnson and other members elect had been liere for
two sessions without being admitted, and the Union people felt somewhat discouraged at the
prospect. Those men, it is true, had received their mileage, but had not been admitted to
their seats. In the city of Little Rock alone there could have been polled 500 or GOO more
votes for the Union candidate if it had been deemed necessary.
Question. When was the last election for governor and members of the legislature?
Answer. March 14, ]864.
Question. Is there another election to be held during the present month?
Answer. No ; there is an election to be held, I think, in August for members of the lower
house of the legislature, who are elected for two years only.
Question. Do you know what was the aggregate vote at the election in 1864 ?
Answer. It was between 12,000 and 12,500.
Question. What proportion was that of the voting population of the State at that time?
Answer. At the presidential election in 1860 the vote was 54,000 and some hundreds.
That election probably brought out all the vote in Arkansas, as there was a great deal of
bitterness in the canvass between the Douglas, the Bell-Everett, and Breekinridge men. At
the election in March, 1864, for governor, State officers, and members of the legislature, we
estimated that tho Union candidates received a majority of the actual voters then present in
the State of Arkansas.
Question. How do you account for the loss which that indicated ?
Answer. By emigration to the north, both forced and voluntary, of the Union element, and
by the absence in the State of Texas and other States south of persons in the rebel military
and civil service. We estimated that there could not have been half the voting population
in Arkansas at that time that there was in 1860.
Question. Has there been an increase of the voting population since 1864 ; and if so, to
what extent, and from what sources ?
Answer. There has been quite a large increase by the return of men of both parties — those
who were originally Union men, and those who were originally rebels. The dispersing of the
rebel army has thrown several thousands of men back into the State. Ancl there has
been comparatively quite a large northern immigration into Arkansas since hostilities ceased.
Question. What do you estimate the voting population of Arkansas to be at this time ?
Answer. When I was in Arkansas, in January last, Governor Murphy, Secretary White,
Judge Caldwell, United States judge, and myself, spent a great deal of time together in can
vassing these matters, and the genera] opinion appeared to be that we ought to have about
40,000 voters in the State. It is impossible to tell exactly, without a census. Some portions
of the State have lost very heavily, and the population has not been replaced. A great many
men have been killed on both sides in Arkansas during the war. General Bishop, the pres
ent adjutant general of the State, and Governor Murphy assured me that the record showed
that nearly 17,000 Arkansians had been in the federal service. In addition to the soldiers in
the Arkansas regiments, several thousand volunteered in the Missouri, Kansas, and other
regiments that were in Arkansas prior to the formation of the Arkansas regiments.
Question. Do you know how many went into the rebel service?
Answer. The number of rebel Arkansas regiments was some forty-odd; I do not remember
whether it was 43, 45, or 47. I know we captured a Colonel Baker, of the 40th regiment, at
the battle of Marais du Cygnes. They numbered up to and over forty regiments from the
commencement of the war until the close, but a portion of thenj were one-year men.
Question. Of how many men did the rebel regiments consist?
Answer. It was intended that they should consist of a thousand men each, but I under
stand that they wqre never very full ; they were usually small regiments. I know that when
we met them in battle we usually had as many men in a regiment as they had in a brigade.
They accounted for that by saying that their men deserted. We received thousands of men
in our regiments who were deserters from the rebel Arkansas regiments.
Question. What number of Arkansas men do you think actually went into the rebel service
during the war ?
Answer. It is impossible for me to state, except in the way of an opinion. ,
Question. Well, give your opinion.
Answer. I have an idea that there must have been — conscripts and volunteers — in the
neighborhood of 30,000 men from the State of Arkansas in the rebel service, as Hindman
made a very rigid conscription ; but I have no positive evidence to that effect.
QiiBStion. Did any colored men from Arkansas go into the Union service?
126 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir; six-regiments, I think.
Question. Regiments of a thousand men each ?
Answer. They numbered a thousand each, originally, but they were reduced by disease
and losses in some few engagements. Tlfc negro regiments that we had in service in our
corps who did the most fighting were the 1st and 2d Kansas colored regiments. We had
them on the Red river expedition when we undertook to effect a junction with General Banks.
» They acted with great gallantry at the battles of Pison Springs and Jenkins's Ferry.
Question. Has the colored population of Arkansas been materially diminished during the
war?
Answer. Yes, sir.
' Question. To what extent, do yon suppose?
Answer. Governor Murphy thinks that there are not more than one-half the colored men
in the State now that there was before the war. I am unable to tell how that is, for I have
no knowledge of thft number of colored population there before the war, except from the last cen
sus, which shows that there were about 1 12,000 negroes in Arkansas in ]&60. My judg
ment is that there cannot be more than half that number in the Stute at the present time.
Question. How do you account for the loss?
Answer. A great many have been lost by disease ; a great many have gone off into Kan
sas and Missouri ; a great many went to Memphis ; they are scattered all along the Upper
Mississippi river. A great many left the State as the servants of officers, and got off in that
way.
Question. What is generally the condition of the negroes in Arkansas ?
Answer. I think they are pretty comfortable. There is very little suffering among them
as a class.
Question. Are they generally at work ?
Answer. Yes, sir. In July or August last I sent out a provost guard to pick up idle con
trabands in Little Rock to put on my trains as teamsters. The provost marshal of the Freed-
men's Bureau sent out a negro guard to pick up all negroes that had no passes. In the
limits -of Little Rock they found, I think, 43 men. Of these, we released all but twenty- odd,
the parties for whom they were at work having come forward and shown that it was Wing
to carelessness on their part that the negroes had been found without passes.
Question. Do you consider that a large or small number ?
Answer. Well, sir, there were several thousand negroes in the city and vicinity at that
time. I could have found 2,500 idle white men there. When I left Little Rock there were
over a thousand able-bodied negroes in the city. I had in my employ between 300 and 400.
Question. When you speak of 2,500 white men being idle, do you mean men who ought,
from their condition in life, to have been at work ?
Answer. I do not mean that they -all had no visible means of support ; but I should say
that half that number were of that class — (refugees, paroled rebel soldiers, and camp fol
lowers mostly.) A
Question. What is the condition of the negroes in Arkansas as to intelligence and a dispo
sition to acquire knowledge ?
Answer. So far as my experience goes, they arc all very anxious, to learn to read and
write. I have noticed that the great body of those I have come in contact with have a
spelling-book about them somewhere ; and I learn from officers of colored regiments that the
great majority of the soldiers in their regiments are learning to read and write. Colonel
Hudson, of the 60th colored regiment, told me that all his orderly sergeants were able to
make out their morning reports, and that none of them could do it when they entered the
service. • I have been told by officers of colored regiments at Little Rock that they had sev
eral men in their regiments whom they could detail as clerks, who had acquired a knowledge
of reading and writing since they had been in the service. So far as I have seen there set-ins
to be a general disposition on the part of the colored population of Arkansas to learn to read
and write when they get the opportunity, and they most all find the opportunity. ' The
schools in Little Rock are very full. I attended one of then* exhibitions there, with Major
General Reynolds and staff, upon the invitation of the superintendent. The children pre
sented about the same appearance as that presented by children of the same age in schools in
the western States, so far as reading and spelling were concerned.
Question. What is the disposition of the old settlers in Arkansas towards the negroes ?
Answer. So far as uiy knowledge goes, there is no bad feeling existing Cowards the negroes
on the part of men who formerly owned them. The great anxiety seems to be to get them to
work for them. They appear to realize what is really the case, that if they fail to treat the
negroes kindly they will be unable to secure their services in the future.
Question. What wages are paid the negroes this year ?
Answer. I am not positive, as the wages were fixed by General Sprague for the coming
p year while I was absent from the State. Last year their wages were $25 a mouth.
Question. Did that include their support ?
Answer. The party who hired furnished rations and the house to live in. It was consid
ered an exorbitant price by the parties who hired ; they said they were unable to make any
money at raising cotton at those wages.
Question. Is there more or less land put into cotton this year than there was last ?
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 127
Answer. There was not near as much fast year as this year. The only land put into
cotton last year was in the vicinity of our posts. This year most all the cotton lauds in the
State are put into cotton, with the exception of those near the Mississippi where the levees
have been broken. I believe there will be nearly as much cotton raised this year as there
was in IcOO. A great many officers of the army have settled in Arkansas and are engaged
in raising1 cotton, and I know of no instance where they have been molested.
Question. What is the disposition of the people of Arkansas in regard to allowing negroes
to vote ?
Answer. I do not think a proposition of that kind submitted to the people would be agreed
to. There are some men in the State in favor of it. I advocated negro suffrage in that
State in January— before the close of the war — and I found but two* or three persons at that
time who were in favor of it. Judge Caldwell, Mr. Stoddard, and one or two others were in
favor of it. But later in the summer there was a pretty large party in favor of it. The pres
ent governor and most of the State officials are in favor of it. But it was not considered
policy to agitate the question there, any more than to speak about it among ourselves, as
there was very little prospect at that time of carrying it. I think it will eventually be done
in that State. There will be a gain in strength every year. I do not think there is any ob
jection on the part of any great number of people in the State to giving the negro the same
protection before the law that the white man has. At least I do not think I have found half
a dozen men in the State since July last that did not admit that it was equitable that the ne
groes should be protected by the law the same as white men. I have no doubt that at the
next session the legislature "will pass a bill, if necessary, giving negroes the right to give
evidence, and to sue and be sued, with very little opposition. The new State constitution
guarantees the negro equal civil rights. The senate is entirely Union men ; and in the elec
tion of members of the lower house the Union party will have as many men, or more, who
were original Union men as those who were original rebels.
Question. Has the constitution of Arkansas been amended or a new one been made since
the rebellion ?
Answer. The constitution has been amended abolishing slavery, limiting the right of in
denture to oue year, except in case of minors, repudiating the rebel debt, and giving the ne
gro equal civil rights.
Question. Was the amended constitution submitted to the people?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How many votes were given in favor of it ?
Answer. A little over twelve thousand for it, and between two and three hundred against
it. The oath was taken viva voce, and the oath of allegiance, or amnesty oath, was sub
scribed to by the parties before they were allowed to vote. The' viva voce vote applied only
to the first election, by ordinance of the convention, in order to see who was who. Since
then the voting has been by ballot.
Question. Do rebels as well as the others vote in Arkansas ?
Answer. The legislature last year passed a law prohibiting all parties from voting who
had given aid and comfort to the rebellion since April, 1864, at which time the new constitu
tion went into effect. Since the last election an appeal was taken to the supreme court of
the State, and that court decided that the law was unconstitutional. But there has been no
legislative action upon the subject since then. The statute still stands upon the statute book,
and it was enforced at the last election.
Question. What is the opinion prevailing in Arkansas as to whether the people will be
compensated for their slaves or for losses incurred during the war ?
Answer. In the summer I learned from some persons in the Red river region that that mat
ter had been agitated down there a little before the election, and that they had come to the
conclusion that it was a poor show to get anything for their negroes. But there is a general
idea throughout the State that men who have been loyal to the federal government during
the rebellion will at some time be compensated for their losses.
Question. For what kind of losses do you think they expect to be paid ?
Answer. For their stock, forage, and provisions taken by the federal army, for which they
hold receipts from our officers in a great many instances ; in some instances no recuipts have
been given. And they also expect to be paid at some time for their property which has been
destroyed or used for military purposes by the federal army. But the loyal people do not ex
pect any payment, for their slaves.
Question. Have you any idea of the amount of these claims?
Answer. It is impossible to tell. I have had a great many of them before me, but was .
unable to pay them under the existing laws. There has been a large amount of property in
the State used by the federal army which belonged to men of undoubted loyalty, many of
them serving at the time in the federal army. I have often taken such property myself when
it was deemed necessary.
Question. Do you know, personally, those persons from Arkansas who are here claiming
seats in Congress ? If so, state what course they pursued during the rebellion.
Answer. I do know them. I made the acquaintance of the parties in the fall and winter
of 1863, just after the occupation of Little Rock by General Steele's army. Judge Baxter,
pne of the senators elect, had the reputation, among the men whom I found in Arkansas and
whom I talked -with, of having been a consistent Union man. He had escaped, » few days
1 2 8 RECONSTRUCTION.
before the federal army entered Little Rock, frpm'the confederate military prison, whore he had
been confined for some time on the charge of high treason against the confederacy. Then, by
permission of General Steele, he commenced to raise a regiment of white Arkansians, he being
their colonel. He was engaged in raising that regiment at Bates ville, Arkansas, and had it
partly raised at the time of the reorganization of the State government of Arkansas. He was
then elected a judge of the supreme court of the State, and subsequently was elected by the
legislature to the United States Senate, in connexion with Colonel Fishback.
Mr. Snow, the other United States senator elect from Arkansas, was one of the first men
who came to us when wo reached Little Rock. He was understood to have been a Union
man during the rebellipn, and from what I know of the circumstances I have no doubt he
was loyal during the entire war. He had seme difficulty at Pine Bluff, about the time of the
capture of Vicksburg, with the rebel element there, and they endeavored to lynch him one
day at the court-house there as an abolitionist and a northern sympathizer. He was rescued
by General Yell, a prominent but humane rebel officer there. He was in the telegraph busi
ness in Arkansas at the commencement of the war, and the lines he had built continued to
be worked under his direction for general business during the first year of the war. In Novem
ber, 1862, they were taken out of his hands by the confederate government on account of
his loyalty to the confederate government being suspected, he having refused to lake the oath
of allegiance to the confederacy. They were taken away from him before the capture of
Vicksburg, and turned over to an agent of the confederate government. I know Mr. Snow
has been an active and consistent Union man ever since we entered the State of Arkansas,
and is considered to belong to the radical element.
Colonel Johnson, from the Fort Smith district, member elect to the House of Representa
tives, was colonel of the 1st federal Arkansas (white) infantry regiment. He was a refugee
from the State in the southern part of Missouri, and raised a regiment there of the loyal men
who had been driven out of Arkansas during the war. I think Colonel Johnson's loyalty is
not questioned by any one in the State.
Colonel Kyle, another member elect, I became acquainted with when I was with General
Steelcj as chief quartermaster of his army, on the expedition to Red river to join General
Banks. He came into our camp at Arkadelphia, some ninety miles south of Little Rock,
having been driven from his home by Shelby's raiders, and his property destroyed, on ac
count of his being an abolitionist and a sympathizer with the Yankees. He was introduced
to me by General Rice, of Iowa, who was killed in that campaign. General Rice had known
Colonel Kyle for some time as a Union man ; and at the request of General Rice and General
Steele I employed Colonel Kyle as one of my forage masters, he having no means of support
at that time. Ho was with me until we sent a return train to the Arkansas river from Cam-
den. That train was captured by 'Major General Fagan at Marks's mills, and I learn that
Colonel Kyle was one of the few that escaped. After the reported capture he returned to his
former residence, where he remained very quietly until about the time of the surrender, when
he came again up to Little Rock. I heard him make several speeches in the canvass upon
the Union side as the candidate for Congress. A Mr. Gibson and Dr. Meador wore candi
dates against him, and ran on the strength of their alleged sympathy with the people who
had been in the rebellion. Mr. Kyle was nominated by the Union League in Little Rock as
their candidate in his district.
Judge Byers, the other member elect, I was very little acquainted with personally, but I
knew him by reputation. He lived at Batesville, and a Mr. Jacks was a candidate against
him. Judge Byers had the reputation of being a Union man. lie took no active part on
either side during the war, for he was an invalid. I have understood from officers of General
Curtis's army who were in Arkansas at the commencement of the war, and who were at
Judge Byers's house, that they considered him one of the Union men in that part of the
State. He had that reputation generally in that part of the State. He was run against Mr.
Jacks and was elected, more, I think, on local grounds than because there was any real dif
ference in politics between the two men. Mr. Jacks was from Helena, on the edge of the
district, and the people wanted a representative who lived nearer the centre of the district.
Question. Do you regard the condition of Arkansas now to be such that the military could
be withdrawn and the Prcedmen's Bureau dispensed with there without any serious detri
ment to the peace of the State, or the rights of any class of the people there ?
Answer. In northern and western Arkansas, where about three-fourths of the white popu
lation of the State are, there is a veiy large Union element. I think Union men could be
elected to Congress from Mr. Johnson's and Mr. Byers's district, even if the military exer
cised no control there. There were very ^cw slaves in that portion of the State before the
war. The most of the slave population of the State was in southern and in southeastern
Arkansas, where the largo cotton plantations were; and in that portion of the State I think
a majority of the white people are rebels at heart to-day. We have no difficulty with them ;
but the old leaven is there yet. Owing to the organization of the Home Guards in Arkansas,
I think the State government of Arkansas could sustain itself without the aid of the federal
military. Several thousands of the Home Guards have been organized during the summer
by the governor of the State. They are mostly made up of men who have been soldiers in
the federal army, (in the Arkansas regiments,) and they are officered by very reliable men,
so far as I know.
ARKANSAS - GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 129
There are very few -white troops of the United States in Arkansas at this time. I think all
the white troops at present in the department of Arkansas, which includes the Indian nation,
are the 3d regular cavalry, a few companies of the 19th regular infantry in the Indian nation,
and a small battery at Little Rock. There are some 4,000 colored troops in Arkansas and in
the Indian nation. I think it would be advisable, in a country like that, to maintain small
garrisons, as we are now doing, at prominent places in the State. That was done before the
breaking out of the war at Fort Smith and at Little Rock, where the general government
owned very valuable property.
I do not wish to be understood as recommending the withdrawal of the troops from the
State of Arkansas. I think it is good policy to keep troops there. But, as an individual, I
would be pefectly willing to live there at present and do business, if the federal troops were
withdrawn from Little Rock. A majority of the business men in Little Rock, and the prin
cipal business centres, to-day, are northern men. I think the Freedmen's Bureau has done
good in Arkansas, and is not unacceptable to the people. Labor is so generally organized,
and all are so obviously adapting themselves to the new order of things, that I think it can
be dispensed with there, without injury to either capital or labor, another year.
WASHINGTON, March 7, 1866.
Governor James Johnson sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Have you acted as provisional governor of Georgia since the surrender of Lee ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I was appointed and acted as provisional governor of Georgia from
about the 17th of July, 1865, until near Christmas.
Question. When did you leave Georgia ?
Answer. I left Columbus, Georgia, two weeks ago Tuesday.
Question. The object of the committee is to ascertain the condition of Georgia, and the
sentiments of the people with reference to this government ; how far they are loyal, and how
far they are disloyal ; and we would be glad to have you give your opinions upon that subject,
and any facts you may have.
Answer. The condition of public affairs in Georgia, in my estimation, is improving now,
and has been improving for some time past. Our people are becoming better and better sat
isfied, with the lapse of time, and their passions are gradually abating. As an evidence of
this fact, I could point to the legislation of the State on particular subjects ; the provisions
which are being made by law for the protection of freedmen, and securing them in their
rights. While I say that our people are gradually improving, it is due to truth that I should
say there are individual exceptions. We have some bad men among us, whose passions have
not yet abated ; but there are not a great many of them.
Immediately after emancipation went into actual effect there was some hostility manifested
towards the negroes, by some classes of persons. But that hostility is abating, particularly
on the part of those who formerly owned slaves. I would qualify this general remark, by
saying that, whilst it is true of the most, there are individual exceptions; there are individual
cases of outrage and wrong perpetrated upon the freedmen. But such acts do not meet the
approval of the great mass ot our people. This being true, that there are violent men, evil-
disposed men, as a matter of course they easily associate themselves together ; and a few men
can do a great deal of harm and make a great deal of noise. For this reason, in my judgment
a few troops of the United States should still be kept in Georgia for the present, for the pur
pose of keeping in restraint these evil-disposed men to whom I have referred. These troops
are further necessary to aid and assist the Freedmen's Bureau, whilst it remains, in iriy
judgment. And, in my opinion, it is proper, at present, that that bureau, or someth ng akin
to it, should be continued in the State for a time. In my judgment, when the district and
circuit courts of the United States are properly organized in the State, and when our own
legislature shall have perfected their system of laws in reference to negroes, then the bill
which has already passed one branch of Congress, which proposes to declare and secure the
civil rights of persons, if passed by the other branch, will dispense with the necessity of the
presence of the Freedmen's Bureau, or of the troops of the United States. But until that is
done, I think it is proper that both should be continued.
I think, and I have so stated to General Grant and the Secretary of War, that, judging
from the feelings of our people and the relations which they have sustained to the freedmen,
it would be good policy to withdraw the black troops from among them. Their presence is
irritating and tends to bring about collisions. Our people having made the experiment which
pee
throughout the country. While they are thus anxious on that subject, and willing to obey
9 A G M A
130 RECONSTRUCTION.
the laws, still, as is very natural, in all their political arrangements for office, &c., ther prefer
men who have co-operated with them in the prosecution of the war to those who were op
posed to them. My own judgment is that the people are progressing towards a state of
peace and harmony and reconciliation as rapidly as could be expected after guch a conflict of
passions and of arms, and I have no doubt that peace will be fully restored before any
great length of time ; but animosities have been generated and passions have been inflamed
to such an extent that in certain localities we shall still see manifestations of them for some
time to come. I think that is about a fair statement of the general condition of affairs in
Georgia.
Question. Do you know the persons who are claiming seats in Congress in Georgia ? If
so, will you state, if you have no objection, what yon know of their course during the rebel
lion, and their conduct with reference to this government since Lee's surrender?
Answer. I know both of the gentlemen elected to the United States Senate, and have known
them for many years. Mr. Stephens and myself were class-mates and graduated together.
I think I am pretty well acquainted with the course that each of them pursued. It is known
generally to the country that Mr. Stephens was opposed to secession ; but after the ordinance
of secession was passed, under the pressure of circumstances, I suppose, and I believe be
cause he thought it would bring about a conflict at home if he did not do so, he fell in with
the current after the commencement of hostilities. Mr. Johnson, his colleague in the United
States Senate, was also opposed to secession. He was a Douglas man, as was Mr. Stephens,
but, like him, he fell in with the current to a certain extent after the commencement of hos
tilities. Mr. Johnson accepted the place of Confederate States senator under the confederate
government, being elected while the war was in progress. But notwithstanding that, I have
season to believe that for some time before the termination of the confederacy, he insisted that
negotiations should be had, so that an end might be put to the strife ; but his representations
were unheeded. I am certain of that, from such information as I have received. I think that
this is his present status : that while he may object to certain congressional and administra
tive measures, he would submit to them, and is well affected towards the government. He
must be satisfied, as a man of judgment, that an effort to separate this Union will not suc
ceed ; that our destinies are to be those of one nation. He was the president of the State
convention that recently assembled and adopted a new State constitution. He co-operated
in the line of policy suggested by the administration for the purpose of restoring the State.
Mr. Stephens was the vice-president of the Confederate States, and he acted some time hi
that capacity, and I believe he continued to hold the office until the downfall of the confed
eracy. But while that is true of him, I think he became satisfied during the war that the
effort to establish the confederacy would be a failure, and he would gladly have terminated
the strife long befrre it was terminated, and in a different manner in which it was termi
nated. He has been using his efforts to get our people to lay aside their prejudices and pas
sions and accept the results of the war, and I have no doubt he will do everything in his
power to restore harmony throughout the whole length and breadth of the land. In fact, I
feel sure that he is extremely anxious that such a state of things should be brought about at
as early a day as possible. He has been an open advocate of giving the freedmen their civil
rights and maintaining them in those rights, and I have no doubt he will continue to advo
cate those measures. I cannot answer so positively about the members elect to the House of
Representatives. I can answer about some of them. Mr. Wofford was a brigadier general
in the confederate service. He was a Union man before the war, and a Union man during
the war, and is a Union man still; but the current of public feeling was so strong that he
went into the war. I suppose he would have been conscripted if he had not done so. In
my judgment, he is as well affected towards this government as any man, north or south.
He is a well-behaved man, not at all violent. General Philip Cook was another confederate
general who was elected to the House of Representatives. He was opposed to the war, and
was termed a co-operationist. He was violently opposed to the war. After the war was
commenced, he likewise fell in with the current and cast his lot with the war. During the
progress of the war he was severely wounded several times, and was finally captured. He
stated his position and feelings to the federal officers who had charge of him, and I believe
they made representations to the proper department here, asking for his pardon, and he was
released. He came to visit me at Milledgeville after his release, and told me that he was
willing to co-operate with me to carry out the wishes of the administration us far as he could
do so. I think he is a proper man, notwithstanding he has committed errors. He is a man
of good feelings and of liberal sentiments. Mr. Christy was a co-operationist. I cannot
spe<ik positively about him ; I can only speak of him from reputation. I think he is well dis
posed towards the government now. 1 do not know what part he took after the commence
ment of hostilities. Mr. Buchanan was iu favor of secession. He says that he accepts the
results of the war and submits to them. I will not say further in regard to him, because I do
not know. As to Mr. Cohen, of Savannah, my impressions about him are these : he is rather
refractory, or was the last time I heard him talk, refractory in spirit. There is another mem
ber elected to the House of Representatives ; I do not recollect his name at this time. I can
not tell his present status, but he was opposed to the war at its commencement.
Question. Have you any information of, or any means of knowing, the actual sentiment of
the people of Georgia at the time secession took place ?
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 131
Answer. In my judgment, the majority of the people were opposed to it at that time.
Question. Then how do you explain the fact that they were drawn or driven into the re
bellion ?
Answer. The passions of the people were aroused to a very high degree. The men who
were elected as Union men, when they assembled at Milledgeville, were many of them over
powered by the storm of passion that was excited, and voted for secession. They had not
moral strength enough to stand up against the storm. A great many of those who were in
favor of secession threatened that they would go for secession any way.
Question. If the establishment of the confederacy were now possible, how many of the
people of Georgia would prefer the Union to the confederacy ?
Answer. If the power of the federal government and its influence were entirely withdrawn,
I think a majority of the people would express a preference for a confederacy. Sufficient
time has not yet elapsed for the eradication of those ideas entirely from their minds which
they obtained during the war, and which they have not yet given up altogether. But this
is a mere matter of opinion — a mere speculation on my part.
Question. How does the aspect of things in Georgia at this time differ, if at all, from what
it did soon after Lee's surrender ?
Answer. There is a great difference, but I do not know that I can describe it exactly, so
as to give you a correct idea of it. Immediately after Lee's surrender our people were un
certain as to what might happen in the future ; they felt very uncertain as to what course
the government of the United States would pursue towards them ; they were a little uncer
tain about expressing their sentiments and declaring their opinions. Now they are less un
reserved than they were before; a great many of them feel more disposed to take part in
public matters than they did at that time But notwithstanding they speak more freely than
they did then, I am of the opinion that the real opinion of the people of that State has much
improved since that time.
Question. Was the amended constitution of Georgia submitted to the people for ratification ?
Answer. It was not. It was known to the people beforehand what was expected of
the convention. There was no mistaking the public mind about that, except so far as the
war debt was concerned. That was not so well understood by the people as the other part
was. They knew that slavery had to be abolished, and a provision to that effect put into
the constitution, but it was not so distinctly made known to them that the war debt would
have to be repudiated. Before the assembling of the convention a majority was opposed to
repudiating the war debt, but when the necessity of so doing was shown to them they con
sented to it.
Question. Was there any»other important change made in the constitution except this ?
Answer. Yes, sir; particularly in reference to the State-rights theory, which formerly
obtained throughout the country. The constitution of Georgia now declares that the Con
stitution of the United States and the laws made in pursuance thereof are paramount ; in ',
other words, that the first allegiance of the citizen is due to the government of the United -
States ; thus settling the disputed question which was at the bottom of this whole difficulty.
Question. Is the right of voting defined and limited in the new constitution of Georgia ?
If so, how ?
Answer. I think it is limited in the constitution to white males.
Question. Have free negroes ever voted in Georgia ?
Answer. No, sir; not in my day.
Question. What effect has the war had upon the population of Georgia, both wThite and
black I
Answer. That is a very difficult question to answer. We have had no census taken since
the termination of hostilities, and I can only approximate at best, even if I can do that. We
lost a great many men in the war, from being killed aad from sickness in camps. Before
the war our State vote was 110 000; my judgment is that now we could not vote' more than
perhaps 70,000 or 80,000, but I may be mistaken as to that. In the- late election for gover
nor, members of the legislature, and members of Congress, the full vote was not brought
out. I have heard various estimates made of the loss which we sustained during the war.
I should suppose that it might be as high as 40,000. In regard to the loss of our negro pop
ulation during the war, a great many'of them fled — wrent to the coast and went off with the
United States armies ; but not a great many, compared to the whole black population. Some
were taken by our own people to work on forts and fortifications at different places, and
whilst there many of them were taken sick and died ; but only a certain portion were taken
to work on the fortifications. After the close of the rebellion, and the actual occupation of
Georgia by the federal troops, the negroes then commenced roving and rambling about.
Some were taken to Alabama, Florida, and other States during the war, for security. Some
have come back to Georgia, where they were raised, and where they had homes. What
number have been abstracted from Georgia I cannot tell. The places of those who have
gone away have been supplied in part by those coming in.
Question. Do you conclude that the number has diminished ?
Answer. I rather think the number has diminished somewhat, but not materially.
Question. What was the vote cast at the last election for governor and members of Con
gress ?
132 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. My impression is that it was about 37,000, with some twenty odd counties that had
not been heard from. There was no opposition, no contest, and the vote was probably light.
Question. Were any persons excluded from voting on account of having participated in
the rebellion ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. No regard was paid as to which side a man had been on?
Answ'er. No, sir; we hare no law on that subject in our State.
Question. Was any amnesty oath, or oath to support the constitution, required ?
Answer. Not in voting for governor ; there was one required of the voters at the election
of members to the convention.
Question. What was the aggregate vote for members of the convention?
Answer. That was never made out. In some of the counties there was no opposition;
there was a general agreement that such and such men should be declared elected, and no
vote was ever made out ; but it was a pretty fair vote under the circumstances. The am
nesty oath was taken pretty generally by those who did not come within the exceptions ppeci-
fied in the President's proclamation.
Question. So far as your observation extends, what is the disposition of the negroes in
regard to going to work, if they are properly treated ?
Answer. Generally very good. They behaved remarkably well during the war, and now
they are doing very well as a class; there are exceptional cases, of course; but generally
they are making contracts and going to work.
Question. Is there anything further which you desire to state, which you think has a bear
ing upon the subject under investigation by the committee ?
Answer. I would state that our people are very much averse to having negro suffrage im
posed upon them ; they would not submit to that with a good grace. In fact I think myself
it would bring about collisions.
Question. Would they object as much to a qualified suffrage, such as an educational test
or a property test, as they would to universal negro suffrage?
Answer. I rather think it would be equally as strong to the one as to the other. They
would look upon it as the incipient step to the ruin of the whites. I do not think the right
of voting is necessary to the protection and security of the freedmen in the end. The law
declaring their civil rights, and giving the district and circuit courts of the United States
jurisdiction, will secure their rights ; and before long our people would consent to accord them
all their rights. I think the individual cases of outrage and wrong have been magnified.
The tendency is to give them their rights, though there are some few people who hate them,
and would do them wrong if it were not for the law. ,
WASHINGTON, March 8, 1866
Governor William L. Sharkey sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Were you provisional governor of Mississippi after Lee's surrender ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. During what period of time ?
Answer. I was appointed provisional governor on the 13th of June, 1865, and continued
to act in that capacity until the 16th of October, 1865, when I turned the affairs of the State
over to the civil authorities.
Question. When did you leave Mississippi ?
Answer. I left there during the last part ot November, and arrived here on the first or
second day of the session of Congress.
Question. The object of the committee is to ascertain the condition of civil affairs in Mis
sissippi, and also the sentiments of the people with reference to the government of the United
States ; how far they are loyal and how far they are disloyal. We shall be glad to hear your
views generally upon that subject, and any facts within your knowledge that may bear
upon it.
Answer. I will state, in general terms, that when I went out there as provisional governor
a very large majority of the people, I do not know but fifty to one, were perfectly reconciled
to the condition of things, and very anxious to be restored to their former position in the
Union. I think they were sincerely and honestly so ; that was the current sentiment be
yond all doubt at that time. Even the secession party admitted that they had made a miser
able failure; many of them felt very sore over it, to think that they had involved the country
in terrible calamities, and they were as anxious to get back into the Union as any portion of
the community. I was provisional governor there.' and I think I had an opportunity of know
ing. Of course there will be exceptional cases in all communities, but those exceptions wore
confined mostly to men who had taken no part in the war. The military men were perfectly
satisfied, and I do not know but as a general rule they were the most loyal part of the com-
ARKANSAS GEORGIA - MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA 133
munity. They gave Up honorably, and all said they were disposed to accept things as they found
them. But there were a few men within my own knowledge, men who had done but little
during the war, who were dissatisfied. But a very large majority of our people were as loyal,
to use the term in its proper sense, as any people in the United States. That is to say, they
were willing to obey the government and its laws and to support and to sustain it ; and I
think they are so yet. I should make this remark, however : the people came up freely and
voluntarily, and did, as they supposed, all that was required of them; they met all the de
mands of the President, and with great cheerfulness. What changes may have occurred since
I left there I cannot tell, but I do not think any material changes have taken place. Still,
you know, when men do all that is required of them, and all that they think is right, pres
sure does not in any degree contribute to their loyalty. And I have been very much afraid
that the condition of things here would shake their confidence in the government. I know,
however, their condition was a good one when I was in charge of the government there. The
condition of things in Mississippi was not generally understood throughout this country. In
the first place, a very large portion of our people were opposed to secession, and I believe if
the question had been submitted" to the people they never would have adopted it. But the
politicians got us in hand and forced us out of the Union ; and, as a general rule, those who
were opposed to going out in the first place were in favor of coming back again ; and to them
is to be added the number who became satisfied of the folly of their course ; and the two classes
constitute a very large proportion of the citizens.
Question. Were any, and if so, what, alterations made in the constitution of Mississippi ?
Answer. I have here, and will leave with the committee, a copy of the "constitution of
the State of Mississippi, as amended, with the ordinances and resolutions adopted by the
constitutional convention, August, 1865," and a copy of the "journal of the proceedings and
debates in the constitutional convention of the State of Mississippi, August, 1865." From
them can be seen the alterations which were made. The chief alteration is in regard to
slavery. I desire to call your attention to that, because the condition of our State in reference
to it has not been fairly understood. That amendment is as follows :
"The institution of slavery having been destroyed in the State of Mississippi, neither
slavery nor involuntary servitude, otherwise than in the punishment of crimes, whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted, shall hereafter exist in this State; and the legislatuie
at its next session, and thereafter as the public welfare may require, shall provide by law for
the protection and security of the person and property of the freedmen of this State, and
guard them and the State against any evils that may arise from their sudden emancipation."
That ?s the chief alteration in the constitution that has been made. There is only one
clause of that amendment to which I wish particularly to call your attention. It reads,
"and the legislature at its next session, and thereafter as the public welfare may require,
shall provide by law for the protection and security of the person and property of the freed-
men of this State." Some prejudice has arisen against our State because of a foolish pro
vision in a late legislative enactment which limited the right of the freedmen to hold property.
The legislature took it into their heads that as a matter of policy it would not be wise to al
low freedmeu to hold real estate. That action, however, was in contravention of our laws ;us
they had always existed. We had, as most of the southern States had, certain general prin
ciples of law prevailing by which freedmen were entitled to hold real and personal property.
We never had any other law until very recently. Our supreme court, of which I was a mem
ber for a great many years, had held that freedmen could take property by devise, inherit
ance or purchase, and hold it to any extent. There was no legislative restriction in regard to
freedmeu at all, and we held that they could hold real and personal property to any extent.
But recently, when the excitement growing out of the condition of things became general,
our supreme court departed from the landmarks which we had laid down, and unfortunately
for their own character, and for the country, they decided that freedmeu could not hold, real
estate. That was wrong, for there was no restriction upon that subject.
Question. Was that adverse decision before or after secession ?
Answer. I think it was after secession, fortunately. I was not on the bench when that
decision was made; I left it lome years ago. We unfortunately had some judges on the
bench who were original secessionists, and their judgments became subverted, and they ran
into that error which was condemned by everybody. Our law stood at that time on a firm
basis, without any restriction upon freedmeu holding any property that a white man could
hold. Such was the law. I was opposed to this action of the late legislature ; I warned
them ot the folly of committing this terrible error, and told them they should not restrict the
freedmen in regard to the right to hold property. But they passed the law, notwithstanding.
I tried to prevail on them to allow the freedmeu full and perfect protection, and ultimately
got them to allow them to sue and to be sued, and to testify in all cases where a freedman
was a party on either side. In regard to this restriction upon the right of the freedman to
hold property, the proceedings and debates of the convention will show that it is foreign to
the constitutional provision. The constitution was intended to give them the right to hold
real and personal property. Proof of that will be found in this journal of the convention.
Pending the question of the adoption of the amendment abolishing slavery, as will be seea
on page 104 of .the journal —
"Mr. Marshall, of Warren, offered the following amendment:
1 34 RECONSTRUCTION.
" Amend by striking out the word ' property ' in the fourth line, and insert ' the regulation
of the labor and wages.'
" On motion of Mr. Harrison,
"The amendment was laid on the table.
"Mr. Cooper, of RankSn, offered the following- amendment:
" Amend by inserting- the word 'personal' before the word 'property' in the fourth line
of the amendment proposed.
" On motion of Mr. Yerger, of Hinds,
" The amendment was laid on the table.
"Mr. Martin, of Adams, offered the following amendment:
" Amend by inserting after the word 'property ' the words ' and regulation of the labor and
wages.'
" On motion of Mr. Yerger, of Hinds,
" The amendment was laid on the table."
I happened to be in the convention at the time these propositions were made, and know
that they were voted down with great unanimity. I have cited this from the journal to
prove that whatever the legislature may have done, the constitution of the State authorizes
freedmen to hold real and personal property.
Question. Was the amended constitution submitted to the people?
Answer. No, sir; the convention did not deem it necessary, nor did I think it necessary.
I was so well satisfied with the temper, disposition, and wish of the people, that I did not
think it necessary to submit the amended constitution to them at all. I was perfectly sure
that the people were fully and fairly represented. The members of the convention were
elected on the general proposition of reforming the constitution, and I have no doubt that
they represented truly the sentiments of a large majority of the people of the State. I de
sired to call your attention to this subject of freedmen holding property, because I have
heard our State very much abused for this legislation. I admit myself that it was unguarded
and improper legislation. But, at the same time, we can fall back on our constitution ; and
there you will find, I think, that the freedmen are permitted to exercise the right of holding
property.
Question. What is the general condition of the freedmen in Mississippi ? Are they dii-
posed to labor, and are they laboring and receiving fair wages?
Answer. I can give an accurate account of that matter, as I have had very authentic
reports. They have gone to work with a great deal of good will, and in most parts of our
State they are hiring freely and cheerfully. I have received a letter from a very intelligent
gentleman, a friend of mine, who states that in his part of the State the freedmen are going
to work, and the people are hopeful and expect a return of prosperity; that there was not a
discontented man in his particular locality ; that they had given up the idea of secession,
buried it out of sight, and never wish to hear of it again. The freedmen, as I hear from all
parts of the State, are doing remarkably well. I have heard from one of the northeastern
counties of the State, in which it is said there is not an idle freedman. However, there is no
disguising the fact that the Freedmen's Bureau and the colored troops there have done more
mischief than anything else. General Howard is a very clever gentleman ; but there are
men in charge of the Freedmen's Bureau in Mississippi who are disposed to speculate on
white and black ; they encourage the black man and discourage the white man. And
wherever there is a negro garrison the free negroes congregate around it, and, as a matter of
course, crimes and depredations are committed. I verily believe that if at the time I was
there all the troops and the Freedmen's Bureau had been withdrawn, I could have had a
perfect state of order throughout the State in two weeks. The great amount of complaints
originate from the localities where the negro soldiers are. I do not say that the negroes do
not make good soldiers, but they encourage the congregation of freedmen around them, and
from* the freedmen come crime and depredations. As a general thing — there may be excep
tions — the freedmen have gone to work ; some receiving a share of the crops, and some re
ceiving their wages. And there is a promise of prosperity there; there is a promise that the
freedmen will work; how long it will last I cannot tell. They certainly have gone to work,
a-s a general thing, in the State ; and the people are buoyant and hopeful. In some parts of
the State the fivedmeu are receiving exceedingly high wages. Mr. Alcorn. my colleague in
the senate, authorizes mo to state that in the river counties — he mentioned one county in
particular — if labor could be had, a thousand freedmeu could be employed at $25 a month.
Question. In addition to their board ?
Answer. Yes, sir; board them and furnish them with sugar and coffee, and give them $25
a month over and above their board. He told me that a thousand freedmen could find em
ployment in that one county, if they could be had, and I think that on the Mississippi gen
erally they are getting almost any wages they are pleased to ask.
Question. What amount of laud do you estimate will be under cultivation in Mississippi
this year as compared with the amount under cultivation in 1859 or I860?
Answer. I can only speak from conjecture. I do not think there will bo half the amount
cultivated this year that there was just before the war, and I will give my reasons for that
opinion. I believe that there are now in the State very little over half the number of
freedmen that there were formerly of slaves — certainly not uiore than two-thirds. They have
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 135
died off. There is no telling the mortality that has prevailed among them ; they have died
oft in immense numbers. I should say that very little more than half the amount of land
that was under cultivation before the war will be under cultivation this year ; but that is with
me a mere matter of conjecture.
Question. Does the mortality among the freedmen continue as great as ever?
Answer. Yes, sir; they have contracted habits and diseases which take a great many of •
them off. The people are laboring under a great mistake in regard to our attachment to the
negroes. We are all kindty disposed towards them ; we are disposed, with few exceptions, _
to treat them as they should be treated. The poorer classes, who have always had an anti
pathy to them, still have that antipathy ; but as a general thing, our people are disposed to
treat the negroes well. We were all attached to our slaves, and that attachment has not
been broken off, because we think they have acted well. In a great many instances they
have shown uncommon fidelity and friendship, and of course we cannot forget those things.
Our feelings towards them are of a kindly character, and we want to treat them well, and
educate them if we can.
Question. Have you any knowledge of the number of white people who have been lost to
Mississippi during the war?
Answer. A very considerable number, but I cannot state the number ; I cannot even ap
proximate to it.
Question. If it were possible to establish the confederacy as it was hoped at the beginning
of the rebellion, what do you think would now be the action of the people of Mississippi ?
Would they desire the establishment of the confederacy, or would they prefer to abide by the
Union ?
Answer. I think, after the experiment they have made, they would prefer the Union. You
are perhaps aware that I never countenanced secession or aided it in any way whatever, and
I think my own sentiments were the real sentiments of a very large portion of the people. I
think the majority of the people of Mississippi would rather take their chances in the Union
than take them in the confederacy, even were it possible to establish it now. I always be
lieved it would be their ruin if it was established, and I believe a great many others thought
so too.
Question. Is there any prevailing feeling or opinion in regard to payment for their slaves
or for losses which the people have sustained during the war?
Answer. No, sir ; they do not expect such a thing ; nor do I think they intend or expect to
pay any of the rebellion debt. I think such a thing is out of the question. That subject was
proposed in the legislature, and there was some discussion upon it. You will find that in our
amended constitution we have repudiated the most of our debt, with one or two exceptions.
The truth of it is that none of it will be paid ; we do not regard it as a binding debt. There
are two reasons for that opinion. In the first place, our constitution prohibited the pledge of
the faith of the State for any debt. We could not pledge the faith of the State except by
passing a proposition for that purpose by two legislative bodies, and then inserting it in our
law. We never had the faith of the State pledged to pay any of the rebellion debt at all. To
be sure, the convention which took iis out of the Union did change that feature of our State
constitution, but we have declared that action to be null and void. In the very beginning of
our proceedings we declared the action of secession a nullity, and left that obligation with
out any efficacy whatever. And it is also void for another reason. The rebellion debt was
issued in the form of bills of credit, and they come under that provision of the Constitution
of the United States which declares that no bills of credit shall be issued by any State. I
think I can say with great certainty that no portion of the people of Mississippi expect one
dollar of the rebellion debt to be paid. There is one class of debt which is not properly a rev
olutionary debt — what we call our cotton debt. In a time of great scarcity, the State under
took to relieve the community by issuing bonds on cotton, which were loaned to the planters.
That was not a revolutionary debt at all ; it was intended merely as an accommodation to the
people. But even that was void, for the reason I have given. The State had no right to
issue bills of credit, and our valid constitution did not allow the faith of the State to be
pledged at all ; so that I regard every species of our debt as a nullity, and our former history
shows that we are not very much inclined to pay our debts. I do not think the rebellion debt
need be considered any obstacle in our way at all, for I do not think any portion of it will
ever be paid.
Question. How does the price of land for agricultural purposes in Mississippi now compare
with the price before the rebeDion ?
Answer. It is vastly below its former price. I do not know precisely what the price of land /
is now, except as I occasionally receive information from there, but I learn that it is twenty- f V
five per cent., perhaps in some instances fifty per cent., below its former valuation. When •
you take into consideration the vast quantity of land that we had under cultivation before
the rebellion, and the moans we had of cultivating it, and then consider that the means have
decreased one-third since then, you can understand why land is lower in price. I will put
the price now down to twenty-five and fifty per cent, below its former value. I learn occa
sionally of sales made at home, and they are far below the standard that existed before the
rebellion. I could perhaps illustrate that by my own case. I have been stripped of every
thing by the rebellion except a little tract of land, very valuable, by the way. Looking for-
136 RECONSTRUCTION.
ward to the prospect, I thought it best to dispose of that land. I did not see that, in my day
at least, uny grout demand for land would spring up. I offered it for sale at less than half
that I Avould have taken for it before the rebellion, and I understand that is about the rate
land is generally selling for there. There are exceptions in some localities.
Question. Has there been much emigration from the State ?
Answer. No, sir ; not that I am aware of.
Question. Is there any such organization in Mississippi as the Home Guards ? If so, what
is the nature and extent of that organization?
Answer. There is no such organization that I know of. I can tell what was organized
while I was in office ; that may be called a home guard, though it is not ; it is a regular
militia system. When I went into office I was a great deal alarmed at the state of the coun
try ; by rumors that an insurrection among the negroes would occur some time during the
winter ; that they were instigated by bad white men. These rumors reached me from all
quarters of the State. On looking about me for means of protection, I thought it would be
well for me to organize two companies of militia in each county. I therefore issued a proc
lamation calling for two companies of militia in each county, specifying the object of the
call — to suppress crime,, protect the people, and enforce the laws. In many instances the
call was responded to with a great deal of cheerfulness. The organization was intended ex
clusively for individual protection. General Slocum was at Vicksburg at that time; he did
not like my movement, and undertook to check it. An appeal was made to the President,
and I was sustained.
When I went out of office, the governor of the State of Mississippi engrafted his regular
military system on the military organization I started there. I organized it to protect the
people, if possible, against crime. There was a great deal of crime there ; the country was
demoralized ; and there was not a United States military force in all the places where it was
needed. And I organized these militia companies for the purpose of enforcing the laws, and
to aid the United States authorities, if necessary ; and I issued instructions to that effect. It
was not a hostile organization at all. And when I left the office the governor of the State
carried it on under an act of the legislature. If there is any home guard there aside from
that I do not know anything of it ; I do not think there is.
I will make one general remark. I am satisfied that the disposition of the intelligent peo
ple towards the freedmen there is not understood here. The general feeling there is, that we
ought to elevate them, if we can. And this action of the legislature which I speak of, and
which was objectionable to me, has created a great deal of prejudice in the country. It was
no response to public sentiment to restrict the negroes at all in regard to their right to hold
property.
Question. Do you think the negroes are disposed to accumulate property?
Answer. In very few instances ; my expectation concerning them is that they are destined
to extinction, beyond all doubt. We must judge of the future by the past. I could tell you
a great many circumstances to that effect ; I arn sorry I did not come prepared with means to
state the percentage of deaths among them. It is alarming, appalling. I think they will
gradually die out. Some of them will become thrifty and prosperous ; but, as a general
thing, I think they are destined to extinction. I may be mistaken ; I hope I am ; but that is
nay impression. We are trying to solve a great problem, and it is quite natural we should
encounter difficulty until we can build up by the light of experience. Such a radical change in
our whole system, turning loose so many men from slavery into freedom, and then trying to
convert them into use — it is a great problem, and of course we are groping somewhat in the
dark. We will have to profit by experience as we go on, and bring ourselves down to a sys
tem of free labor.
I think the people are taking hold of the matter in a good spirit. I think they are
ardently desirous of making a fair experiment, and giving the freedmen a fair chance. Per
haps a man is inclined to make up his judgment from limited means of information ; but I believe
that if the people had an opportunity to restore slavery, and it was left to their vote, as a
general thing, they would vote not to do it. If each man could get his negroes back by voting
to restore slavery, perhaps the people might vote to restore it. But if you should submit the
general proposition to strike out the emancipating clause from the constitution, and allow the
people to acquire slaves in the future, if they can, I am satisfied they would vote against it.
1 think they have no wish to be iucumbered with slavery again. That is the general senti
ment ; there are exceptions, of course.
Question. If you have no objection, please state what you know in regard to the persons
now here claiming seats in Congress from Mississippi.
Answer. I have no objection to stating what I know. Mr. Alcorn, my colleague in the
United States Senate, was an old whig, and was very much opposed to rebellion and seces
sion, and to the party that brought it about. The representatives elect to the House of Rep
resentatives, without exception, were opposed to secession ; they all belonged to the anti-
secession party. Our people were particularly admonished by me that they ought not to
send men here who were tinctured or stained with secession. And not one of our delegation,
I think, had any connexion with secession ; they were all opposed to it. They were all
whigs except one, who was a Union democrat. The whig party, as a general thing, were
clear of the odium of secession.
ARKANSAS -GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 137
I will state this, however: several of these gentlemen engaged in the rebellion after
it came on. Colonel Reynolds and Colonel Pierson had command of regiments in the con
federate service. When the State went out, I suppose they felt they should go with their
State. I do not remember that any other of them was in the rebellion. Mr. Alcorn, my col
league, was in the militia; but I do not know that he ever held a commission in the confed
erate service.
Question. What are the facts in regard to Governor Humphreys, and the present State
government generally ? Is it composed of men who were opposed to secession, or of men
who favored it ?
Answer. In regard to Governor Humphreys, there was no man in the State of Mississippi
more opposed to secession than he was ; and I will tell you more : he did not believe the con
federates could establish a government, even if they were free and independent. He told me
that himself some months before the rebellion closed. I know his antecedents well ; there
was no man more opposed to secession than Governor Humphreys was. He ultimately got
into the rebellion by accident, you might say ; he went out with a company as its captain,
and was promoted to be a general. Being a very popular man in the army, he was elected
governor by the military vote, contrary to my wish. He is a good man, an excellent man,
and I believe he ardently desires to see harmony restored between the north and the south.
The State government, with one exception, I regret to say, is in the hands of the conservative
men. The'judiciary department has fallen into bad hands ; but that was accidental, some
what. The judges of the high court of errors were all secessionists. There was but a weak
opposition to them, or they would not have been elected ; they would have been beaten.
We really had no material of respectability to run against them, and they ran in almost
without opposition. The attorney general is in the same category. Three judges and the
attorney general were secessionists. As to the minor officers, I do not know so much about
them. But the election of these judges to the highest tribunal in the State was a very sore
thing to many of us. But I will say this of them : they have given manifestations of an ardent
desire to return'to the Union, and to act in good faith. They admit their error frankly and
freely ; one or two of them have been pardoned by the President, and I think they are as
loyal as any one now.
The fact is, there is very little disloyal sentiment in our country now. It is a mistake to
suppose that our people are disloyal. Many of our people may be a little restless ; but they
do not think of such a thing as a rebellion.
WASHINGTON, March 13, 1866.
Governor Wm. L. Sharkey recalled and examined.
By Mr. BoUTWELL :
Question. Did you visit Washington about the time you were appointed provisional gov
ernor of Mississippi ?
Answer. Yes, sir, I did, in June. I was here when I was appointed.
Question. Was there with you a Colonel Hamilton?
Answer. Yes, sir ; Colonel Hamilton was with us.
Question. It has been stated substantially, by a person examined before the committee,
that Colonel Hamilton, on his return from Washington, while passing down the Mississippi
river, said that Governor Sharkey and the other provisional governors were to have matters
in their own way in the south ; that the slate was made out, the object of which was to
give the political power of the south to the President. Do you know anything of such an
arrangement or understanding?
Answer. I know nothing of it at all.
Question. There was no foundation for any such statement to your knowledge ?
Answer. Nothing that I know of. What may have been said by Colonel Hamilton in his
light conversation, I do not know. I have no knowledge of any such conversation or
statement.
Question. Do you know of any fact which would warrant any such statement upon the
part of Colonel Hamilton or any one else ?
Answer. I do not. Colonel Hamilton was a Union man. He had been in the rebellion,
to be sure, as a quartermaster, or in some position of that sort. He was opposed to the re
bellion, as I have understood, and took an office of that kind probably to escape some severer
service.
Question. For what purpose, if you know, did he come to Washington ?
Answer. He came along as a sort of secretary to Judge Yerger and myself. He wanted to
come on here, and, to tell the truth, as we had no money to bear our expenses, knowing
that he was a moneyed man, he agreed to come on and bear our expenses, which I refunded
to him after being appointed provisional governor. I think, however, it was understood
that he was our private secretary. He did something in that way.
138 EECON STRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, March 9, 1866.
Brevet Major General Wager Swayne sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. The committee desire to obtain information as to the condition of affairs in Ala
bama, especially in reference to the sentiments of the people, whether they are loyal or
disloyal ?
Answer. I have been almost wholly engrossed with matters relating to freedmen since the
first of August last, in charge of the affairs of the Freedmen's Bureau for the State of Ala
bama, with my headquarters at Montgomery. I have observed since I went there a gradual
cessation of disorder, a progress in legislation towards equal laws for all men, and a marked
increase of political animosity. I arrived at Montgomery immediately after Governor Par
sons issued his proclamation announcing himself as having been appointed provisional gov
ernor of that State. I was very kindly received by most of the persons with whom I came
in contact, and was agreeably disappointed in the temper of the people as I found them at
that time. A good deal of lawlessness, however, prevailed throughout the State. The
stealing of horses, cotton, and other property, violence to the freedmen, and an utter want of
power on their part to enforce their rights, threatened the dissolution of society. Presenting
myself to the provisional governor, I was received by him with assurances of co-operation
and sympathy, which have been steadfastly maintained. The courts of the State, however,
were closed to the negro, whether as witness, as plaintiff, or defendant; and no substitute
had been provided. I invited the governor to issue his proclamation, recognizing as a neces
sity of the new order of things that the negro should have full civil rights ; advised the gov
ernor that he was a military officer ; that the law which he administered was martial law,
which has limits oijly in the discretion of the commander, and urged upon him — recognizing
the necessity I have mentioned — to command the opening of the courts to freedmen. It was
the opinion of a majority of his advisers that the public sentiment of the State would vio
lently repel such action upon his part. Upon receiving his decision, I at once issued my
order, setting forth that by authority of the President I was vested with exclusive jurisdiction
where courts were closed to freedmen, and proposing to the judges and magistrates of the
State, in the absence of the law-making power, to become my agents for the administration
of justice, upon condition that, in every case to which a freedman was a party, they should
take as their method of procedure the laws then in force in that State, except so far as those
laws made a distinction on account of color, and announcing that failure to signify accept
ance, or evident denial of justice, would be followed by revocation of such agency and the
substitution of martial law in the district in which it should occur. Some magistrates forth
with accepted. A majority of the judges and magistrates applied to the governor for in
structions. He issued his proclamation, advising them to accept, and intimating that he
would remove from office whoever failed to do so ; and this was done in the case of the then
mayor of Mobile. The entiie body of the judges and magistrates in the State — perhaps with
the exception of a single judge — accepted, as the proclamation became known to them; and
the courts of the State were from that time opened to the negro upon the same terms as to
the white man, including the probate court, in which were recorded wills and conveyances
of real estate, and from which marriage licenses were obtained.
When the constitutional convention assembled, the governor united with me in making all
possible effort to incorporate this principle of equality before the law into the constitution of
the State. We were unable to secure this, most of the members alleging that the public
mind was so far from being prepared for it that it would ruin those who should support it.
The system of agencies above mentioned was, however, continued by an ordinance adopted
by a large majority, until the close of the next session of the general assembly, to give, as
they said, the legislature the chance of doing the same thing.
When the legislature assembled, the provisional governor in his message took the same
stand, but most of the members were of the belief that some system of compulsory manage
ment of the freedmen was necessary and indispensable if their labor was to be made availa
ble at all. This feeling was strengthened by the fact that the freedmen, quite generally,
anticipating that the lands of their owners would, at Christmas, be divided out to them, de
clined to work or to make contracts for work until that time. Every effort was made by the
bureau to dispel this misapprehension. Just before Christmas, under cover of a general desire
to begin work upon the crop of the coming year, certain persons in the legislature succeeded
in forcing through that body a series of laws which I regarded as the practical re-enactment
of slavery in all particulars except the sale of persons. These laws, however, were pre
vented from taking immediate effect by the ordinance of the convention above referred to.
Just before the passage of these bills Governor Patten, newly elected, was inaugurated,
and in his inaugural address advised against class legislation. After the passage of these
bills the legislature took a recess of thirty days. On its reassembling, the bills were returned
by the governor with his veto, which was in each instance sustained in the legislature by a
majority vote; the freedmen having meanwhile, immediately after Christmas, gone very gen
erally and very industriously to work. There has been since then no very marked attempt
at class legislation, nor is there now in the laws of the State any material provision for the
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 139
different treatment of white and black persons, except that negroes are not allowed to testify
in cases where they are not concerned, a position against which one or two of the leading
newspapers of the State are already taking ground, and it is my opinion that when the legis
lature again assembles this difference will be done away with.
It was also with me a matter of great desire and earnest effort to secure from the legislature
an organized system for the care of colored paupers, in the strict sense of that term. It was
found impossible to secure anything more than the present law, which authorizes the county
commissioners to care for paupers, making no distinction between black and white, but has
no mandatory provisions. I have, in form, tendered to the overseers of the poor of the differ
ent counties such co-operation as I could render, and such supplies as I could control, uni
formly alleging that it was to the helpless indigent alone that I desired to confine that part
of the work of the bureau. In some instances my overtures have been met, and we are
working together successfully upon this basis, with some prospect of its extension. The
principal difficulty now in Alabama as to the freedmen arises from a sluggish and reluctant
execution of the laws, where the sufferer belongs to the non-voting class of population, and
the person complained of to that which votes. This has not, in my judgment, extended to
judges of the courts of record, but has its principal effect among officers of an inferior grade.
The evil is 'also, in my judgment, partly due to political animosity.
At the time of my arrival in the State, .1 do not remember to have heard any but kindly
feelings expressed towards the United States. There seemed to be a disposition to cling to
and rely upon such Union men as commanded the popular respect, and a cordial feeling
towards officers of the United States. At the time of the election ordered by the constitutional
convention, the war party, by which I mean those who had been engaged in the war, seemed
to be the controlling element ; yet the selections, both from its ranks and from outside, seemed
to be those of Union, or at least moderate, political antecedents. After this time a change
seemed to take place, which afterwards became manifest and decided. In the elections for
members of Congress, where the Union candidates ran against those of the war party, the
former were, with one exception, so far as I know, defeated ; yet the rejection of the men
elected, though chosen in open violation of law, seemed either to occasion, or to be the pre
test for, a great increase of bitterness, which began to display itself, and is now pretty fully
displayed, in a sort of social ostracism towards persons known as Union men, northern immi
grants, army officers, and other persons, residents of the State, who are able to take the test
oath and take it, such persons being regarded as thereby convicting themselves of confessed
unfaithfulness to the State at large. My own agents find themselves the objects generally
of dislike, and frequently of rudeness, though I have known of no instances in which this
reached the point of violence or forcible opposition, for which forbearance, however, we are
probably indebted to the presence of United States forces, and to the known co-operation and
sympathy of the executive of the State. Perhaps I say too much in this last particular.
There is a general desire on the part of the people of the State to- see the bureau removed,
and they express their dislike to it with some emphasis. I think the governor would prefer it
were removed ; but while that is true, he does not fail to help to make things go on smoothly
and has extended to me all the co-operation he could.
Question. What would be the effect of removing the bureau from the State?
Answer. It would be very bad.
Question. What results would you anticipate from its removal ?
Answer. I think that lawless characters, relying on the public sentiment for immunity,
would increase in numbers and in boldness, while instances of outrages unpunished and of
denial of right would multiply; and that a strong pressure would be brought to bear upon
the officers of the law, to withhold them from the execution of the law, where the barrier of
race or politics could be interposed.
Question. Is the presence of a military force necessary in Alabama ?
Answer. I judge that it is; and yet, I have been from the first of the opinion that a small
force of cavalry would be much more efficient than the present force of infantry, which is
somewhat large ; and this, for the reason that there are few or no points in the State which
it is necessary to occupy in force, while I think we ought for some time yet to be able to
reach easily any point in the State where unchecked lawlessness prevails or may prevail.
Question. Do you understand that the action of the legislature in sustaining the governor's
veto of the obnoxious laws to which you have referred, was the result of a change of opinion
upon the part of the members of the legislature?
Answer. I understand it to have been the result of a change of public sentiment, effected
by the negroes in going to work as generally and heartily as they did immediately after
Christmas. I understand that that produced a conviction in the public mind that the gov
ernor and I were right when we claimed that the same laws which answered for one race
would answer for the other. And this was more expressly manifest in the veto of what was
called the contract bill, in regard to which the governor took tie ground that the common
law remedy of pecuniary damages for ft violation of contract was enough in the case of con >'
tracts for labor as in other contracts, although where the laborers are freedmen, this remedy
amounts to little or nothing beyond the forfeiture of accrued wages, where there are such. --
Question. What has been the disposition of the negroes to work, where they have been
properly paid ; are they disposed to work, or not ?
140 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. After Christmas they went to work with a will. "When I left the State there was
a slight apparent increase since Christmas of unemployed negroes, but my impression is that
they will be found nearly, if not quite, equal to other men in the steadfastness of labor, and
possibly more steadfast than most classes of men under equal conditions, they having been
brought up to labor constantly, without much stimulus or inducement except compulsion.
Question. Do you understand whether or not the number of negroes in Alabama has been
diminished since 18(50?
Answer. I think the negroes in Alabama since I860 have been very considerably dimin
ished. During the jubilee, occasioned by the coming and passing of our troops, very many
of them left their homes without purpose or provision ; and after their freedom was under
stood, other large numbers of them crowded into the towns. Many of both these classes died of
disease and from exposure. But during a great part of the war Alabama remained, compar
atively, intact, while the adjacent States were ravaged or occupied by armies, and large
numbers of negroes were brought into that State — perhaps enough to make the number now
equal to the census of 1860. A considerable portion, however, of the arable land in Alabama
goes untilled this year, principally in consequence of the scarcity of labor.
Question. How do you explain that, if there are as many negroes in the State as there were
in 1860?
Answer. I should say there were more perhaps in the towns, and there are more calls for
them at other kinds of labor — on railroads which are being restored, and other works of that
kind now set on foot. And I do not know but that the war diminished the proportion of
adults ; of male adults particularly. It was not uncommon in army operations (I have often
done it myself — and sometimes in Alabama — during the war) to send out two or three good
sergeants or corporals — promising young men — to accompany the cavalry in short excur
sions, and collect able-bodied negroes ; and, when enough were gathered for a company, to
muster them into service, arm them, and make these men officers. That wras a p/actice car
ried on quite extensively.
Question. Has there been any miu'tary organization formed in Alabama under the State
government ?
Answer. Before Christmas apprehensions were quite generally expressed, that the disap
pointment of the negroes at not receiving lands would produce outbreaks and perhaps a gen
eral insurrection. This created a certain demand for militia organizations, and here and there
over the State militia companies were formed. There was found to be a deficiency of arms
of any one pattern, although nearly every man in the State carries arms of some kind. Some
of these companies undertook to patrol their vicinities. Others of them were ordered to dis
arm the freedmen, and undertook to search in their houses for this purpose. It is proper to
say that no order authorizing the disarming of freedmen was issued from the executive of
fice, and that a bill for the disarming of freedmen was defeated in the legislature. Attempts
to do this, however, were made, and induced outrages and plunder, lawless men taking ad
vantage of authority obtained through these organizations for that purpose. Before Christ
inas, not being able to say or to feel quite sure that insurrections might not occur, and aware
that if they did occur, interference, from whatever motive, with plans to prevent or sup
press them, would appear inexcusable, I forbore to interfere. But when, shortly after New
Year, an order of the same kind came to my knowledge, I made public my determination to
maintain the right of the negro to keep and to bear arms, and my disposition to send an .armed
force into any neighborhood in which that right should be systematically interfered with.
This produced a quite general excitement and a good deal of abuse, but was nevertheless gen
erally recognized. I think there were few instances in which it was interfered with after New
Year, and that there have been since then few militia organizations in any, degree of cohesion
or efficiency. The people seem to be more busy in making a living.
Question. As far as you know, if it were possible to establish the confederacy, and the peo
ple of Alabama were left free to choose between the establishment of the confederacy and the
maintenance of the national government, which would they choose ?
Answer. My opinion upon that point is little more than conjecture. My impression is that,
as a question of State pride, they would prefer completing what they once undertook. But
I know of nothing now looking to that end. There seems, however, to be quite a determined
eifort to make it honorable to have been engaged in rebellion, and, if possible, to make it dis
honorable to be among them as an officer of the United States, and particularly so to have
been a Union man among them during the war. They do not wish to make it dishonorable
to have been a copperhead or simply a citizen of the northern States during the war. I may
say further, in reference to the maintenance of a military force in Alabama, that the presence
of large bodies of infantry in time of peace creates a great deal of disorder. The men are re
moved from the restraints of home, not amenable to the civil law, and, by reason of their be
ing scattered, more or less military discipline is necessarily relaxed. The stationing of snmll
bodies of cavalry through the State would localize all the evils of garrison presence, while it
would extend the area of efficient operation. It is to catch fugitives, and not to overcome op
position, that troops are necessary. They have this further use, that men feel that the power
of the government is present where it has not much strength of tin? popular affection.
Question. How are northern men received in Alabama who go there for business purposes
or to cultivate lauds ?
ARKANSAS GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 1 41
Answer. They are received kindly by those who have business with them and by some
others, although they experience from a portion of the people coldness, and occasion ally rude
ness and insult. I have known of no case in Alabama in which a northern man was subjected
to greater inconvenience than the attentions of a horse-thief. Some portions of the State, I
think, should be excepted from what I have stated as general characteristics of the whole.
In a few counties civil law has scarcely any prevalence or force, and gangs of ruffians, mostly / ,J
operating at night, hold individuals under a r«ign of terror. I suppose this will be removed 1 '
as these counties follow the progress of order in the State. The city of Mobile also appears )
to be largely under the dominion of rowdyism, and animated almost throughout by active ;
hostility to the freedmen. During the past six months, I think, four colored churches have \
been burned in the city of Mobile, and in three instances, apparently, because prepai'ations
were made to establish schools in them, and in one instance directly after a military order
directing that a church then in the hands of white trustees be restored to the use of colored
persons, its equitable owners. I think it my duty to say generally, as enforcing what I have
said as to the reluctant execution of the laws, that I have not known, after six months' resi
dence at the capital of the State, a single instance of a white man being convicted and hung
or sent to the penitentiary for crime against a negro, while many cases of crime warranting
such punishment have been reported to me. Nor do I believe that faithfulness to this degree
in the execution of the laws can be obtained without external stimulus, though latterly I
have known of some cases of parties indicted, and one or more persons who, for alleged capital
offeoices, were and are refused bail.
Question. What was the nature of the offences to which you refer in your last answer ?
Answer. Homicide. In some instances, uiost atrocious murders.
Question. Were they numerous ?
Answer. When I first came there a good many were reported to me. In a number of in
stances I sent out a competent officer with a considerable body of cavalry to visit the locali
ties and investigate. I found that some of the cases seemed to have occurred as far back as
the beginning of the war, or before. In others the condition of the country enabled the par
ties to escape. There seems to have been a decrease in the frequency of such cases, which
I have attributed as much to the settling down of society as to the enforcement of the laws.
One of the principal difficulties I found in caring for the freedmen was that large numbers of
them were confined in jails, charged with arson, mule-stealing, larceny, and other crimes
committed under cover of the operations of our forces. Duty and order, alike required that
these acts should be vindicated by force, if need be, when done in aid of the forces of the
United States. But in many cases this could not be asserted, and in others proof was want
ing. To relieve this difficulty and conflict I proposed to Governor Patton that he should, by
proclamation, pardon all offences against the State laws during the war, except such heinous
crimes as he should think proper to except. The idea was entertained and a proclamation
Issued pardoning, as a measure of conciliation, all crimes done during the war, except rape
and murder, and invoking the people and the courts to give such effect to the laws of the
State and of the United States as should vindicate the step "and remove all pretexts for mili
tary surveillance." The effect of this was, I think, to liberate from four to eight hundred
freedmen, and many others, without any marked injury to society. This was just before I
left Alabama. I mention it as an instance of executive co-operation.
WASHINGTON, March 10, 1866.
Captain J. H. Matthews sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. What is your age and occupation?
Answer. I am twenty-three years of age ; I am at present an officer of the 66th colored
infantry; I have been on duty in southern Mississippi since the 1st of July last, either as
provost marshal or sub-commissioner of the Freedmen's Bureau.
Question. What opportunities have you had for learning the opinions and sentiments of
the people in Mississippi ?
Answer. While I was provost marshal I administered the oath of amnesty. I was also
engaged in regulating contracts between the freedmen and their former masters, and I had
an opportunity to attend a number of their political meetings during the campaign in Octo
ber last.
Question. What was the character of the meetings that you attended ?
Answer. There were usually two distinct parties : one a party who had been actively en
gaged in the rebellion ; the other a party who had not been so actively engaged. The party
that had been actively engaged in the rebellion laid claim to the support of the people on
that account, that they had been with them in the rebellion four years". My experience is
that the rebel party was the successful party in nine cases out of ten.
Question. Did either party claim to be aXTnion party upon principle ?
Answer. I heard no such claim made.
142 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. "What ground was taken by those who hud not been so actively engaged in the
rebellion ?
Answer. Their former experience in the administration of civil affairs. From the first of
November until the middle of January I acted as sub-commissioner of the Freedineri's Bu
reau for the counties of Amite" and Pike, in Mississippi.
Question. While so acting, what did you find to be the condition of the freedmen?
Answer. I found it to be very bad indeed. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, after
the surrender of the rebel armies, contracts, either written or verbal, were entered into be
tween the freedmen and their former masters for the payment of services from the surrender
until the end of the year, when the crops were made; in ninety-nine cases out of a hundred
the freedmen were driven off without payment. I know of but one case in the whole neigh
borhood where payment was made, even by a division of the crop. In that whole locality, I
believe, the old system of flogging was practiced quite extensively up to the end of the year
1865. There are military organizations there, which, it has been ascertained, have partici
pated in very many of these floggings and outrages. During the holidays, or about that time,
these militia men patrolled the country, either with their faces blackened or without, flogging
and maltreating in almost every way the freedmen, and in some cases Union men.
Question. Have these militia organizations been suppressed, or are they still in existence ?
Answer. I believe they are still in existence.
Question. When did you leave Mississippi 1t
Answer. About the first of this month.
Question. What was the condition of things there at that time as compared with what it
was when you were first on duty as sub-commissioner of freedmen?
Answer. The night before I started to come on here, I returned from a tour of sixteen days
in the interior of the State. I was directed by order to proceed, with three other officers and
a squad of cavalry, into the interior. The order was from Major Reynolds, acting sub-com
missioner of the southern district, and it directed us to investigate into the condition of the
freedmen. While out, we took the depositions of, perhaps, fifty persons, black and white,
concerning the treatment and condition of the freedmen, and in mauy instances the party by
whom outrages had been committed was identified. There were at least four or five men
who were known to be militia men, who were engaged in many of these outrages, either with
or without their faces blackened.
Question. What was the nature of the outrages to which those depositions related ?
Answer. Inhuman flogging, to the extent, in some cases, of 350 lashes.
Question. For what alleged offences ?
Answer. Nearly all of them for having left their former masters.
Question. Any other outrages except this flogging ?
Answer. There was a black man hung and skinned. It was claimed that he was skinned
by a doctor after execution. We were unable to find out the true facts in that case, but he
was hung and skinned.
Question. For what was the man hung ?
Answer. For attempting to escape to our lines, and also for taking with him his master's
horse.
Question. Did he have any trial ?
Answer. No, sir; I think not. Some of the prominent citizens were summoned, but he
was turned over to some Arkansas , I think. This took place some nine. mouths
before the surrender.
Question, Did the depositions of which you have spoken relate to outrages that took place
since Lee's surrender, or before ?
Answer. All of them relate to matters since the surrender except the one of hanging and
skinning. All of them but that were matters that occurred about the holidays, from the
middle of December until in January. »
Question. Were the outrages all instances of flogging, or were there other outrages ?
Answer. There have been a number of freedmeu killed in that vicinity; two at Magnolia,
in Pike county.
Question. What do you know about any anticipated insurrection among the negroes about
Christinas ?
Answer. About Christmas and New Year it was said there would he an insurrection, and
orders were issued by the governor of the State to disarm the freedineii-
Question. Was that order executed?
Answer. Yes, sir; and mostly by the militia. And it was in the executiPn» or pretended
execution, of that order, that the most of those outrages were committed.
Question. Have the United States authorities interfered in that district to preTeut tne dis'
arming of the negroes, or was it completed so far as the militia chose to do it 1
Answer. I think the United States authorities took no measures against it. I nevver na(*
any instructions to prevent it, although I reported that it was going on.
Question. What is the present condition of the negroes ? Are they quiet and at work' ?
Answer. All at work and quiet.
Question. Are they generally at work under contracts entered into with the advice ^n^
consent of the officers of the Freedmeu's Bureau ?
I
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA —MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 143
Answer. I think the contracts are acknowledged before civil officers now.
Question. What are the wages generally paid to freedmen ?
Answer. In the interior of the State they are very low. In one place I found three appar
ently able-bodied negroes working for $20 a month for all three of them. In other places
the wages are quite fair.
Question. What are the wages in other localities ?
Answer. About the highest are $15 a mouth. The average is probably from $8 to $10 a
month.
Question. Are there laborers enough in that region to supply the demand for labor ?
Answer. I do not think there are.
Question. What information have you received as to the number of the negroes in Missis
sippi 1 Have they diminished or increased in number since the war began ?
Answer. They have diminished fearfully from two causes : first, the want of attention ; and
secondly, towards the close of the war it was the uniform practice in the country to execute
summarily all able-bodied negroes who were taken attempting to make their escape to our
lines. In the summer of 1863 some twenty of them were executed within thirty or forty miles
of Natchez for trying to escape to our lines.
Question. In your last trip through the State what did you find the temper of the white
people to be in regard to the government of the United States ? Are they prepared, or not,
to support it in good'faith ?
Answer. I do not think they are. I find the people generally very bitter, so much so that
I consider it dangerous for any federal officer to go unescorted through that country. Par
ticularly between New Orleans and Vicksburg, or between New Orleans and Jackson, it
would be dangerous for a man to be seen in blue clothes. I made a trip in the middle of Jan
uary from Natchez to Vicksburg on the steamer Grey Eagle. I was insulted and bemeaned
in every conceivable way by a party on board who claimed to have been confederates. They
were continually drinking toasts and cheering Jeff. Davis, Semmes, Lee, and Stonewall
Jackson. I spoke to no man on board the boat but the clerk of the boat. I was known to
be a United States officer by my uniform, and I was the only one on board, and they took
advantage of my being alone.
Question. How would it be with northern men who might go down there to go into busi
ness, or to buy or lease land for cultivation ?
Answer. I think they would have to go in force.
Question. You think it would not be safe for them to go singly?
Answer. No, sir ; it would not. In taking the evidence of white persons who are disposed
to give evidence in regard to negroes, they invariably cautioned us not to show their deposi
tions in that country at all, and assigned as a reason for that request that if it was known
they would be unsafe ; that these militia men would come, with or without their faces black
ened, and hang them.
Question. Is there at present much hostility among the white people towards the negroes?
Answer. In some localities I think there is.
Question. What class of white people show this hostility ?
Answer. In one particular neighborhood, in Amite" county, almost the entire community.
I judge so from the fact that in particular localities almost the rrhole people must have been
in this "black cavalry" organization, as they call it. At least thirty to forty able-bodied men
have been seen in it at one time, that being probably nearly the entire able-bodied portion of
the community. Several members of these militia companies have been identified as having
blackened their faces and engaged in perpetrating these outrages. The vagrant, law of the
State, as it is termed, I think works very badly upon the freedmen. That law is enforced
by this militia, and compels all freedmen to have homes after the first week in each year, at
whatever wages may be agreed upon, and I think the freedmen are not allowed to change
their places at any time. I know of several instances where freedmen have gone from one
county to another and made contracts, and were brought back by men with their faces black
ened, who whipped them and ordered them not to leave again. I have heard of several in
stances of that kind, even when they were under no contract with their former masters. Not
a single instance of the outrages we investigated was ever investigated or prosecuted by the
civil authorities.
Question. What security have the freedmen that they are to be paid this year? You say
they were not paid last year.
Answer. I know of no security further than the articles of agreement.
Question. Are there any schools for the freedmen, or the children of freedmen, in that sec- X ^
tion of country ?
Answer. Not any.
Question. What is the condition of the white peyple there in regard to education ? What
proportion of them can read and write ?
Answer. I think that out of the thousand persons to whom I administered the oath of am
nesty, perhaps one out of three could sign his own name.
Question. Did our armies at any time pass over the counties of which you speak, the coun
ties of Amite and Pike ?
144 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir. I think that General Grierson's and General Davidson's commands
went through there.
Question. Do the people appear to expect any pay for their slaves, or for their property
lost during the war ?
Answer. Some of them seem to expect it.
Question. If it were possible to establish the confederacy as they hoped to do when they
commenced the rebellion, would the people of Mississippi, so far as you know, prefer this
government or the confederacy ?
Answer. I believe the people in that section of the country would prefer any government
rather than ours. I heard several say in the State legislature that they believed they were
right, and that they further believed that if there were a just Providence he would not fail to
bring retribution on the Yankees for what they had done.
Question. Is Governor Humphreys regarded as ever having been a Union man?
Answer. I think not.
Question. The people look upon him as having been a secessionist from the beginnkg'?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have you seen an order purporting to have been issued by Governor Humphreys,
advising the organization of historical societies in all the counties of Mississippi ?
Answer. I have.
Question. Do you suppose that order to be genuine?
Answer. I do.
Question. What is the purpose of those historical societies ?
Answer. One purpose is said to be to collect the records of distinguished soldiers in the
confederate service and forward them to the proper officer at the State capital for preserva
tion. I think the language is, "the deeds of the heroes engaged in our glorious cause," or
something to that effect.
Question. Do you know anything of the societies themselves ? Have you attended the
meetings of any of them, or learned from others who have attended them ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Do you know whether any of them were organized in Mississippi before you
left there ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I know of several.
Question. Do you know whether many people belong to them or attend their meetings ?
Answer. I think they all belong to them.
Question. All the people ?
Answer. Pretty much all; at least they give their aid and assistance in furnishing docu
ments.
Question. Do you know whether any part of the proceedings of those historical societies
are secret ? Have you heard anything said about that ?
Answer. I have never heard it said that they were secret. I have heard that there were
secret societies, but what they were I do not know.
Question. What information have you received as to there being secret societies in Mis
sissippi?
Answer. My information was that the object was this : that all parties were to keep quiet
until they had succeeded in bringing their State into their former relations with the govern
ment of the United States ; that " they would endure these things," to use their own expres
sion, "until such time as they could do better."
Question* Have you made reports to your superior officers in regard to the condition of
the freedmen in Mississippi?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. How recently ?
Answer. My last re-port was dated on the 7th of January, 1866, except the one I made con
jointly with Captain Chattield and Captain Hiscrodt, just 'before I left there.
Question. Did any of these reports contain anything material to the proper understanding
of the condition of things in Mississippi, besides what you have stated in your evidence this
morning ?
|: Answer. It enumerated instances of outrages, and gave the names of some of the parties
engaged in them.
Question. Can you furnish the committee with copies of some of them ?
Answer. I think I can : I think some of them are now in Washington.
Question. Will you furnish a copy of your joint report, to be made a part of your testimony?
Answer. I will.
Question. Is there anything further you deem it important to state in connexion with this
investigation ? ^
Answer. I might refer to the apprentice law of Mississippi. In many instances freedmen
and freedwomen are deprived of their children under the pretext, on the part of those who
take them, that they are unable to support them. A statement to that effect, made by a white
man, will secure to him almost any frecdniau's child he may select. In many instances I
have known them to deduct from two to four years from what the parents claim to be the age
of their child, and have them apprenticed till they are 13 or 21 years of age.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 145
Question. Is this apprentice law a recent law of Mississippi?
Answer. Yes, sir ; it was passed this last winter. And then there is a law prohibiting ne
groes from purchasing or leasing property — a law which is particularly obnoxious tothefreed-
men. All, or nearly all, of the freed men have a great desire to accumulate property, to own
or lease laud. They are now prohibited by State legislation from doing so.
Question. When was this law passed ?
Answer. In the winter of lbC5 arid 1866.
Question. Are the negroes so far intelligent that they understand the great questions at
issue between the secessionists and the Union people of the country ?
Answer. 1 believe they do perfectly.
Question. What are their own desires in regard to their future ? What do they want for
themselves ?
Answer. They want especially to be property owners, land owners. They want to be ed
ucated ; they manifest an intense desire to learn, and they learn very rapidly wherever they
have the opportunity.
Question. You have been connected with a colored regiment 1
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Have the soldiers of your regiment made any progress in education since you
have been connected with it ?
Answer. I should say that at least nine-tenths of them had learned to read, and that from
one-fifth to one-fourth could read quite well.
Question. Have any of them acquired so much education as to be able to write sentences,
to write a letter, or anything of the kind ?
Answer. A great many of them have. Almost all the letters for the soldiers of a company
are now written by some of the members of the company.
Question. Do you apprehend any danger from insurrection of the freedmen in the south if
they are treated properly I
Answer. Not at all. My impression and experience lead me to consider them the best-dis
posed people on the face of the earth. I will say, however, that they dread being turned over
to the State authorities.
Question. Do you think the military force of the United States could now be withdrawn
from the State 1
Answer. Not with safety to the freedmen.
Question. How in regard to the white Union men?
Answer. In many portions of the State the Union whites are in such a small minority that
I do not think it would make any difference, especially in Amite and Pike counties.
Question. They do not show themselves in public atfuirs at all ?
Answer. No, sir. I mean those who were formerly Union men ; they all say they are for
the Union now.
Question. Do the white people desire the removal of the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; all of them.
Question. How is it with the negroes ?
Answer. They desire to have it continued.
Question. Have you any idea how much land is likely to be under cultivation in Missis
sippi this year, in comparison with the amount under cultivation just previous to the Avar, say
in 1859 and 1800 ?
Answer. I think all the tillable land will be cultivated this year in those portions of the
State where I have been. There is a great deal of new laud being broken up, wliic'h will
probably offset the vacant old land.
Question. Do you expect that, with a good season, this year the crops will be about as
large as ever ?
Answer. I should say they would be fully as large where I have been.
Question. Do the negroes perform as much labor now as they did when in slavery ?
Answer. I am told by men who are known to be well disposed towards the negroes that
they work excellently well, as well as they ever did. In those counties where tins " black
cavalry" organization is in force they speak differently ; they speak disparagingly of the no- '
groes and of their disposition to labor. I desire to say distinctly that the right of the negroes .
to go from one part of the State to another, and make contracts with whom they please, has
been entirely prohibited by what I can call nothing else than armed organizations for whip
ping and flogging negroes. In many instances 1 know that organizations for that purpose
are officered by captains and lieutenants and even sergeants.
Question. Where did you reside prior to the war ?
Answer. In the State of Iowa.
Question. When did you enter the military service of the United States ?
Answer. In 1861.
Question. And have continued in that service during the war ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. In what southern States have you been while in service ?
Answer. I have been in Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi,
and Louisiana.
10— A G M A
146 RECONSTRUCTION.
OFFICE OF SUB-COMMISSIONE* FREEDMEN, &c.,
Magnolia, Miss., January 12, 18G6.
SIR : By direction of Colonel Samuel Thomas, assistant commissioner, I have the honor
to submit the following report of the condition of freedmen in this section of the country :
It was thought that while civil law was re-established, when laws were passed for the
protection of the freedmen against the evils that might arise from their sudden emancipation,
these philanthropic lawgivers would, at least, accede to the negro the right to live and
to own and accumulate property ; but to-day the ugly fact stares us in the face that there is
a wide gulf between our anticipations and realizations.
On the 1 5th day of December, 1865, a negro reported at my office and informed me that
his former master, Mr. Felix Allen, of Pike county, had sent him into Amite county, Missis
sippi, on business, and that he would call and see me on his return. On the ensuing day
he returned to my office most shamefully beaten, and stated that after he had performed his
mission with Mr. Allen's son-in-law, he lodged for the night in the " quarters" on the place,
by direction of Mr. Allen's son-in-law ; that while in bed, about 11 p. m., some six or seven
white men came and burst into the house and, with pistols drawn, asked him what he
was doing there, when he informed them that he was sent there by Mr. Allen, his master,
and that if they would go with him to the white folks' house he would prove his statement ;
but "no," they told him. "We dont care a damn for that ; we want you to go with us."
When they had taken this man about a mile they were met by about fifty (50) armed,
mounted men, supposed to be militia, and commanded by a man they called "lieutenant,''
who ordered them to take him (the negro) off from the road and give him a flogging, and
when they had proceeded about fifty yards from 'the road they threw him down, and six or
seven of them jumped into his face and bosom with their heels, stamping and kicking him.
When this old negro (he was apparently sixty or sixty-five years old) returned to my office
he presented a most frightful appearance, his breast-bone broken, and spitting blood. On
the 18th day of December, 1865, I was informed that a negro man had been badly beaten by
a company of militia at Holmesville, Mississippi. When I proceeded thither, on the same
day, I found that on the 16th of December the colored people had assembled at a ball, which
was broken up by a town patrol, and one man badly flogged.
On the !^4th day of December, 1865, a soldier of company D, 66th United States colored
infantry, received a five-days pass, with permission to proceed to Summit, Mississippi,
and on the second day he was halted by two white men with drawn pistols and asked "by
what authority he was there." He produced his pass, and in the streets of Summit, in
broad daylight, these two men cut off his coat-buttons and the fastenings for shoulder-scales,
and gave him an hour to leave town or they would kill him.
On the same night a party of a dozen or more white citizens proceeded to a house occupied
as a colored school-house, broke it open, and gave the teacher until the next morning to
quit the place. This teacher was a colored man, and had permission to teach from the pro
vost marshal at Brookhaven, Mississippi.
I wish especially to call your attention to the many brutal outrages perpetrated by a com
pany of militia in Amite county, Mississippi, commanded by one Captain Daniel Fenn.
Several of his actions have been previously noted in my reports.
About the holidays this company patrolled the country and gave the negroes a general flog
ging, whether at home attending to business or absent. On the Kane plantation, near Ziuu.
Hill, a woman was literally cut to pieces, in which Kane himself, a militiaman, took an
active part. On the same night a woman was badly beaten on the Lumpkins plantation,
young Lumpkins, a militiaman, being present and engaged in the affair, whose father is a
justice of the peace of that bent. Also, on the same night, a woman was terribly flogged,
who has since disappeared and cannot be found, on the John H. McGee place. On the
following night a negro man, whose name I have forgotten, but vouch for the truthfulness
of the statement, had two pony-horses taken from him on the Kane plantation by this com
pany, when he (the negro) produced his bill of sale for the property, and who was informed
by a lieutenant of Fenn's company that '* negroes were not allowed any property larger than
a chicken." This lieutenant, together with Kane .and young Lumpkins, can be identified as
being present when these dastardly outrages were committed ; all of whom, I believe, are
members of Fenn's militia, in Amite county, Mississippi.
I respectfully invite your attention to a murder committed by one John H. McGee, some
nine months since, which would challenge the world for an equal in studied brutality, which
was reported to me some time since, but for want of facts I did not feel warranted iu
reporting before. Tlic negro icas murdered, beheaded, skinned, and his skin nailed to the
barn. Should this affair be investigated, I wrould refer you to Mr. Buiikly, at Bunkly's
ferry, who can give the names of parties knowing to the facts.
While marching across the country from Magnolia to Natchez, Mississippi, the 6Sth
United States colored infantry bivouacked in the Zion Hill neighborhood, and 1 determined,
if possible, to arrest these villains and march them to Natchez. For this purpose I pro
ceeded with an officer and two mounted men to the several plantations where these depreda
tions had been committed, but was unable to find any of the perpetrators at home — a very
bad omen, to say the least of.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 147
I have given these statements in a plain household style, and my only regret is my
inability to do the subject simple justice. I wish to publish, and especially to the officials of
Mississippi, the practical workings of their midnight schemes. I beg leave to make the
sweeping statement, that in some four or five townships or beats in the counties of Amite and
Pike nine-tenths (,20) of the entire white male population have actually perjured themselves.
All, or nearly all, have subscribed to the amnesty oath, and have sworn to refrain from the
very acts they are performing ; and I have no idea that more than one in ten in this Zion
Hill vicinity can lay his hand upon his heart and swear he has acted an upright and honest
part toward the freedmen since taking the oath, while at the same time it should be remem
bered that this same Zion Hill country is continually reporting negro insurrections being on
foot — a perfect " hot-bed" for originating insurrection canards. No wonder that such an
inmate in their minds as the recollection of their own nefarious actions should be the insti
gator of a subterfuge to screen themselves in violating law by implicating others who are
defenceless.
In view, then, of the terribly vindictive passions, not only among but controlling the
minds of these people, permit me to respectfully recommend that troops be stationed in tha-t
section of the country, or that the freedmen be protected in removing to some locality where
their lives, at least, will be secure.
Should they remain where they are, under existing circumstances, their condition will not
only be rendered worse than slaves, but the safety for their lives and their hopes for the
future for this unfortunate race will depart forever.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. H. MATHEWS,
Captain and Sub-Commissioner of Freedmen, Sfc.
Lieutenant STUART ELDRIDGE,
A. A. A. G., Frecdmeri's Bureau, State of Mississippi.
WASHINGTON, March 13, 1866.
Major General Christopher C. Andrews sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Have you been connected with the army during the war ? If so, in what
capacity ?
Answer. I have. I was mustered into the service as a private soldier on the llth of Octo
ber, 1861, and commissioned as captain on the 4th of November following. I was mustered
out of service as brevet major general, to take effect on the 15th of January last.
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. In Minnesota.
Question. In what part of the country did you serve during the two years preceding your
discharge ?
Answer. In Arkansas, Alabama, and Texas. I was with General Steele in his campaign
of Little Rock, and took command of the post of Little Rock on the 1 1 th of September, 1803.
I was in command of the post of Little Rock for eight mouths. From the middle of July to
the last of December, 18(34, I was in command at DuvalFs Bluff, Arkansas.
Question. When did you finally leave Arkansas ?
Answer. In December, 1864.
Question. During the time you were there, what was the temper of the people ? Were
they loyal or disloyal, generally 1
Answer. There was a good loyal element in Arkansas, better than in any State I have
been in in the south since the war. In March, 1864, there were 12,000 bonafide votes given
for the free State constitution. The people came some distance, and would come repeatedly
during the three days' election, in order to vote, the voting being viva voce, and quite incon
venient. When Governor Murphy was inaugurated, in the spring of 1864, there was a pro
cession which escorted him to the capitol in Little Rock, civic ana military, over three miles
in length — the whites and blacks turning out generally.
Question. Do you understand that these 12,000 votes were given in March, 1864, without
any constraint ?
Answer. Yes, by Union men — loyal men.
Question. How many other persons do you estimate were in the State of Arkansas who
would have been voters had there been no rebellion or breaking up of the State government,
and who did not vote 1
Answer. I have not very good means of forming a correct estimate, but I think that was
probably one-third the vote of the State previous to the war. I may be mistaken about that.
Question. Have you any opinion of the effect of the war upon the population of Arkansas —
whether it has diminished it ; and if so, to what ext-ent ?
Answer. I think it has diminished the population, but am not able to say to what extent.
Many thousands of refugees left the State during the war. I, perhaps, ought to say that
148 RECONSTRUCTION.
there was a reaction in Arkansas soon after the reverse of the Red river campaign, and, un
doubtedly, many who voted for the free State constitution were conscripted into the confed
erate service, and that some others who voted that way voluntarily went into the confed
erate service. There was a great depression in Arkansas after the lied river reverse. Little
Rock, and, indeed, the whole line of the Arkansas river, was menaced the following season
by the confederate armies ; and it seemed to be the general opinion among the people that the
federal troops would be driven out of Arkansas. But the fact that several regiments were
raised in Arkansas for the federal service, after the capture of Little Rock by General Stcele,
is an evidence of the loyalty which characterized many portions of the State.
Question. What was the feeling of the people towards the freedmen — kindly or otherwise,
as a general thing?
Answer. It was kindly, in proportion as the people were loyal.
Question. Have you known anything of the State since December, 1864 ?
Answer. I have not, personally.
Question. Where did you serve afterwards ?
Answer. I was engaged in the campaign of Mobile.
Question. And did you remain in Alabama after Mobile was captured?
Answer. I was in command at Sclma, Alabama, in the latter part of April and early part
of May, 1865.
Question. Did you then leave Alabama?
Answer. I then went to Mobile.
Question. State tLe condition and feeling of the people of Alabama, as far as you have
observed them.
Answer. I think there was a very good feeling at Selma. There was certainly more re
spect shown for the federal authority than I have seen since in the south. Perhaps it was
owing to the fact that General Wilson's cavalry column had recently passed through
there. There, as well as at other places, some of the more enlightened as well as more
prominent men appeared well disposed towards the federal government, and willing to make
some sacrifices to restore its authority. Perhaps I ought to say there had been no Freed-
men's Bureau established at that time at Selma, and it was necessary to use some restraint
on the large colored population in the neighborhood, to prevent them from flocking into the
town. I took command of the district of Mobile on the day after the explosion, in the latter
part of May. I remained in command of that district until about the first of July.
Question. What was the temper and conduct of the people there ?
Answer.. While, as I said in regard to Selma, a few seemed well disposed, the large ma
jority did not attempt to disguise "their disloyal sentiments.
Question. As far as you learned, what are the hopes or expectations of the disloyal part of
the people of Alabama as to the future?
Answer. I should say it was their disposition to submit to the federal authority no more
than they were obliged to ; that they regarded the abolition of slavery as unconstitutional ;
and the majority undoubtedly cherished the hope of having the proclamation, in some man
ner, revoked. It was common to hear it said that the Supreme Court would set aside the
proclamation. At Mobile the people still had a great horror of the abolitionists, and a great
prejudice against people who are disposed to give the freedmen their rights.
Question. As far as you have observed, if it were possible to establish the confederacy,
would they prefer that, or a continuance of the Union ?
Answer. They would prefer the establishment of the confederacy ; and I was not surprised
that that was the feeling, they having for many years been habituated to spurn the Union.
I do not apply this specially to the disloyal people of Mobile, but to the disloyal people I
have met in the south generally.
Question. Do they favor the education of the freedmen or not ?
Answer. They do not favor the education of the freedmen.
Question. What is the sentiment in regard to allowing the freedmen to purchase and own
land and to cultivate it on their own account?
Answer. There is little, if any, disposition to have them enjoy those rights. When I is
sued an order to allow the freeduieu to testify in the courts it seemed to produce a good deal
of indignation among the white people.
Question. If the army and Freedmen's Bureau were withdrawn, and the government here
did not interfere by legislation or otherwise, what would be the general policy of Alabama
and other southern States, as far as you know, in regard to the freedmen?
Answer. The freedmen would undoubtedly be worse off than when they were slaves. They
would be subjected to great restraint and would not have the friendly protection which they
had from their masters. There is no doubt that the white and black races in the south are not
friendly. During the war the blacks were loyal universally, as far as I have had any expe
rience or observation ; and, whatever may be the reason, there is a great degree of prejudice
and antipathy against the freedmen on the part of the white people of the south. It ^\as ;i
common thing for the masters to say to the blacks, "Now, you are made free; you are free
and can go wherever you please. Go, if you choose, immediately ; but if you remain with
me you must remain and do just as you have done heretofore, and I will treat you just as I
have heretofore." The consequence was that a great many of the freed people were obliged
ARKANSAS GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 149
to remain still in a state of slavery or wander off exposed to various hardships and dangers.
And I would further say, that there was an understanding among those who had formerly
been slave owners that the colored people should not be employed without the consent of their
former masters. Although many of the planters were humanely disposed, and appeared will
ing to make the best of the new state of things, yet the majority of the whites were decidedly
hostile to the freedmen, and whenever a wrong was done to a freedman it seldom, if ever,
occurred that any of the white people would interpose to bring the wrong-doer to justice.
Question. Do you know anything of outrages or murders perpetrated upon freedmen or
Union whites in the southern States ?
Answer. I know of outrages committed upon freedmen in Texas. While I was in com
mand at Houston, Texas, several white men were arrested for having killed freedmen.
Question. Were the charges made against them proved on their trials ?
Answer. They had not been brought to trial when I left in the early part of August. Not
all had been arrested.
Question. Are the freedmen disposed to work if properly paid ?
Answer. They are.
Question. Do you apprehend any danger from them if they are treated as they should be ?
Answer. Not the least.
Question. What would be the condition of the Union men of Alabama if the United States
forces should be withdrawn ?
Answer. It would be about the same as it was during the war. I think the unconditional
Union men would have no voice if the troops were withdrawn ; but if political and civil rights
were given to the freedmen or loyal blacks, I think it would meet the approval of the uncon
ditionally loyal white element ; nor do I think it would produce that violence which some
seem to apprehend in such an event.
Question. Are the blacks generally so far intelligent that they understand the questions at
issue between the rebels and loyal people, so that there would be no danger of their being in
duced to vote with the rebels 1
Answer. I think they are sufficiently intelligent to discriminate on that subject.
Question. If the elective franchise is confined to white persons would they be likely to
choose those who have been. Union men to office, or those who have participated in the re
bellion ?
Answer. Those who have participated in the rebellion.
Question. Do you know whether or not the people of the south expect to be paid for their
slaves or for the losses they have sustained in other ways by the army ?
Answer. I do not know as they expect pay. They would try to get it if they could. In
regard to conferring rights, civil or political, upon the freedmen, I will say that, owing to the
degree of prejudice existing and the associations of the people, it is a difficult thing for
the whites voluntarily to confer civil or political rights upon the freedmen. For instance,
they will not lift a hand to educate the freed people, and yet if by some authority they were
required to acquiesce in measures which conferred such rights upon the freedmen they would
do so, and some would cheerfully do so.
WASHINGTON, D. C., March 14, 1866.
General A. L. Chetlain sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. What rank did you hold in the army ?
Answer. Brevet Major General United States volunteers.
Question. Where did you reside previous to the war?
Answer. In Galena, Illinois.
Question. Have you been in the service since Lee's surrender ? If BO, where ?
Answer. I have been — in Tennessee and Alabama.
Question. How long have you been in Alabama, and when did you leave that State ?
Answer. I was in Alabama a little over three months, and I left there the 1st of February
last.
Question. Had you means of knowing the condition and sentiments of the people while
you were there ? If so, what were your means of information ?
Answer I had. I passed through my own district and the district of Montgomery several
times during my stay in Alabama, and I addressed the colored people in several of the coun
ties at the request of the planters. I mixed freely with the planters and conversed with them
in regard to affairs connected with their State.
Question. What are the opinions of the people generally in reference to the national gov
ernment ?
Anwer. There is a class of men of intelligence and wealth in the State who seem to under
stand what is best for their State, and who act and talk very reasonably. They seem anx
ious that northern men should come into the State with the'ir capital to engage in planting,
150 RECONSTRUCTION.
trading, manufacturing, &c. But a much larger class, and I should say a majority of the
people, are not in favor of northern men going into the State. They oppose them, and laui
satisfied that after the withdrawal of the troops they will compel them, in many localities, to
leave the country. It is invariably the case that, where northern men engage in selling
merchandise, they are proscribed by southern men, and are never patronized by them.
Many northern men who went into Mobile last summer, and also to Selmaaud Montgomery,
finding during the past winter that they could not make a living there, on account ot south
ern people being determined not to patronize them, have been selling out at a sacrifice and
leaving the country. The hostility of that class which I have named towards northern men
has shown itself more in what is known as the cane-brake region, the central portion of Ala
bama, than it has further north. I was informed, just before leaving Alabama, by one of
our ex-generals, who has planted largely in the vicinity of Selma, that threats have been
made that, should he succeed in raising a cotton crop, he never would be permitted to sell or
ship it ; that they would destroy it before he could get away. He has applied to General
Woods, commanding the department of Alabama, who has consented to furnish him with
arms and ammunition, so that he may arm the blacks upon the three plantations — a squad on
each plantation — to protect himself and his property after the withdrawal of the federal
troops. There is generally throughout the State a feeling of dislike to the colored people,
and in some localities they are treated brutally. They are robbed on the highways and very
frequently killed. These outrages are committed by the class of people who have been in
the rebel service, and have lost everything they possessed — people of no responsibility, and
who are determined to wreak their vengeance upon the blacks. The freedmen of Alabama
have generally gone to work, making contracts with planters and others, and I should think
that nine-tenths of the plantations in Alabama will be cultivated this year. The price of
labor is low — lower, I think, than in any other southern State ; the wages of able-bodied men
range from eight dollars to twelve dollars a month, and of women from six to eight dollars.
Question. Has the population of Alabama been reduced by the war?
Answer. Very much. It is estimated that 55,000 men from Alabama have been either —
killed or disabled during the war.
Question. How is it as to the black population — has that been reduced ?
Answer. The black population has not been diminished very much. That comes out of
the fact that we did not have possession of the middle or lower part of that State until the
spring of 18G5.
Question. Do you know anything of the expectations of the people in regard to payment
for their slaves and compensation for their losses during the war ?
Answer. They talk very freely in regard to an effort being made by their members, when
once in Congress, to get pay for all the negroes they have lost, or that have been freed under
the President's proclamation. They also expect that a majority in Congress will be secured,
alter the admission of their members, to give the disabled soldiers of the south the benefits of
the pension act. They also speak freely of the matter of claims. They say that, now that
they are pardoned and again in the family, they expect the government will pay them for the
damages which they sustained by Sherman's, Wilson's, Grierson's, and Rousseau's raids.
Question. Do you know anything of the men who have been elected to office in Alabama —
whether they are men who have participated in the rebellion, or were consistent Union
men?
Answer. I know about most of them. I was in the State at and before the election.
Nearly all the members of Congress elected in the State are men who have served in the
confederate army, and I know that in public meetings, where they were canvassing, the
claims of these men were based on valuable services rendered to the confederacy.
Question. So far as you have observed, would the people of Alabama prefer the confeder
acy, if it were possible to establish it, to the Union?
Answer. I am satisfied that a majority of the people of central and southern Alabama
have but little love for the Union. I do not regard them as any more loyal now than tlu-y
were two years ago. If there was any hope of succeeding I believe they would make an
other attempt to gain their independence.
Question. How is it in northern Alabama ?
Answer. I am unable to say ; I was not in that part of the State last year. Kid
napping negroes in central and southern Alabama has been carried OQ for some mouths
past. The plan of operations is this : They hire negroes as steamboat hands at such places
as Montgomery, Selma, and Cahawba. and take them to Mobile, where they are re-hired to
go to Pensacola or New Orleans, at increased wages. When the vessel once gets into the
Gulf, instead of putting into New Orleans or Pensacola, they go direct to Cuba, to some out
of-the-way port, and there sell the blacks at from three to five hundred dollars each in gold. I
was informed by a gentleman, who is now in the employment of the Freedmen's Bureau as
a surgeon, but who requested that I should not make his name known, that in January last
he heard parties in Selma talking about that matter, and stating that they made a good thing
of running slaves to Cuba, and were making arrangements to form a company and carry on
the business on a larger scale.
Question. Is there any other fact within your knowledge touching that matter ?
Answer. No, sir. I omitted to state at the commencement of my testimony that in some
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 151
localities of central Alabama, and also in Mississippi, I am satisfied there are secret organi
zations in existence to compel northern men to leave the country after the withdrawal of the
federal forces.
Question. Do you know anything of the number and extent of these organizations —
whether they are few or many?
Answer. No, sir, I do not. I should judge there were quite many of them. They do not
extend over the whole country, but are limited to certain localities. I have talked freely with
many of the leading men of the State in reference to this thing, and they seemed to be aware
of the existence of these organizations, and also of the fact that a large part of the popula
tion of the State are dissatisfied and vindictive, and opposed to northern men coming into
the State. But they say that their influence will be sufficient to restrain them after the
withdrawal of the troops.
Question. What is your opinion as to the expediency of withdrawing the troops ?
Answer. I think that the troops had better be kept in the State some time longer.
Question. What has been the effect of the Freedmeu's Bureau there — beneficial, or other
wise?
Answer. It has been, on the whole, efficient and beneficial. Last fall, when tho planters
were settling with the freedrnen for their summer's work, I found that there was more or less
difficulty in settling. There seemed to be a disposition on the part of a very large number of
planters to overreach, indirectly, the freedmen, and to defraud them of a part of their earn
ings. There is a strong feeling of hostility to the Freedmeu's Bureau throughout the central
part of Alabama, and, next to the withdrawal of the troops, they are anxious to have that
bureau discontinued. They regard that as a species of espionage, and oppose it very
strongly.
Question. What do you anticipate would be the effect upon the colored people if the
Freedmen's Bureau and the troops were withdrawn, and if the colored people were left to the
management of the white people there ?
Answer. I think that in many localities they would be treated very harshly. There is a
disposition on the part of many of the members of the legislature of Alabama to legislate in
regard to the freedmen, and they state that they cannot legislate as they wish now, because
their action, if not .satisfactory to the government or to the military authorities, would be an
nulled ; but that they hope, as soon as their State has assumed its former relations to the
government, to legislate as they think best, and then they will " show the negro where his
place is."
Question. What is the disposition of the negroes, if properly paid? Are they inclined to
work, or not ?
Answer. They seem to be inclined to work, with few exceptions.
Question. Apprehensions were expressed about Christmas-time of an insurrection : is there
any danger of it, do you think ?
Answer. No, sir;, none whatever.
Question. Are the people disposed to allow the negroes to become owners of land, or have
the negroes means to pay for the land ?
Answer. In some localities the whites will prevent them purchasing property ; in other
localities I think they will allow the negro to acquire property. One portion of the district
I commanded is up in the mountains, where there was a strong Union sentiment at the com
mencement of the war, while the other is in the cane-brake region, which is strictly a cotton-
growing section, and where the state of society is very different.
Question. As far as you have observed, has the sentiment of the people been improving,
or otherwise, with reference to the government ?
Answer. I think it has not improved any since last summer.
Question. State whether, within your knowledge, or from official information, outrages
have been committed on Union whites or negroes.
Answer. On investigation in my district, about the first of last January, I found that in a
score of instances freedmen had been brutally treated by whites. Many had been killed,
others robbed on the highways, and many driven from their homes in a destitute condition.
These facts were reported to General Woods, commanding the department.
WASHINGTON, March 14, 1866.
General Jamos G. Blunt sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUT WELL :
Question. What rank did you hold in the army ?
Answer. Major general United States volunteers.
Question. Where were you residing previous to the war?
Answer. In Kansas.
Question. Have you been in Arkansas since Lee's surrender? If so, during what period of
time ?
1 52 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir ; I was in the western portion of Arkansas during the entire month of
September, 1865.
Question. Over what part of the State did your observations extend ?
Answer. The principal portion of the time referred to was spent at Fort Smith.
Question. Did you have any means of knowing the sentiments and opinions of the people ?
Answer. I associated a good deal with the people. I was frequently in communication
with many persons who had served in the rebel army as officers, and also with citizens who
had aided in the rebellion.
Question. As the result of your observation, what were the sentiments of the people with
reference to the government ; were they loyal or disloyal ?
Answer. So far as my observation extends those who had been identified with the rebel
government, either in military or civil capacity, or who had sympathized with and aided in
the rebellion, since the cessation of hostilities act in good faith, according to the conditions
on which they had surrendered.
Question. What proportion of the people of that region were voluntarily engaged in the
rebellion ?
Answer. My personal knowledge of the political status of Arkansas only extends to the
western portion of the State, where I conducted military operations more or less since Sep
tember, 1862. At the election in the spring of 1861 for delegates to the convention to delib
erate on the question of secession in Arkansas, the direct issue was made in the western, and
particularly northwestern portion of the State, on the question of secession ; that is, the can
didates were secession and anti-secession. In the first tier of counties on the western border
of Arkansas at least two-thirds of the entire vote was cast for Union candidates. After the
ordinance of secession passed, and when that portion of Arkansas was menaced by the pres
ence of a large rebel army from Texas under General McCullough, and also of the rebel army
under Price, that had fallen back from Missouri, a great many persons whose sympathies
were with the government attempted to leave the State. Many of them did succeed in get
ting out of the rebel lines, a large number of whom joined the federal army. Others were
not successful in making their escape, and some were hung and others cruelly treated for
their expressions of loyalty. A great many were compelled by force of circumstances to
enter the confederate service against their will, many of whom afterwards deserted and came
within the federal lines the first opportunity that presented.
Question. How are the freedmeri regarded and treated in western Arkansas?
Answer. My observation in September, 1865, was that they were well treated. In that por
tion of Arkansas to which I refer, the relations between the freedmen and the resident popu
lation, including a great many returned rebels, seemed to be satisfactory both to the freedmen
and to the citizens. There were very few freedmen not provided with employment. There
was a disposition on their part to seek employment, and there seemed to be no apprehension
that they would be defrauded or ill-treated by their employers. I may state, however, in
this connexion, that my knowledge of the political status of Arkansas, both past and present,
is, that western Arkansas is much more loyal than the eastern, and particularly the south
eastern portion of the State.
Question. Has the population of Arkansas diminished during the war, do you think ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think it has.
Question. To what extent ?
Answer. The aggregate population of Arkansas may not be much less than it was at the
commencement of the war, inasmuch as many northern people have settled there since the
termination of the \var. A great many men who had been connected with the federal army
have remained and settled there since they were mustered out of service. I think tlu;
State has lost a large percentage of the population that she had at the commencement of the
war, but their places to a great extent have been supplied by loyal people from other States.
Question. Have you any opinion of their losses in the rebel army?
Answer. No, sir ; I have not.
Question. Do you know how many troops Arkansas furnished to the rebels ?
Answer. I do not. I know of four regiments which western Arkansas furnished to the
ederal army. Two of those regiments were under my immediate command for a conside-
ble time.
Question. Did they consist of colored men, or of whites ?
Answer. These were white troops. Many others from Arkansas, I know, succeeded in
getting inside our lines, and enlisted in Kansas and Missouri regiments. One of the two
egiments of Arkansas troops under my command was commanded by Colonel Johnson,
ember elect to Congress from that State.
Question. Is Colonel Johnson a true Union man ?
Answer. I regard him as a very true loyal man.
Question. Do-as ho represent western Arkansas ?
Aiiswer. Yes, sir. I have always been of the opinion that Arkansas, at the commence
ment of tho war, was as loyal as the State of Missouri or the State of Kentucky. My oppor-
xmities of observation, and of obtaining a personal knowledge of the political W^/^/x, or rela
tive political status, of Missouri and Arkansas at the commencement of and during the war,
have been quite good — perhaps as much so as in the case of any other man iu the west.
NOTE. — 8,072 private libraries, containing 4,648,135 volumes, are included.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 153
The loyalty of Arkansas had not the opportunity of manifesting itself in aid of the government,
as in the case of the loyal people of Missouri. At the commencement of the war Arkansas
was far beyond our lines, and beyond the reach of succor from the general government, and
the loyalists there were left to the mercy of armed rebel forces surrounding them on all sides,
while Missouri was in a position to avail herself of assistance from loyal States bordering oa
her.
Question. Is it yonr opinion that western Arkansas, assuming that all the white people
vote, (those who have been in the rebel army as well as those who have been in the Union
army,) will be able to maintain a loyal position, and to elect loyal representatives ?
Answer. I believe that the district represented by Colonel Johnson, which embraces north
western and western Arkansas, and of which I have a personal knowledge, would elect a
loyal representative to Congress, even though all the federal troops were withdrawn, and the
matter left to the decision of the resident population, including those who had taken part in
the rebellion. I think the election would be controlled by loyal men.
Question. If anything else occurs to your mind showing the condition and sentiments of
the people of Arkansas, you may state it.
Answer. I do not know anything more than I have stated that would be of importance.
My personal knowledge only extends to western Arkansas, where I have conducted military
operations a considerable portion of the time during the war, and where I have spent some
time since the termination of the war. In that portion of the State I think that I have a
tolerably correct knowledge of the sentiments and dispositions of the people.
WASHINGTON, March 19, I860.
Jonas M. Tebbetts sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUT WELL :
Question. Where do you reside, and where have you been residing during the rebellion ?
Answer. I left Arkansas in June, ]8C*2. Previous to that I had been residing at Fayettc-
ville, in that State. I went back in the fall of that year to General Schofield's army, got my
family out, returned, and resided in'the neighborhood of St. Louis. I had been living in
that State since 18:39. I returned to it again this winter, in the month of January, remained
there about two months, and then came on to this city.
Question. While you were a citizen of Arkansas, how were you employed ?
Answer. As attorney-at-law.
Question. To what extent had you an acquaintance with the people of that State previous
to the rebellion ?
Answer. My acquaintance with the people of that State was very general, having been
engaged in the practice of my profession, and travelled all over the State for 18 or 20 years.
Question. Did you take any part in the rebellion, or the controversies that preceded it, on
either side ?
Answer. I took no part in the rebellion in favor of it at all. I took a very decided stand
against it previous to its commencement, and owing to my political views I was compelled
to leave there after having suffered arrest, imprisonment, and the destruction of my property.
Question. What opportunities have you had of knowing the condition of Arkansas and
the sentiments of its people during your recent visit of two months ?
Answer. I went to Little Rock and mingled very freely with the people of the State, having
many conversations with my old friends and acquaintances, but had no opportunity of going
over the State while I was there.
Question. Did you learn any facts showing the opinions of the people towards this gov
ernment ?
Answer. I think I was able to get at what the spirit of the people of Arkansas was with
regard to the government.
Question. What did you find it to be ?
Answer. 1 believe there is a sincere disposition upon the part of the great mass of the
people to accept the results of the war in a proper spirit, and to conform themselves to the
new order of things. Of course there are some factious spirits, but these are sentiments of
the great mass of the people, and among the more intelligent and better informed that spirit,
I think, is very prevalent.
Question. If it were possible to establish the confederacy, as was attempted in 1861, would
the people of Arkansas prefer its establishment, or the restoration of the Union?
Answer. I think they would prefer the restoration of the Union. I think many of the
leading spirits of the rebellion, if they had an opportunity, with a certainty before them of
establishing the confederacy, would not bo disposed to do it. I have here a letter from one
of the most eminent citizens of Arkansas, long a journalist in that State, a man very highly
esteemed among all classes, in which he says :
"So fur as my information extends, I have not seen a respectable white man in the State
who would be in favor of a renewal of the contest for the separation of the south from the
154 RECONSTRUCTION.
north, even if it could be made manifest that it could be done without the possibility of
failure. All are for peace and quiet, and for the reconstruction and restoration of the southern
States to their rights under the Constitution as it was understood and considered before the
war."
Question. What part, if any, did this writer take in the rebellion T
Answer. He is a very old man, and took no active part at all. His sympathies were
unquestionably with the south.
Question. What do you understand by the expression he uses, " restored to their rights
under the Constitution as it was understood before the war?"
Answer. I do not know that I can give an interpretation to what was his full meaning.
He, himself, is much in favor of the restoration of peace and quiet — for the restoration of
order in the State, and for the State conforming to all the requirements of the Constitution.
And I can indorse, in the main, his statement upon that point.
Question. Have you any means of stating the loss in white population to Arkansas by
the war?
Answer. I have not. Many of her citizens went into the State of Texas, and have estab
lished themselves in homes there. Some have been killed in the war, and some have moved
into Missouri and other States north. I have no means of giving a correct estimate of the
probable loss in white population to Arkansas by the war. I hold in my hand a letter from
Governor Murphy, of the xJCth of February, in which he states in a very clear manner the
condition of our State. He says :
"The State is doing nobly. I feel proud of the condition of Arkansas. Never, since it
has been a State, have the people displayed more energy. In most of the counties every
foot of cleared land will be cultivated, and the demand will not be supplied. Civil law is
in full operation. Crime is rare. The idle and lawless have generally left the country.
Grand juries are doing well. The hostile elements are harmonizing rapidly. If unanimity
and firmness guide the government at Washington, our trouble will be at an end. Harmony
between Congress and the President is of the utmost importance to the peace of the south.
God grant that harmony may prevail in our national councils ; and may all the departments
be guided by a spirit of wisdom and patriotism. If party spirit and selfish ambition get the
control of the government, our troubles are but begun. The southern people are tired of
agitation; they want peace ; we want quiet and protection, that we may devote ourselves to
the restoration of our fortunes and the education of our children. This is the feeling of the
industrious masses."
I think I can indorse everything the governor says. I conversed a great deal while I was
there with people from various parts of the State.
Question. Have you any opinion as to the temper of the people upon the question of
extending the elective franchise to the negroes, or any part of them ?
Answer. I think our people are opposed to that. The opinions or prejudices of years are
not changed in so short a time.
Question. Is there not some difference of opinion among the white citizens of Arkansas ?
Are there not some persons there who would be in favor of at least qualified negro suffrage?
Answer. I believe there are some, but I think there are very few, even among those who
were Union men during the whole rebellion, or indeed among those who were in arms tight-
ing against the rebellion.
Question. As far as you know, what are the sentiments of the negroes on the question of
Union or secession ? Are their sympathies with the rebellion or with the Union, as a gen
eral thing ?
Answer. Almost universally with the Union. Indeed I know of no exception.
Question. What proportion of white voters in Arkansas were Union men, after the com
mencement of hostilities, after the south was fairly involved in the rebellion?
Answer. Up to the time the convention passed an ordinance of secession I believe a large
majority of our people were decidedly for the Union ; and then, with a very considerable ma
jority, there was a reluctant acquiescence in that ordinance. With many there was no ac
quiescence at all.
Question. If that bo the fact, how do you explain the circumstance that a minority had
control of the State ?
Answer. The politicians and secessionists of our State were organized and had concert of
action. The Union men had no organization effected when this matter was sprung upon
them, and the inflammatory appeals made to the masses were such as could not well be an
swered by Union men in the excitement of the hour. Hence, in the county in which I live,
it was, on one occasion, in the power of two hundred secessionists to control a mass meeting
of some fifteen hundred, all the others being Union men. It must be remembered, too, that
secession had been determined on a longtime, and many of these people knew just where and
how to strike. But, if we had been in n position in which we could have been sustained by
the government, tho secession of that State would never have been an accomplished fact ;
there never would have been an ordinance of secession passed. We would have had as good
if not a better record than Missouri upon this subject.
Question. What is the objection among your people to extending the right to vote to the
negroes '
ARKANSAS - GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 155
Answer. They believe that Extending the elective franchise to the negroes, who they gen
erally regard as an inferior race, would lead to social equality and to an intermingling of
races, against which their prejudice and education have always been directed.
Question. Is there any other reason than those you have stated that affect any considera
ble number of people ?
Answer. They regard the negroes a very ignorant and degraded class, which might be
wielded for bad purposes in times of political excitement. I know of no other reason.
war,
Answer. I think not. I think they
duct during the war. They have shown a spirit of subordination and manifested a degree of
quiet that is commendable, and receives the commendation of the whole mass of the southern
people to so great an extent that it has been a matter of surprise that I have often heard ex
pressed by those who have been slaveholders.
Question. How do you explain it ?
Answer. I explain it by the attachment and loyalty which they have always manifested to
wards the whites, towards their owners and employers, and to their natural disposition, for
the negro has a genial, kind nature.
Question. In your opinion, does that account for the circumstance that this conduct on
their part was universal through the whole south ?
Answer. I am inclined to think so.
Question. If there is anything else you consider material to a proper understanding of the
condition of things in Arkansas, you may state it.
Answer. I think the people of our State, in a good spirit, have accepted the results of the
war. I think there is a loyal spirit pervading the whole State. Of course there are individual
tenance to it.
WASHINGTON, March 4, 1866.
Brevet Brigadier General John Tarbell sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. Have you been engaged with the army during the war ? If so, in what capacity ?
Answer. I have. I terminated my connexion with the army as colonel and brevet briga
dier general.
Question. Have you, since the surrender of Lee's army, been in the States of Georgia, Ala
bama. Mississippi, or Arkansas ? If so, in which, and for how long a time?
Answer. I have been in Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi since early in December last.
Question. What opportunities have you had there for ascertaining the opinions and feel
ings of the people ?
Answer. I spent a good deal of time at Atlanta, Georgia, where I mixed with people of all
classes. I was also for some time in the counties of northern Georgia, among the gold and
iron ore mines. From Atlanta I travelled down as far as Montgomery, Alabama, where I
spent a few days ; from there to Mobile, and from Mobile, by railroad, into Scott county,
Mississippi ; also, from Meridian to Cairo, Mississippi. I was also twice across Alabama, from
Meridian to Montgomery, stopping a few days at Selma. In that time I talked with a great
many people, and listened to a great many conversations between people of all classes and
colors.
Question. According to your observation, what is the opinion of the people generally con
cerning the national government — favorable or unfavorable?
Answer. As far as I could judge from their conversations, I think the intelligent classes,
the planters and educated classes, accept the situation in perfect good faith. I mean by that,
that when they take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States they intend in
good faith to abide by that oath. I may perhaps add, as a qualification, that I have seen a
tendency on their part, which I have very much regretted, to co-operate politically with the
copperheads of the north.
Question. What opinions prevail among the less intelligent classes ?
Answer. I do not think it is quite so favorable. They are disposed to be more excitable ;
not so candid. I have found the educated classes disposed to be quite candid. If you con
verse with them as to what they are to do, I think you will find they fully appreciate what is
asked or required of them, and I think as far as they see their duty they are disposed to do it.
I cannot speak quite so well of the more ignorant classes, those who have never had any
slaves or property. They are more excitable and less candid.
Question. Have there been any elections held in any of the States mentioned while you
\^ere there ?
Answer. I think not. The legislatures of Georgia and Alabama were in session, but I think
the elections had taken place before my arrival there.
'156
RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Have you any business or interests in either of those States ; and if so, what?
Answer. I purchased a plantation in Scott county, Mississippi, and opened an office with
a view of other business, intending to make my residence with rny family at Atlanta, Geor
gia.
Question. Do you apprehend any difficulty in the management of your plantation, growing
out of the fact that you are a northern man ?
Answer. I do not ; I have no apprehension of that kind. I will say, that I never allowed
any conversation with a southern gentleman to close without stating very frankly that I was
a Yankee and a black republican, and never, from first to last, received anything like impo
liteness or an affront. My frankness always drew frankness in return, a smile and a pleas
ant remark — almost always the remark that it was not so much the matter as the manner of
northern men they objected to ; that they always respected frankness, and had no objections
to it; that they desired northern men and northern capital to come among them. That was
the universal opinion expressed in conversation with men of standing and character.
Question. What seems to be the policy of the people of Mississippi, Alabama, and Georgia,
concerning the freedmen?
Answer. The intelligent educated class of people to whom I allude were very frank in re
gard to all their plans concerning the freedmen. I heard a number of consultations between
southern gentlemen, planters, on that subject. They were canvassing what they must do for
their freedmen — as to contracts with the negroes, whether they should pay them wages or
give them an interest in the crops ; and canvassing what obligations they owed to the freed
men in the way of education and improvement, recognizing and taking the ground that now
they were free the more they were improved and the better they were educated, the better
laborers they would be. I make the remark with this qualification, that I think there is a
pretty general want of confidence in elevating the negro to any extent. They have not the
same confidence in his improvement that the northern people have ; nor is there a disposition
to give to the negroes the right of suffrage, or recognize them in any way as socially equal ;
but I do think that the educated class of people there are disposed to give them all their civil
rights, and political, except that of suffrage. I cannot speak as to the action of the legisla
tures ; I kave paid no attention to that ; I merely speak of the conversations I have partici
pated in or listened to among the class of people who are most interested — the former planters
and landholders.
Question. What has been the conduct of the negroes themselves, as far as you have ob
served ?
Answer. I think, as a general thing, remarkably good. There are exceptions, cs a matter
of course. I heard many complaints of petty thieving among them, and occasionally of some
outrage upon citizens, but these, I think, were exceptions. The general conduct of the large
body of the freedmen has been excellent. That is my impression.
Question. What is their disposition about work, if they are well paid ?
Answer. With exceptions, I think the great body of them are disposed to work, and will
work, according to their knowledge and understanding. They are not like northern laborers,
but as far as they understand, I think the great body of them are well disposed in every way.
• Question. The object of the committee is to ascertain the general sentiment of the people
in reference to the government — whether they are loyal or disloyal. If there is anything
within your knowledge that occurs to you, bearing upon that point, you may state it.
Answer. My impression, from the observation I have had, is, that there is a rather errone
ous impression in the north as to the loyalty or disloyalty of the southern people. A great
deal of their excited talk and comments I think should not be ascribed to their disloyalty; I
think there are other motives for it; I think it may be attributed rather to a disposition to
indulge in that freedom of speech which is allowed in this country. They explained to me
with frankness, and I have no doubt with entire sincerity, that they went into the rebellion
fully in the belief of the right of secession. They have been educated in that doctrine, and
I have no doubt they fully believed in it. They staked their fortunes and their lives on that
issue ; but their appeal to the sword having been decided against them, they yielded to that
decision; and while they still believe they were then right — while they believed sincerely
then that the doctrine of secession was a correct doctrine, yet, for the future they have no
idea of secession whatever. They have utterly and forever abandoned the idea. That is what
they say, and so far as I can judge I believe they are sincere and truthful in their declaration,
and for the future will be true to their oath to support the Constitution.
In respect to the freedom of speech sometimes indulged by people in the south, I may say
that I think they have well-grounded complaints against the Freedmen's Bureau ; and I do
not think their criticisms upon that bureau are in every instance dictated by motives of dis
loyalty. I do not mean to say what proportion of the officers of that bureau are incompetent
or corrupt, but that there are many such I have no doubt. In such districts there has been
a good deal of complaint, and to a casual observer their comments might be ascribed, per
haps, to motives of disloyalty ; but a more careful attention to the subject satisfied me that
their complaints were well grounded in a great many cases, for in districts where they had
upright, intelligent, and impartial officers of the bureau, the people expressed entire satisfac
tion. They stated to me that where they had such officers, and where they had soldiers who
were under good discipline, they were entirely welcome, and indeed they were glad to have
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 157
their presence — in some cases approving the action of bureau officers in punishing white men
for the ill treatment of colored people, saying that the officers were perfectly right. In other
districts, I am satisfied that it often occurred that bureau officers, wanting in good sense,
would show a decided partiality for the colored people, without regard to justice. I am satis
fied, also, there were districts where the planters would insure the favor of the bureau officers
to them by paying them money ; and while they were glad to have their favor, still they
would condemn such officers, and in such districts there was dissatisfaction.
They were also very sharp in their criticisms upon what are called the radicals of the north.
But I do not think even those criticisms should be ascribed altogether to disloyalty to the
government, but rather to a difference of political opinion. When they would read of some
new proposition to amend the Constitution in reference to the southern States, or read a
pretty caustic speech made by some radical against the south, or would read quotations from
northern newspapers containing pretty sharp criticisms upon southern character, charging
them with beating the negro, with perjury in taking an oath to support the Constitution, in
fact, taking it with a mental reservation, not intending to observe it any longer than they
were obliged to, and when southern gentlemen were presenting petitions for pardon, carica
turing them as would sometimes be done by northern newspapers, these things would call
forth pretty sharp comments in reply, but I had the charity to believe that they were not
such as, under the circumstances, should be ascribed altogether to disloyalty.
I wish to add, also, that I think the southern press has not done its duty; and Fhope, if
my evidence is published, this remark will attract attention in the south. My impression,
as far as I could observe, was, that the press of the south was disposed, from selfish motives,
to cater to the old prejudices ; that it was not sufficiently bold and fearless in accepting and
in advocating the acceptance of the position.
It is also my impression that many people in the north very greatly overrate the present char
acter and capacity of the plantation negro, as well as his capacity for future improvement. I
think time will show that the most ardent in the north will be greatly disappointed in the im
provement of these negroes, even under the most favorable circumstances. I wish also to add,
judging from my travels in these three States, that these reports of outrages upon the colored
people, of ill treatment of the northern settlers, are quite exceptional cases, and exaggerated,
if not altogether false, and that all these statements in the newspapers of outrages upon the
blacks and upon settlers from the north, I think, do the educated people of the south very
great injustice. There are, no doubt, disloyal and disorderly persons in the south, but it is
an entire mistake to apply these terms to a whole people. I would as soon travel alone, un
armed, through the south as through the north. The south I left is not at all the south I
hear and read about in the north. From the sentiment I hear in the north, I would scarcely
recognize the people I saw, and, except their politics, liked so well. I have entire faith that
the better classes are friendly to the negroes, and that through this feeling, and the laws of
capital and labor, the relations of these classes will settle down together on terms equitable
and just to both. I have also faith that when the north and south come to know each other
better their relations will be all that could be desired. It is not for me to indicate the means,
but I believe the south can be made, and will become, the loyal portion of the country.
WASHINGTON, April 6, 1866.
William F. Downs sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUT WELL:
Question. State your age and residence.
Answer. Ohio I call my home ; my age is twenty-nine.
Question. Have you been in any of the rebel States since Lee's surrender ? If so, in which
States, and under what circumstances ?
Answer. In the capacity of revenue agent, during the month of December, I went down
the Mississippi river, from St. Louis to Memphis, making a trip from the latter point to At
lanta, Georgia.
Question. What opportunities had you of ascertaining the sentiments of the people upon
political matters ?
Answer. Before leaving here, I had some -consultations with the Secretary of the Treasury,
with the Commissioner of Internal Revenue, and with some of my friends, members of Con
gress, each of whom signified a wish that I should indicate to them the opinions which I
formed as the result of my observation. And I endeavored, as far as I could without making
my official business, which was entirely in connexion with the internal revenue service, known,
to acquaint myself, so far as I had the opportunity, with the feelings of the people with whom
I was thrown into contact.
Question. What was the result of your observation touching the loyalty of the people of
those States ?
Answer. I think that with quite the larger number of the persons with whom I conversed,
with the single exception of the rebel General Pillow, I met no one who impressed me as
158 RECONSTRUCTION.
being disposed to accept the condition and make the best of their political situation. I
found General Pillow apparently warmly in earnest in his disposition to go forward, as Mr.
McCullough afterwards expressed it, take advantage of the circumstances, and engage in
business, leaving political matters as a secondary consideration.
Question. Did any facts come under your observation showing the purposes or opinions
of the people ?
Answer. I do not know that there was anything particularly significant on that point. I
thought there was a disposition manifest on the part of the people to converse upon these sub
jects in a manner which was irritating in the extreme. Their conversations were filled with
expressions of their opposition to the government, and to plans which were then, as they
supposed, likely to prevail. My intercourse with the people of this whole section was mainly
as a party travelling. I avoided all causes of disputes, my object being to promote concilia
tion and to allay the feeling which I found to be dominant there.
Question. Did you notice any difference in the people of the different States you visited ?
Answer. My route took me over that portion of country which had suffered, probably, as
much as any other by General Sherman's army in their march southward, and I found no
difference of opinion, unless it was that at Memphis the people are more violent and plain-
spoken in their opposition to the measures of the government.
Question. Did you hear any suggestions as to their plans or expectations for the future ?
Answer. I do not know that I heard anything on that point that impressed me sufficiently
forcibly to enable me to remember it.
Question. What was the disposition of the people concerning the freedmen?
Answer. I think probably the remark of General Pillow is true, that heretofore the south
ern man, from motives of self-interest, consulted the comfort of his slaves to a degree which
now, that interest having been entirely set aside, would not permit. He was clearly of the
opinion that there would be a great diminution of the population of blacks, growing out of
causes akin to that sort of feeling.
Question. The object of the committee is to get information showing the state of public
sentiment in the south. If there are any other facts within your knowledge, you may state
them.
Answer. I do not know that I have any particulars to refer to as connected with my trip,
with the exception that I was impressed with the idea I have stated, that the people there
were unsettled and disposed to be violent in their feelings and remarks, and to look with dis
favor upon the efforts that were being made to bring about an adjustment of the difficulties;
that while, perhaps, they were broken in power, they were scarcely so in spirit. That is the
opinion I formed upon the subject.
WASHINGTON, April 11, 1866.
Alexander H. Stephens sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. State your residence.
Answer. Crawfordsville, Georgia.
Question. What means have you had since Lee's surrender to ascertain the sentiments of
the people of Georgia with regard to the Union '/
Answer. I was at home in Georgia at the time of the surrender of General Lee, and re
mained there until the llth of May, and during that time conversed very freely with the
people in my immediate neighborhood, with the governor of the State, and with one or two
other leading or prominent men in the State. From the llth of May until my return to
Georgia, which was the ^5th of October, I had no means of knowing anything of the public
sentiment there, except through the public press and such letters as I received. From the
time of my return until I left the State on my visit here, I had very extensive intercourse
with the people, visiting Augusta, visiting Milledgeville during the session of the legisla
ture, first on their assembling, again in January upon their reassembling, and again in the
latter part of February. While there I conversed very freely and fully with all the promi
nent leading men, or most of them, in the legislature, and met a great many of the promi
nent influential men of the State not connected with the legislature. And by letters from and
correspondence with men in the State whom I have not met. I believe that embraces a lull
answer to the question as to my means of ascertaining the sentiments of the people of that
State upon the subject stated in the question.
Question. As the result of your observations, what is your opinion of the purposes of the
people with reference to the reconstruction of the government, and what are their desires and
purposes concerning*thc maintenance of the government.'
Answer. My opinion, and decided opinion, is that an overwhelming majority of the people
of Georgia are exceedingly anxious for the restoration of the government, and for the State
to take her former position in the Union, to have her senators and representatives admitted
into Congress, and to enjoy all her rights as a State under the Constitution of the United
States as it stands amended.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 159
Question. What are their present views concerning the justice of the rebellion 1 Do they
at present, believe that it was a reasonable and proper undertaking, or otherwise?
Answer. My opinion of the sentiment of the people of Georgia upon that subject is that the
exercise of the right of secession was resorted to by them from a desire to render their liber
ties and institutions more secure, and a belief on their part that this was absolutely necessary
for that object. They were divided upon the question of the policy of they measure. There
was, however, but very little division among them upon the question of the right of it. It
is now their belief, in my opinion — and I give it merely as an opinion — that the surest, if not
• only hope for their liberties is the restoration of the Constitution of the United States and of
the government of the United States under the Constitution.
Question. Has there been any change of opinion as to the right of secession as a right in
the people or in the States ?
Answer. I think there has been a very decided change of opinion as to the policy by those
who favored it. I think the people generally are satisfied sufficiently with the experiment
never to make a resort to that measure of redress again by force, whatever may be their own
abstract ideas upon that subject. They have given up all idea of the maintenance of those
opinions by a resort to force. They have come to the conclusion that it is better to appeal to
the forums of reason and justice, to the halls of legislation and the courts, for the preservation
of the principles of constitutional liberty, than to the arena of arms. It is my settled convic
tion that there is not any idea cherished at all in the public mind of Georgia of ever resorting
again to secession or to the exercise of the right of secession, by force. That whole policy of
the maintenance of their rights, in my opinion, is at this time totally abandoned.
Question. But the opinion as to the right, as I understand, remains substantially the same.
Answer. I cannot answer as to that. Some may have changed their opinions in this re
spect. It would be an unusual thing, as well as a difficult matter, for a whole people to
change their convictions upon abstract truths or principles. I have not heard this view of
the subject debated or discussed recently, and I wish to be understood as giving my opinion
only on that branch of the subject which is of practical character and importance.
Question. To what do you attribute the change of opinion as to the propriety of attempting
to maintain their views by force ?
Answer. Well, sir, my opinion about that — my individual opinion, derived from observa
tion — is that this change of opinion arose mainly from the operation of the war among them
selves, and the results of the conflict from their own authorities on their individual rights of
person and property, the general breaking down of constitutional barriers which usually at
tend all protracted wars.
Question. In 1801, when the ordinance of secession was adopted in your State, to what
extent was it supported by the people ?
Answer. After the proclamation of President Lincoln calling out the 75,000 militia, under
the circumstances it was issued, and blockading the southern ports, and the suspension of
the writ of habeas corpus, the southern cause, as it was termed, received the almost unani
mous support of the people of Georgia. Before that, they were very much divided on the
question of the policy of secession; but afterwards they supported the cause, with very few
exceptions within the range of my knowledge. There were some few exceptions, not exceed
ing half a dozen, I think. The impression then prevailing was that public liberty was en
dangered, and they supported the cause because of their zeal for constitutional rights. They
still differed very much as to the ultimate object to be attained and the means to be used, but
these differences yielded to the emergency of the apprehended common danger.
Question. Was no* the ordinance of secession adopted by Georgia earlier in date than the
proclamation for the 75,000 volunteers ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I stated that the people were very much divided on the question of the
ordinance of secession, but that after the proclamation the people became almost unanimous
in their support of the cause. There were some few exceptions in the State, 1 think not more
than half a dozen among my acquaintances. As I said, while they were thus almost unani
mous in support of the cause, they differed as to the end to be attained by sustaining it.
Some looked to an adjustment or settlement of the controversy upon any basis that would
secure their constitutional rights. Others looked to a southern separate nationality as their
only object and hope. These different views as to the ultimate objects did not interfere with
the general active support of the cause.
Question. Was there a popular vote upon the ordinance of secession ?
Answer. Only so far as in the election of delgates to the convention.
Question. There was no subsequent action ?
Answer. No, sir. The ordinance of secession was riot submitted to a popular vote after
wards.
Question. Have you any opinion as to the vote it would have received as compared with
the whole, if it had been submitted to the free action of the people?
WITNESS. Do you mean after it was adopted by the convention ?
Mr. BOUTWELL. Yes, after it was adopted by the convention, if it had been submitted
forthwith or within a reasonable time.
Answer. Taking the then state of things, South Carolina, Florida, and Mississippi, I
think, having seceded, my opinion is that a majority of the people would have ratified it, and
160 RECONSTRUCTION.
perhaps a decided or large majority. If, however, South Carolina and the other States had
not adopted their ordinances of secession, I am very well satisfied that a majority of the
people of Georgia, and perhaps a very decided majority, would have been against secession
if her ordinance had been submitted to them. But as matters stood at the time, if the ordi
nance had been submitted to a popular vote of the State it would have been sustained. That
is my judgment and opinion about that matter.
Question. What was the date of the Georgia ordinance ?
Answer. The 18th or 19th— I think the l(Jth— of January, 18G1.
Question. The question of secession was involved in the election of delegates to that con
vention, was it not?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And was there, on the part of candidates, a pretty general avowal of opinions ?
Answer. Very general.
Question. What was the result of the election, as far as the convention expressed any
opinion upon the question of secession ?
Answer. I think the majority was about thirty in favor of secession.
Question. In a convention of how many ?
Answer. In a convention based upon the number of senators and members of the house in
the general assembly of the State. The exact number I do not recollect, but I think it was
near 300, perhaps a few over or under.
Question. Was there any difference in different parts of the State in the strength of Union
sentiment at that time ?
Answer. In some of the mountain counties the Union sentiment was generally prevalent.
The cities, towns, and villages were generally for secession. The anti-secession sentiment
was more general in the rural districts and in the mountain portions of the State. Yet the
people of some of the upper counties were very active and decided secessionists. There was
nothing like a sectional division of the State at all. For instance, the delegation from Floyd
county, situated in the upper portion of the State, was an able one, and strong for secession ;
while the county of Jefferson, down in the interior of the cotton belt, sent one of the most
prominent delegations for the Union. I could designate particular counties in that way
throughout the Stat^, showing there was nothing like a sectional or geographical division of
the State on the question.
Question. In what particular did the people believe their constitutional liberties were
assailed or endangered from the Union ?
Answer. Mainly, I would say, in their internal social polity, and their apprehension from
the general consolidating tendencies of the doctrines and principles of that political party
which had recently succeeded in the choice of a President and Vice-President of the United
States. It was the serious apprehension that if the republican organization, as then consti
tuted, should succeed to power, it would lead ultimately to a virtual subversion of the Con
stitution of the United States, and all its essential guarantees of public liberty. I think that
was the sincere, honest conviction in the minds of our people. Those who opposed secession
did not apprehend that any such results would necessarily follow the elections which had
taken place; they still thought that all their rights might be maintained in the Union and
under the Constitution, especially as there were majorities in both houses who agreed with
them on constitutional questions.
Question. To what feature of their internal social polity did they apprehend danger?
Answer. Principally the subordination of the African race, as it existed under their laws
and institutions.
Question. In what spirit is the emancipation of the slaves received by the people?
Answer. Generally, it is acquiesced in and accepted, I think, in perfect good faith, and
with a disposition to do the best that can be done in the new order of things in this particular.
Question. What, at present, are the relations subsisting between the white people and
black people, especially in the relations of employers and employed?
twcen
Answer. Quite as good, I think, as in any part of the world that ever I have been in be-
reen like classes of employer and employe. The condition of things in this respect on my
return last fall was very different from what it was when I left home for my present visit to
this city. During the fall, and up to the close of the year, there was a general opinion pre
vailing among the colored people that at Christmas there would be a division ot the lands,
and a very general indisposition on their part to make any contracts at all for the present
year. Indeed, there were very few contracts, I think, made throughout the State until after
Christmas, or about the first of January. General Tillsou, who is at the head of the bureau
in the State, and whose administration has given very general satisfaction to our people, I
think, was very active in disabusing the minds of the colored people from their error in this
particular. He visited quite a number of places in the State, and addressed large audiences
of colored people ; and when they became satisfied that they were laboring under a mistake
in anticipating a division of lands after Christmas and the first of January, they made con
tracts very readily generally ; and since that time affairs have, in the main, moved on quite
smoothly and quietly.
Question. Are the negroes, generally, at work ?
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 161
Answer. Yes, sir ; they are generally at work. There are some idlers, but this class con
stitute but a small proportion.
Question. AVhat, upon the whole, has been their conduct? Proper, under the circum
stances in which they have been placed, or otherwise?
Answer. As a whole, much better than the most hopeful looked for.
Question. As far as you know, what are the leading objects and desires of the negro pop
ulation, at the present time, in reference to themselves ?
Answer. It is to be protected in their rights of persons and property— to be dealt by fairly
and justly.
Question. What, if anything, has been done by the legislature of your State for the
accomplishment of these objects ?
Answer. The legislature has passed an act, of which the following is a copy :
["No. 90.]
"An act to define the term 'persons of color,' and to declare the rights of such persons.
"SEC. 1. Be it enacted, 8fc., That all negroes, mulattoes, mestizoes, and their descendants
having one-eighth negro or. African blood in their veins, shall be known in this State as
'persons of color.'
"SEC. 2. Be it further enacted, That persons of color shall have the right to make and
enforce contracts, to sue, be sued, to be parties and give evidence, to inherit, to purchase,
and to have full and equal benefit of all laws and proceedings for the security of person and
estate, and shall not be subjected to any other or different punishment, pain, or penalty, for
the commission of any act or offence, than such as are prescribed for white persons commit
ting like acts or offences."
The third section of this act simply repeals all conflicting laws. It was approved by the
governor on the 17th of March last.
Question. Does this act express the opinions of the people, and will it be sustained ?
Answer. I think it will be sustained by the courts, as well as by public sentiment. It
was passed by the present legislature. As an evidence of the tone of the legislature of the
State, as well as that of the people of the State, upon this subject, I will refer you simply
to a letter I wrote to Senator Stewart upon the same subject I submit to you a copy of that
letter. It is as follows :
WASHINGTON, D. C., April 4, 1866.
DEAR SIR: In answer to your inquiries touching the sentiments and feelings of the people
of Georgia towards the freedmen, and the legal status of this class of population in the
State, &c., allow me briefly to say that the address delivered by me on the 22d of February
last before the legislature (a copy of which I herewith hand you) expresses very fully and
clearly my own opinions and feelings upon the subjects of your inquiry. This address was
written and printed as you now see it, before its delivery. It was delivered- verbatim as you
now read it, that there might be no mistake about it. It was as it now stands unanimously
indorsed by the senate in a joint resolution, which was concurred in in the house without
dissent, and was ordered to be spread upon the journals of both houses. This I refer you to
as a better and more reliable index of the feelings and views of the people of the State on
this subject than any bare individual opinion I might entertain or express. The legislature
of the State, it is to be presumed, is as correct an exponent of the general feelings and views
of the people of the State upon any political question as any, that can be obtained from any
quarter. In addition to this, the legislature subsequently evinced their principles by their
works in passing an act, which I also enclose to you. This act speaks for itself. It is' short,
concise, pointed, as well as comprehensive. It secures to the colored race the right to con
tract and to enforce contracts, the right to sue and to be sued, the right to testify in the
courts subject to the same rules that govern the testimony of whites, and it subjects them to
the same punishments for all offences as the whites. In these respects, embracing all essen
tial civil rights, all classes in Georgia now stand equal before the law. There is no discrim
ination in these particulars on account of race or color.
Please excuse this hasty note. I have no time to go more in detail.
Yours, most respectfully,
ALEXANDER 1L STEPHENS.
Hon. WILLIAM M. STEWART, United States Senate.
Question. What, if anything, is being done in Georgia with regard to the education of
the negroes, either children or adults ?
Answer. Nothing by the public authorities, as yet. Schools are being established in many
portions of the State under the auspices, I think, of the Freedmen's Bureau, and quite a num
ber by the colored people themselves, encouraged by the whites.
Question. What disposition do the negroes manifest in regard to education ?
Answer. There seems to be a very great desire on the part of the children and younger ones
and with their parents to have them educated.
11 A G M A
162 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What is the present legal condition of those who have lived tog-ether as husband and
wife? Do the laws recognize and sustain the relations and the legitimacy of their offspring ?
Answer. Our State laws do. They recognize all those living as man and wife as legally
man and wife. A good many of them took out licences and were married in the usual way.
There is no difference in our laws in that respect. Licenses are issued for white and black
alike — only they are prohibited from intermarrying with each other. The races are not per
mitted to intermarry.
Question. Were the amendments to the constitution of the State of Georgia, recently
adopted, submitted to the people ?
Answer. No, sir ; they were not submitted. I have no hesitation, however, in expressing
the opinion that nine-tenths of the people would have voted for them, if the constitution had
been submitted. That is but an opinion. I heard no dissent at all in the State. I was
there at the time. I got home before the convention adjourned. The State constitution^ as
made by the convention, would have been ratified almost without opposition. It would have
been ratified nem. con., if it had been submitted. This, at least, is my opinion.
Question. What was the voting population of your State in 1860 ?
Answer. Something upwards of a hundred thousand.
Question. What is probably the present voting population?
Answer. The voting population of the State under the present constitution is perhaps
80,000. That is a mere estimate.
Question. Has there been any enumeration of the losses of Georgia in the field, in the mil
itary service?
Answer. No accurate estimate that I am aware of.
Question. What is it supposed to have been ?
Answer. I am not able to answer the question with anything like accuracy.
Question. What is the public sentiment of Georgia with regard to the extension of the
right of voting to the negroes?
Answer. The general opinion in the State is very much averse to it.
Question. If a proposition were made to amend the Constitution, so as to base representa
tion in Congress upon voters, substantially, would Georgia ratify such a proposed amend
ment, if it were made a condition precedent to the restoration of the State to political power
in the government ?
Answer. I do not think they would. The people of Georgia, in my judgment, as far as I
can reflect or represent their opinions, feel that they are entitled under the Constitution of the
United States to representation, without any further condition precedent. They would not
object to entertain, discuss, and exchange views in the common councils of the country with
the other States, upon such a proposition, or any proposition to amend the Constitution, or
change it in any of its features ; and they would abide by any such change, if made as the
Constitution provides. But they feel that they are constitutionally entitled to be heard by
their senators and members in the houses of Congress upon this or any other proposed
amendment. I do not therefore think that they would ratify the amendment suggested as'a
condition precedent to her being admitted to representation "in Congress. Such, at least, is
my opinion.
Question. It is then your opinion that at present the people of Georgia would neither be
•willing to extend suffrage to the negroes nor consent to the exclusion of the negroes from the
basis of representation ?
Answer. The people of Georgia, in my judgment, are perfectly willing to leave suffrage
and the basis of representation where the Constitution leaves it. They look upon the ques
tion of suffrage as one belonging exclusively to the States; oae over which, under the Constitu
tion of the United States, Congress has no jurisdiction, power, or control, except in proposing
amendments and not in making their acceptance and adoption by the States conditions of
representation. I do not think, therefore, that the people of that State, while they are dis
posed, as 1 believe, earnestly to deal fairly, justly, and generously with the freedmeu, would
be willing to consent to a change in the Constitution that would* give Congress jurisdiction
over the question of suffrage ; uud especially would they be very much averse to Congress
exercising any such jurisdiction without their representatives in the Senate and House being
heard in the public councils upon this question that so fatally concerns their internal policy
as well as the internal policy of all the States.
Question. If the proposition were to be submitted to Georgia, as one of the eleven States
lately in rebellion, that she might be restored to political power in the government of the
country upon the condition precedent that she should on the one hand extend suffrage to the
negroes, or on tb.e other consent to their exclusion from the basis of representation, would she
accept either proposition and take her place in the government of the country /
Answer. I can only give my opinion. I do not think she would accept either as a condi
tion precedent presented by Congress, for they do not believe that Congress has the rightful
power under the Constitution to prescribe such a condition. If Georgia is a State in the
Union her people feel that she is entitled to representation without conditions imposed by
Congress ; and if she is not a State in the Union, then she could not be admitted as an equal
with the others if her admission were trammelled with conditions that did not apply to all
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 1 G 3
the rest alike. General, universal suffrage among the colored people, as they are now there,
would by our people be regarded as about as great a political evil as could befall them.
Question. If the proposition were to extend to right of suffrage to those who could read and
to those who had served in the Union armies, would that modification affect the action oi the
State ?
Answer. I think the people of the State would be unwilling to do more than they have
done for restoration. Restricted or limited suffrage would not be so objectionable as general
or universal. But it is a matter that belongs to the State to regulate. The question of suf
frage, whether universal or restricted, is one of State policy exclusively, as tkey believe.
Individually I should not be opposed to a proper system of restricted or limited suffrage to
this class of our population. But, in my judgment, it is a matter that belongs of constitu
tional right to the States to regulate respectively each for itself. But the people of that State,
as I have said, would not willingly, I think, do more than they have done for restoration.
The only view in their opinion that could possibly justify the war which was carried on by
the federal government against them was the idea of the indissolubleuess of the Union ; that
those who held the administration for the time were bound to enforce the execution of the
laws and the maintenance of the integrity of the country under the Constitution. And since
that was accomplished, since those who had assumed the contrary principle — the right of se
cession and the reserved sovereignty of the States — had abandoned their cause, and the ad
ministration here was successful in maintaining the idea upon which war was proclaimed
and waged, and the only view in which they supposed it could be justified at all— when
that was accomplished, I say, the people of Georgia supposed their State was immediately
entitled to all her rights under the Constitution. That is my opinion of the sentiment of the
people of Georgia, and I do not think they would be willing to do any thing further as a con
dition precedent to their being permitted to enjoy the full measure of their constitutional
rights. I only give my opinion of the sentiment of the people at this time. They expected
as soon as the confederate cause was abandoned that immediately the States would be brought
back into their practical relations with the government as previously constituted. That is
what they looked to. They expected that the States would immediately have their represen
tatives in the Senate and in the House ; and they expected in good faith, as loyal men, as
the term is frequently used — loyal to law, order, and the Constitution — to support the gov
ernment under the Constitution. .That was their feeling. They did what they did, believing
it was best for the protection of constitutional liberty. Towards the Constitution of the
United States the great mass of our people were always as much devoted in their feelings as
any people ever were towards any laws or people. This is my opinion As I remarked be
fore, they resorted to secession with a viewr of more securely maintaining these principles.
And when they found they were not successful in their object to perfect good faith, as far as
I can judge from meeting with them and conversing with them, looking to the future de
velopment of their country in its material resources as well as its moral and intellectual pro
gress, their earnest desire and expectation was to allow the past struggle, lamentable as it
.was in its results, to pass by and to co-operate with the true friends of the Constitution, with
those of all sections who earnestly desire the preservation of constitutional liberty and the
perpetuation of the government in its purity. They have been a little disappointed in this,
and are so now. They are patiently waiting, however, and believing that when the passions
of the hour have passed away this delay in representation will cease. They think they
have done everything that was essential and proper, and my judgment is that they woufd
not be willing to do anything further as a condition precedent. They would simply remain
quiet and passive.
Question. Does your own judgment approve the view you hare given as the opinion of the
people of the State 1
Answer. My own jiidgment is very decided, that the question of suffrage is one that be
longs, under the Constitution, and wisely so too, to the States, respectively and exclusively.
Question. Is it your opinion that neither of the alternatives suggested in the question
ought to be accepted by the people of Georgia?
Answer. My own opinion is, that these terms ought not to be offered as conditions prece
dent. In other words, my opinion is that it would be best for the peace, harmony, and pros
perity of the whole country that there should be an immediate restoration, an immediate
bringing back of the States into their original practical relations ; and let all these questions
then be discussed in common council. Then the representatives from the soutli could be
heard, and you and all could judge much better of the tone and temper of the people than
you could frum the opinions given by any individuals. You may take my opinion, or the
opinions of any individual, but they will not enable you to judge of the condition of the
State of Georgia so well as for her own representatives to be heard in your public councils
in her own behalf. My judgment, therefore, is very decided, that it would have been better
as soon as the lamentable conflict was over, when the people of the south abandoned their
cause and agreed to accept the issue, desiring as they do to resume their places for the future
in the Union, and to look to the arena of reason and justice for the protection of their rights
in the Union — it would have been better to have allowed that result to take place, to follow
tio'ns
under the policy adopted by the administration, than to delay it or hinder it by
to amend the Constitution in respect to suffrage or any othex new matter. I think the people
of all the southern States would in the halls of Congress discuss these questions calmly and
164 RECONSTRUCTION.
deliberately, and if they did not show that the views they entertained were just and proper,
such as to control the judgment of the people of the other sections and States, they would
quietly, philosophically, and patriotically yield to whatever should be constitutionally de
termined in common council. But I think thoy feel very sensitively the offer to them of
propositions to accept while they are denied all voice in the common council of the Union,
under the Constitution, in the discussion of these propositions. I think they feel very sen
sitively that they are denied the right to be heard. And while, as I have said, they migh't
differ among themselves in many points in regard to'suffrage, they would not differ upon the
question of doing anything further as a condition precedent to restoration. And in respect
to the alternate conditions to be so presented, I do not think they would accept the one or
the other. My individual general views as to the proper course to be pursued in respect to
the colored people are expressed in a speech made before the Georgia legislature, referred to
in my letter to Senator Stewart. This was the proper forum, as I conceive, to address them,
and my utmost exertions shall be, if I live, to carry out those views. But I think a great
deal depends in the advancement of civilization and progress, that these questions should be
considered and kept before the proper forum.
Question. Suppose the States that aro represented in Congress, and Congress itself, should
be of the opinion that Georgia should not bo permitted to take its place in the government
of the country except upon its assent to one or the other of the two propositions suggested
is it, then, your opinion that, under such circumstances, Georgia ought to decline?
Witness. You mean the States now represented, and those only ?
Mr. Boutwell. Yes. '
Witness. You mean by Congress, Congress as it is now constituted, with the other eleven
States excluded ?
Mr. Boutwell. I do.
Witness. And you mean the same alternative propositions to be applied to all the eleven
States as conditions precedent to their restoration?
Mr. Boutwell. I do.
Answer. I think she ought to. decline, under the circumstances and for the reasons stated^,
and so ought the whole eleven. Should such an offer be made and declined, and those
States, should they be kept out, a singular spectacle would be presented — a complete re
versal of positions would be presented. In 1861 these States thought they could not remain
safely in the Union without new guarantees, and now, when they agree to resume their
former practical relations in the Union, under the Constitution, the other States turn upon
them and say they cannot permit them to do so safely to their interests without new consti
tutional guarantees. The southern States would thus present themselves as willing for im
mediate union, under the Constitution, while it would be the northern States opposed to it.
The former disunionists would thereby become the unionists, and the former unionists the
practical disunionists.
WASHINGTON, April 12, 1866.
Examination of Alexander H. Stephens resumed.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. Do you mean to be understood in your last answer that there is no constitutional
power in the government, as at present organized, to exact conditions precedent to the resto
ration to political power of the eleven States that have been in rebellion?
Answer. That is my opinion.
Question. Do you entertain the same opinion in reference to the amendment to the Consti
tution abolishing slavery ?
Answer. I do. I think the States, however, abolished slavery in good faith, as one of the
results of the war. Their ratification of the constitutional amendment followed as a conse
quence. I do not think there is any constitutional power on the part of the government to
have exacted it as a condition precedent to their restoration under the Constitution, or to the
resumption of thoir places as members of the Union.
Question. What, in your opinion, is the legal value of the laws passed by Congress, and
approved by the President, in the absence of senators and representatives from the eleven
States ?
Answer. I do not know what particular laws you refer to, but my answer generally is,
that the validity of all laws depends on their constitutionality. This is a question tor the
judiciary to determine. My own judgment, whatever it might be, would have to conform to
the judicial determination of the question. It is a question for the courts to determine.
Question. Have you formed any opinion upon that question?
Answer. I cannot say that I have formed any matured opinion in reference to any pnrtrcn-
ar act of Congress embraced in the question.
Question. Assume that ('"Uirress shall, in this session, in the absence of senators and
rcpresenatiws from the eleven Stauyj, pass an act levying taxes upon all the people of the
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 165
United States, including the eleven, is it your opinion that such an act would be consti
tutional ?
Answer. I should doubt if it would be. It would certainly, in my opinion, be manifestly
unjust, and against all ideas of American, representative government. Its constitutionality
would, however, bo a question for the judiciary to decide, and I should be willing to abide
by that decision, whatever it migtit be.
Question. If the eleven States have at present an immediate constitutional right to be
represented in Congress on a footing with the States at present represented, has that been a
continuous right from the formation of the government, or from the time of the admission of
the new States respectively, or has it been interrupted by war?
Answer. I think, as the Congress of the United States did not consent to the withdrawal
of the seceded States, it was a continuous right under the Constitution of the United States,
to be exercised so soon as the seceded States, respectively, made known their readiness to
resume their former practical relations with the federal government, under the Constitution
of the United States. As the general government denied the right of secession, I do not
think any of the States attempting to exercise it thereby lost any of their rights under the
Constitution, as States, when their people abandoned that attempt.
Question. Is it or not your opinion that the legislatures and people of the eleven States,
respectively, have at present such a right to elect senators and representatives to Congress,
that it may be exercised without regard to the part which persons elected may have had in the
rebellion? • ,
Answer. I do not think they could exercise that right in the choice of their senators and mem
bers so as to impair in the slightest degree the constitutional right of each house for itself to judge
of the qualifications of those who might be chosen. The right of the constitutional electors of
a State to choose, and the right of each house of Congress to judge of the qualifications of
those elected to the respective bodies, are very distinct and different questions. And in thus
judging of qualifications, I am free to admit that, in rny opinion, no one should be admitted
as a member of either house of Congress who is not really and truly loyal to the Constitution
of the United States, and to the government established by it-
Question. State whether, from your observation, the events of the war have produced any
change in the public mind of the south upon the question of the reserved rights of the States
under the Constitution of the United States.
Answer. That question I answered in part yesterday. While I cannot state from personal
knowledge to what extent the opinions of the southern States upon the abstract question of
the reserved rights of the States may have changed, my decided opinion is that a very thor
ough change has taken place upon the practical policy of resorting to any such right.
Question. What events or experience of the war have contributed to this change?
Answer. First, the people are satisfied that a resort to the exercise of this right, while it is
denied by the federal government, will lead to war, which many thought before the late
attempted secession would not be the case ; and civil wars, they are also now very well satis
fied, are dangerous to liberty ; moreover, their experience in the late war, I think, satisfied
them that it greatly endangered their own. I allude, specially, to the suspension of the writ
of habeas corpus, the military conscriptions, the declaration of martial law in various places,
general impressments, and the levying of forced contributions, as well as the very deinorali zing
effects of war, generally.
Question. When were you last a member of the Congress of the United States ?
Answer. I went out on the 4th of March, 1859.
Question. Will you state, if not indisposed to do so, the considerations or opinions which
led you to identify yourself with I he rebellion so far as to accept the office of Vice-President
of the Confederate States of America, so-called?
Answer. I believed thoroughly in the reserved sovereignty of the several States of the
Union under the compact or Constitution of 1787. I opposed secession therefore as a ques
tion of policy, and not one of right, on the part of Georgia. When the State seceded against
my judgment and vote I thought my ultimate allegiance was due to her, and I preferred to
cast my fortunes and destiny with hers and her people rather than take any other course,
oven though it might lead to my sacrifice and her ruin. In accepting position under the new
order of things my sole object was to do all the good I could in preserving and perpetuating
the principles of liberty as established under the Constitution of the United States. If the
Union was to be abandoned either with or without force — which I thought a very impolitic
measure — I wished, if possible, to rescue, preserve, and perpetuate the principles of the Con
stitution. This I was not without hope might be done in the new confederacy of States
formed. When the conflict arose my efforts were directed to as speedy and peaceful an ad-
iustment of the questions as possible. This adjustment I always thought, to be lasting, would
nave ultimately to be settled upon a continental basis founded upon the principles of mu
tual convenience and reciprocal advantage on the part of the States on which the Constitu
tion of the United States was originally formed. I was wedded to no particular plan of ad
justment except the recognition as a basis of the separate sovereignty of the several States.
With this recognized as a principle I thought all other questions of difference would soon ad
just themselves according to the best interests, peace, welfare, and prosperity of the whole
country, us enlightened reason, calm judgment, and a. sense of justice might direct. This
166 EECONSTRUCTIOX.
doctrine I regarded as a self-regulating principle of American State institutions extending
possibly over the continent.
Question. Have your opinions undergone any change since the opening of the rebellion in
reference to the reserved rights of States under the Constitution of the United Btafc
Answer. My convictions on the original abstract questioii hare undergone no change, but
I accept the issues of the war and the result as a -practical settlement of that question. The
sword was appealed to to decide the question, and by the decision of the sword I am willing
to abide.
WASHINGTON, April 13, 1866.
Dr. James P. Hambleton sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUT WELL :
Question. Where do you reside and what is your occupation ?
Answer. I reside in Atlanta, Georgia. My occupation is that of a physician.
•Question. What have been your means of ascertaining the sentiments of the people of
Georgia since Lee's surrender?
Answer! Atlanta is a very central position. It is the great railroad centre of Georgia, and
I frequently come in contact there with persons from other parts of the country.
Question. Is there or not an expectation among the people that they are to be compensated
for the loss of slaves or other losses sustained by the war?
Answer. That is the impression, when the passions engendered by the war have subsided.
Question. Is it a matter of talk about there ? »
Answer. Not much ; no great deal. Occasionally you hear it mentioned. Our people have
very great confidence in the sense of justice of the American people after the passions of the
hour have passed away.
Question. Do you recollect the names of any persons whom yon have heard speak upon
the subject ?
Answer. No, sir. I could not specify names. There is a general indisposition upon the
part of our people to discuss national politics.
Question. You think they expect payment for their slaves as well as for their other losses?
Answer. Well, I think that is the calculation, at the proper time.
Question. Do you know anything of the sentiment of the people in regard to the payment
of the national debt which the country has incurred in the suppression of the rebellion?
Answer. There is very little said about that. I think the sentiment of our people gener
ally, in relation to the public debt, is, that there will, at some future day, be a sort of a com
promise in the way of compensation of property, when each of the southern States will be
shouldered with so much of the public debt, which I think the people will bear very cheer
fully. But candor compels me to say that if they are denied representation and payment for
the destruction of property I do not think they will very cheerfully pay the debt. That is a
very natural conclusion, in my judgment. I feel that way.
Question. Are you a native of Georgia ?
Answer. I am a native of the Old Dominion. I have been living in Georgia for the last
fifteen years ; married in that State, and all my interests are in Georgia.
Question. Did you take any part in the rebellion ?
Answer. Yes, sir. I did all 1 could for its success, and regretted exceedingly that I was
not able to do more. I was simply the surgeon of a regiment. I belonged to that class pre
vious to the commencement of the civil Avar known as co-operatiouists ; was opposed to im
mediate secession. I was a supporter of Mr. Douglas. But when the State acted, having
been taught in the school of State rights, believing that my allegiance was first to my State,
I quietly acquiesced in the action of the State and "went with it.
Question. Have your opinions changed in regard to the soundness of the States rights
doctrine, as a constitutional doctrine?
Answer. Not in the least. I still believe that to be the principle upon which the Consti
tution was formed.
Question. To what extent, if any, has a change taken place upon that subject among your
people ? .
Answer. I do not think, as far as belief in the right of a State to secede is concerned, there
has been any change of opinion whatever. We have agreed not to try it any more, and as
honorable mon we could not try it again.
Question. Would the people consent to negro suffrage, either universal or qualified, as a
condition of the restoration of the State to political power in the government?
Answer. I do not think they would, and for this reason: We hold in the south that wo
have conformed strictly to all the requirements laid down in the proclamation of t ho Presi
dent, immediately after the collapse of the confederacy ; and that the war having been waged
in defence of the indissolubleness of the Union, we do not think the northern States should
make any more requirements upon us. That is the idea. But \vo could not resist any law
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 167
of Congress, because we are perfectly exhausted ; it would be tbe most suicidal policy any
people ever attempted. We do not, therefore, think of anything of that sort. My impression
is that the effect of the passage of such a law would be a general exodus from the southern
States. That is the feeling.
Question. Would they look upon a proposition to diminish representation in Congress, so
that it should be based upon the white population exclusively, with any more favor?
Answer. Well, sir, I think they would ; but they would look upon that as an indirect
mode of forcing them to extend suffrage to the negro. We do not feel that we would have
any protection in the country at all, if the negro were allowed to vote.
Question. What evils would you anticipate from it ?
Answer. Well, the most unreliable class of men would be selected by them as representa
tives in the first instance. It would have a tendency to lower our moral and political stand
ard, from what we have been taught to believe was right and proper. In other words, we
regard it as having an agrarian tendency, which is very repugnant to the southern people.
If you allow them to vote, you must allow them to sit upon juries and to testify in the courts.
We do not believe any man's rights would be protected.
Question. What has been the conduct of the negroes during and since the war ?
Answer. I have seen very little difference. They were very humble and obedient during
the war; no people ever behaved better. After the war they were under the impression that
freedom meant freedom from labor, and everything of that sort ; most of them quit work, and
refused to do anything until cold weather came last winter. They fully expected the United
States government to clothe and feed them. Since then, a great many of them have made
contracts, and are working very well ; but the great difficulty is that they will not stick to a
contract ; they are fickle ; they are constantly expecting to do better ; they will make a con
tract with me to-day for twelve or fifteen dollars a month, and in a few days somebody will
come along and offer a dollar or two more, and they will quit me — never saying anything to
me, but leavfe in the night and be gone. They are constantly striking for higher wages.
Question. Are there instances of violation of contract on the part of the negroes, such as
you have spoken of, this year?
Answer. Repeated ; common, in the cotton regions ; more common in the cotton regions
than anywhere else.
Question. What wages have been paid in the region you speak of?
Answer. Twelve or fifteen dollars a month, with rations and medical attendance.
Question. Is it not true, that in some other regions in the vicinity they have been paying
twenty or twenty-five dollars a month?
Answer. I understand they have been offering as much as twenty or twenty-five dollars in
Mississippi and Louisiana, and it is through agents from those States, who have come into
Georgia and Alabama, that this state of things has occurred. The planters do not come
themselves ; they will generally send a negro ; the negro will come into the quarters of our
hands at night, and say, "I will give you so-and-so; such a man wants to employ you."
Question. Have not the wages paid of twelve or fifteen dollars a month been low, and have
not the negroes some reason to complain of the manner in which these contracts were made
with them originally ?
Answer. I cannot say about that. Their contracts were generally approved by agents of
the Freedmen's Bureau. There seemed to be a sort of general custom or common usage.
The lands, you know, in Georgia are not so fertile as they are further south in the alluvial
regions, and they cannot afford to pay so high prices in Georgia and portions of Alabama as
they can in Mississippi and Louisiana. Six or eight bales to a hand is the usual quantity
raised in Georgia and Alabama ; but when you get into southern Alabama, and into the
alluvial districts of Louisiana and Mississippi, ten or twelve bales can be made. Therefore
they can afford to pay much more than we can ; but it is a much more sickly country in
those malarious districts.
Question. Has the demand for labor been equal to the supply, this year ?
Answer. It has been gjeater. It could not be supplied. The great disposition of the ne
groes is to work in towns. Even the cornfield negro has a great dislike to go into the field;
he wants to get into the towns and do little errands and jobs. They have, as a class, a great
thirst for the towns and cities ; they like company ; they are very social creatures — like to
job about during the day, and be where -they can go to a party at night.
Question. What are the prospects for the crops for this year, if the season should be good ?
Answer. The prospects are very gloomy, in my judgment, and for the following reasons:
all the farming implements and farming stock were absorbed or destroyed by the two armies ;
the plantations grew up in briers and bushes ; the fences were burned and neglected ; the
cotton-gins wrere burned, and the cotton seed, being four or five years old, not more than one
seed in a thousand will come up — that is the estimate. There are very few men, therefore,
able to plant, because they have not the means, and a great many of them have not the
heart. It is like commencing anew again, in a great majority of instances. Then, the best
cotton regions in the south — in the Mississippi valley — are under water, owing to the levees
being cut. My impression, from the best information I can gather, is, from the unsettled
condition of our labor system down there, and want of funds to get stock and farming imple
ments, that 600,000 bales, at the outside, will be the amount of cotton raised in the whole
168 RECONSTRUCTION.
That will bo raised principally by small white planters on small places, from five to
bales each. I think next year things will become more settled, and there will be in
south.
twenty
all probability some 1,500,000 bales raised.
Question. When did you leave Georgia?
Answer. On the 14th of March last.
DUVALL'S BLUFF, ARKANSAS, January 20, 18G6.
SIR: I have the honor to submit the following report.
In obedience to instructions received from headquarters, White river district, dated Decem
ber 30, 1865, and Special Order No. 2, from same headquarter!, dated January 2, 1866, I
visited the following named places, viz : Jacksonport, Pocahontas, and Batesville, and on
my return intended to visit Augusta, but on account of ill health did not do so.
I improved every opportunity to investigate the condition of the country, and especially
the working of the civil government.
Any one passing through the country on business might be led to believe that the civil
government was working smoothly, but a close observation would change his opinion radi
cully. In the counties of Jackson, Lawrence, and Randolph the civil officers have all been
prominent rebels, and of course their sympathies are with those who have been connected
with them in the rebellion, and they show but little regard for that class of men who stood
firmly by the government during the severe and successful struggle for life and liberty.
In Independence county matters are different in some respects. The officers are all Union
men, but the administration of law is not so different from that of other localities as might be
supposed. While in the one case Union men receive no sympathy, in the other a secret com
bined influence against civil authority is felt. From this it is not to be inferred that there is
an open resistance to the law, but a failure to aid and assist in enforcing the law ; hence the
administration of justice fails to inspire evil-doers with a sufficient terror, and at the same
time does not give a perfect protection to good citizens.
Improvements in the country through which I passed are below my expectation. I had a
good opportunity to judge, travelling, as I did, by land from Jacksonport to Pocahontas, and
also while going to Batesville. Some places in the vicinity of the latter are undergoing re
pairs and others are being opened. Independence is, in my opinion, the most peaceable and
prosperous ot any county I visited, for the reason that it contains a strong Union element.
Where Union men are largely in the minority they dare not express their sentiments freely.
The reason for this invariably given, upon inquiry, is, "it is not safe for us to express our
sentiments to every person." These cases are not isolated, but occur especially in those
counties controlled by former rebels. I do not wish to be understood that every man who
has been in the confederate army is a rebel at heart, or that they would in any way molest
Union men, for a great many men who were opposed to the rebellion were forced into the
rebel army; and, again, some of those who entered into the war with all their heart have
changed their minds, and are and, in my opinion, will continue to be first-class citizens. But
of this class there are less than I expected to find. One thing is very significant, and the
most casual observer can hardly fail to notice it. In conversation rebel citizens express their
full satisfaction with the civil government, and a strong desire for the removal of the troops,
there being no further necessity for them, as civil authority is respected and obeyed in evny
particular. But when Union men are .questioned as to their views the scene changes from
light to darkness. They fear the removal of the troops from their part of the country, for in
that event they would be left without protection to lite and property.
The judge of the judicial district comprising the counties of Jackson, Lawrence, 'Randolph,
and other counties has decided that judgments rendered and suits commenced in civil courts
held under confederate authority were legal and would continue to form a part of the records
of the courts, and where indictments were found during the same time they would be stricken
from the records I was so informed by the clerks ot the courts at Jacksonport and Poca
hontas. Union men complained that civil authority is working against them very much in
such counties where the officers were rebels. Complaints were made to me more than once
that grand juries have refused to take the testimony of witnesses of good standing. The con
sequence was rebels escaped justice. In one instance indicted rebels were not arrested
through the neglect of the officer of the law whose duty it was to make the arrest.
Reliable men inform mo that their horses were stolen during the war and are still ridden by
men in their vicinity. They had made efforts to recover the horses but they found it impossible
to succeed. One gentleman informed me that he was the owner of several judgments against
men living in his vicinity which were rendered before the war ; he had made application to
the proper officer to levy on some property, but tho officer refused, giving as his reason that
he AVIIS afraid to sell it and he did not do so. This was, I believe, in Lawrence county, and
the man told mo ho had been in the service of tho. United States government during the war.
There was a street rumor at Pocahontus that at Christmas the little lot of soldiers would
be driven from the place, which occasioned some excitement, especially among Union poo-
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI ALABAMA. 169
pie, some of whom I believe remained in camp during the night, and tendered their services
to the officer in command o'' that post.
I heard of no openresi^ ..co to military authority except in one case, which occurred at a
little place called EveiXig Shade, in the county of Lawrence, where Captain Gilpatrick was
trying to make som/arrests. He was resisted and his men fired upon. The fire was returned
by the men. No o/fe was killed, it was supposed. Some men offered their services to the
captain. The inf/L who was to be arrested escaped, and is, I suppose, still at large.
The superintendent of freedmen at that place, who made the complaint against the man
whose arrest wo/ attempted, was notified that he must leave that part of the country, as he
could not liv«' T TI-. I to told mo he did not dare to go back there to live, unless some troops
were sent ; an<7 he expressed the opinion that every real Union man and all the freedmen
would be comjB iled to leave that section of country, unless the government gives them some
protection.
I heard no cfc nplaiuts of military interference with the civil authorities, except in one case
at PocahontasJJS.vhen the commanding officer of that place released a l^Ir. Brimmage, who
had been indiojfad for murder. I made some inquiries about the matter, and found that he
had shot a raafi for stealing his horses. This shooting affair took place during the war, about
one and a ha/' year ago, as I understood it. I did not learn whether he shot the man in the
act of stealing the horses or after that. Mr. Brimmage is represented to be a man of good
character auTi a firm friend of the government.
The officer who released the prisoner was of the opinion that it was a clear case of injus
tice, and j^at if the man had been a rebel he would not have been indicted. And while I am
of the ojr nioii that the officer, in releasing Mr. Brimmage from confinement, overstepped the
bound' of his authority, and that interference with civil authority, under ordinary circum-
shr.ces, would be dangerous, yet, I am still further of the opinion that unless the proper mili-
tffry authority does interfere, every man who has dared to defend his life and property during
the rebellion must flee the country, or be left in the hands of his enemy to perish without
remedy ; and if the civil authorities are permitted to proceed with the case, they will assuredly
take hold of other cases, as the Union men regard it as a test case. This is my firm con
viction, and deeming it a matter of great importance to the peace and welfare of the country,
I have dwelt upon it with some particularity. I heard no complaint against the conduct of
the troops by citizens, and on inquiry found they behaved well.
There is no large settlement of freedmen above Jacksonport, as that has not been a very
great cotton-growing district ; however, there are some, and I believe that where an officer
of the army acts as superintendent, with troops at his command, things work smoothly. But
I believe that citizens filling position will not be able to succeed, unless they are sup
ported by troops. They will either yield to the influence of the 'planters in the injustice of
the freedmen, or they will be compelled to leave the country or be mobbed.
The superintendent at Evening Shade had some trouble, as I have already intimated in
this report. He was bruised considerably, and warned to leave the place at once. Fearing
the consequences if he staid at home that night, he went out to go to a friend's house, and
was followed by a man whom he suspected of the intention to take his life : but meeting with
a Union man, the intruder turned back. Under present circumstances freedmen stand no
chance in that locality, and would have to leave unless something more is done to protect
them. The commanding officer at Jacksonport is doing everything in his power for the pro
tection of the Union men and freedmen of the country, Jjut it is impossible for him, or for
anybody else, to give protection to those in the northern counties, as they are too far away
from his station. I did not hear of any crimes bein» committed by the freedmen. Some
complain of their being insolent and not willing to work. But I believe they are generally
willing to work when they can get fair prices, and have some security for their pay.
There seems to be a great number of laborers in the upper part of the district. I saw very
few who were idle, and all seemed well disposed. I believe that with a fair chance they will
do well for themselves and for their employers ; and that if they are properly protected until
they learn to make contracts for themselves, and until they become acquainted with their new
position, and their relations to other men, they. will be abundantly able to take care of them
selves. Then, like other laborers, they will seek employment where it will pay the best.
When that time comes, the necessity of their labor will secure to them the proper considera
tion. But unless government gives the necessary protection at this time, the consequences
would be very unhappy to all concerned.
I find, in the section of country which I visited, a good feeling existing between the freed
men and the Union people, and they will protect each other as far as possible.
I am fully of the opinion that^it is by far better not to have superintendents of freedmen,
where they cannot have military aid in enforcing their orders. I have cited particular cases,
in order to give you the situation of affairs in different localities, and also to show the ne
cessity of giving protection to places where men are in danger.
I was led to the conclusion, after making inquiry into the condition of affairs in the upper
part of the district, that more troops would be necessary in order to give peace and harmony
to that section of the cpuutry. I think that one company more would be sufficient, as the
command at Jacksonport could be lessened some. They have one company, and a half of
another, and I think one company would be sufficient there, if two or "three more sta*
170 RECONSTRUCTION.
tions were established north of Jacksonport. It may be possible that a company might,
if stationed at Evening Shade, keep things quiet in those upper counties, as the distance
from this place would not be great. Evening Slmde is situated near a point where four coun
ties corner. I would further suggest that it would be well to have a small garrison of troops
at Searcy, and another at Augusta.
My opinion is, that there will be more or less trouble for some time to come, as tho country
is filling up with men who are leaving Missouri, as they say, on account of the oppv
laws of that State. This I regard as a very bad indication, for where men become so bad
they cannot live at home, there is very little hope of their being better anywhere else.
I think the people of the country through which I passed are as thoroughly opposed to the
government as ever, and it is not an uncommon thing to hour them acknowledge it. Some of
them say that they would be satisfied if Congress would but do the fair thing by them ; but
they complained that Congress was so radical that they could not expect justice from th.it
quarter. Some, however, are satisfied with peace on almost any terms, but there are a great
many who are no more loyal than they were two years ago ; and, if they dared, they would
be in open rebellion the same as then. And if the troops should be withdrawn I believe that
civil government would be too weak to protect society, and terror and confusion would be
the result.
It is reported that there are large quantities of government stock, especially horses and
mules, in the counties of Searcy, Izard, Van Buren, and White, which might be recovered, if
troops were stationed there.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
L. H. WHIPPLE,
Colonel ll'3th U. S. C. Infantry.
STEPHEN WHEELER,
Captain and A. A. A. General, White River District,
DuvalVs Bluff, Ark.
WASHINGTON, April 19, 1866.
Sidney Andrews sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL:
Question. State your residence and occupation.
Answer. I reside in Washington. My Occupation is that of correspondent.
Question. Have you travelled in the south since the surrender of Lee ? If so, through
what portions and during what period of time ?
Answer. I spent the months of September, October, November, and the first week in De
cember in the States of North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. I reached Georgia on
the 24th of October, I think, and left Savannah about the 3d of December, spending some
six weeks in Georgia, writing letters during that time for the Boston Advertiser and "Chicago
Tribune, travelling considerably through the central, western, and northern parts of the
State and down its eastern line, attending the session of the State convention, conversing
with numbers of all classes of people, from rice plantation negroes to provisional governors.
Question. What was the principal object of your visit?
Answer. I went out as correspondent of the two papers named mainly to study the polit
ical situation — partly because I wanted to look into it on my own account, and partly because
the proprietors of those papers were exceedingly anxious to lay before their readers informa
tion on that subject.
Question. Were the letters written by you on this occasion published ?
Answer. They were mostly published in the Advertiser and Tribune. I wrote a few for
one or two other papers, but these were the two to which I mainly contributed.
Question. Did you write over your own name ?
Answer. I did not. I wrote to the Advertiser over the signature of "Dixon," by which
name I am well known to the readers of that paper, and to the Tribune over the signature of
" Israel," by which I am known to the readers of that paper, and, to some extent, in Illinois
generally, having, during the last half dozen years, corresponded for two or three papers of
that State over that signature.
Question. As the result of your observations, what is your opinion of the people of
Georgia as to their loyalty or disloyalty to the government ?
Answer. I think they are satisfied They cannot accomplish anything through war on the
government, but I did not, at the time I was there, find a spirit o*f sympathy with the Union
as such, or with the administration as representing the will and sovereignty of the Union. I
found hostility manifested, not only in conversation with the people, but, it seemed to me, in
the result of the elections held while I was in the State. The men who were elected to Con
gress were, without an exception, men who heartily sympathized with the course pursued by
the State during the war. I do not now recollect that more than one or two of them were
what were called original secessionists, but faur of the seven had been in the rebel army.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 171
One of them, elected by a district generally spoken of as the most loyal in the State, with
one exception, was the worst malcontent I found in the whole State convention. I allude
to Colonel Matthews, who was elected from the Augusta district. He made a great many
speeches in the convention, and each of them was, with, perhaps, one exception, more bitter
in language and hostile in spirit, I think, than any single speech made by any other man in
that body. It seemed to me that the result of the elections, quite as much as the conversa
tion of the people, indicated, at that time, a very determined spirit of hostility toward, and a
very significant lack of sympathy with, the Uition. The gentleman elected from the district
usually known as the Columbus district, Mr. Buchanan, is a man who served in the rebel
army, and who announced himself in a card, which he published during the canvass, to the
people of the district, as a radical secessionist. I learned that he entered the rebel array in
April, 1861, as a lieutenant, and passed subsequently through the intermediate grades to a
lieutenant colonelcy. He was wounded in the battle of Pavilion Station, in June, 1864, and
did not recover from his wounds in time to go into active service again before the breaking
up of the confederacy. His card contained this paragraph :
" It may not be amiss or improper to state, for the information of those not acquainted with
me, that at the commencement of the late war I volunteered my services, and, through the
executive of the State of Georgia, entered into the army of the Confederate States, served in
the army of Virginia, and did all in my power to sustain the cause of the south and secure
the independence of the Confederate States. No law was ever passed by the congress of the
Confederate States by which I could be required to take up arms during the whole struggle.
I was exempt by the laws of the Confedef ate States. I refused to avail myself of the ex
emption, and continued in the service to the last. The cause failed, the confederacy fell,
and our expectations of a separate and distinct nationality passed away. I feel that I am
not responsible for that failure in any way. As a citizen, a soldier and a man, I did all I
could to insure success."
Mr. Cook, from the Albany district, and Mr. Walford, from the Atlanta district, were both
generals in the rebel army, though I understood that neither was an original secessionist.
Mr. Cabonnis, from the Macon district, and Mr. Cohen, from the Savannah district, were
both civil officers of the rebel government. The fact that a candidate had been in some way
connected with the rebel service seemed to be his best indorsement in the eyes of the people.
Question. Were you present during the entire session of the convention ?
Answer. I was.
Question. How were such views as those presented by Mr. Matthews received by the con
vention — favorably or otherwise ?
Answer. Quite generally favorably. During the session of the convention— in fact, on
the second day of its session, a resolution was moved for the appointment of a committee to
memorialize the President in behalf of Jeff. Davis and others. There was some debate upon
it. The only man in the convention who objected to it was Joshua Hill. It was indorsed
by two or three gentlemen quite strongly. Finally it came to Colonel Matthews to make a
speech. He said — and I read now from proof-slips of a book which I am having published,
"The South Since the War," and the matter for which, in this regard, was written the very
evening after the speech was made :
" Why should we not ask this favor? We have been pardoned by the national Executive,
and by our pardon we become free and sovereign citizens, clothed with all the rights and
privileges pertaining to Americans. Among the most sacred of these rights is that of peti
tion, and we mean, in the passage and carrying out of this resolution, to exercise that sacred
right. I understand that the President of the United States is inclined to mercy, that his
policy is one of leniency, and I believe that the presentation of the petition proposed by this
resolution will rather strengthen his hands than weaken and embarrass him. These men, as
I have said, are no more representative men of the confederacy, but they represent the cause
for wh'ch we battled. We have been pardoned, and have resumed all our rights as citizens
of the United States, and I declare that I will not be deterred from asking pardon for these
unfortunate gentlemen now languishing in military prisons. [Hearty applause throughout
the house. ] Mr. Davis is no more a traitor than the rest of us. Nor need he, nor any of us,
be ashamed of our records. We have illustrated southern manhood on a hundred battle-fields,
and we have show^ that we can honorably submit to .the decrees of God. Now let us come
up as men — not as criminals for a favor, but as men for our rights, and ask the pardon of our
late and beloved leaders." [Further applause.]
On another occasion, while the question of repudiating the rebel war debt was under dis
cussion, the proposition being to pass a resolution asking the provisional governor if the
President had signified what the convention must or ought to do, Colonel Matthews made
another speech, which was received with much favor. After saying that neither Congress
nor the President had a right to interfere in the matter, he continued :
"We shall not be back in the Union till our representatives are admitted to their seats,
and if Congress requires us to repudiate, it will be time then to act. Don't let us do more
than is required of us. True, we have no rights but such as the conqueror chooses to give
us, but I will not yield one inch more than military force requires me to yield. The conven
tion is the representative of what is left of the sovereignty of Georgia ; let us do what in' us
lies to assert that sovereignty. I shall never give my vote to add the damning disgrace of
172 RECONSTRUCTION.
repudiation to the humiliation of subjugation. Let our members go to Congress and be re
fused before we even take it into consideration. I will never consent to do so sooner."
Colonel Matthews made several speeches, during the debate, on the ordinance repudiating
the rebel war debt, from one of which I make a further brief quotation— the proposition at
the time being to make the ordinance a part of the new constitution :
"I see no necessity for putting this thing into the constitution, for an ordinance of this body
is just as much a part of the fundamental law as that document itself. I ask gentlemen to
be satisfied with a simple repudiation. Let the damning instrument which records our ever
lasting shame and disgrace be kept as inconspicuous as possible ; let it go into darkness among
the musty archives of the State, so that our children need not be called upon to blush at \is
sight, so that future generations must seek long to find it, and, haply, not discovering it,
may cherish the hope that we were found to be not slaves, but men of honor, even in our hour
of sorest distress ! I do not wish to be represented here as charging the President with being
a tyrant, but it is little less than tyranny to make this demand upon us. I will not crawl in
the dust to lick the hand of power. We are not yet slaves ; we are the same men we were
four years ago ; and I bid my associates stand as we stood when we flung the flag of rebellion
to the breeze, as we stood through the long and bloody years in which we upheld that flag !"
[Hearty applause.]
Question. Did you form any opinion from your observations while in Georgia as to
whether the people would prefer the re-establishment of the confederacy, if that were possible,
ox to remain in the United States ?
Answer. I concluded that they would have preferred the establishment of the confederacy,
had it been possible, and that they very generally regretted the failure of the effort to estab
lish it.
Question. Do you know anything as to the desires and purposes of the people concerning .
the payment of the federal debt, or the assumption of their own debt?
Answer. I heard but little said by anybody in respect to the payment of the federal debt.
I had some conversation one evening with three or four gentlemen whom I met at a town
where I was stopping over night. They expressed to me the idea that it would not be fair
for the government to make the people of the south pay for the whipping they had got, and,
in general terms, conveyed the impression that the opinion they held on that subject was the
commonly received opinion among their people. I did not learn that there had been any
particular discussion of the question, or that there was any strongly expressed purpose in re
gard to the matter, but was given to understand that it was accepted as a common, instinctive
feeling on their part. There was a great deal of talk in the State about the payment of the
rebel debt. It was, of all questions, the most exciting one that came before the State conven
tion. I am very decided in my opinion that this debt would not have been repudiated except
under what might be called orders from the President and Mr. Seward. The speeches made
in the convention upon the question of repudiation were numerous, and indicated a good deal
of latent hostility to the government ; and I believe I may say truly, that the most bitter of
these were the ones greeted with the heartiest applause on the floor and in the galleries, and thai
attracted most attention and were most commended by the people of Milledgeville and by attend
ants on the convention. Whether it was because the people generally approved the sentiments
uttered, or because they were in personal sympathy with the persons who gave expression to
them, is more than I can say. Some of those who were called the best men in the convention, men
who were known in the winter of 1860-'G1 as either Union men or co-operatiouists, as they were
called, went further than any other class in the convention in advocacy of the payment of that
debt. I remember particularly that Judge Simmons, who was quite a strong Union man in
the convention of IbGl, and who was one of a half dozen of its members who refused to sign
the ordinance of secession, went so far as to a.dvocatet resistance to repudiation to the utmost
extremity — to repudiate only at the express command 'of the military power ; and then, when
the people of the State should again be in the enjoyment of all their rights, when the State
of Georgia should once more be a free and independent sovereignty, as he expressed it, be
suggested that another convention should be called and the rebel debt assumed. That sen
timent was received with many manifestations of approval on the floor at the time, and was
rebuked by but one member. It created a good deal of talk among the members of and at
tendants on the convention ; and it was, I suppose, found expedient by Judge Simmons, or
by his friends, to strike it from the semi-official report of the convention delmtts published in
one of the Macon papers ; for when the paper came back the following day with the report of
the proceedings, the language used and everything bearing on that point was omitted; but
that the language was used I am as positive as I can be of anything. I wrote my report of
it that evening, and the correspondents of other northern papers who were in attendance on
the convention made the same report substantially. My report of what he said was as
follows :
" If the Congress requires of us to repudiate, precedent to the admission of our representa
tives, then we must do it. But let us wait and see if that further disgrace is required of us.
If we must drink still deeper of the cup of infamy, .let those who require it of us take the
responsibility of putting it to our lips. Let us repudiate only at the express command of
military power ; and then, when we are again in the enjoyment of our rights in the federal
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 1 73
Union, and are 0nce more a free and independent sovereignty, let us call another convention
and assume the whole debt."
Question'. Did that convention ratify the amendment to the Constitution of the United
States abolishing slavery?
Answer. It did not ; but it inserted a clause in the new constitution acknowledging the
abolition of slavery, and declaring that it should not again exist in the State. This was ac
companied, however, by a proviso to the effect that the people of the State did not give up
their right to ask compensation for slaves emancipated; and I believe the clause could not
have been carried through the convention without that saving proviso, except at the end of a
severe struggle.
Question. Was the Freedmen's Bureau in operation when you were there ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. With what results, as far as you could judge ?
Answer. I regard General Tillson, the State commissioner, as one of the best men I know
connected with that bureau. His administration of its affairs was much more satisfactory
to me than the administration of the office either in North or South Carolina. I had frequent
conversations with the general, both at Augusta and Milledgeville. I knew very well what
he was trying to do, and something of the difficulties he had to encounter. He came over
to Milledgeville during the session of the convention to see if he could not secure more har
monious relations between the bureau and the people of the State than had before existed.
To that end he addressed a communication to the provisional governor, asking that per
mission be granted to appoint certain State or county officers as his agents. The governor
felt that he had no authority to act in the matter, and referred the communication to the con
vention, by which it was referred to the principal committee. After a few days that com-
• mittee reported in favor of the proposition. They also reported in favor of giving him
authority to appoint citizens of the State as ageflts of the bureau, which was going further
than he had expected to be able to get them to go, though no further than he desired. That
report was brought before the convention and created some debate. This Colonel Matthews
of whom I have spoken was the leader of the opposition. It was finally adopted, and I
know that General Tillson was very much gratified. Recommendations were immediately
made to him by various members of the convention, of persons it was desirable to have ap
pointed in different localities as citizen agents. I subsequently visited him in Augusta, and
had some conversation with him as to the effect of his movement in that direction. I found
him quite well satisfied with it. The bureau, while I was there, had agents in many of the
cities and large towns, though not in nearly all the principal towns of the State. Such
military agents as I came personally in contact with, with few exceptions, seemed to be
doing their work very well. What the result of employing citizen agents would be, the
general at that time could not determine definitely ; he hoped for good results. My inquiries
as to some, at least, of the persons recommended as such agents led me to believe it would
prove a good plan. The bureau was not kindly looked upon by the people at large by any
means ; they endured it as an evil, and I think, almost without an exception, were anxious
that it should be abolished, and that the care of the negro should be left to their own people.
In some parts of the State I found a strong feeling to the effect that measures ought to be
passed by the State legislature when it came together, that should establish a system of
crimes and punishments under which the negroes could be practically restored to slavery
again. In talking with some persons whom I met in the southwestern portion of the State,
1 asked them if that feeling prevailed to any considerable extent, and they gave me to under
stand that it did. They thought the State legislature would have the right to pass such
measures, and that the Freedmen's Bureau could not prevent their execution.
Question. What was the condition of the negroes generally'in that State with reference to
physical comfort 1
Answer. 1 was led to the conclusion that the form of slavery which had existed in the
central part of the State was not nearly as severe as that which had existed in the lower
part. It seemed to me that a great many of the negroes who had left masters living in the
central part had not made a change that brought them any advantage with respect to physi
cal comfort. I found them living in huts, often of the rudest kind, with nothing but pine
boughs as a roof, and in some cases I had reason to know that negroes living m that con
dition had left comfortable homes, yet they were quite unanimous in feeling that they had
made a good change in getting away from their masters, because they bad become free.
Tin- negroes in the lower part of the State, I was led to think, were not as well treated by
the white people generally as they were above. I met quite a good many down there who
had been either forced from the plantations on which they had spent the summer, or had
been compelled to leave from neglect, or because they were not allowed anything to eat. I
had occasion to meet them, and in some instances to direct them to officers of the bureau,
and to suggest to them ways and means of getting hold of what properly belonged to them
as a reward for their summer's work.
Question. Did their employers refuse to pay them for what they had done?
Answer. In some cases they did. In some cases they drove them from the plantations by
force, .without paying them at all, but sometimes they made a pretence of paying them by
giving them a pair of shoes or a little clothing. For instance, I met a party of seven, one
1 74 RECONSTRUCTION.
morning — they were all men — and I learned from them that three or four were married men.
They had been turned off a plantation where they had been hired all summer and had been
paid really two dollars and a half apiece for their summer's work: that is to say, the
married men received five dollars apiece for themselves and wives, and the single men only
received two dollars and a half each. They had been turned off a plantation in the south
western part of the State; their relatives were all in South Carolina. They were ne<rn><-s
that had been taken down there when Sherman's forces were marching through that country.
That was, perhaps, in one sense an exceptional case. The pay was less than in most instances,
but it was not by any means an exceptional case in respect to negroes being turned off
the plantations where they had been at work.
Question. What are the principal objects of desire on the part of the negroes in regard to
their own future ?
Answer. I found them quite generally anxious to become the owners of land. They did
not seem to want much, only "a little patch," as they said, where they could be by them
selves. Their next want was pretty generally a mule and cart. They want to become
householders themselves. They seemea to think the ownership of land and a horse or mule
made men of them at once.
Question. What views do they have in regard to education for themselves and children?
Answer. Their views were a good deal more advanced, in that respect, than those of the
lower class of white people I met there. Many of the negroes in some localities, common
plantation negroes, and day laborers in the towns and villages, were supporting little schools
themselves. Everywhere, I found among them a disposition to get their children into
schools, if possible. I had occasion very frequently to notice that porters in stores and labor
ing men about cotton warehouses, and cart-drivers on the streets, had spelling-books with
them, and were studying them during the time they were not occupied with their work. GQ
into the outskirts of any large town, and walk among the negro habitations, and you will
see the children, and in many instances grown negroes, sitting in the sun alongside their
cabins studying. I was quite surprised as well as gratified to notice such a decided interest
in that respect. i
Question. Is there anything further bearing upon the subjects of which you have spoken
that you would like to communicate in this connexion?
Answer. I met a gentleman in the State, whose name I do not feel at liberty to give. He
was a very intelligent man, of forty or forty-five years of age, who had served as a captain
in the rebel army, and was a lawyer by profession. I was introduced to him simply as a
gentleman from the north. He had no knowledge of the fact that I was a correspondent.
One morning I fell into conversation with him on the affairs of the State. He seemed quite
ready to talk, and gave me his views of the situation at some length. They were given in
such a way, and were themselves of such a character, .that I did not feel at liberty to use his
name in my correspondence, or to designate the place in which he lived. I went to my
room immediately after the close of the conversation, and within two hours I had written
out what he said to me. I should like to incorporate his statement in my evidence. I regard
it as one of the most important made to me while I was in the State. I had been saying
something on the subject of negro suffrage, and conveyed the idea to him that there were
many people up north who favored it, and who had made up their minds that the affairs of
the south could only be finally settled by giving the negro the ballot. In reply to what I
bad said in that regard, and to questions I asked him from time to time, he said :
"No, I have not much faith in the idea that capital and labor will reconcile themselves.
Things are exceptional here. Our capital is all in the hands of a few, and invested in great
plantations. Our labor is all in the hands of a race supremely ignorant, and against whom
we all have a strong prejudice. * In my opinion, you can't reconcile the.se two interests unless
you put the labor in subjection to the capital — that is, unless you give the white man control
of the negjo. Of course that can't again be allowed, and therefore there's an almost impas
sable gult between the negro and freedom unless the government 'aids him.
"I'll tell you what I tliiuk you should have done. The policy of confiscation should be
rigidly carried out at once. Mercy to the individual is death to the State ; and in pardoning
all the leading men, the President is killing the free State he might have built here. The landed
aristocracy have always been the curse of the State. I say that as a man born and reared
in Georgia and bound to her by every possible tie. Till that is broken down then; can be no
real freedom here for either the negro or the poor white. The result of the war gave you a
chance you never will get again to overthrow that monopoly. The negroes and the poor
whites are bitter enemies in many respects, but they agree in wanting land. You should have
carried out your confiscation policy — divided up the great plantations into lift y-arre lots, and
sold them to the highest and best bidders. That would have thrown some of the land iiit^
other large plantations, but it would have been fair, and would have given the poor whites
and the negroes a chance. Give a man a piece of land, let him have a cabin of his own
upon his own lot, and then you make him free. Civil rights are good for nothing, the ballot
is good for nothing, till you make some men of every class landholders. You must give the
negroes and the poor whites a chance to live — that's the first thing you should do. The
negro has a great notion to get a piece of land, and you should help him along by that notion.
What does he want of a vote? He would not know how to use it, and it would not
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 1 75
bring him anything to eat or wear if he had a dozen. Give him land, and then you touch
his case exactly. He can get none now. There is not one planter in a thousand who would
sell him any ; but if you'd carried out your confiscation policy he could have bought it like
anybody else.
" I said in a speech on last Fourth of July that we had always boasted of our country as
the land of the free and the home of the oppressed, while in fact it had been the land of the
oppressed and the home of the slave. I said, too, that I hoped the war had made it possible
for men to be free without regard to color, so that we might boast more truly than England
that our flag floats over no slave. I spoke very cautiously, but what little I said was enough
to kill me politically in this county. I have sometimes thought I would go north and urge
your people to take the first fruits of the victory, but I should not dare to come back here
after speaking up there. I've wanted to write a letter to some leading newspaper ; but if I
should say what I honestly believe, I should be killed if it ever got out that I wrote it. There
isn't any freedom of speech here or anywhere in the State, unless you speak just as the seces
sionists please to let you. I should be shot before to-morrow morning if I were to publicly
say what I've said to you. Take the troops away, and off the great lines of travel there
would be a reign of terror in a month. Your test oath is a bad thing. It sets an ugly pre
cedent, and it will keep our best men out of Congress. I wish you could have reached your
ends in some other way. But you've got it, and you'll have to enforce it. It will punish
many who are not guilty, but it will accomplish final results which I want brought about as
much as you do.
"The negro's first want is not the ballot, but a chance to live ; yes, sir, a chance to lire.
You say the government has given him freedom, and that many good men in the north be
lieve he must have the ballot to secure that freedom. I. tell you he's not got his freedom yet,
, and isn't likely to get it right away. Why, he can't even live without the consent of the
white man .' He has no land ; he can make no crops except the white man gives him a chance.
He hasn't any timber: he can't get a stick of wood without leave from a white man. We
crowd him into the fewest possible employments, and then he can scarcely get work any
where but in the rice-fields and cotton plantations of a white man, who has owned him and
given up slavery only at the point of the loayonet. Even in this city he can't get a pail of
water from a well without asking a white man for the privilege. He can hardly breathe, and
he certainly can't live in a house, unless a white man gives his consent. What sort of free
dom is that?
" He has freedom in name, but not in fact. In many respects he is worse off than he was
before you made him free, for then the property interest of his master protected him, and now
his master's hand as well as the hand of everybody else is against him. True, he has the
military here for his protection ; but there are a thousand things done here every day under
the colonel's very nose that he don't know anything about, and that he can't know anything
about — things he couldn't remedy if he did know about 'em. Then, besides, there are hun
dreds of wrongs of which he knows, that he can't reach and can't make right. 'Tisn't such
whippings as he told you about that most wrong the negro; it's the small, endless, mean,
little injustice of every day that's going to kill him off. He's only partially protected now ;
take the troops away, and his chance wouldn't be as good as a piece of light-wood in a house
on fire.
" Yes, I know there's talk of selling them into slavery again, but I don't see how you got
hold of it. I know a good many of these men they've sent to the legislature ; and I know
there'll be private talk this session, even if there isn't open effort, to make the penal code
take him back into the condition of slavery. It'll be called 'involuntary servitude for the
punishment of crime,' but it won't differ much from slavery. Why, I know men right here
in this very town whoH>elieve in making the breaking of a contract a crime for which the
nigger may be sold. They can do it. They can establish any system of crimes and punish
ments they please. I don't say they will do that, but I know many men who would vote for
doing it. You northern men can't see much of the real feeling here. Get the troops away
and the State into Congress, and I give you my solemn word that I believe three-fourths of
the counties in the State would vote for such a penal code as would practically reduce half
the negroes to slavery in less than a year."
I did not meet many men in the State more competent than this ex-captain to speak upon
the condition of the people. It seemed to me then, and seems to me still, that his remarks
are a powerful argument out of the mouth of a southern advocate of the opposite policy, that
the ballot in the hand of every man, white and black, is the only thing that will secure the
rights of the humbler classes of all colors in the south. It will give them the power and elo
quence of numbers. It will give them what party leaders will covet, and what the bitterest
slave oligarchist in the whole list will not be above stooping to secure. To be sure, some
should be owners of land ; but the citizen, with the ballot in his hand, is a king in his own
right, to whom all things are possible. There was one thing which impressed me a great
deal in all parts of the State — the pertinacity with which the doctrine is held that the southern
States had a right to secede. The State-rights doctrine seemed to me to have been pushed to a
further conclusion in that State than even in South Carolina. For instance, in South Caro
liua, I heard a great deal about the sovereignty of a State. In Georgia, it was all about the
supremacy of a State. It was repeated to me, time and time again, that the State was supreme ;
176 RECONSTRUCTION.
and not to have "gone with the State,'' as the phrase was, during the war, seemed to be the
worst sin almost a man could commit there, and, so far as I could judge, the result of the
war had not changed the opinion of the people in respect to the supremacy of the State.
Whether a man did or did not side with the State during the struggle, was made the test of
Ills qualification for office ; and I believe that every man who opposed the war during its
progress was defeated in running for office last fall, except possibly in a few of the extreme
northern counties.
WASHINGTON, April 27, 1866.
Charles G. Baylor sworn and examined.
By Mr. BOUTWELL :
Question. How long have you resided in the State of Georgia ?
Answer. I have been identified with the interests of that State officially and privately since
1857. I resided in the State at the time the war broke out, and was there until about eigh
teen months before it closed. I held the position of commercial commissioner of the State.
Question. Were you officially connected with the United States government before the war ?
Answer. I was in the consular service of the government.
Question. At what places, and for how long a time ?
Answer. I was at Amsterdam, Holland ; at Manchester, England. I had just been nomi
nated for Cologne, Prussia ; I never went there.
Question. How much time have you spent in Georgia since Lee's surrender ?
Answer. I have not been there at all.
Question. Have you been in any of the rebel States since Lee's surrender?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I have been in Virginia.
Question. What means, if any, have you had for ascertaining the condition of public sen
timent in the south 1
Answer. Through personal contact in the cities of New York and Washington with prom
inent men from the south, and by correspondence and information I have obtained through
friends who have gone down there from the north.
Question. What view do you entertain as to the course to be pursued for the re-establish
ment of society in the south in reference to this government and to industry ?
Answer. I think the only hope of establishing social order and political stability and har
mony in the south, is in the poorer class of white citizens and in the freedmen. I think the
extension of the franchise to the freedmen, either upon an educational test or with property
Sualification added, would create for southern society a large and influential population on
ie side of law and social order and industry ; and if the question was euthvly five from all
political necessity, and the liberal men of the south were disposed to meet in any liberal
spirit and harmonize their action with the principles of the government, it would be a most
judicious step to initiate that great reform. But it is very evident to my mind that the course
of these disunion leaders will force that question out of its legitimate channel, just as they
have previously forced other questions of reform and progress out of their legitimate channel,
and the adoption of universal suffrage may become an absolute necessity in order to create a
loyal element of political power, and in order to counteract the vicious influence of then
leaders. I know a great many men in the south, and I have heard several from a district
not particularly favorable to the question of franchise at all, in speaking of this question,
admit that it would liavo to be adopted as a political necessity.
Question. What policy in reference to the freedmeu is likely to result in best promoting
their progress, and in yielding the largest amount of the products of the soil ?
• Answer. The cultivation of cotton at the south before the emancipation of the slaves was
capitalized. A large amount of capital was committed irretrievably to the growth of cotton
and "nothing else. The progress of mechanical improvement in Europe and America capi
talizes the consumption of cotton. Cotton, instead of being consumed mostly by the hand-
loom as formerly, came to be consumed by machinery, and large amounts of money had to
he invested in special machinery for that special industry, and this capital was equally com
mitted to the consumption of cotton. To illustrate: the planter owning five hundred slaves
would have a very large fortune invested in the cultivation of cotton. The manufacturer of
New England also had a very l*»rge fortune invested in the consumption of cotton. Now, if
the price of cotton should fall below the point where it could be profitably produced, the
manufacturer of New England and Europe would still find it for their interest to continue
the manufacture, even at a loss, rather than to suspend operations, because that would give
stability to the consumption; and the planter owning the slaves would also continue to pro
duce; and these two elements at both ends would enable the middle men to come to the
financial relief of one or the other, as might be necessary. So that if the planter made a
crop at a price so low that it would not pay, his factor, by the aid of banks, would cany him
through, or could carry through the manufacturer, if necessary. That condition of things
gave a steadily increasing production of cotton, and, it gave that stability and security to
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI— ALABAMA. 177
the manufacturing interests which justified the investment of capital in the improvement of
machinery, and the enlargement of its operations. Now that capital basis at the south is, oi^
course, destroyed through the abolition of slavery. The basis represented by the value oi
the ne«TOes ln'id as chattel property devoted to this interest has gone, and for the future the
lands themselves will have to become the basis upon 'which money can be loaned in safety
in the event of the reduction of the price of cotton to a point below that which would justify
its production. The consequence will be, that the attempt to carry on cotton cultivation in
the south by vast estates, worked by large gang's of laborers, will be liable to all the fluctua
tions and shiftings of the market ; and if the price of middling cotton at New York, Boston,
and Liverpool, at the beginning of the season, is such as to discourage the planter and
to induce him to believe that he cannot afford to pay the established rate of wages to grow it,
the consequence will be that the production will thereby bo diminished, or be discontinued
altogether. In other words, we shall have repeated in America what they have had in India,
where they have attempted to grow cotton on large estates by the employment of large
numbers of laborers. With the cotton lands of the south subdivided and made the property
of the man who cultivates the soil directly himself, he himself becomes the guarantee of
capital with the lands as collateral, the r-ecurity is increased, and a stimulus is created for
individual production. If the freedman will work for wages, he will certainly work for land
and wages combined. If he is intelligent enough to support himself while working for
wages to make crops to enrich other people, he certainly is intelligent enough to work his
own land and cotton. For these reasons I have long entertained the opinion, and I have
submitted it to a large number of cotton-growers at the south— plain men, who understand
what they are about — and it has been universally admitted by them that the only practicable
or proper way, under existing circumstances, to produce cotton is to subdivide the soil, and
put the freedman upon his own land. Let the southern man divide and sell his land, and
let northern men, or the government, through some fiscal agent, furnish the financial aid
required, and let the colored man apply his tropical labor to that laud. In that way you
will get every inch of soil cultivated that can produce cotton.
Question. "Have the freedmen generally any desire to own land ?
Answer. They have tiniversally.
Question. What is the disposition of the present land-owners in regard to selling to them ?
Answer. That question hinges on another consideration. The course of the south hereto
fore, in all her enterprises, in all the steps she has taken forward, educationally, socially,
agriculturally, commercially, and mechanically, has been impeded by the infusion of politi
cal prejudices and political remedies into everything connected with the south. If you ask
a plain farmer what is the curse of Virginia, he will tell you " politics." Now, in reference
to the question of the subdivision of the soil and the sale by the planters of their lands, if
that question becomes involved at all in the political struggle that is impending, or in the
settlement of political issues and principles, they will carry their political prejudices into
their private transactions in life even to their own detriment. They have always done it,
and always will do it. The disposition of the laud-owners now is to sell their lands, and
the purchasers will, of course, do what they please with it. Northern capitalists may go
there and buy lands ; there is no doubt of that. Anybody will be glad to sell .lands at a
certain price ; but if the first transactions of that character were to be followed by this prin
ciple of subdivision, and these leading men, who have in some way or other obtained a
mysterious control over the whole southern people, who have always had it, and have it now,
should oppose it as a political measure, it might create such a political element as would ar
rest it ; but that again would depend entirely upon the political character of the government
at Washington. The disposition of die landholders no'vy in the south to sell their lands at
any price they think they are worth is very general.
Question. What is your opinion of the capacity of the negro to manage lauds in reference
to the cultivation of cotton ? .
Answer. There is not a plantation in the south of any size that did not have one, two,
three, or four colored managers. During the war I bought a boy, a field hand, who came
up from the coast of Georgia, very black and very ignorant. I had him for my gardener.
After a while, when I was away, I intrusted him with all my matters at home. When I left
with my family he came with me as far as Wilmington. I found that he knew a great deal
more than I had supposed he did, up to that time, about the political issues of the war then
going on around him. In the course of six or eight months he came to be a very intelligent
memher.of my family. I had great confidence in him, and placed great reliance on him —
trusted in him a great deal. And that is the experience of the people of the south who have
had anything to do with oiir servants They are very capable, not only of managing for
themselves, but of managing for their masters, and I have known numerous instances where
they have supported their masters. I know one colored man in Georgia who bought him
self during the war, paid a very large price for himself, and was of great assistance to his
master. Tin*- African race in the south are, in fact, what the extreme advocates of slavery
claimed for them in defence of the system — a thoroughly civilized people. They have all the
habits of industry, and all the tastes of civilized society. And they have been trained to
that kind of industry suited to the very country in which they live. Leave the negro ill
Georgia, give him land, give him an opportunity, and he will take care of himself and hi:?
12 A (i M A
178 RECONSTRUCTION.
family, will become a tax-payer, and will rise in the world. I say this as I said to Mr. Me-
Culloch in an interview I had with him, at the suggestion of prominent men in New York. I
think Mr. McCulloch could accomplish a return to specie payment in a very short period,
by the adoption on his part, or by authority of Congress, of some financial measure that
would develop the industry of the freedmen in the south to its fullest extent. With a special
issue of a hundred and twenty-five or a hundred and fifty million dollars distributed through
the south, through the instrumentality of the national banks by means of discounts, secured
on the land itself, which even now, in its depreciated value, would furnish a security of seven
or eight hundred millions, and subdivided and cultivated, would rise rapidly in price, I be
lieve that, in two years, six million bags of cotton could be produced in the south. A prop
osition of that kind was, to my personal knowledge, made to eminent French bankers and
to the French government. The scheme was drawn up and sent to Paris. It included a sub
division of the soil, and giving the lands as security ; and the persons who owned the laud
were willing to borrow the money, and proposed to pay ten per cent, interest and give an
interest of a quarter of the crop bonus, in addition, agreeing to continue the arrangement for
seven years. The proposition was accepted when first presented, but afterwards declined
for political or diplomatical reasons. You have at hand all the organizations necessary to
carry out such a system. 'You have a fiscal system by which your discounts could be ap
plied through the national banks. You have the tropical industry, which alone is available
for the cultivation of cotton, which is a tropical crop, and by subdividing the soil into small
farms, placing upon them intelligent freedmen, and giving them the aid necessary, in connexion
with the Freedmen's Bureau, you will have a system under which cotton will be produced
in the south, under which the lands in the south, now worth $10 or $15 an acre, will rapidly
increase to $50 or $75. The freedman can better afford to grow cotton, and nothing but
cotton, except his garden truck, at thirty cents a pound, and buy his provisions from the
northwest, than to raise them himself. He can better afford to do it at twenty cents a pound.
That, in my deliberate conviction, could be made a practical solution of this whole difficulty,
and I have had some experience in this thing. The opinions I give you are not simply my
own ; they are those I have received by interchange of views, in Europe and the south, with
the best minds of both countries, on this subject. Time will show that the cultivation of
cotton at the south, upon the principle of vast estates and large gangs of hired laborers, will
fail. It will bring poverty to the country, disease and extermination to the African race,
and increase the distress of the white people themselves — it will fail.
Question. Are the negroes generally loyal to this government?
Answer. Yes ; universally.
Question. Have they intelligence enough, if they were able to vote, so that in the main
they would act for the preservation of the government, and against any secession movement
that might arise?
Answer. The colored people of the south are much more intelligent than people there sup-
Eose. Of course, under slavery, they were in the habit of concealing their thoughts ; they
ad to do it. Concealment, under slavery, has become a part of the negro's character ; but
when you break through that, can get into his confidence and draw him out — at least that has
been my experience — you will be astounded at his intelligence. I have mentioned these
things at the south, and the reply has been, "These are exceptions." But I have not yet, in
any conversation I have had with them, found any one who did not have a very clear, plain,
straightforward idea upon that subject. And, so far as the question of qualification goes, I
think that patriotism is as much a qualification of franchise as education. The history of
the world proves that all popular governments have mainly depended for their support upon
what the educated or intelligent people, as they are termed, called the ignorant class ; and
all attempts to overturn popular government have nearly always proceeded from the intelli
gent, educated class. The south is no exception to that rule. The poor people of the south
are universally in favor of the Union. They were dragged into this thing. The authorities
at Richmond soon found they could not deceive them, and then conscripted them. They first
dragged them into the movement by fraud, and then held them by force.
Question. If the elective franchise were extended to the negro, and the entire influence of
the government of Congress and the Executive were placed on the side of that policy, how
would it be received by the poorer white class of the south ?
Answer. That is a very important question. It is the only question that has ever troubled
my mind at all when I have reflected on the solution of this difficulty. If that policy had
.been adopted immediately after the war, the poor white class would have approved of it;
that is, if the government, immediately after the war, had reorganized southern society upon
the principle, not of vengeance, but upon the principle that every man who took an intelligent
and leading part in the maintenance of the Davis military despotism at Richmond should bo
made to carry the odium of that thing with him in society, in the presence of his neighbors, and
that every man in the south who had enriched himself during the war by confederate contracts
and speculation out of the people should be made to disgorge his ill-gotten gains — if the poor
whites could have seen, by some policy which was manifest in its effects before their eyes,
who constituted, in the eye of this government and in the opinion of mankind, the authors
of their misery and trouble, then the further measures of this government upon the question
of the franchise of the freedmen would have been cheerfully accepted and approved. But
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 179
the poor whites of the south have only this knowledge : that before the war this class ruled
them br political organization, and that when, in 1850 and 1851, in a few counties,
they undertook to assert their rights, they were put down by this political class, aided by
the administration at Washington, under President Pierce. And when the war came on,
theso controllers, bad men, got possession entirely of their property and their lives, con
scripted them, drove them into the ranks, and treated them as if they were mere slaves.
Then, the moment the war was over, they saw these same men the representatives of the
social consequence, property, and wealth of the country — the wealth of many of them accu
mulated by taxes levied on these poor whites themselves. When they saw these men con
tinued as leaders, and recognized as such by the government of the United States, they nat
urally came to the conclusion that these men are not wrong, and have not been wrong; that
they have done something magnificent — something that is glorious. The consequence is,
that when these poor whites come up to pay their taxes to the revenue officer of the govern
ment they come with the spirit of the Anglo-Saxon man, which is always against paying
taxes anyhow, and particularly so when they are heavy, and for the support of the govern
ment which they think is the cause of their misfortunes. When they ask themselves the
cause, they say to themselves: "It is not the disunionists ; they are not to blame for it."
The disuniouists are the patriots, they give tone to society ; and they tell them it is the United
States government that is to blame. Under these teachings the discontent of these poor white
people is increasing, and they are every day ranging themselves more and more on the side
of the disunion leaders, so that when this question of franchise comes up for the freedmen,
and you put the question how the poor whites of the south would receive that measure, you
discover that it would have been a very different thing if the same measure had been pro
posed earlier, or under different circumstances. You cannot expect these people, who have
borne as they have the weight of taxation for the support of the Davis rule, and who are
now suffering, as they are to-day, the most abject poverty the world has ever seen, to view
this question with the same enlightened reason that otherwise you might look for. They
have no source of information. They have been so blinded and deceived by the falsehood
and sophistry of their political leaders that to-day they do not understand the question. These
people of Georgia believe to-day that the United States government waged an unnecessary,
unprovoked, and cruel war upon them. They were told so before the war commenced, told
so during the war, and told so now the war is over, by the men who deceived them, and who
now undertake to represent the intelligence of the State. Governor Hamilton, of Texas, is
trying to counteract that influence. He is trying to create a party, based upon the policy of
making the people of the State understand that the disunion leaders are the real butchers of
their families and plunderers of their property. That is the only State in the south where
that policy is being pursued. Therefore, the question you asked me, how the poor whites
would receive that measure, is a question very easily answered, but the answer involves the
adoption of an accompanying policy which, perhaps, it is impossible to dream of now. I
may say, that any measure emanating from Washington city, with the sanction of the gov
ernment, presented to the people of the south, would be accepted and acted upon. The great
mass of the people down there, especially of the poorer class, are well-meaning. They are
sick and tired of agitation, and sick of politics, but they have no more control over the po
litical movements and condition of the south than they had before the war, so that, practi
cally, the good disposition of this people, as well as the good disposition of the freedmen,
amounts to nothing at all.
APPENDIX
Extract from the message of the provisional governor of Arkansas, delivered in April, 1864.
Gentlemen of the senate and of the house of representatives :
On the sixth of May, 1861, a convention of the people of Arkansas met in this hall. A
majority of that convention had most solemnly pledged themselves to the people that elected
them to resist to the last extremity secession and rebellion. Yet, instigated by a strange
insanity, they basely betrayed those who had trusted them, and passed an ordinance of seces-
death. Since then the sufferings of those whom fear could not beguile into active participa
tion in the rebellion have been terrible, of which it is not necessary now to speak — they are
engraved on the memory of all.
The arrival of the federal army under General Steele at the capital of the State, and the
army of General Blunt at Fort Smith, gave an opportunity to honest men to speak and act
with some degree of freedom. The opportunity was improved promptly. The people of the
northwestern counties called public meetings, passed resolutions expressive of their desire to
180 RECONSTRUCTION.
return to tlic Union and to the protection of its government, and to reorganize the State gov
ernment based on principles of freedom to all races. This movement had ju<t commenced
when it was stimulated and sustained by tin; 1 'resident's proclamation of amnesty of Decem
ber 8, 1863. Elections were held and delegates to a convention were elected to assemble at
Little Rock 3u January, 1801. The delegates met ;it the capital and organized on the llth
of January, 1864, a number of them being prevented from at tending by the disturbed state of
the country. They were earnest men and firm patriots — ready to die for their country if need
be, and presented an aspect of moral sublimity rarely seen. The people for nearly three
years had endured the most crushing tyranny; deprived of arms — wilh no means of resist
ance — the least suspicion that any one favored the Union or opposed the rebellion was suffi
cient to justify murder and assassination in the opinion of the tyrants and the reckless mobs
that ruled the country during that terrible period. That convention adopted a constitution
prohibiting slavery or involuntary servitude except for crime, in other respects not differing
materially with the former ; established a provisional government, appointed me the provi
sional governor of the State, and submitted the constitution to the people for ratification. I
assumed no power and felt unwilling to perform any executive act until the constitution and
ordinances were ratified by the people. They have been confirmed by the almost unanimous
vote of the loyal voters of the State, and 1 now feel justified in assuming to act in that
capacity and calling your attention to the condition of the State.
Previous to the act of rebellion the inhabitants of the States were possessed of all the ele
ments of happiness, secure in all their possessions, could travel to any place in any way in
confidence of security. That such has not been their condition since, all know. Under the
Constitution of the United States, enforced by the; fugitive slave laws, slavery was as well
protected as it was possible to protect it by legislation. The moral sense of the civilized
world was against it. Slave-owners felt that, and conceived the insane idea that by force
of arms they could overcome that sentiment of opposition and obtain/or it grace, by showing
its power. If the designs of the good Ruler of the world and the destinies of war can be
known by events, this rebellion of slave-owners against the only protection slavery bad,
most clearly proves that He had determined to put an end to the system. Perhaps this rebel
lion against their own government, from which they have never suffered wrong, and against
their own interests, was the only way that could be devised to speedily destroy the peculiar
institution and embitter even the minds of its adherents against it, and to effect this git at end
their hearts were hardened and their judgment blinded. Be that as it may, the institution is
dead, and the people have buried it in this State, by tLe adoption of the constitution, too
deep ever to be resurrected.
****** ***
ISAAC MURPIIY,
Provisional (governor of Arkansas.
B.
Letter from the adjutant general of Arkansas in relation to the troops of that State.
WASHINGTON, D. C., January 28, 1835.
SIR : I respectfully present herewith, for your consideration, a statement of the number of
white troops raised from the State of Arkansas for the defence and maintenance of the Union.
It is approximate only, for, coming to Washington on other business, I did not contemplate
making such a communication when I left the State.
There are in the United States service from Arkansas four cavalry and two infantry regi
ments, and one six-gun battery. The first cavalry numbers 1,000 effective men, and all these
organizations, it is believed, have held their own as well as regiments generally.
The first cavalry, M. La Rue Harrison colonel commanding, was organised in the year
1862, under a special order fronl'jthe War Department, the first enlistments taking place as
early as March.
On the 18th of April, 1863, assisted by the first infantry, then not fully organized and only
partially armed, it successfully defended the town of Fayetleville, Arkansas, against an at
tacking force of three times their number, aided by artillery. This regiment is now stationed
ut l-'ayetteville, and on the 28th of October last repelled a besieging force 2,000 strong.
Again, on the 3d of November, the town was attacked by General Fagan, with his entire
division and some irregular troops, exceeding in all 6,01)0 men. A successful r.-sistance was
once more made by the first cavalry, a small detachment of the first infantry and 200 militia,
who behaved with steadiness and bravery.
The second cavalry, Colonel .John K. Phelps commanding, organized in 1863, and now in
General Thomas's command, particularly distinguished itself in the late great raid into Mis
souri. Constituting a portion of General Sanborn's force, and led by Colonel Phelps, i: was
frequently in the advance, and participated honorably in the series of engagements that re
sulted in the discomfiture of Price's army.
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 181
The third cavalry, organized during the same year at Little Rock, Colonel A. IT. Ryan
commanding, is now on duty at Lewisburg, on the Arkansas river, and has already accom
plished a great good in exterminating or driving away a large number of the guerillas, with
whom the State has been infested.
The organization of the fourth cavalry has just been perfected, its colonel, Lafayette Gregg,
having been mustered during the present month. This regiment had the minimum number
of men some months since, but as fast as enlisted, recruits were placed on active duty, and
tin1 usual casualties of the service prevented, for a time, the completion of the organization.
The regiment is now on duty at DcVall's Bluff.
The iirst infantry, Colonel J. M. Johnson commanding, was raised directly after the battle
of Prairie Grove. It participated, as already observed, in the first defence of Fayetteville,
and in the spring of 1864 moved with the frontier division of the 7th army corps from Fort
Smith to Caniden. co-operating there with the forces from Little Rock', and bearing an honor
able part in the successes and reverses of that campaign. It likewise was the first regiment
to enter Fort Smith in September, 1863, this honor being generously accorded by General
Blunt, then in command of the forces operating on the frontier; and at Prairie D'Aune it and
the .-eeond infantry bore the brunt of a fierce artillery attack.
_The second infantry, Colonel M. L. Stephenson commanding, belongs also to the frontier
division, and participated in the campaign referred to. At Saline river, where was fought one
of the severest infantry engagements of the war, it behaved with great gallantry, Colonel
Stephenson being severely wounded.
The first battery, Captain Denton D. Stark commanding, was organized in 1863; belongs
to the same division ; took part in the campaign mentioned, and at Prairie D'Aune, where
General Steele's entire army was drawn up in line of battle,-and partially engaged, its evolu
tions and practice were especially commendable. This battery together with the first and
second infantry have since been stationed at and in the vicinity of Fort Smith.
Other regiments have been partly raised, but since consolidated with older organizations.
The militia of the State have also been called out to a considerable extent, and have done good
service especially on the frontier.
Finally, hundreds of the citizens of Arkansas have enlisted in Iowa-, Kansas, Illinois and
Missouri regiments, and it is entirely safe to say that, during the present rebellion, the State
has furnished 10,000 white troops for the defence of the Union, and but for the issuance of
circular No. 31 from the office of the provost marshal general, dated August 31, 1864, which
practically prevents the return of many loyal men who have been conscripted into the rebel
armies, the number of the troops of the State would be much larger than it now is.
Very respectfully, your obedient servant,
A. W. BISHOP,
Adjutant General of Arkansas.
Hon. S. C. POMEROY, U. S. Senate.
C.
Proclamation of the Governor of Arkansas.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE,
Little Rock, Arkansas, August 1, 1865.
To the voters of the State of Arkansas :
The civil government of yonr State is fully organized. Peace and apparent harmony pre
vail. The laws can be faithfully enforced if you so will it. On you rests the responsibility
for the good or evil that may ensue. The future will take its character from your present ac
tion. If your course is guided by calm wisdom and patriotism, peace and security will be
assured ; if by the impulse of passion and the prejudices of the past, confusion and demoraliza
tion will be the result.
Your condition is critical, and the approaching election for members of Congress will be a
test ot your wisdom and self-control. The great sorrows and sufferings of the last four years
have crushed the public energies and produced a reckless and irritable state of mind, which
a sudden excitement might render ungovernable. You must guard ao-ainst this.
Listen to no one who is disposed to irritate old sores. Listen only to tiiose whose words
are calculated to calm the temper and to soothe the wounded feelings.
The fate of the State is in your hands. Should you elect men who by the laws are disquali
fied tnoy will be rejected; and, inasmuch as the qualifications of members of Congress have
been materially modified by an act of Congress, passed during the rebellion, I have deemed
It my duty to place it before you that you may be enabled in your selection of candidates to
act intelligent.}', with a lull knowledge of the facts. The requirements of the following-act
cannot be evaded :
" Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of Am erica in
Congress assembled, That hereafter every person elected or appointed to any office of honor
or profit under the government of the United States, either in the civil, military, or naval de-
182 RECONSTRUCTION.
partmcnts of the public service, excepting Hie President of the United States, shall, befor
entering on the duties of such office, and before being entitled to any of the salary or other
emolument! thereof, take and subscribe the following oath or affirmation :
"I do solemnly swear that I have never voluntarily borne arms against the United States
since I have been a citizen thereof; that I have voluntarily given no aid, countenance, or en
couragement to persons engaged in armed hostility thereto ; that I have neither sought, nor
accepted, nor attempted to exercise the functions of any office whatever, under any authority
or pretended authority in hostility to the United States; that I have not yielded a voluntary
support to any pretended government, authority, power, or constitution within the United
States hostile or inimical thereto ; and I do further swear that, to the best of my knowledge
and ability, I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all ene
mies, foreign or domestic ; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same ; that I
take this obligation freely, without mental reservation or purpose of evasion: So help ine
God.
"And any person who shall falsely take said oath shall be guilty of perjury, and on con
viction, in addition to the other penalties now prescribed for that offence, shall be deprived
of his office and rendered incapable forever after of holding any office or place under the Uni
ted States.
" Approved July 2, 1862."
To vote for any person as a candidate for Congress who cannot honestly and truthfully
take the above oath is discreditable to the voter and an insult to the majesty of law, besides
being a vote thrown away ; and should such disqualified person be elected, the most disa
greeable consequences are sure to follow, both to him and to the State.
In so important a matter I trust the people will be wise and watchful, as an imperative
duty. I also call your attention to the qualifications of voters in this State. Each voter,
before depositing his ballot, in addition to former qualifications must take the following
oath :
" I do solemnly swear that I will support the Constitution of the United States, and of
this State, and that I have not voluntarily borne arms against the United States, or this
State, nor aided, directly or indirectly, the so-called confederate authorities, since the 18th
day of April, 1864."
The above oath must be taken by every voter, or his vote will be considered worthless,
and he will subject himself to indictment for perjury for a violation of the act.
The returns of the election of officers made to the secretary of state must show that the
oath has been taken as prescribed. I trust the people will see the propriety and necessity of
yielding a cheerful obedience to the requirements of the lawr, until repealed or declared un
constitutional by competent judicial authority. It is the law of the land, and must be
enforced. The executive is bound in the most solemn manner to enforce the laws, and,
with the help of God, he will try to faithfully perform his sworn obligations.
To voters I would say, select good and true men to serve you. Do not be governed by
those who seek office ; they generally seek their own profit, not yours ; and be sure to
choose those whose disposition and capacity are to build up and restore. Shun all tbose
whose inclinations lead them to pull dowrn and destroy ; we have had enough of that. Let
all the laws be executed faithfully.
The Good God seems to have returned to us in kindness and mercy. Let us humble our
selves under His mighty hand, and ask of Him wisdom, and that He will be our guide and
counsellor.
ISAAC MURPHY, Governor.
D.
Message of the Governor of Mississippi.
EXECUTIVE OFFICE, JACKSON, Miss.,
November 20, 1865.
Gentlemen of the Senate and house of representatives :
By the sudden emancipation of over three hundred thousand slaves, Mississippi has imposed
upon her a problem of vast magnitude, upon the proper solution of which depend the hopes
and future prosperity and welfare of ourselves and of our children.
Under the pressure of federal bayonets, urged on by the misdirected sympathies of the world
in behalf of the enslaved African, the people of Mississippi have abolished the institution of
slavery, and have solemnly declared in their State constitution that " the legislature should
provide by law for the protection and security of person and property of the freedmen of the
State, and guard them and the State against any evils that may arise from the sudden eman
cipation." Hovr this important provision and requirement of the constitution is to be carried
ARKANSAS — GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 183
into effect is the question presented for onr solution. We must now meet the question as it
is, and not as we would like to have it. The rule must be justice. The negro is free, whether
we like it or not ; we must realize that fact now and forever. To be free, however, docs not
make him a citizen, or entitle him to social or political equality with the white wan. But the
constitution and justice do entitle him to protection and security in his person and property,
both real and personal.
In my humble judgment, no person, bond or free, under any form of government, can be
assured of protection or security in either person or property, except through an independent
and enlightened judiciary. The courts, then, should be open to the negro. But of what
avail is it to open the courts, and invite the negro to "sue and be sued," if he is not permitted
to testify himself, and introduce such testimony as he or his attorney may deem essential to
establish the truth and justice of his case? Whether the witness be white or black, it is the
denial of the most common privilege of freedom, an unmeaning delusion, the merest mock
ery.
A measure of domestic policy, whether for the protection of the person or the property of
the freedman, or for the protection of society, the negro should be allowed and required to
testify for or against the white and black according to the truth. There are few men living
in the south who have not known many white criminals to go "unwhipped of justice" be
cause negro testimony was not permitted in the courts. And now that the negro is no longer
under the restraints and protection of his master, he will become the dupe and the "cat's-
paw" of the vile and the vicious white man who seeks his association, and will plunder our
lands with entire security from punishment, unless he can be reached through negro testi--
mony. It is an insult to the intelligence and virtue of our courts, and juries of white men,
to say or suspect that they can not or will not protect the innocent, whether white or black,
against the falsehood and perjury of black witnesses.
The question of admitting negro testimony for the protection of their person and property
sinks into insignificance by the side of the other great question of guarding them and the
State against the evils that may arise from their sudden emancipation. What are the evils
that have already arisen, against which we are to guard the negro and the State ? The an
swer is patent to all — vagrancy and pauperism, and their inevitable concomitant, crime and
misery, hang like a dark pall over a once prosperous and happy, but now desolated land.
To the guardian care of the Freedmen's Bureau has been intrusted the emancipated slaves.
The civil law and the white man outside of the bureau have been deprived of all jurisdiction
over them. Look around you and see the result. Idleness and vagrancy have been the
result. Our rich and productive fields have been deserted for the filthy garrets and sickly
cellars of our towns and cities. From producers they are converted into consumers, and, as
winter approaches, their only salvation from starvation and want is federal rations, plunder,
and pillage. Four years of cruel war, conducted on principles of vandalism disgraceful to
the civilization of the age, were scarcely more blighting and destructive to the homes of the white
man, and impoverishing and degrading to the negro, than has resulted in the last six or eight
months from the administration of this black incubus. Many of the officers connected with
that bureau are gentlemen of honor and integrity, but they seem incapable of protecting the
rights and property of the white man against the villanies of the vile and villanous with whom
they are associated.
How long this hideous curse, permitted of Heaven, is to be allowed to rule and ruin our un
happy people, I regret it is not in my power to give any assurance, further than can be gath
ered irom the public and private declarations of President Johnson, that " the troops will all
be withdrawn from Mississippi, when, in the opinion of the government, the peace and order
and civil authority has been restored, and can be maintained without them." In this uncer
tainty as to what will satisfy the government of our loyalty and ability to maintain order and
peace and civil government ; our duty, under the constitution, to guard the negro and the
State from the evils arising from sudden emancipation must not be neglected. Our duty to
the State, and to the freedmen, seems to me to be clear, and I respectfully recommend — 1st.
That negro testimony should be admitted in our courts, not only for the protection of the
person and property of the freedmen, but for the protection of society against the crimes of
both races. 2d. That the freedman be encouraged at once to engage* in some pursuit of in
dustry for the support of his family and the education of his children, by laws assuring him
of friendship and protection. Tax the freedman for the support of the indigent and helpless
freedmen, and then with an iron will and the strong hand of power take hold of the idler and
the vagrant and force him to some profitable employment. 3d. Pass a militia law that will
enable the militia to protect our people against the insurrection, or any possible combination
of vicious white men and negroes.
I deem the passage of these measures, before you take a recess, of vital importance. By
them we may secure the withdrawal of the federal troops, and thus again inspire our people
with hope and confidence in the future, and encourage them to engage again in agricultural
pursuits, upon which our all depends If we fail to pass them, the future5 is all uncertainty,
gloom and despondency.
BENJAMIN G. HUMPHREYS,
Governor of Mississippi.
184 RECONSTRUCTION.
•
E.
Reports of Captain Mathctcs, sub-commissioner offrccdmen.
OFFICE OF SUB-COMMISSIONER OF FREEDMEN,
Magnolia, Mississippi, November I'},
MAJOR : I have the honor to report that I arrived at this place on the 9th instant, and
entered upon tin; duties connected with the Frt-edmen's Bureau. The condition of the freed-
nien in this part of the State is most miserable indeed. All the malice and envy that human
nature could be heir to is manifested toward the freedmen in this country. The old system
of Hogging is an every-day occurrence, while shooting is practiced with impunity. The
negroes of this section have remained on their former plantations since the surrender; hut
when the crops were gathered many were driven away by threats or abuse, arid all law
that protects the freedmau arid insures compensation to the laborer has been withheld from
them. They arc, absolutely without laic. The codes of Mississippi direct that in older to
prosecute a claim, or to bring suit against any party, the plaintiff must give security for the
cost, should the case be decided against him — a condition that, perhaps, out of the entire^
population of the blacks in the State, not one in a hundred wculd be able to comply with/
while the remaining ninety and nine are left to the caprice of the capitalist. Two colored
persons were murdered by white men at or near this place. The first occurred some four
and the second about two weeks since. The first case was disposed of by binding the mur
derer over to the next term of court, while the second was dropped on a verdict of a coroner's
jury, " that the deceased came to her death by a pistol-shot fired by some unknown person,"
that person having committed the deed in the presence of children, whose evidence was not
taken on account of their age.
Since my arrival more than fifty well-authenticated complaints have* been made by the
freedmen, the great proportion of which were of flogging, and in many instances these com
plaints were substantiated by marks of violence, all of which have been referred to the civil
authority ; but, with one single exception, no action has been taken in any instance.
The people (the whites) of Mississippi are looking anxiously for the day when" the troops
shall be withdrawn, and they be left to execute their own laws ; but this desire certainly
grows out of no disposition to deal justly with the negroes of the State.
I believe the condition of the blacks to be infinitely worse to-day, in this section, than, at
any time either before or after the war, and that slavery, if not in name, in fact exists in its
most aggravated form.
In isolated cases fears are entertained of an insurrection on the part of the blacks ; but in
no instance are such fears entertained where a disposition is manifested on the part of the
whites to deal fairly with the colored people with whom they are surrounded. Such fears
are the legitimate fruits of their determination to oppress the people who were but yesterday
their slaves. I ain informed by an old gentleman, whose standing is beyond question, that
iu Columbia, Mississippi, the7 condition of the frtedmen is even worse than at this place ; and
this report is fully corroborated by many officers of the regiment that marched through the
country. In justice to the freedmen, in behalf of a race that has borne sucli a conspicuous
part in the cause of freedom, I submit this report for your information and the considerate
judgment of mankind.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
J. H. MA.THEWS,
Captain 66th U. S. CoVd Inf., and Sau-Cotnni'r vf Freedmen.
Major GEO. D. REYNOLDS,
Ass't Comm^r of Freedmen, Southern District of Mississippi.
OFFICE OF SUB-COMMISSIONER OF FREEDMEN,
Magnolia, Mississippi, November ii7, 1865.
MAJOR: Application is most respectfully made that I be relieved from duty as sub-com
missioner of freednu-.n at this point, and returned to duty with my regiment ; the reasons
for which were set forth in my report of the ]'Uh, and my experience shire that time has only
mournfully verilied my report. Owing to the limited instructions under which I am acting,
my position has been that of an idle "spectator." When aggravated cases of tlogo-ing ha\e
been reported, a few arrests have been made, and the parties turned over to the civil authori
ties; but out of more than fifty well-authenticated cases, but one has been acted upon. In
this section of the country the evidence of the negroes is taken only where troops are sta-
tiu.ied, and then when the matter is urged by the military authority. I am informed by
many magistrates that they prefer waiting until "something shall happen."
On the ^Ist instant the mayor at Osika telegraphed to the major commanding to come
down to that place ; that fears were entertained of a negro insurrection. Accordingly, the
major and myself immediately proceeded hither for the purpose of investigating the matter.
ARKANSAS —GEORGIA — MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 185
On our arrival, every white person was very anxious to disclose what he had hoard, and par
ticularly what he thought, from whom we learned that something might happen, nobody knew
what. This was about as definite information as could be gathered from the citizens, (the
whites.) On our cross-examination of the negroes we learned that on Saturday (previous)
the colored people of Osika had a ball, which was broken up by some three or four white
men, who came there drunk and made a fuss. On Sunday following it was whispered about
town that something was up, which was all the information that could be gathered. This
affair, together with many others, confirms the time-honored belief that no insurrection will
ever occur without the white man being first the aggressor ; that in every community where
such fears exist, there is a stinging consciousness of having wronged a people whose
cause is impleaded ; who are defenceless in the eyes of the law* and before tribunals whose
prejudices are as old as the laws themselves.
People are substantially the same the world over ; a man seldom fears a man with whom
he deals justly ; while he does fear the man whom he has wronged, in proportion to the
wrongs sustained. To fear a negro insurrection, then, is to confess the negro outraged, and
violence is apprehended as the result. A more ingeniously devised pretext for oppressing a
people was never conceived by man than to circulate a report of an apprehended outbreak
of the blacks in insurrection ; a mere subterfuge by which to justify the most foul and
bloody murders known to any people, upon a race that is unarmed and unable to defend
themselves, much less to assume the offensive. To demand the rights of a human being is
readi.y construed into a disposition that these people call insurrection. Almost daily mur
ders are reported to this office, many of which are perpetrated by the militia or black cav
alry, as they are called, who seem to have special fears of an "insurrection." These or
ganizations are particularly adapted to hunting, flogging, and killing colored people ; two
instances of which occurred last Saturday night — one man was most shamefully beaten,
while the other was shot. These militiamen have frequently been known to black them
selves up and perpetrate the most fiendish crimes that would enter the minds of men or
devils. Of this there is abundance of evidence, and for which there seems at present to be
no remedy. Men have told me that they did not "recognize the freedom of their slaves,
and that the hogs should eat them rather than they should lose them." For this quotation I
beg pardon ; I have simply given it that you might fully understand the savage dispositions
that seem to control the minds of a people who are clamoring "fora more full control of
civil law." It is the earnest desire of the bureau that the freedmen should seek employment
for the coming year ; but I should certainly be false to the position I occupy were I instru
mental in placing these people where they are hunted, beat, and shot so indiscriminately.
For your better information I wish you were here in person, as I believe that you can have
no adequate conception of the present condition of the country. I herewith transmit a depo
sition of a man whose statement is fully corroborated by his son.
In conclusion, I would say that I respect a position filled with difficulty, but I cannot fill
a position with honor and credit to myself when my power to do is so inconsiderable in pro
portion to my task.
I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
JAMES H. MATHEWS,
Captain GGth V. S. Col Inf., and Sub-Comm'r of Freedmen.
Major GEORGE D. REYNOLDS,
A. A. Comm'r of Frccdmcn, Southern District of Mississippi.
F.
Extracts from the constitution of Georgia adopted November 7, 1865.
Article I, section 20 :
20. The government of the United States having, as a war measure, proclaimed all slaves held
or owned in this State emancipated from slavery, and having carried that proclamation into
full practical effect, there shall henceforth be, within the State of Georgia, neither slavery nor
involuntary servitude, save as a punishment for crime, after legal conviction thereof: Pro
vided, this acquiescence in the action of the government of the United States is not intended
to operate as a relinquishment, waiver, or estoppel of such claim for compensation of loss sus
tained by reason of the emancipation of his slaves, as any citizen of Georgia may hereafter
make upon the justice and magnanimity of that government.
Article II, section 5, paragraph 5 :
5. It shall be the duty of the general assembly, at its next session, and thereafter as the
public welfare may require, to provide by law for the government of free persons of color ;
for the protection and security of their persons and property, guarding them and the State
against any evil that may arise from their sudden emanc pation, and prescribing in what
cases their testimony shall be admitted in the courts ; for the regulation of their transactions
13 A G M A
186 RECONSTRUCTION.
with citizens ; for the legalizing of their existing, and the contracting nnd solemnization of
their future marital relations, and connected therewith their rights of inheritance an«l testa
mentary capacity ; and for the regulation or prohibition of their immigration into this State
from other States of the Union, or elsewhere. And further, it shall be the duty of the gen
eral assembly to confer jurisdiction upon courts now existing, or to create county courts with
jurisdiction in criminal cases excepted from the exclusive jurisdiction of the superior court,
and in civil cases whereto free persons of color may be parties.
Article V, section 1 :
1. The electors of members of the general assembly shall be free white male citizens of
this State, and shall have attained the age of twenty-one years, and have paid all taxes
which may have been required of them, and which they have had an opportunity of paying
agreeably to law, for the year preceding the election, shall be citizens of the United States,
and shall have resided six mouths cither in the district or county, and two years within this
State, and no person not qualified to vote for members of the general assembly shall hold
any office in this State.
&. All elections by the general assembly shall be viva vocc, and the vote shall always
appear on the journal of the house of representatives ; and where the senate and house of
representatives unite for the purpose of electing, they shall meet in the representative chamber,
arid the president of the senate shall, in such cases, preside and declare the person or persons
elected.
3. In all elections by the people, the electors shall vote by ballot until the general assembly
shall otherwise direct.
4. All civil officers heretofore commissioned by the governor, or who have been duly
appointed or elected since the first day of January last, but who have not received their
commissions, and who have not resigned, nor been removed from office, and whose terms of
office shall not have expired, shall continue in the exercise of the duties of their respective
offices during the periods for which they were duly appointed or duly elected as aforesaid,
and commissioned, and until their successors shall be appointed under the provisions of this
constitution, unless removed from office as herein provided.
5. The laws of general operation now of force in this State are, 1st, as the supreme law,
the Constitution of the United States; the laws of the United States in pursuance thereof,
and all treaties made under the authority of the United States; 2d, as next in authority
thereto, this constitution ; 3d, in subordination to the foregoing, all laws declared of forc«
by an act of the general assembly of this State, assented to December J9, A. D. I860, en
titled "An act to approve, adopt, and make of force, in the State of Georgia, a revised code
of laws prepared under the direction and by authority of the general assembly thereof, and
for other purposes therewith connected ;" an act of the general assembly aforesaid, assented
to December 16, A. D. 1861, amendatory of the foregoing, and an act of the general assembly
aforesaid, assented to December 13, A. D. 1862, entitled "An act to settle the conflicts be
tween the code and the legislation of this general assembly ;" also, all acts of the general as
sembly aforesaid, passed since the date last written, altering, amending, repealing, or adding
to any portion of law hereinbefore mentioned, (the latter enactments having preference in.
case of conflict,) and also so much of the common and statute law of England, and of the
statute law of this State, of force in Georgia in the year eighteen hundred and sixty, as is
not expressly superseded by nor inconsistent with said code, though not embodied therein ;
except so much of the law aforesaid as may violate the supreme law, herein recognized, or
may conflict with this constitution, and except so much thereof as refers to persons held in
slavery, which excepted laws shall henceforth be inoperative and void ; and any future general
assembly of this State shall be competent to alter, amend, or repeal any portion of the l;i\v
declared to be of force in this third specification of the fifth clause of this fifth article. If in
any statute law herein declared of force, the word " Confederate" occurs before the word
States, such law is hereby amended by substituting the word " United" for the word " Con
federate."
0. Local and private statutes heretofore passed, intended for the benefit of counties, cities,
towrns, corporations, and private persons, not inconsistent with the supreme law, nor with
this constitution, and which have neither expired by their own limitations nor been repealed,
shall have the force of statute law, subject to judicial decision as to their validity wheu
enacted, and to any limitations imposed by their own terms.
7. All judgments, decrees, orders, and other proceedings of the several courts of this
State heretofore made, within the limits of their several jurisdictions, are hereby ratified and
affirmed, subject only to past or future reversal by motion for new trial, appeal, bill of re
view, or other proceeding, in conformity with the law of force when they were made. .
8. All rights, privileges and immunities which may have vested in, or accrued to, any
person or persons, in his, her, or their own right, or in any fiduciary capacity, under and
in virtue of any act of the general assembly, or of any judgment, decree, or order, or other
proceeding of any court of competent jurisdiction in this State, since the first day of .January,
A. D. eighteen hundred aird sixty-one, shall be held inviolate by all courts befoie which ther
may be brought in question, unless attacked for fraud.
ARKANSAS GEORGIA— MISSISSIPPI — ALABAMA. 187
9. The marriage relation between •vvbitc persons and persons of African descent is forever
prohibited, and such marriage shall be null an'd void ; and it shall be the duty of the general
assembly to enact laws for the punishment of any officer who shall knowingly issue a license
for the celebration of such marriage, and any officer or minister of the Gospel who shall
marry such persons together.
10. All militia and county officers shall be elected by the people, under such regulations
as have been or may be prescribed by law.
11. This constitution shall be altered or amended only by a convention of the people,
called for that purpose by act of the general assembly.
G.
AN ORDINANCE to repeal certain ordinances and resolutions therein mentioned, heretofore
passed by the people of the State of Georgia in convention.
We, the people of the State of Georgia in convention, at our seat of government, do declare
and ordain, That an ordinance adopted by the same people, in convention, on the nineteenth
day of January, A. D. eighteen hundred and sixty-one, entitled 4i An ordinance to dissolve
the union between the State of Georgia and other States united with her under a compact of
government entitled " the Constitution of the United States of America; " also an ordinance,
adopted by the same on the sixteenth day of March, in the year last aforesaid, entitled " An
ordinance to adopt and ratify the constitution of the Confederate States of Anerica;" and
also all ordinances and resolutions of the same, adopted between the sixteenth day of
January and the twTenty-fourth day of March, in the year aforesaid, subversive of or antag
onistic to the civil and military authority of the government of the United States of America,
under the constitution thereof be, and the same are hereby, repealed.
Signed October 30, Ib65.
HERSCHEL V. JOHNSON, President.
Attest :
J. D. WADDELL, Secretary.
II.
Georgia laic relative to the right of colored persons to testify.
AN ACT to make free persons of color competent witnesses in the courts of this State in
certain cases therein mentioned, and to authorize the making and declaring of force affi
davits by them in certain cases.
The senate and house of representatives of the State of Georgia, in general assembly met, do
enact, That from and after the passage of this act free persons of color shall be competent
witnesses in all the courts of this State in civil cases whereto a free person of color is a party,
and in all criminal cases wherein a free person of color is defendant, or wherein the offence
charged is a crime or misdemeanor against the person or property of a free person of color,
any law, usage, or custom to the contrary notwithstanding.
SEC. 2. And be it further enacted, That in all cases hereafter pending or about to be insti
tuted \vherein a free person of color is a party, plaintiff or defendant, it shall be competent
for such free person of color to make and file any affidavit now by law allowed a citizen to
advance the remedy or aid the defence; and when so made and filed in conformity with law,
such action shall be had thereon as though the said affidavit had been made and filed by any
other litigant.
Approved December 15, 1865.
PART IV.
FLORIDA, LOUISIANA, TEXAS.
SUB-COMMITTEE.
Mr. GEORGE H. WILLIAMS, (of Oregon,) United States Senate.
Mr. E. B. WASHBURNE, (of Illinois,) House of Representatives.
Mr. A. J. ROGERS, (of New Jersey,) House of Representatives.
Mr. E. B. WASHBURNE, from the Select Joint Committee on Reconstruction,
reported the following evidence.
TESTIMONY.
John W. Recks called, sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. State your age, residence, and occupation.
Answer. My age is 37 ; residence, at present, Pensacola, Florida ; occupation, collector
of customs.
Question. How long have you resided in Florida?
Answer. I have resided in Florida since the 14th of July last.
Question. Have you travelled through the State to any extent, since you have resided
there ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I have been through the western portion of the State, not through the
eastern portion. We touched at Key West while going down, but I have not travelled
through that portion of the State.
Question. Has your business brought you into contact with many of the citizens of that
State?
Answer. Yes, sir ; especially in Western Florida.
Question. State the views and feelings of the people with whom you came in contact when
you first went to Florida, as to the late war and its results.
Answer. That would be a rather difficult question to answer definitely. The general im
pression among those people is, that they have been overcome, but not conquered.
Question. Have you noticed any change in the sentiments and feelings of the people since
you commenced to reside in Florida, in reference to that subject ?
Answer. No material change, that I know of, for the better— nor in any portion of the
States lately in rebellion in which I have been — Louisiana, Alabama, and Tennessee. They
have a bitter aversion to what they term the Yankee ; that is, a Union man ; it does not
matter whether he comes from the extreme east or the extreme west, if he is true in his adhe
rence to the national government. They have treated me with a good deal of courtesy, but
at the same time that is their inherent spirit. They have no love for the Yankees, as they
term them. I have had no difficulty, however, myself.
Question. Are there any men, to your knowledge, in Florida who remained true
to the Union cause during the rebellion? If so, state what number, to the best of your
knowledge.
Answer. Of course I can only speak of that portion of the State I have been in. In respect
to that, I may say, I would not know where to lay my hand upon a man who really loves the
Union at the present day. I would just as soon expect to find a white raven on the sand-beaches
of Florida as to find a Union man who has always resided there. There may be some, but I
have not met them.
Question. Are there any persons there who emigrated to that State from the north since
the rebellion?
Answer. Yes, sir ; there are some who have been mustered out of regiments — none others
that I remember. There are some few who have been merchandizing in what is called War-
renton, who, I know, are good Union men. But your question, I suppose, refers to the
original residents of that State.
Question. State what the relations are of those men who emigrated there from the north,
and are called Yankees, and those who lived there during the rebellion ; are they free and
friendly, or otherwise ?
Answer. They are apparently friendly, but really not. As far as their own selfish interests
are concerned, in matters of trade, they appear friendly enough ; but they have no regard for
the Union.
Question. State your opinion, derived from your observation of and intercourse with these
people, as to whether their professions correspond with their real views and feelings in refer
ence to the Union — whether among Union men' they hold out one idea, and among them
selves cherish a different one ?
Answer. That is what I understand of them, that they are totally deceitful in reference
to these matters.
Question. Are there any troops at this time in Florida?
Answer. There were a few at the time I left, last Friday week, mostly occupying the forts.
There were some at Fort Barrancas, below ; there were none at Pensacola — in the town ;
there were some at the navyyard, and some at Fort Pickeus. Most of the volunteer forces
there have been mustered out and their places filled by colored troops.
2 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Do you think the presence of a military force in Florida is or is not necessary
to secure the rights of property and the lives of citizens, -white or bteck ?
Answer. I do. I may be mistaken, but that is my honest conviction. I think, in other
words, that if they had the power, they would use it to destroy Union men.
Question. State, as near as you can, the circumstances and condition of the colored men
in that State. Have they, generally, remained with those to whom they belonged before the
war, or have they changed their places of abode ?
Answer. In that portion of Florida where I am acquainted, some of them have remained
with their old owners or masters, and some have not. I think the majority of them art-
working for themselves, and are generally disposed to be industrious.
Question. What is your opinion of the willingness of the negroes to work for white men,
for fair wages and kind treatment ?
Answer. Almost universally, as far as my information extends, they are perfectly willing
, and anxious to work for men who will pay them anything like a fair or reasonable compen
sation. I do not know that I have remarked any instance to the contrary in Florida. Then,
on the other hand, those who have been their former masters, and those who have employed
them, have been punctual in paying them and have treated them kindly, as a general thing.
But there are very few of their old owners who have any colored servants now. Some of
them have so bitter an aversion that they say they will never have them round again ; that
they will send to the north for Irish servants. That may, however, be mere talk that
amounts to nothing.
Question. What class of white people in that State, in your judgment, are most inimical
to the blacks, in their present condition 1
Answer. The wealthier class — those whom we formerly termed the upper grade — the upper
crust. The poorer class of white men there are not so unfavorable to the black men as
those formerly known as the wealthier class.
Question. What are the views, so far as you know, of the original citizens of the State a,s
to the willingness of the negroes to work, with or without physical compulsion ?
Answer. They have the impression that there must be physical compulsion, or they will
never be of any service, or very stringent laws, which would be the same in substance, to
make them work. That is the way they talk ; but moral suasion, I think, would make
them all work. There being no Freedmen's Bureau agents there, I have had charge of the
interests of that class of people. Having bean requested by General Howard to look after
their interests, I did so.
Question. State what you know of the willingness or unwillingness of the colored people
there to learn or to obtain an education ?
Answer. I can give some information upon that subject. In coming down the coast upon
a United States revenue cutter, I was requested by General Oliver O. Howard to visit the
various freedmen's schools at Fejnandina, Charleston, Key West, Pensaeola, &c., which I
did. I was highly pleased to find the schools in a rery excellent condition, and the colored
children evincing a spirit and disposition to learn as I have never witnessed, even in the
white schools at the north ; and not only evincing the disposition, but actually learning.
That is something that has impressed me most profoundly everywhere at the south.
Question. What are the feelings of the old citizens of Florida as to the education of the
blacks ?
Answer. Bitterly opposed to it.
Question. Was there anything said in Florida among the old citizens, that you heard,
about the payment of the debts contracted by the rebel government during the rebellion ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Do you hear anything said about the payment of the debt of the United States
contracted in the suppression of the rebellion?
Answer. I have heard some talk on that subject, but I could not state with any degree of
defiuiteness in reference to that.
Question. Have you heard anything said there about obtaining payment for slaves eman
cipated by the war?
Answer. Oh, yes, 1 have heard such talk, and even for buildings which have been
destroyed. Some of our prominent men have even advocated the doctrine that they would
be reimbursed for the property they had lost in the way of slaves and other personal chattels.
But it is hard to tell much about their talk on that point. They think they will have been
treated with the greatest injustice if the government does not pay for all these things. It is
the impression of a great many — it may not be of all — that unless the government does in
some way remunerate them for the losses they have sustained in consequence of emancipa
tion, it will not be doing its duty towards them.
Question. State whether you were there at the time an election was held in that State ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I was there at the time. I had been there some time previous to tht>
election of delegates to the Tallahassee convention. Just before the nomination of delegate!
the provisional governor, William Marvin, called upon me and upon my father-in-law, also
an old New York lawyer, and also an acquaintance of Governor Marvin. I saw fit to inter
rogate Governor Marvin as to who were qualified to vote in the election to bo held, and what
would constitute a delegate, in the proper sense of the word, to represent the people in the
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 3
Tallahassee convention. He stated to ine that although a majority of the old^citizens had
been living out in Alabama for some time past, and had not returned home, yet if they
returntd home the day before the election, pardoned or unpardoned, they were fully entitled
to vote, and they could even go as delegates to the convention, if elected.
Question. At what time did the election of delegates to that convention occur?
Answer. I cannot tell positively. I was there at the time. I know the votes in our
township were polled in the custom-house building.
Question. Did the people generally vote at that election in the place where you resided?
Answer. I think they generally voted. There was one exception. Major Alden, who was
formerly in the United States service, with the rank of major, now agent of Adams Express
Company, went out to vote and was refused, on the ground that although he had lived there
some two or three years, yet his proper place of voting was in some other section of the
country. I understood Governor Marvin so instructed, and the judges so decided. He told
me, I think, that he voted afterwards at Barrancas, some eight miles below.
Question. Was there more than one ticket at that election of delegates?
Answer. There were two. A friend of mine by the name of Clapp was almost forced into
the field, but he tad no show.
Question. Was that election any test of the Union sentiment in the town where you re
sided?
Answer. I suppose it might be considered a test. As a general thing the Union men were
true to their man.
Question. How did the vote of the Union men compare with that of the others?
Answer. The Union vote was very insignificant. I do not suppose you could find three
hundred Union votes in the whole State of Florida. Governor Marvin told me he did not
think you could get three hundred Union votes, out and out, in the whole State. It was
impossible then to adopt any plan by which a large Union vote would be called out. It did
not matter at all what a man's course had been. I recollect a man who had been a major in
the federal army, and then a major in the confederate army, and Governor Marvin told me
he was and told others they were entitled to vote. That same man, Major Kelly, went as a
delegate to the convention, and was afterwards nominated for lieutenant governor of the
State on the ticket with Governor Walker, and was overwhelmingly elected. He is still
unpardoned, unless he has been pardoned recently.
Question. I understand, then, that Major Kelly was elected delegate to the Tallahassee
convention, and has been elected lieutenant governor. State what position he held during
the rebellion.
Answer. He had the rank of major in the confederate army. He was acting as purser of
a fleet, or something of that kind. He goes by the name of Major Kelly altogether, and, I
believe, held that position in the confederate army.
Question. Were you there at the time members of the legislature were elected ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. State, as far as you know them, what their positions were — what side they took
during the rebellion.
Answer. They were rebels during the war in the confederate service ; soma of them, I
think, with the rank of captain, and at heart to-day they are as good rebels a.s they ever
were.
Question. Were you present at the session of the legislature there ?
Answer. No, sir ; I did not go.
Question. Do you know the man who has been elected governor of that State ?
Answer. I do not, only by reputation. I have heard him in Pensacola spoken very
highly of by men who are resident there. I do not know how he is, one way or the other.
I believe I have heard some Union men speak very highly of Governor Walker.
Question. Do you know any of the men elected to Congress, either to the House or
Senate ?
Answer. I have some little acquaintance with Governor Marvin; elected to the United
States Senate. Mr. Call I am not acquainted with. His election apparently caused uni
versal satisfaction to the former sympathizers of the south, and the election of Governor
Marvin is just as much congenial to them, I think, as that of the other senator, though I
have nothing to say against Governor Marvin particularly. He wanted all the votes he
could get, I suppose.
Question. Then all the officers of the government there, and those chosen to represent that
State in Congress, as I understand you, were chosen by men who were chosen during the
war?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And those who were not pardoned, as well as those who were, voted for their
election ?
Answer. Yes, sir; and whether they had been there three days or had lived there three
years did not matter. They would come back, and, according to the instructions given bj
Provisional Governor Marvin, would vote the next day, pardoned or unpardoned.
Question. Has there been any member of Congress elected ?
Answer. I have heard of none.
4 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Has there been any election for member of Congress ?
Answer. **! have not heard of any.
Question. State, if you can, what is the disposition there among the people as to legislation
there among the blacks; what rights are the majority of the white people of Florida dis
posed to give the blacks, political or civil ?
Answer. I think they look upon them, as a general thing, with as great, and perhaps
greater aversion than during the war. As to what rights they are willing to give them, I
think they would be very much pleased to have them right out of the way, and to have China
men, coolies, or anybody else to do the work. That may be a mere conjecturo of mine. I
only speak of my best belief.
Question. Have you heard the question of negro suffrage discussed there among the
people ?
Answer. I have ; they perfectly abhor negro suffrage.
Question. Have you heard anything said as to giving the negroes the right to purchase
and hold real estate ?
Answrer. No, sir; I have heard nothing on that point.
Question. Have you heard anything said among the people there as to the right of the
negroes to bring suits and to be witnesses in court ?
Answer. Yes, I have seen some who are in favor of that, but a majority are opposed to it.
Question. Can you repeat anything you have heard prominent men say there in reference
to what they proposed to do, when that State resumed its former position in the Union, as to
their own domestic matters ?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not know that I have. The papers are the best index you could
have in reference to these things. I have not heard or charged my mind with what I have
heard on that subject sufficiently to repeat it.
Question. Do you know the number of votes cast at the late election in that State ?
Answer. I do not, and have no means of ascertaining.
Question. Do you know the number of votes cast at Pensacola?
Answer. I think about 250 votes were cast in the town of Pensacola. There were a good
many more than that cast up and down the harbor. I took no interest in the matter.
By Mr, WASHBURNE :
Question. Has there ever been any disposition to interfere with you in the discharge of
your official duties at all?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What was the nature of the interference ?
Answer. I required a man to pay some rents on property he had leased incompliance
with the regulations. He refused to do it. I wrote him a notification such as the regulations
require. He came down very much offended, made some remark about d d abolitionists,
and said "I have a notion to give you a whaling." I said, " I guess you will whale us onco
to your satisfaction, and you may try it on again if you like.'* This man, Major Humphreys,
had always been civil to me before.
Question. What had he been major of?
Answer. He was at Fort Sumter at the time of the lowering of our flag. He was a
northern man by birth, but went over to the confederate army. He is a particular friend ol
the present Lieutenant Governor Kelley.
Question. What was the nature of your claim upon him ?
Answer. For rent due the United States. He had leased some -property reported as aban
doned by my predecessprs. He took out a lease in the regular form, but refused to pay the
rent.
Question. What is the present status of the courts in that State ?
Answer. We have only a justice court there. No other court had been organized at the
time I left. They were expecting to organize others.
Question. Have you* any knowledge of the proceedings of the last session of the legislature
of Florida ?
Answer. No ; I have received nothing in relation to them.
Question. You do not know, then, what action they have taken in relation to the rights of
colored people ?
Answer. No, sir ; I do not.
Question. Have there been many pardons of rebels in your vicinity to your knowledge?
Answer. Not many, to my knowledge.
Question. Do you know whether or not many are seeking pardon?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they are all seeking pardon, pretty much, I believe ; that is, I have so
learned.
Question. What protection would there be there for colored people if the troops were with
drawn entirely from the State ?
Answer. In the only portion I have any knowledge of, there would be no difficulty, because
there would be a sufficient number of colored people to thrash them out, with a good com
mander. Were there not a majority of them, their condition would be very bad.
Question. What is your judgment in regard to the number of troops that would be neces-
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 5
e&ry to maintain public order and the safety of all classes of citizens in that section of the
State to which your knowledge extends ?
Answer. It would require a comparatively small force at each of the various points. A
force of 25 or 50 men would be quite sufficient at Pensacola, or at any other one point, to
keep everything in order. I may, perhaps, mention that there is a great deal more demorali
zation in the south, more drinking and intoxication, than ever I knew before. Every other
house, almost, is a drinking saloon, and there is fighting in every direction.
Question. How do you account for it ?
Answer. I account for it in my own little town by the absence of the military as much as
anything. They have a municipal organization there now, and municipal officers, but they
do nothing apparently to keep order; there are some very reckless fellows there, and almost
every day there is a stabbing or something of the kind occurring. A few days before I left
a man by the name of Lloyd stabbed a negro man without any provocation whatever.
Question. What was done with Lloyd ?
Answer. They took him down to Fort Pickens; they have taken him there several times
before, but he always manages to get out in some way or other, and I presume is out again
by this time.
• Question. Who is in command of the military force at that post ?
Answer. Colonel Woodman was in command in western Florida; who is his successor I
do not know ; he was in command of a Maine regiment which has been mustered out ; I do
not know who is in command now ; most of the troops have been removed. As far as Pen
sacola is concerned, I am not at all apprehensive of any difficulty. The Union men have
such an understanding with the colored people that, in case of an outbreak, we would give
them a fair showing.
Question. From your knowledge and observation of that country, what, in your judg
ment, is necessary to be done in order, properly and fairly, to reconstruct the State, in jus
tice to the State and to the Union ?
Answer. There is such a diversity of opinion upon that subject that I hardly know how to
answer. The only way for this government to make these people its friends is just to keep ^
them down. They have more respect for a man who goes there and shows decision than
they do for one who is wavering. My policy may, perhaps, be a little too severe. I would,'
pin them down at the point of the bayonet so close that they would not have room to wig
gle, and allow intelligent colored people to go up and vote in preference te them. The only
Union element in the south proper, among the original inhabitants, is among the colored
people. The whites will treat you very kindly to your face, but they are deceitful. I have
often thought, and so expressed myself, that there is so much deception among the people of
the south since the rebellion, that if an earthquake should open and swallow them up, I was
fearful the devil would be dethroned and some of them take his place.
Question. What is the nature of the business at Pensacola at this time, and by whom is it
conducted mostly ?
Answer. W^e have a goodly number of merchants for a place of that size ; a great many
doggeries, bar-room saloons, commission merchants, &c. A very large majority of those in
business are men in sympathy with those heretofore engaged in the southern cause. On the
other hand, we have a few good Union men in business in that place.
Question. Are there any returned rebels there in business?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. In wrhat business mostly engaged ?
Answer. As commission merchants.
Question. Are there many engaged in rum-selling, and little business of that kind ?
Answer. Yes ; a great many are engaged in that ; some of them have groceries, and some
of them are commission merchants.
Question. Why do these men not go out and work on their lands ? Is it because they
cannot get the negroes to work ?
Answer. I believe that is the reason they give — that they cannot get the negroes to work.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. In your judgment, is the Frecdmen's Bureau there a necessity or not, for the ad
vantage of all concerned ?
Answer. I do not think there is any very material necessity for it. As I stated, General
Howard requested me to look after the freedmen to some extent. It was at a season of the
year I anticipated a good deal of sickness — in July, August, and September; but they
passed through it without, as a general thing, and I believe they are doing tolerably well.
Question. I ask you whether there is much idleness, dissipation, and poverty among the
blacks there ?
Answer. Not a great deal ; no more than you will find, perhaps, in a great many other
places further north. I have seen some evidence of suffering, but, as a general thing, not
much. I have made it my business to inquire how they were getting along ; and if any
were suffering for the necessaries of life, I would see if something could not be done for
them ; but there were no such reports.
Question. Are there any landholders there among the blacks?
6 RECONSTRUCTION.
V
Answer. Yes, sir, some of them are landholders.
Question. Are any of the blacks settling upon vacant lauds in that neighborhood ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Is there not an anxiety among the blacks to acquire lands and become land
holders ?
Answer. I think there is.
Question. What do the blacks who have taken lands raise mostly ?
Answer. They cultivate gardens principally, bring in vegetables and sell them in the
market at Pensacola and at the navy yard. Some of them are farming on a small scale.
There is a disposition with a majority of the blacks to remain in town, mainly, I think, for
the reason that they are not treated as kindly as they ought to be in the country.
Question. How are the farming land-s in your neighborhood divided, into large farms, or
plantations, or otherwise?
Answer. Near our place the country is sandy. The soil is not rich, and the farming is on
rather a small scale. There are some very good farms on the harbor above, and on the Black
Water and Escambia.
WASHINGTON, January 22, 1866.
Hon. William Marvin sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. State where you reside.
Answer. My residence is at Key West, Florida, southern part of the State.
Question. How long have you resided there ?
Answer. Since 1835. I have been temporarily absent from there during the last two
years, until I again returned to the State as provisional governor.
Question. State in what way you have been connected with the reorganization of that
State since the war ?
Answer. I was provisional governor of the State, appointed 13th of July, and entered
upon the duties of the office in Florida about the first day of August, I think.
Question. Where were you during the war ?
Answer. Until July, 1863, I was at Key West, in Florida, acting as judge of the district
court of the United States for the southern district of Florida.
Question. After that where were you ?
Answer. In July, 1863, I resigned my office on account of ill health. My health was
broken down from over-work. I suppose I decided more prize cases than any other one
judge, perhaps, and perhaps more than all the other courts put together. I became over
worked, resigned my position, and went temporarily to New York.
Question. Where were you bom and raised?
Question. I was born in the county of Herkimer, State of New York. I grew up to
young manhood in the State of New" York; resided, when quite a young man, four years_
in the State of Maryland; returned again to the State of New York, and in 1835 emigrated
to Florida, where I have been ever since. I was appointed judge of the superior court for
the Territory of Florida by Mr. Van Buren in 1839, if I remember right. I remained judge
of the superior court under the territorial arrangement until after a State government was
organized and the district court of the United States was established for the southern dis
trict. I was appointed judge of that court in 1847, I think, by Mr. Polk. I remained dis
trict judge until I resigned in July, 1863.
Question. Subsequent to the ordinance of secession in the State of Florida, did you dis
charge your duties as United States judge in that State ?
Answer. I did. Key West is an island at the extreme southern point of the State, distant
from the main land some seventy or eighty miles ; is among a cluster of islands, and, fortu
nately for me, there was a military support there of, I believe, one company of troops, and
a naval force there to enable the government to retain possession of the island. I remained
and discharged my duties until my health broke down.
Question. When you were appointed provisional governor of that State, what sort of a
government, if any, was there in the State of Florida ?
Answer. When I was appointed provisional governor of the State, the actual government
was purely military. Martial law prevailed throughout the State. The civil authorities were
not recognized as hating any existence by the military, and I did not recognize them as
having any existence for some months afterwards.
Question. Were there any persons holding office, or attempting to discharge the duties of
any civil office, under the confederate authorities in that State ?
Answer. Not at that time. Of course there were men claiming to be in office, but they
were not in the discharge of any of the functions of their offices.
Question. Can you state how long it was, after the confederate authorities had ceased to
exercise their functions in that State, to the time you became provisional governor ? In other
words, how long was the State under, exclusively, military rule ?
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 7
Answer. I cannot state positively. I believe the State of Florida was occupied by the
military forces in the first clays of May; and from the time of their occupation the civil au
thorities were considered as in abeyance, and overthrown.
Question. State what your first steps were, after your appointment as provisional governor,
towards the reorganization of that State under the federal government.
Answer. I have not the documents here with me, or I might shorten the answer. Perhaps
the first step I took towards the reorganization of a State government in Florida was to issue
an address, published in all the newspapers, in which was portrayed a plan whereby the
people would be enabled to meet in convention for the purpose of amending or altering their '
constitution and re-establish a new government. This address was generally circulated. As
soon as I got time to mature a plan whereby the people of the State could meet at the dif
ferent precincts in their several counties and hold an election, I issued a proclamation ap
pointing an election to be held in the several precincts of the different counties of the State
for delegates to a convention. This proclamation -recognized all persons as entitled to vote
for delegates to this convention who were entitled under the constitution of the State estab
lished and existing prior to the passage of the ordinance of secession, and who should also
have taken the amnesty oath at the time of voting. It was arranged by the government
itself that this amnesty oath might be taken before any military officer, or any civil officer
who was loyal to the government. The larger number of amnesty oaths in that State were
taken before the mustering officers of the army. In some of the counties there was an ina
bility to supply these officers, so as to enable the people to take the oaths. In a few weeks
before the election I authorized the judges of election to administer these oaths at the polls.
They were to allow no person to vote who did not present a certificate that he had taken the
oath previously, or who did not take it at the time of voting at the polls. The oaths taken
at the polls were forwarded to me with the election returns, and oaths taken before military
officers were also reported to me by such military officers. The number of oaths taken ex
ceeded seven thousand. I do not remember the precise number. The number of votes at
the election for delegates in the whole State was six thousand seven hundred and odd, which
is more than half of all the votes of the State given at elections when party contests were
rife. I think that considerably more than half the people voted at this election. There was
an election held in every county in the 3tate. Every county in the State but two were fully
represented in the convention. One county was unrepresented in consequence of the dele
gates having been lost at sea ; and, for the other, delegates could not get there. So far as
I was able to judge, I think the election itself was as full and fair an election, and as full
and fair an expression of the wishes of the people as could possibly be had.
Question. State, if you please, whether or not at that election there were tickets in the field
opposed to each other — one designated as the Union ticket, and the other as the opposition
ticket — in any or many of the places of that State.
Answer. I do not think it could properly be said that there were any tickets run in any
of the counties, as far as I am informed, which could be called in opposition to the recon
struction of the Union. There were in some of the counties candidates running who claimed
to be old Union men, and claim to be at present the Simon Pure Union men all through,
who were opposed by men who went into the war andVere in the confederate army. That
was the case, I think, in three counties. I am not aware that it was any more than that.
Question. Who were elected in these counties ?
Answer. In one of them the Union candidates, or men who were, the old Union men, (for
all claimed to be Union men at this time,) were elected, and beat the secesh. In the other
two, I think, according to my recollection, the secesh were eectedl. There were, so far as I
understood, individual persons opposed to it, but there was nothing like an organization at
all to defeat tn*e plan of reconstruction ; that was acceptable to almost everybody.
Question. State what, in your judgment, was the proportion of delegates elected to that
convention who belonged to the confederate army during the rebellion.
Answer. If I had a list of the delegates before me I could state with considerable accuracy.
I can now only give an approximate answer. According to my present recollection I should
say about a fourth, perhaps half, certainly fully a quarter of them ; and, on further conside
ration, I would give one-half as an approximate estimate.
Question. State what the position of the other half was during the rebellion.
Answer. I should say one-quarter, or nearly a quarter, claimed to have been Union men
all the time, and to have avoided being dragged into the rebel service, or any participation
in the movement. The other quarter I should say rather sympathized with the secession
movement; that would be my judgment of their position.
[Governor Marvin having to leave the city, his examination was here suspended.]
WASHINGTON, February 23, 186C.
Rev. L. M. Hobbs sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Have you, since the commencement of the rebellion, been in Florida; and if so,
when did you go there and when did you leave ?
8 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I landed at Jacksonville. Florida, on the 8th of February, 1864, and left that
place on the 15th of February, 1866.
Question. Did you visit different parts of Florida while there?
Answer. Yes, sir; I have travelled over a good portion of the State, especially the plant
ing districts, since the surrender of the confedeiate armies. I was detailed from my regiment
by General Tillson, directly after the surrender, to visit the plantations and explain to the
colored people their situation, and endeavor to induce them to remain on the plantations,
and work to secure the growing crops. I was provost marshal for two and a half months at
'the port of Tallahassee. Since my regiment was mustered out of service I have been con
nected with the Freedmen's Bureau, in charge of the educational interests of the freedmen.
During the session of the legislature I draughted a bill for the establishment of a school system
for the free people of Florida, which bill, with some modifications, became a law, and I have
since received the appointment of superintendent of the State for schools for freedmen.
Question. What do you find to be the present temper and spirit of the people of Florida in
reference to the general government ?
Answer. It is bitter; much more so now than it was three or four months ago. There
was a time when the people seemed to be very much disposed to do anything that the govern
ment would require of them. They are now quite bitter, and say things that they would not
have dared to say three months ago. They talk treason on the streets without any conceal
ment; that is, a great many of them do — the majority of the lower classes. There are a few
intelligent planters whom I regard as honorable men, who deplore the expression of such
opinions ; but they are very much in the minority, and can have but little influence in the
affairs of the State government.
Question. How do you explain this change that has taken place in their feelings, or the
expression of them ?
Answer. I consider it is because of flie leniency manifested by the present administration ;
first, in extending the privilege of amnesty; and second, in re-establishing the civil govern
ment, throwing the affairs of the State, tke administration of the law-, in the hands of probate
and circuit judges, leaving the military to have control only of some cases where capital
. punishment, or some punishment of that kind, can be inflicted; also the general opposition
~<7lbat has grown up within the last three months to the negro having civil rights, the right of
suffrage, &c.
The people there, through the agency of the officers of the Freedmen's Bureau, have been
restrained from committing injustice to the negroes in the way of cheating them of their
wages, and withholding remuneration from them. A great many unjust contracts had been
made with the freedmeu during the summer. For instance, while 1 was provost marshal,
thirteen contracts were brought into my office for approval, in which the employer agreed to
give a first-class hand thirteen bushels of corn and one hundred pounds of meat for seven
and a half m.onths' labor, and to lower class hands a proportionately less amount. It was
so manifestly unjust, that the general commanding issued an order that where the wages
were to be paid by a share of the crops, one-fourth at least of the crops should be allowed for
the wages of the laborers. That raised a great deal of opposition, though the order was
not issued until the general had consulted with the leading planters about Tallahassee, some
of whom had voluntarily given their hands one-half or one-third of their crops ; and they
stated that one-fourth of the crop would be a very fair remuneration.
The people show a great anxiety to have the military and the Freedmen's Bureau with
drawn from the State, and the control of the State government placed entirely in their hands,
and they speak very bitterly of any one opposing them in that respect, l" suppose I have
been more successful in obtaining the confidence of the people than any other northern man
who has gone into that State, and yet, if what I am stating here to you now were made
known to them, my life would be in danger should I return to that State. Union men. the
citizens of the State who have been in favor of the Union, are proscribed.
Question. What would be the condition of the Union men there should the iliilitary be
withdrawn ?
Answer. It would be intolerable ; they could not remain there in safety ; they would b<>
compelled to leave the State. Northern men, especially those who have been in'the United
States service, could not live there at all. I should feel no security there, with the present feel
ings of the people, should the military be withdrawn and the State be readmitted ; I could
not stay there. I would have no fears of the intelligent planters to whom I have already
referred ; but there are the bar-room loafers, formerly slave-drivers and overseers, and what
are called " piney-woods men," men who, as the old settlers there have said to me, have es
caped justice in other States and have settled there. Then there is a class of boys of nine
teen or twenty years of age, who would put a bowie-knife or a bullet through a northern
man as soon as they would through a rna<3 dog. In some portions of the State eren now a
northern man is not safe.
Question. Were you in Florida when any elections took place?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What class of candidates appeared to be the favorites of the people, loyal or
disloyal men ?
Answer. The elections were very quiet ; but there was no chance for a loyal man to be
elected. Even men who had been with them through the war, but had since expressed favor-
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS.
able opinions towards the negro, could not be elected. There was Mr. Papy, of Tallahassee,
an attorney, one of the best men in the State ; he went with his State into the rebellion, but
has accepted the result like a true man ; 1 believe him now to be a truly loyal man. Prior
to the election of members of the convention to amend the constitution of the State, Mr. Papy
stated to some of his friends that he was in favor of allowing negroes to testify. This be
coming known, he was defeated, and could not be elected to any office.
I knew a number of such men there. There are men there who have been loyal all through
the war, men who are qualified to fill any position in the State. Mr. O. B. Hart, of Jack
sonville, is a man qualified to act as governor of the State or as United States senator, but
he is completely proscribed, and could not be elected constable. There are a number of very
true loyal men 'in the State, but they have no chance of being elected to any office ; the peo
ple ignore any man who has been a Union man as capable of holding any position.
Question. What is the prevailing opinion in Florida in regard to the rignts that should be
extended to the freedmen '/
Answer. The prevailing opinion is that the general government should not interfere in
that matter at all ; that it should be left entirely to the people of the State. They say they
understand the negro better than we do; that they can manage him better, and that the gov
ernment has no right whatever to interfere in the matter. They evidently desire one of two .
things : to so control the freedman that he will be in a condition of semi-slavery or peonage,
or else make the free-labor system an utter failure, in order to show that their peculiar no
tions about the matter are correct and that we are wrong, hoping to gain something by it in
the future. They have been very slow in accepting the condition of affairs in reference to
the negro. I have had a great deal of difficulty on that subject. I have addressed, I sup
pose, thirty thousand freedmen, urging them to be quiet and peaceable, and go to work. I
have found them all willing to go to work when they have received proper treatment, or even
any kind of decent treatment. They are a very quiet and dociie people.
The change within the last month, before 1 left, was very favorable, wonderfully so, and
when I came away I left with bright hopes of the future. The loyal men had taken fresh
courage, anticipating nothing else than that the Freedmen's Bureau bill would become a law.
It was interesting to notice the change of sentiment in the minds of the planters. They
had all along said that the free negro would not work ; that they could raise ue cotton But,
they had been so successful last year that there are not now near enough hands to sup
ply the demands. We could find employment for 10,000 more men in Florida to-day than
we had there. The planters are offering $20 a month for them. They say now that the negro
will work, but that he will only work for four or five years, until he can save money enough
to buy some land, and then he will not be worth anything ; that he will not work for anybody
else when he gets property of his own ; but it is a great advance for them to admit that he will
work for five years ; at first they said he would not work at all.
One of the planters used to come to my office and say that the free negroes would not work
at all. At last he came there with three negroes whom he charged with stealing hogs from his
place. I asked the negroes if they had taken the hogs ; they said they had. I asked what
they had done with them ; they said they had killed them and made meat of them. I said,
"Do you not think it wrong to steal hogs ?" "Well, no ; they did not think it wrong to kill.
Massa Chairs's hogs." "Why not?" "Because they were working for him, and he did not
give them any meat." "How long since you have had- any meat Z" "About three weeks."
1 asked the planter how that was. He said that last year the negroes did not take care of his
stock, neglected it, and now they must do without.
I told him that I could not go back and regulate anything that had transpired when the
negroes had been slaves ; that I could hold them to account only for what they have done since
they had been declared free. I said that those people were working for him, and that he ought
to pay them, and feed them ; that I could not punish them for taking something to eat, after
he had refused to give it to them. He said he must turn them off, or I must punish them,
or he would have to take down his fences and let his stock run. I tol'l him to come back in
a half an hour, and in the mean time I would see the general, and get his instructions.
I stated the facts to the general, who told me to tell Mr. Chairs, mat if he could not feed his
negroes properly and take care of his plantation, he would put some man there who could take
care of it. I told him this, and he did not speak to me for three weeks afterwards.
He then came back and said that he wanted to buy some government mules for his planta
tions ; he was carrying on three plantations at that time. I said to him, "The free negroes
will work, then?" He replied, "I am very much encouraged: I have raised 300 bales of
cotton this year." Not long ago I saw him again, and he told me that he had rented four
other plantations ; was carrying on seven in all. He told me that he wanted me to send four
'v teachers out on his plantations; that he wanted these people educated so that they could read
and write, and understand what was in their contracts ; and, said he, "I go further than that ;
I go for giving them the right of suffrage;" and yet, if I was back there to-day, I would
guarantee that he would be crying out against the Freedmen's Bureau and everything else
of the kind, because he would have hope, from the action of the President in vetoing the Freed
men's bureau Bill, that they would soon have the entire control of affairs in their own hands.
A great many of the people express themselves very cordially and friendly to me and in my
presence, when they know who and wlat I am. But sometimes, where I am not known
10 RECONSTRUCTION.
for instance, when I am riding in the cars, I hear them making their threats, and saying that if
they could get the military taken away "there would be plenty of dead niggers lying around
in the woods;" not only would northern men and white Union men of the State be killed, but
the negroes would be shot down like sheep. This is not the feeling about the negroes among
the best citizens there; but it is the feeling of the smaller planters, those who never owned
' slaves ; who hold the positions of constables and justices of the peace, some of them probate
judges, &c. They are a bad set of men, bitter and treacherous, arid are in the majority
there.
Question. In case the military were withdrawn, and the people left to themselves, what
class would obtain the control of affairs there?
Answer. Judging from the character of the legislation there this last winter, I should say
that the most 'rabid and violent secessionists, and they only, would have the control.
Question. Was that the character of the legislative assembly there?
Answer. Yes, sir ; where they dared to express their sentiments freely. If it had not beeu
for their fears of certain consequences, their laws would have been much more infamous than
they were. They did pass some very infamous laws in regard to the negroes. They would
meet together, have their caucuses and secret meetings, and make secession speeches and
sing secession songs. Every day they became more violent in their expressions, and gloried
more and more openly in what they had done. They profess loyalty only so far as they
think it necessary to enable them to get back into the Union. I have 'heard many of them
say, time and time again, that the oath they had taken was not binding upon them. I said
to some of them afterwards that they had not had the oath administered to them by me, for
I would not allow them to take it, as they placed no value or estimation Avhatever upon it.
This is the case with a great many of them there. There are some half a dozen men in
Tallahassee, whom I could name^ who are true men — men whom I could trust anywhere.
Beyond those, and a few others around in the country, I should not know where to look for
men upon whom I could rely. The others there are not honorable in their words nor in their
- - contracts, but will take every advantage of an ignorant negro, or of anybody else. They seem
to be determined, or were for a long time, and many are yet, to forbear favoring the negro
any further than to make him a mere instrument of labor. If they can keep him in the
condition of a laborer, keep him in their control entirely, so that he cannot possibly attain
any higher position, they are satisfied. Many of them leave their plantations lying idle
rather than to sell or rent any of their lands to the negroes. The negroes will not hire to
them, for they were unkind to them when they held them as slaves, and their plantations are
now lying idle. But northern men can go there, and as long as they can remain there they
can get as many hands as they want.
Question. What do the negroes appear to know about their rights as freemen, or about the
character of the late contest between the rebels and the general government ?
Answer. They know a great deal about it. I have learned a great deal of human nature
from observing the negroes in the south. They possess the greatest power of dissembling of
any people I ever saw. In the presence of their former masters, or of any one of whom
they have any doubts, they can appear to be the most ignorant and stupid of beings, to
know nothing about freedom or anything else. But whore they know that they may dare
speak, where they feel certain that they will not be informed of, they appear very differently,
and show that they have a very-clear idea of what the government has done for them. 1
have tested them in this way : In visiting a school I asked the boys what they understood
. freedom to mean. They said that to be free was to be their own ; that is, that they were not
under the control of another person to be bought and sold. I asked them if they could
Jo as they pleased now that they were free. They said that they could not break the law —
3ould not do wrong without being punished. I asked them how they knew they had been
made free. They said that when the Union soldiers came and hoisted the United "States flag
over the capitol, that meant freedom ; they knew they were free then. Just before the sur
render the rebels were organizing colored troops for their service, and on two or threo occa
sions a large number had been taken to Tallahassee to bo drilled. I have frequently asked
the negroes what was their opinion of that. They said they were all going into the rebel
army. I asked them if they would have fought against the United States government.
They said, "Not a man of us ; we had our plans all laid ; wa knew all about it ; we would
never have fired a gun at the Union soldiers, but on the very first opportunity we would have
turned our fire upon the rebels, or we would have gone over to tlie Union side." I asked
them if they had always believed that the Union cause would prove successful. They said
that at times they would feel discouraged, from hearing the rebels always say that they were
whipping the Yankees, but that they had always hoped and believed that the Union cause
would be successful. I asked them what they would do if the people there should attempt to
force them back into slavery, or to make them take part against the United States government.
They said they would die before they would go back into slavery. I asked them it' tln-y
were aware what they must do in order that the government should perpetuate their freedom.
Well, they supposed they must be good citizens; and when I asked them what they under
stood by that, and they replied that they must be honest and industrious. They understood
well that their freedom depends upon themselves; that if they would prosper they must go
to work, and it is very cheering to see their conduct in that regard. In my rnind, one of the
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 11
strongest and most encouraging features of the case in regard to the negroes becoming self
supporting and prosperous, taking care of themselves, and raising themselves to the standard
of useful citizens, is their exceeding desire to secure homes for themselves. They desire to
possess property, and will buy it when they have the means. They are consequently very
anxious to obtain work, and will save their money and invest it in property as soon as they
can. I regard that as one of the best and most encouraging features they have exhibited.
Question. It' there is anything more you think of which you deem it important to state
upon the subject about which you have been testifying, you will please state it.
Answer. I do not know that I have anything further to state except this : From reading
the veto message of the President, I have come to the conclusion that he does not fully com
prehend the true condition of affairs in the south when he speaks of the great expense which
afraid. The Freedmen's Bureau there operated very much like the father's rod over the
door in keeping the boys straight. The boys behave themselves because they know the rod
is there, rather than because they have felt it much, and so with the Freedmen's Bureau ;
the people will treat the negro well, and give him a fair chance, when they know they have
to do it. We have had to apply the power of the military in but few cases. If the bureau
is withdrawn there will be no safety for the freedmen at all ; he will not be safe unless there
is some protection of that kind for him. I.do not care how soon these States are received
back into the Union if the government continues to exercise a controlling power over those
people. The freedman must be protected, or else giving him his freedom will be but a farce.
The Freedmen's Bureau Aviil not be expensive if it is known it is to be kept there and will be
used for the protection of the negro in his just rights. That has been our experience in
•Florida, and I am satisfied it would continue to be so, and I think such would be the testi
mony of all true, honest, loyal men there.
Address of the Hon. William Marcin, provisional governor of Florida, delivered before the
general assembly of the State, at Tallahassee, December 20, 1865, on the occasion of the
inauguration of the governor elect.
Mr. President, Mr. Speaker, and Gentlemen of the
% Senate and House of Representatives :
When I assumed the duties of provisional governor in this State, in the first days of August
last, I found the civil government of the State overthrown and prostrate, and martial law
everywhere prevailing. This was a painful, anomalous and unnatural state of things.
The Constitution of the United States guarantees to each State in the Union a republican
form of government, and the. chief object contemplated by the Presideat in appointing for the
State a provisional governor, under the circumstances of the case, was, that the latter might
make such rules and regulations as were necessary to enable the people of the State to assem
ble in convention, and, accepting the results of the war, adopt such measures as were neces
sary to re establish a State government, republican in form, and restore the natural and nor
mal relations of the State with the general government.
I entered upon the duties of my office with zeal and earnestness, and notwithstanding the
difficulties to be encountered in consequence of the total absence of any mail facilities in
many parts of the State, and* very insufficient ones in others, yet the facilities so generously
furnished me by Major General Foster, the commander of the military department of the
State, enabled me to distribute, through military couriers, the proclamation and poll-books
for an election ; and an election was held on the 10th day of October in every county of the
State for delegates to a convention. The convention assembled at the capitol in this city on
the 25th day of the same month, all the counties but two being fully represented. The
aggregate vote of the State was 0,707, being considerably more than one-half of the votes
usually polled at a general election in times of party contests, and this, too, notwithstanding
in very many counties no opposing candidates were run. The -convention, therefore, repre
sented the mass of the people, and the constitution adopted and the ordinances passed by
that body are founded upon the consent of the people of the State, regularly expressed by
and through their delegates duly elected.
The convention incorporated into the constitution a clause declaring that '; neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude shall in future exist in this State, except as a punishment Tor crime,
whereof the party shall have been convicted by the courts of this state, and that all the
inhabitants of the State, without distinction of color, are free, and shall enjoy the rights ot
person and property without distinction of color; and that in all criminal proceedings,
founded upon an injury to a colored person, and in all cases affecting the rights and reme
dies of colored persons, no person shall be incompetent to testify as a witness on account ol
color." It opened the courts of justice alike to all persons. It repudiated the State debt
contracted in support of the rebellion, and annulled the ordinance of secession. This action
of the convention was at the time eminently satisfactory to me, and I have reason to believe
1 2 RECONSTRUCTION.
•
has proved so to the President. It is under this constitution, the fundamental law of the
State, that you are now assembled, and the government is being organized. It is this con
stitution that you have sworn to support.
Soon after the convention adjourned, at its request and by virtue of its authority I directed
the civil officers of the government to resume the exercise of the functions of their respective
offices, which had been hitherto and for some months previous suspended. The civil law
governs in the State at the present time in all matters except in the trial and punishment of
certain high crimes, reserved for the present to the military authorities. I also issued a proc
lamation, at the request of the convention, directing the militia of the State to be organized,
and inviting the formation of volunteer companies to be employed, if the occasion should
require it, in the support of the eivil authorities, and the preservation of the,public peace and
order. It is not intended, however, that the militia or volunteer troops shall appear under
arms before they have received special orders from myself or the constitutional governor,
unless in some unforeseen case of justifiable necessity. "The admirable disposition made of
the. white troops of the United States by the general in command will secure the peace and
quiet of the State, if the civil authorities do their duty, as I have no doubt they will. The
colored troops have nearly all been removed from the interior of the State to the seaboard,
and I am assured that the remainder will be just as soon as the interest of the public service
will permit it.
It is under these circumstances, and at this point in the progress of the reconstruction of
the State government, that I have the honor and the very great pleasure to present to you the
honorable David S. Walker, lately elected by the qualified voters of the State to be its constitu
tional governor for the next four years. The admirable qualifications of Governor Walker
for this important office have been recognized by the people by his unanimous election. It
would, therefore, be but idle vanity in me to suppose that I can say anything which would
recommend him more fully to the respect and confidence of the general assembly or the
people. I know, gentlemen, that you will appreciate his good sense, his intelligence, his
equanimity of temper, his integrity of character, and, above all, his sincere and earnest love
of justice, a quality above all others most essential in the character of the chief magistrate
of the State. I know, too, that you will respect his official character and give earnest atten
tion and consideration to such measures as he may, in compliance with his constitutional
duty, deem it expedient to recommend to you.
The State government enters upon its new career under circumstances of very great diffi
culty and embarrassment. The people are left by the war greatly impoverished, and. are ill
prepared to pay taxes. The State treasury is empty. Taxes upon the lands of the State
are due to the treasury of the United States "to the extent of $77,5iiO, less a small part here
tofore collected, mostly by the sale of lots and houses at St. Augustine and Fernandina.
The labor of the country is disorganized and demoralized, and the whole fabric of society
more or less disturbed by the constant friction and irritation produced by this novel state of
things. Martial law continues to exist for the punishment of the higher crimes and offences,
and may at any time be extended. The State has not resumed its normal and constitutional
relations with the general government, and it depends upon the action of Congress whether
it may immediately be permitted to do so or not, This Congress was elected at a time when
the civil war was raging, and whether its members are prepared to believe in the sincerity of
our avowed declarations when we declare our desires to be represented on the floor of Con
gress, and to abide hereafter, for weal or woe, whatever fate may befall the nation, is more
than I can say. But our condition cannot be improved by folding our hands and sitting
down in idle despair. We need to look calmly, dispassionately, and earnestly at our real
and true condition, and realize it in all its force, and then we ought patiently, enduringly,
and faithfully to labor to improve it. It appears to me that, by wise legislation and a just
and impartial administration and enforcement of the laws which shall protect and secure all
persons alike, without distinction of color, in all their just rights of person and property,
and which shall give an easy and cheap remedy to the laborer for the collection of his
wages, much may be done towards restoring confidence and kind feelings between the em
ployer and the employed, and encouraging the industry of the country. Let the laborer be
protected against impositions upon his ignorance in making his contract, so that he shall
fully understand it, and let him feel fully assured that he has an easy and cheap remedy in
the courts of law for the recovery of, his wages if they should be unjustly withheld from
him, and many white and colored persons will be inclined to enter into contracts to labor,
who would not otherwise do so. It is all-important to the successful cultivation of corn and
cotton that the planter should be able to rely at all times upon having a sufficient number of
hands in hvs service to make and gather the crop, and this takes nearly or quite all the year.
He must hire his laborers by the year, and it seems to me that in the present condition of
the laboring force in this country, it is all-important to the interest of the country that he
should have some security that the laborer will not leave his employment a,t a time when his
services are most needed. The ordinary remedies known to the common law for the non-
performance of a contract to labor afford him no security, for the laborer, as a general thing,
has no goods or chattels, lands or tenements, to levy upon under an execution. It seems
that some remedy ought to be provided by the legislature in such ca,ses. What that remedy-
ought to be may tax the ingenuity of the legislature to devise, and perhaps it will only be
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 13
learned by experience ; but it appears to me that it would be wise for the legislature to pro
vide, by law, that where the laborer has entered into a contract in writing before the judge
of probate or a justice of the peace, to labor upon a plantation for one year for wages or a
part of the crop, and the contract specifies the wages to be paid and the food to be given ;
that if the laborer abandons the service of his employer, or is absent therefrom two days
without the leave of his employer, or fails without just cause in other important particulars
to perform his part of the contract, that then he may be arrested by the proper tribunal, and,
if found guilty on a hearing of the case, be sentenced to labor during the unexpired term,
without pay, upon the highways, in a government workshop, or upon a government planta
tion to be rented or bougut either by the State or by the different county commissioners in
their respective counties, and there subjected to such oversight and discipline as may be
found to be necessary.
Much may be done, too, to stimulate the industry of the country and protect it against
pauperism, by passing wise laws upon the subject of vagrants and providing for their em
ployment, being careful not to include in this class persons who are not really so.
The old and infirm, who are destitute and incapable of supporting themselves by labor,
ought to be supported at the public expense. It would be inhumane and anti-Christian to
leave them to perish, so long as we have the ability to prevent it. " The poor ye have
always with you," said our Saviour. They are his gift or legacy to us, for the trial of our
faith and charity. Let us accept the gift with grateful hearts, and do what we can for their
support and comfort.
There are many children in this State, white and black, who are deprived of their parents,
one or both, or whose parents are incapable of supporting and educating them as they
ought to be. These should be apprenticed until they are twenty-one years of age. The
law on this subject ought to be carefully guarded, so as to protect the apprentice against in
justice or oppression. It ought to provide that the apprentice should be produced, if living,
at least once a year before the tribunal that binds him out, which should be authorized to re
voke the articles of apprenticeship on account of any gross injustice or oppression of the
master.
The material wealth and prosperity of our State, in the present condition of the country,
would be greatly promoted, in my judgment, by the introduction of money capital from
abroad, to be employed in other branches of industry besides agriculture. More and dif
ferent avenues of labor should be opened in order to give employment to all our people.
Every healthy man. woman, and child over ten years of age, white or black, is capable of
doing something for his or her support. But many persons do not like to work in the cot
ton or corn fields, or are physically incapable of it. If these could find employment in
manufacturing establishments, or in mechanic workshops, it would be a great advantage to
them and a profit to the State. We are not prepared by any means and all at once to engage
in an extensive system of manufacturing ; but we are, in my opinion, prepared to manufac
ture all of our leather. Hides, oak bark, and rivulets of water are on hand to supply tan
neries. We ought to make all our own boots and shoes, saddles and harness. We can
manufacture, too, to advantage, the coarser cotton and woollen fabrics. We ought to make
all of our ploughs, harrows, cultivators, carts, and wagons. The forests are filled with
beautiful wood, suitable to the manufacture of cabinet wares, bureaus, tables, chairs, sofas,
&c. The forests supply, too, moss for mattresses and other purposes, and abound in live
oak, cedar, pine, and other valuable woods. Indeed, capital from abroad is flowing rapidly
into our State, to be employed in the manufacture of lumber. I am glad to see it, but I wish
to see the labor of the country still more diversified, so that all may be without excuse for
their idleness. Labor is the law of our existence. *r~
I know of no sure and certain way of replenishing the exhausted treasury of the State but
by taxation. It would be a great relief to the people of our State if Congress would
authorize the postponement of the collection of the direct tax due to the United States for a
year or two, and allow the State ia the mean time to assume the debt and collect it through
its own tax collectors. It is possible, too, that a temporary loan for a small amount for
present use can be effected at home or in the northern cities.
In regard to the re-establishment of our constitutional and normal relations with the gen
eral government at an early day, much depends,- in my judgment, upon the action of the
present legislature and upon the spirit and temper of the people in the different parts of the
State. The legislature must ratify the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the
United States for the abolition of slavery throughout the country. Slavery is abolished in
all the southern States, and no intelligent man expects to see it re-established. The
general assembly can have, therefore, no reasonable objection to the ratification of this pro
posed amendment, and I should be glad to see it done ; not because the President desires it,
though he ardently does, but because in the present condition of the country it is right
and proper in itself, and necessary to the general pacification of the country. This done,
I think, so far as I can judge, that the President will permit the State goverment to go on
and exercise its proper powers and perform its proper duties. Whether Congress will
allow our senators and representatives to take their seats without some discussion and delay,
I have no means of knowing. Much may depend upon the opinion that body may form on
the subject of the willingness and the ability of the State government to protect all the in-
14 HECONSTRUCTIOX.
habitants of the State in the enjoyment of their just rights, without distinction of class or
color, and without regard to the part each may have taken in the late civil war. And
this depends upon the spirit and temper of the people in different parts of the State, and
mainly upon the disposition of the justices of the peace, sheriffs, and jurors, to do their duty
impartially, according to law. It must be borne in mind that the faith of the nation fs
pledged for the protection of the freedmen in all their proper rights of freedom. It is also
pledged for the protection of that class of our fellow-citizens who remained loyal to the
Union during the war, and particularly to those who entered into the military service of the
United States. These are in a minority in the State.
If by the passage of wise laws and their impartial execution we can give assurances that
these persons will receive equal and fair protection with others, I think we may look
forward hopefully to the early admission of our senators and representatives on the floor of
Congress.
It is every way the interest, and I believe the sincere desire, of the people of. this State
that the controversy pending with the government and people of the United States should be
settled on fair and honorable terms. Let us therefore do everything which we honorably
can to settle it upon a solid and durable basis. Let us cultivate, too, sentiments of
nationality and love of the whole country from Maine to Texas, and from the Atlantic to the
Pacific. We are Floridians, and we ought to be thankful that our lots have fallen to us in
so pleasant a land. But are we not Americans, also, and have we not an interest in the
whole country ? And should we give up or throw away our birthright, our inheritance, in
this great country, and not love it, and no tbe proud of it, because we were born in or prefer
to live in this State rather than another? Peace has its victories as well as war. The
bravery and gallantry of our troops in war is known and acknowledged by the whole
American people. But a brave people is also a generous people. The war over, they forget
the causes of the war and the war itself, and make friends of their enemies. Let us do our
part to re-establish kind and friendly relations. At least let us not indulge the idle fancy
of loving or hating one man rather than another for no other reason than because he hap
pened to be born in one section of the country rather than another. What matters it to you
or to me whether his infant years first opened to the sound of the whistling, freezing winds
on the granite hills of New Hampshire, or to the sound of the JEolian harp playing in the
warm sunshine among the tops of our beautiful pines in Florida? It is the man himself,
not the place where he was born, which concerns us. The prejudiced Jews failed to
discover anything good in our Saviour, because he came out of Nazareth. Let us not imi
tate their example, but, on the contrary, set an example of charity and liberalify to our
northern brethren. Our people are freer, probably, from indulging in this idle whim than
the people of any other State in the Union, for they are made up in a large degree of immi
grants from all the States, and they have learned that worth and merit, or prejudice and
meanness, do not belong exclusively to any one portion of these United States. Above all,
let us conscientiously do what is right ourselves and leave events to the control of Him who
governs the nations of the earth, and at the same time numbers the hairs of our head.
A new constitution in harmony with the existing order of things having been adopted, and
an election held under it for a governor, members of the general assembly, and most of the
civil officers of tho government, upon the completion of the inauguration now going on
and the passage of a resolution ratifying the proposed amendment to the Constitution of the
United States, the objects of my appointment will hare been mainly, if not wholly, accom
plished, and I shall* expect to receive in a few days, if the ratification passes, the formal
leave of the President to retire from tho post assigned me. The labors of the office, for a
considerable number of months after I first assumed its duties, were very severe. The
property of many of the inhabitants had been seized for confiscation or actually confiscated,
the property of others was held as captured or abandoned, and the property of others had
been sold for tho non-payment of taxes which they had had no opportunity of paying.
Everybody seemed to be in trouble. Tho limitations imposed on the powers of the pro
visional governor wore not generally known. It was often supposed that he could do every
thing, though he possessed really little or no power.
All these persons naturally applied to me for advice or assistance. Whenever 1 could not
give the relief sought, I applied to the commanding general of the department, or in his
absence to the general in command of the district, or, if the case required it, to the Commis
sioner of the Freedmen's Bureau. These gentlemen I always found ready to listen to the
many tales of distress produced by the war, and cheerfully responded to the claims of
humanity and justice'whenever it was in their power.
In all my labors I have constantly been cheered by manifest signs among the people of a
returning sense of attachment to the old Union, and by the prospect of soon seeing the State
of my adoption and of my affection restored to her true position among her sister States,
respected as an equal, and cherished as a friend. Taught wisdom by experience, may she
find in the Union, for unnumbered ages yet to come, that security, contentment, and repose
which she in vain sought for elsewhere. And may her children and children's children yet
unborn, as they read the instructive lessons of this day, learn to avoid the rock on which
she split, and cling to the Union of these StatevS as the sheet-anchor of our peace and safety at
home and of our character and respectability abroad.
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 15
Inaugural address of the Hon. D. S. Walker, governor elect, delivered before the general as
sembly of the State of Florida, at Tallahassee, December 20, 1865. fc
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives :
From the beginning it has been the custom in the States of our Union for the governor
elect to improve the occasion of his inauguration by making such remarks as existing cir
cumstances might suggest, and by recommending the adpption of such measures as the good
of the country might require. In compliance with this time-honored custom, I now ad
dress you.
By failing to regard the disinterested warnings of the "Father of his Country" against
" the baneful effects of the spirit of party," and particularly "when founded on geographical
discriminations," by omitting, as he adVised, to remember that "the jealousy of a free peo
ple ought. to be constantly awake against the insidious wiles of foreign influence," and by
neglecting, as he recommended, "to frown indignantly upon the first dawning of every at
tempt to alienate any portion of our country from the rest, or to enfeeble the sacred ties which
now link together the various parts," the people of the United States, nearly five years ago,
became involved in the terrific civil strife which has but recently ended. "We now hope that
by a strict adherence to his advice "the unity of government which constitutes us one peo
ple" will again become "dear to us," and that in all future time we will regard it as "a
main pillar in tho edifice of our real independence, the support of our tranquillity at home,
our peace abroad, of our safety, of our prosperity, of that very liberty we so highly prize."
To repair the waste of war; to restore the States to their proper relations with the Union ;
to bring about an era of good feeling and fraternity; to re-establish the government on the
principles of the Constitution, and to perpetuate our unity by securing all that makes it de
sirable, are now objects of primary desire with all patriotic and honest men north and south,
east and west.
But it is more particularly of our duties as citizens of Florida that I would speak.
And, in the first place, as we are now renewing our relations of friendship and union with the
States of the north, let us be particular to abolish all points of difference among ourselves.
During the late unhappy conflict some of us were known as Union men, some as constitu
tional secessionists, and others as revolutionists. A glorious opportunity is now afforded to
fling away these names, and with them the strifes they have engendered, and to meet, as
brethren ought to meet, upon the platform of the Constitution which our fathers made for us
in 1787. . If I shall be permitted to administer the government, I shall know no distinctions
between citizens on account of past political differences.
I will not condemn the Union man, becaiise I know from experience how completely the
love of the Union becomes a part of our very existence, and how it is endeared to us by a
thousand glorious recollections, and as many brilliant anticipations. I know that the heart
of Florida's greatest and most renowned citizen was literally broken by the severence of the
Union.
Nor will I condemn the constitutional secessionist, because I know that, though he differed
from me, his side of the question was supported by arguments, if not unanswerable, yet of
great plausibility, and by the authority of many of the greatest names that this country has
ever produced. *
Nor yet will I condemn the revolutionist, for I know that he, though originally opposed to
secession, went into tho war, after the fact was done, upon tfee conviction that it was no
longer an open question, and that it was the duty of every man to stand or fall with his own
section.
In fact, the great questions connected with the integrity of the Union were before the war
so unsettled, and the opinions of great men so varied, that it required a man greatly supe
rior to myself to say with certainty who was right and who was wrong. Seeing the different
luminaries which guided our people, I am not astonished that the very best men in our land
were found arrayed. in opposing ranks.
I need not enumerate the host of great men who stood with the immortal Clay for the in
tegrity of the Union and against the doctrine of secession.
The logic of events has proved that they were right. But among those who held the con
trary doctrine, that a State might secede from the Union without an infraction of the federal
Constitution, we find the names of such m£n as Mr. Rawle, a distinguished lawyer of Pennsyl
vania, to whom General Washington more than once tendered the office of Attorney General
of the United States; John Randolph, of Roanoke ; Nathaniel Macon, of North Carolina;
Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina ; P. P. Barbour, a late justice of the Supreme Court of the
United States, and Judge McKean, a late chief justice of the supreme court of Pennsylvania.
Those who advocated the right of revolution quoted the remark of Mr. Webster, that "a
bargain broken on one side was broken on all sides, and that if the north should not obey
the Constitution in regard to the rendition of fugitive slaves, the south would* no longer be
bound by the compact." Mr. Greeley, then, as now, a great leader of northern sentiment,
had said that "he could not see how twenty millions of people could rightfully hold ten, or
even five, in a Union with them by military force ;" and again, " that if seven or eight States
should send agents to Washington to say 'we want to get out of the Union,' he should feel
16 RECONSTRUCTION.
constrained by bis devotion to human rights to say, let them go." In this connexion he also
quoted the Declaration of Independence, that " governments are instituted for the benefit of
the governed; and that when any form of government becomes destructive of these end.s,
it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute a new government," &c.
Mr. Lincoln, prior to his first election, had acknowledged this principle, with the addition,
that not only a people, but any part of a people, being sufficient in numbers to make a re
spectable government, might set up for themselves. Mr. Tyler, a late President of th<;
United States, held to the doctrine of secession, and Mr. Buchanan, the then President of the
United States, said, just before the commencement of the war, that while he thought a State
had no right to leave the Union; yet if she should leave it, the remaining States would have
no right to coerce her return.
Amidst these various and conflicting views, all supported by the highest authority, it is
no wonder that^our people should have become bewildered, or that, being forbidden by the
stress of events to remain neutral, some should have adhered to the Union and others to the
State.
For these reasons I repeat, that if I shall be permitted to administer the government, I
shall know no distinction between citizens on account of past political differences. I shall
take it for granted that all have done what they conceived to bo their duty under the circum
stances, and the only question I shall ask concerning any one presented to me for position
will be, " Is he honest; is he capable ; is he attached to the principles of the Constitution of
the United States and the constitution of the State of Florida?" All shall have the equal
benefit of the laws, and, as Heaven is my judge, all shall equally suffer the keenest penalty
of the laws for any infraction thereof. Law and order shall be maintained.
I am happy to believe that this declaration meets with the general approbation of our
people. Already they have given the most gratifying indications that they hold the same
opinion with myself on this subject. All over the State I hear of citizens, who were recently
in hostility, now forming business associations, and getting along most harmoniously; and
in our constitutional convention, just adjourned, I saw gentlemen who had served in the
army of the United States, and gentlemen who had served in the army of the Confed
erate States, sitting side by side, consulting only for the good of the Union, and the State as
one of its members.
Having spoken of the relations which ought to exist, and which for the most part do exist
among the white people of the State, I now naturally come to speak of the feelings which
ought to be cherished, and the policy which ought to be pursued, towards our colored popu
lation.
I think we are bound by every consideration of duty, gratitude, and interest, to make
these people as enlightened, prosperous, and happy as their new situation will admit. For
generations past they have been our faithful, contented, and happy slaves. They have been
attached to our persons and our fortunes, sharing with us all our feelings — rejoicing "with us in
our prosperity, mourning with us in our adversity. If there were exceptions to this general
rule, they were only indh idual exceptions. Every southern man who hears me knows that
what I say is literally true in regard to the vast mass of our colored population. The world
has never before seen such a body of slaves, for not only in peace, but in war, they have
been faithful to us. During much of the time of the late unhappy difficulties Florida had
a greater number of men in tfee army beyond her limits than constituted her entire voting
population. This of course stripped many districts of their entire arms-bearing inhabitants,
and left our females and infant children almost exclusively to the protection of our slaves.
They proved true to their trust. Not one instance of insult, outrage, or indignity has ever
come to my knowledge. They remained at home and made provisions for our army. Many
of them went with our sons to the army, and there, too, proved their fidelity, attending them
when well, nursing and caring for them when sick and wounded. We all know that many
of them were willing, and some of them anxious, to take up arms in our cause. Although
for several years within sound of the guns of the vessels of the United States for six hun
dred miles along our seaboard, yet scarcely one in a thousand voluntarily left our agricultural
service to take shelter and freedom under the flag of the Union. It is not their fault that
they are free ; they had nothing to do with it ; that was brought about by "the results and
operations of the war."
But they are free. They are no longer our contented and happy slaves, with an abun
dant supply of food and clothing for themselves ayd families, and the intelligence of a supe
rior race to look ahead and make all necessary arrangements for their comfort. They are
now a discontented arid unhappy people, many of them houseless and homeless, roaming
about in gangs over the laud, not knowing one day where the supplies for the next are to
come from ; exposed to the ravages of disease and famine; exposed to the temptations of
theft and robbery, by which they are too often overcome ; without the intelligence to pro
vide for themselves when well, or to care for themselves when sick, and doomed to untold
sufferings and ultimate extinction unless we intervene for their protection and preservation.
Will we do it ? I repeat, we are bound to do it by every consideration of duty, gratitude,
and interest.
Much has been said of late about the importation of white labor from Germany, Ireland,
Italy, and other countries, and with proper limitations and restrictions I am in favor ot it •
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA TEXAS. 1 7
but let us always remember that we have a laboring class of our own, which is entitled to
the preference. It is not sufficient to say that white labor is cheaper. I trust we are not yet
so far degraded as to consult interest alone. But interest alone would dictate that it is better
to give these people employment, and enable them to support themselves, than have them
remain upon our hands as a pauper race ; for here they are, and here, for weal or woe, they
are obliged to stay. We must remember that these black people are natives of this country,
and have a pre-emption right to be the recipients of whatever favors we may have to bestow.
We must protect them, if not against the competition, at any rate against the exactions of
white immigrants. They will expect our black laborers to do as much work in this climate
as they have been accustomed to see white ones perform in more northern latitudes. We
know that they cannot do it. They never did it for us as slaves, and the experience of the
last six months shows that they will do no better as freedmen. Our fathers of 1783 knew
that it takes five black men to do the work of three white ones, and, consequently, in ad
justing the apportionment of taxes upon the basis of the labor and industry of the country,
eleven of the thirteen States of the old Confederation recommended that every five blacks
be counted as only three. The same rule was afterwards adopled in the Constitution of
1787 in regard to representation. But I fear those who may migrate hither from Europe or
elsewhere will be immmclful of this fact. We ought not to forget it, and between foreign.
and black labor we ought always to give the preference to the latter when we can possibly
make it available. And if we can offer sufficient inducements, I am inclined to think that
the black man, as a field laborer, in our climate, will prove more efficient than the imported
white.
We ought to encourage our colored people to virtue and industry by all the means in our
power. We ought to protect them in all their rights, both of person and property, as fully
as we do the whites.
This is the VICAV taken by our recent State convention. After recognizing the fact that
they are free, and declaring that slavery shall never hereafter exist in this State, they pro
ceed to open to them all the courts of justice, and admit them as witnesses " in all criminal
proceedings founded upon an injury to a colored person, and in all cases affecting the rights
and remedies of a colored person."
I trust, gentlemen, that this action meets your approbation, and that you will take great
cave not only not to discriminate in your legislation against the colored race, but that you
will so shape your enactments as to promote their welfare and happiness to the fullest possi
ble extent.
Considering their ignorance and liability to be imposed upon, I think it would be well^ for
you to provide that they shall be bound by no contiact to labor unless the same be reduced
to writing and 'acknowledged before some judicial officer; that a speedy remedy be given
them to collect their wages, and that they recover damages when dismissed without good
cause. And, on the other hand, considering how essential it is to the successful cultivation
of our great staples that those who engage as laborers should remain throughout the whole
period of service contracted for, I recommend that a violation, without good cause, of any
contract, once fairly entered into, either by black or white laborers, be made a misdemeanor,
and punishable with such penalties as will prevent the evil.
I now invite your attention to our relations with the federal government.
Thus far our people have manifested their loyalty and desire to return to the Union, by
doing all that the government was understood to desire. They have taken the oath pre
scribed in the proclamation of the President, "to support the Constitution of the United
States, and the union of the States thereunder, and to abide by and fa:lhiully support all
laws and proclamations which have been made dining the existing rebellion with reference
to the emancipation of slaves." They have held an election, under the proclamation of the
provisional governor, for members of a State convention. That convention has annulled the
ordinance of secession. It has repudiated all debts contracted by the S:ate since the date of
thi' secession. It has declared that all Those who were slaves are now free. It has opened
to them all th* courts. It has admitted them as witnesses in all cases in which they are in-
t'Tc led. And, in short, they have left nothing undone which they understood the govern
ment to desire.
At the conclusion of the session of the convention, our much esteemed provisional gover
nor, \vho represents the President, and so deservedly possesses his confidence as wt-11 as that
of our people, appeared before that body and said: " I congratulate you upon the termina
tion of your labors. The result of them merits and receives my entire approbation as pro-
vifcitjual governor. As a citizen of the State, I approve of nearly ail that you have done.
Speaking, however, merely as any other citizen, I confess that some of your action I could
oave preferred to have been different. But, as provisional governor, I am entiniy satisfied
ictik u:- hat you hare done. You have done everything that hi my official capacity I asked you
to do. I asked nothing but what was right. You have done it all, and m the right .spirit.
Your action in regard to negro testimony receives my especial commendation You have
met the issue fairly and fully, and have done all that could have been desired. The conven
tions of other States have evaded it by transferring it to their legislatures. 1 hope they will
be successful and prosperous, but feel that the action of Florida, so fuljy in accordance with
the wishes of the President, will place her in a better situation than th-irs. With such a
2 F L T
18 RECONSTRUCTION.
constitution as you have adopted, there can be no reason to doubt the admission of your rep
resentative and senators into the Congress of the United States."
Thus \vc have the indorsement of the government itself upon the action of our conven
tion, that "they have done all that could have been desired, and in the right spirit."
Yes, gentlemen, the convention did all that it could do. And now one thing remain.-s for
the legislature to do which the convention could not, do, and that is to ratify the pn<pi>.-.-.l
amendment to the Constitution of the United States, which reads as follows :
" First. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime,
whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any
place subject to their jurisdiction. Second. And Congress shall have power to entorce this
article by appropriate legislation."
I cannot better give you the reasons why this amendment should be adopted, and at the
same time the true meaning of the second clause thereof, than by repeating to you a portion
of the correspondence which recently took place between the President and the provisional
governor of South Carolina.
On the 28th of October last, the President telegraphed to the governor as follows :
" I hope your legislature will have no hesitation in adopting the amendment to the Consti
tution of the United States abolishing slavery. It will set an example which will no doubt be
followed by the other States, and place South Carolina in a most favorable attitude before
the nation. I trust in God that it will bo done. The nation and State will then be left free
and untrammelled to take that course which sound policy, wisdom and humanity may
suggest."
Three days subsequently the President telegraphed to the governor as follows :
" There is deep interest felt as to what course the legislature will take in regard to the
adoption of the amendment of the Constitution of the United States abolishing slavery,
and the assumption of debt created to aid in the rebellion against the government of the
United States. I trust in God that the restoration of the Union will not bo defeated, arid ail
that has so far been well done thrown away. I still have faith that all will come out right yet.
This opportunity ought to be understood and appreciated by the people of the southern States.
If I know my own heart and every passion which enters it, it is my desire to restore the bless
ings of the Union, and tie up and heal every bleeding wound which has been caused by the
fratricidal war. Let us be guided by love and wisdom from on high, and union and peace
will once more reign throughout the land."
To. these telegraphic despatches the provisional governor replied, among other things,
that " there was no objection to the adoption of the proposed amendment to the federal Con
stitution, except an apprehension that Congress might, under the second section of that
amendment, claim the right to legislate for the negro after slavery was abolished."
To this the Secretary of State replied on the 6th of November, stating, among other things,
as follows :
" The objection which you mention to the last clause of the constitutional amendment is
regarded as querulous and unreasonable, because that clause is really restraining in its effects
instead of enlarging the power of Congress. The President considers the acceptance of
the amendment by South Carolina as indispensable to a restoration of her relations with,
the other States of the Union."
The President of the United States, the Attorney General and the Secretary of State, are
all understood to concur in this obvious meaning of the proposed amendment, and with this
understanding I earnestly recommend it to your adoption. Congress can only enforce, " by
appropriate legislation," the non-existence of slavery. This being done, their power is ex
hausted, and " the apprehension that Congress might, under the second section of the amend
ment, claim the right to legislate for the negro after slavery was abolished." " is regarded as
querulous and unreasonable, because that clause is really restraining in it3 effects instead of
enlarging the powers of Congress."
The only other objection I have heard to the adoption of this amendment is, that its adop
tion may only be opening the door to a demand for new concessions. My ansner is, that we
have no reason to believe that this will be so. It is unfair and ungenerous to suppose that
the government is endeavoring to inveigle us into the adoption of certain measures with a
promise of a restoration of our rights in the Union, when in fact it does not mean to ndrnit
us upon the adoption of those measures, but intends to make further demands after the first
shall have been acquiesced in. Such a suspicion is entirely unworthy of the course which the
President of the United States has pursued towards us since the cessation of hostilities. He
told us frankly from the beginning what would be required of us. I know that he told me
iu July last the adoption of this amendment would be expected. Our provisional governor
told us so in his speech at Quincy, and on other occasions. All the action of the convention
was had with a full knowledge of that expectation, and in the adoption of the amendment
you will but be completing a series of measures which they knew must be completed to se
cure to the State all her rights as a member of the Union.
The new demand which, I am informed, some fear will
be made, is that of negro suffrage.
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 19
I am satisfied that this demand will never be made by the President. If there is any one
thing that he is more pledged to than another, it is that of allowing each State to " prescribe
the qualifications of electors and eligibility of persons to hold office under the constitution
and laws of the State — a power which (he says) the people of the several States composing
the federal Union have rightfully exercised from the origin of the government'to the present,
time." This is the language used and the position taken by him in hi.s pioelarnation organ
izing the first provisional government in North Carolina. On the 3d of October last he said,
"Our only safety lies in allowing each State to control the right of voting by its own laws ;"
and in his message to Congress, which we have just received, he stands firmly, fairly, and
squarely up to his original position.
Nor do 1 think that this unjust demand will ever bo made by Congress. I think the posi
tion of the President will be sustained. The recent vote in Connecticut and Wisconsin, ex
pressly repudiating negro suffrage, together with the fact that it is allowed in only a few
States of the Union, and in those few only with qualifications, renders it highly improbable
that a Congress of northern men will compel us to admit it while they reject it themselves.
To do so would bo to assert that many generations of freedom have not qualified the few ne
groes in their midst to vote, while as many generations of slavery have qualified our millions
But suppose, for the sake of the argument, that Congress shou'd make this demand, what
then ' Still 1 say we will be in a better position by having adopted the amendment. \V«
will nave done all that the President desired us to do, and so far as the executive department
is concerned, we may be considered as in the Union and entitled to the enjoyment of all its
blessings, lor the President most feelingly says, "If I know my own heart and every pas
sion which enters it, it is my desire to restore the blessings of the Union, and tie up and heal
every bleeding wound which has been caused by the fratricidal war." We may then reason
ably hope that ere long martial law will cease to prevail in our State, that civil law will be
fully restored, and the authority and jurisdiction of the State government entirely reinstated.
If Congress shall unexpectedly refuse to admit our senators and representative, because
we have not allowed negro suffrage, we must then, without manifesting any undue impa
tience, wait until Congress shall think better of the matter. The justice of our cause, the
influence of the President, and the good sense and patriotism of the nation, cannot fail to
give us our representation in the end.
Of course we could never accede to the demand for negro suffrage, should it be made.
We have manifested that our loyalty and desire to renew our relations with the Union are-
so great that to do so we are willing to yield everything but our honor and our consciences.
We have all lost much — many of us our all — all but our honor. Let us preserve that,
though we lose everything else. We have been able to give an honest and conscientious
consent to all that has been done, but each one of us knows that we could not give either an
honest or a conscientious assent to negro suffrage. There is not one of us that would not
feel that he was doing wrong, and bartering his self-respect, his conscience, and his duty
to his country and to the Union itself, for the benefits he might hope to obtain by getting
back into the Union. Much as I have worshipped the Union, and much as I would rejoice
to see my State once more a recognized member thereof, yet it is better, a thousand times
better, that she should remain out of the Union, even as one of her subjugated provinces,
than go back "eviscerated of her manhood," despoiled of her honor, recreant to her duty,
without her self-respect, and of course without the respect of the balance of mankind— i
miserable thing, with the seeds of moral and political death in herself, soon to be commu
nicated to all her associates.
If time allowed, I would like now to speak of what provision ought to be made for our
poor, and for tho.se who have been disabled in or made widows and orphans by the late war,
and upon our financial, educational, and iutenial improvement systems. Hut to do so wou:d
protract my remarks to an inconvenient length, i must, therefore, make what I have to
say on these and other points the subjects of special messages. I shall at all times seek a
free interchange of opinions with you, deeming it important to the welfare of the State that
a good understanding and cordial relations shall exist between the executive and legislative
departments of the government.
And in this connexion it is proper to say that I shall deem it my duty, as the representa
tive of the State, and it will be in perfect accord with my tee-lings, to cultivate the friendship
and invite the confidence and co-operation of the provisional governor and of the gentlemen
of the army of the United States who are stationed among us. They are our fellow-citizens
and the officers of our government, on duty here, not to irritate and oppress us, but to assist
in preserving order during our transition state, and to conciliate and soothe. With few ex
ceptions they all have rilled their delicate mission wif.h credit to themselves and satisfaction
to us. To Major General Foster, commanding in this State, our thanks are due lor the
general justice and mildness with which he has exercised his great, authority, and particu
larly for the facilities he has afforded both to the members of the convention and of this .egis-
lature in assemblage at. the capitol.
20 RECONSTRUCTION..
adversity, peace or war, have held me in the embrace of their confidence. As a lawyer,
rrpn-scntative, senator, register of public lands, and judge of the supreme court, they have
always stood by, encouraged, sustained, and with their approbation, more precious than the
gold of Ophir, rewarded me.
Six years ago, when they placed me upon tho bench of the supreme court, I fondly hoped
my political days were numbered, and that the residue of my life was to be spent in the
calmer labors of judicial investigation. But now, the tornado of civil discord having swept
over the land, prostrating every interest, entirely destroying our labor system, and uprooting
the very foundations of our political edifice, they have called me, with a unanimous voice, to
preside as grand master at the rebuilding of the temple.
My obligations are the more sensibly felt from the fact that this honor has been conferred
without one word of solicitation, without the writing of a single letter, or the making of a
single speech- without a pledge, a platform or a party.
For mis extraordinary manifestation of kindness and confidence I wish thus publicly to
acknowledge my great indebtedness to the masses of the people.
But it is not in words that I will attempt to express my gratitude. The unremitting and
utmost efforts of whatever powers a merciful God may bestow, to secure to our State, as one
of the co-equal members of the federal Union, all the benefits and blessings of wise laws and
good government, must attest the depth and sincerity of my thankfulness.
And now, gentlemen, requesting all the pious people of the State to join me in prayer to
Almighty God that He will convert the weakness and inadequacy I so painfully feel, into
strength and competency for the good of my country, and that He will, of His abundant
mercy, bless our State and our whole laud, I bring these remarks to a close.
Constitution or form of gorernment for the people of Florida, as revised, amended, and agreed
upon, at a convention of the people, begun and holden at the city of Tallahassee, on the "2^>th
day of October, A. D. J865.
We, the people of the State of Florida, by our delegates in convention assembled, in the
•city of Tallahassee, en the Siotb. day of October, in the year of our Lord 18b'5, and of the in
dependence of the United States the 90th year, in order to secure to ourselves and our pos
terity the enjoyment of .all the rights of life, liberty, and property, and the pursuit of happi
ness, do mutually agree, each with the other, to form the following constitution and form of
.government in and for the said State:
ARTICLE I.
Declaration of rights*
That the great and essential principles of liberty and free government may be recognized
and established, we declare :
1. That all freemen, when they form a government, have certain inherent and indefeasible
rights, among which are those of enjoying and defending life and liberty; of acquiring, pos
sessing, and protecting property and reputation, and of pursuing their own happiness.
2. That all political power is inherent in the people, and all free governments are founded
on their authority and established for their benefit, and, therefore, they have at all times
an inalienable and indefeasible right to alter or abolish their form of government in such man
ner .as they may deem expedient.
"3. That all men have a natural and inalienable right to worship Almighty God 'according
to the dictates of their own conscience, and that no preference shall ever be given by law to
any religious establishment or mode of worship in this State.
4. That no property qualification for eligibility to office, or for the right of suffrage, shall
•ever be required in this State.
5. That every citizen may freely speak, write, and publish his s-entiments on all subjects,
being responsible for the abuse of that liberty; and no law shall be passed tocurtail, abridge,
or restrain the liberty of speech or of the press.
<]. That the right of trial by jury shall tbiever remain inviolate.
7. That the people shall be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and possessions from
unreasonable seizuies and searches, and that no warrant to search any place or to seize any
person or thing slml! issue without describing the place to be searcJied and the person or
thing to be seized, ns nearly as may be, nor without probable cause, supported by oath or
.affirmation.
8. That, no freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, nor disseized of his freehold, liberties, or
privileges, or outlawed or exiled, or in any manner destroyed or deprived of his life, liberty,
or property, but by the law of the land.
i). That courts shall be open, and every person, for an injury done him in his lands, goods,
person, or reputation, shall have remedy 'by due course of law, and right and justice admin
istered without denial or delay.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 2 1
10. That in all criminal prosecutions the accused hath a right to be heard by himself or
counsel, or both ; to demand the nature or cause of the accusation ; to be confronted with
the witnesses against him ; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor :
and in all prosecutions by indictment or presentment a speedy and public trial by an impar
tial jury of the county or district where the offence was committed, and shall not be compelled
to give evidence against himself.
11. That all persons shall be bailable by sufficient securities, unless in capital offences,
where the proof is evident or the presumption is strong ; and the habeas corpus act shall not
be suspended unless when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require it.
12. That excessive bail shall in no case be required ; nor shall excessive lines be imposed;
nor shall cruel or unusual punishments be inflicted.
J:>. That no person shall, for the same offence, be twice put in jeopardy of life and limb.
14. That private property shall not be taken or applied to public use, unless just compen
sation be first made therefor.
15. That in all prosecutions and indictments for libel the truth may be given in evidence ;
and if it shall appear to the jury that the libel is true and published with good motives and
for justifiable ends, the truth shall be a justification, arid the jury shall be the judges of the
Li\v and facts.
10. That no person shall be put to answer any criminal charge but by presentment, indict
ment, or impeachment, except in such cases*as the legislature shall otherwise provide ; but the
legislature shall pass no law whereby any person shall be required to answer any criminal
charge involving the life of the accused, except upon indictment or presentment by a grand
17. That no conviction shall work corruption of blood or forfeiture of estate.
18. That retrospective laws, punishing acts committed before the existence of such laws,
and by them only declared penal or criminal, are oppressive, unjust, and incompatible with
liberty ; wherefore no ex post facto law shall ever be made.
19. That no law impairing the obligation of contracts shall be passed.
20. That the people shall have a right, in a peaceable manner, to assemble together to con
sult for the common good ; and to apply to those invested with the powers of government for
redress of grievances, or other proper purposes, by petition, address, or remonstrance.
21. That no soldier in time of peace shall be quartered in any house without the consent
of the owner ; nor in time of war but in a manner prescribed by law.
22. That no standing army shall be kept up without the consent of the legislature ; and
the military shall be in strict subordination to the civil power.
23. That perpetuities and monopolies are contrary to the genius of a free people, and ought
not to be allowed.
24. That no hereditary emoluments, privileges, or honors, shall be granted or conferred in
this State. *
25. That a frequent recurrence to fundamental principles is absolutely necessary to preserve
the blessings of liberty.
2G. That, to guard against transgressions upon the rights of the people, wo declare that
everything in this article is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall for
ever remain inviolate ; and all laws contrary thereto, or to the following provisions, shall be
void.
ARTICLE II.
Distribution of the powers of government.
J. The powers of the government of the State of Florida shall be divided into three dis
tinct departments, and each of them confided to a separate body of magistracy, to wit: those
which are legislative to one; those which are executive to another; and those which are ju
dicial to another.
2. No person or collection of persons, being one of these departments, shall exercise any
power properly belonging to either of the others, except in the instance expressly provided
in this constitution,
ARTICLE III.
Executive department.
1. The supreme executive power shall be vested in a chief magistrate,, who shall be styled
the governor of the State of Florida.
2. The governor shall be elected for four years, by the qualified electors, at the time and
place they shall vote for representatives, and shall remain in office until a successor shall be
chosen and qualified.
3. No person shall be eligible to the office of governor unless he shall have attained the
age of thirty years, shall have been a citizen of the United States ten years, and snail have
been a resident of Florida at least five years next preceding his election.
<i. There shall be elected at the same time, for the same term, and with like qualifications
22 RECONSTRUCTION.
as the governor, a lieutenant governor, who shall be ez-officio president of the senate, but
shall have no vote except in case of a tie, and during the session of the general assembly
he shall receive such compensation as shall be allowed to a senator.
5. The returns of every election for governor and lieutenant governor shall be sealed up
and transmitted to the seat of government, directed to the speaker of the house of representa
tives, who shall, during the first week of the session next after their election, open and pub-
lisk them in the presence of both houses of the general assembly ; and the persons having
the highest number of votes for the respective offices shall be governor and lieutenant gov
ernor ; but if two or more should be equal and highest in votes for the office of governor,
one of them shall be chosen governor by the joint vote of the two houses ; and in like man
ner, if two or more shall be equal and highest in votes for the office of lieutenant governor,
one of them shall be chosen lieutenant governor by the joint vote of the two houses. And
contested elections for governor and lieutenant governor shall be determined by both houses
of the general assembly, in such manner as shall be prescribed by law.
6. The governor shall, at stated times, receive a compensation for his services, which shall
not be increased nor diminished during the term for which he shall have been elected; but
such compensation shall never be less than three thousand dollars per annum.
7. He shall be the commander-in-chief of the army and navy of this State and of the mili
tia thereof.
8. He may require information in writing frotn the officers of the executive department
on any subject relating to the duties of their respective offices.
9. He may by proclamation, on extraordinary occasions, convene the general assembly at
the seat of government, or at a different place, if that shall have become dangerous from au
enemy or from disease ; and in case of disagreement between the two houses with respect to
the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time as he may think proper, not
beyond the day of the next meeting designated by the constitution.
JO. He shall, from time to time, give to the general assembly information of the state of
the government, and recommend to their consideration such measures as he may deem expe
dient.
1 1. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully executed.
1*2. In all criminal and penal cases, (except impeachment,) after conviction, he shall have
power to grant reprieves and pardons, and remit fines and forfeitures under such rules and
regulations as shall be prescribed by law.
13. The State seal last heretofore used (until altered by the general assembly) shall con
tinue to be the great seal of the State, and shall be kept by the governor for the time being,
and used by him officially.
14. All commissions shall be in the name and by the authority of the State of Florida, be
sealed with the Srate seal, and signed by the governor and attested by the secretary of state.
15. There shall be a secretary ot\state elected by the qualified electors of the State at the
same time, and who shall continue in office for the same term of years, as the governor of the
State ; and he shall keep a fair register of the official acts and proceedings of the governor,
and shall, when required, lay the same, and all papers, minutes and vouchers relative thereto,
before the general assembly, and shall perform such other duties as may be required of him
by law.
16. Vacancies that happen in offices, the appointment to which is vested in the general
assembly, or given to the governor, with the advice and consent of the senate, shall be filled
by the governor during the recess of the general assembly, by grunting commissions which
shall expire at the end of the next session.
17. Every bill which shall have passed both houses of the general assembly shall bo pre
sented to the governor ; if he approve, he shall sign it; but if not, he shall return it, with his
objections, to the house in which it shall have originated, who shall enter the objections at
large upon the journals, and proceed to reconsider it; and if, after such reconsideration,
two-thirds of the whole number voting shall agree to pass the bill, it shall be sent, with the
objections, to the other house, by which it shall be reconsidered; and if approved by two-
thirds of the whole number voting, it shall become a law ; but in such cases the votes of
both houses shall be by yeas and nays, and the names of the members voting for or against
the bill shall be entered on the journals of each hoi^e respectively; and if any bill shall not
be returned by the governor within five days (Sundays excepted) after it shall have been
presented to htm, the same shall be a law in like manner as if he had signed it, unless iho
general assembly by their adjournment prevent its return, in which case it shall not be a law.
18. Every order, resolution or vote to which the concurrence of both houses may be neces
sary, (except on questions of adjournment,) shall be presented to the governor, and before it
shall take effect be approved by him, or, being disapproved, be re-passed by both houses,
according to the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill.
19. In case of the impeachment of the governor, his removal from office, death, refusal to
qualify; resignation, or absence from the State, the lieutenant governor shall exercise all the
power and authority appertaining to the office of governor until the governor absent, or im
peached, shall return, or be acquitted, or until the governor next regularly elected shall be
duly qualified, as the case may be; and for the time the lieutenant governor shall occupy
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 23
the office of governor he shall receive the same compensation as shall be allowed by law to
the regularly elected governor.
'20. In case of the impeachment of both the governor and the lieutenant governor, their
removal from office, death, refusal to qualify, resignation, or absence from the State, the
speaker of the house of representatives shall in like manner administer the government, un
less the general assembly shall otherwise provide : and for the time he shall occupy the office
of governor, he shall receive the same compensation as shall be allowed by law to the gov
ernor.
21. It shall be the duty of the general assembly to provide for the purchase or erection of
a suitable building for the residence of the governor, and the governor shall reside at the seat
of government; but whenever, by reason of danger from an enemy, or from disease, the
governor may deem the capital unsafe, he may, by proclamation, fix the seat of government
at some secure place within the State, until such danger shall cease.
22. No person shall hold the office of governor and any other office or commission, civil
or military, either in this State or under any State, or the United States, or any other power,
at one and the same time, except the lieutenant governor or the speaker of the house of
representatives, when he shall hold the office as aforesaid.
23. A State treasurer and comptroller of public accounts shall be elected by the qualified
electors of the State at the same time, and who shall continue in office for the same term of
years as the governor of the State, and until their successors shall have been duly commis
sioned and qualified.
ARTICLE IV.
Legislative department.
1. The legislative powerof this State shall be vested in two distinct branches, the one to
be styled the senate, the other the house of representatives, and both together " The general
assembly of the State of Florida," and the style of the laws shall be, "Be it enacted by the
senate and house of representatives of the State of Florida in general assembly convened."
2. The members of the house of representatives shall be chosen by the qualified voters,
and shall servo for the term of two years from the day of the general election, and no longer;
and the sessions of the general assembly shall be annual, and commence on the second
Wednesday in November in each year.
3. The representatives shall be chosen every two years on the first Monday in the month
of October, until otherwise directed by law.
4. No person shall be a representative unless he be a white man, a citizen of the United
States, and shall have been an inhabitant of the State two years next preceding his election,
and the last year thereof a resident of the county for which he shall be chosen, and shall have
attained the age of twenty-one years.
5. The senators shall be chosen by the qualified electors for the term of two years, at the
same time, in the same manner, and in the same places where they vote for members of the
house of representatives ; and no man shall be a senator unless he be a white man, a citizf-n
of the United States, and shall have been an inhabitant of this State two years next preced
ing his election, and the last year thereof a resident of the district or county for which he shall
be chosen, and shall have attained the age of twenty- five years.
6. The house of representatives, when assembled, shall choose a speaker and its other offi-
cer«, and the senate its other officers, and in the absence of the lieutenant governor a presi
dent pro tempore, and each house shall be judge of the qualifications, elections, and returns
of its members ; but a contested election shall be determined in such manner as shall be di
rected by law.
7. A majority of each house shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a smaller num
ber may adjourn from day to day, and may compel the attendance of absent members, in such
manner and under such penalties as each house may prescribe.
8. Each house may determine the rules of its own proceedings, punish its members for
disorderly behavior, and with the consent of two-thirds expel a member, but not a second
time for the same cause.
9. Each house, during the session, may punish by imprisonment any person not a member,
for disrespectful or disorderly behavior in its presence, or for obstructing any of its proceed
ings ; provided, such imprisonment shall not extend beyond the end of the session.
JO. Each house shall keep a journal of its proceedings, and cause the same to be published
immediately after its adjournment ; and the yeas and nays of the members of each house shall •
be taken and entered upon the journals upon the final passage of every bill, and may, by any
two members, be required upon any other question; and any member of either house shall
have liberty to dissent from, or protest against, any act or resolution which he may think in
jurious to the public, or an individual, and have the reasons of his dissent entered on the
journal.
11. Senators and representatives shall in all cases, except treason, felony, or breach of the
peace, be privileged from arrest during the session of the general assembly, and in going to
or returning from the same, allowing one day for every twenty miles stun member may reside
24 RECONSTRUCTION.
from the place at which the general assembly is convened, and for any speech or debate in
either house they shall not be questioned in any other place.
12. The general assembly shall make provision by law for filling vacancies that may occur
in either house, by the death, resignation, or otherwise, of any of its members.
13. The doors of each house shall be open when in legislative session, except on such oc
casion* aft, in the opinion of the house, the public safety may imperiously require secrecy.
14. Neither house shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than three days,
nor to any other place than that in which they may be sitting.
15. Bills may originate in either house of the general assembly ; and all bills passed by
one house may be discussed, amended, or rejected by the other; but no bill shall have the
force of law until on three several days it be read in each hoa.se and free discussion be allowed
thereon, unless, in cases of urgency, four-fifths of the house in which the came shall be de
pending may deem it expedient to dispense with the rule ; and every bill having passed both
houses shall be signed by the speaker and president of their respective houses.
16. Each member of the geueial assembly shall receive from the public treasury such com
pensation for his services as may be fixed by law ; but no increase of compensation shall take
effect during the term for which the representatives were elected, when such law passed.
17. The sessions of the general assembly shall not extend in duration over thirty dars, unless it
be deemed expedient by a concurrent majority of two-thirds of the members of each house ; and
no member shall receive pay from the State for his services after the expiration of sixty days
continuously from the commencement of the session.
18. The general assembly shall, by law, authorize the circuit court to grant licenses for
building toll-bridges, and to establish ferries, and to regulate the tolls of both; to construct
dams across streams not navigable ; to ascertain and declare what streams are navigable.
But no special law for such purpose shall be made.
19. The general assembly shall pass a general law prescribing the manner in which the
names of persons may be changed, but no special law for such purpose shall be passed ; and
no law shall be made allowing minors to contract, or manage their estates.
_ 20. The general assembly shall pass a general law for the incorporation of towns, religious,
literary, scientific, benevolent, military, and other associations, not commercial, industrial,
or financial; but no special act incorporating any such association shall be passed.
21. No act incorporating any railroad, banking, insurance, commercial, or financial cor
poration shall be introduced into the general assembly, unless the person or persons applying
for such corporation shall have deposited with the treasurer the sum of one hundred dollars
as a bonus to the State.
22. Officers shall be removed from office for incapacity, misconduct, or neglect of duty, in
such manner as may be provided by law, when no mode of trial or removal is provided iu
this constitution.
ARTICLE V.
Judicial department.
1. The judicial power of this State, both as to matters of law and equity, shall be vested
in a supreme court, courts of chancery, circuit courts, and justices of the peace, provided the
general assembly may also vest such civil or criminal jurisdiction as may bo necessary in
corporation courts, and such other courts as the general assembly may establish ; but such
jurisdiction shall not extend to capital cases.
2. The supreme court, except in cases otherwise directed in this constitution, shall have
appellate jurisdiction only, which shall be coextensive with the State, under such restrictions
and regulations, not repugnant to this constitution, as may from time to time be prescribed
by law, provided that the said court shall always have power to issue writs of injunction, man
damus, quo warranto, habeas corpus, and such other original and remedial writs as may
be necessary to give it a general superintendence and control of all other courts.
3. The supreme court shall be holden at such times and places as may be prescribed by
law ; and two judges of the circuit court may be added to the supreme court, when in session,
at the discretion of the legislature; and the court so composed shall constitute the supreme
court of the State, when the legislature shall so direct.
4. The State shall be divided into convenient circuits; and for each circuit there shall be
a judge, who shall, after his election or appointment, reside in the circuit for which ho \\s»
been elected or appointed, and shall, as well as justices of the supreme court, receive f'.,r l.,.s
services a salary of not less than twenty-five hundred dollars per tumiun, which Mia.l i.ut ix*
diminished during his continuance in office; but the judge* shull receive no fees, perqui.st;ua
of office, nor hold any other office of profit under the State, the United States, or a:iy o.licf
power.
5. The circuit courts shall have original jurisdiction in all matters, civil and criminal, not
otherwise exccpted in this constitution.
6. A circuit court shall be held iu such counties, and in such times and places therein, as
may be prescribed by law ; and the judges of the several circuit courts may hold courts for
each other, either for the entire circuit or for a portion thereof, and they shull do so when re
quired by order of the governor or chief justice of the supremo court ; and they may exercise
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA TEXAS. 25
jurisdiction in cases of writs of habeas corpus in any judicial circuit in which the judge may
happen fx> be at the time the case arises.
7. The general assembly shall have power to establish and organize a separate court or
courts of original equity jurisdiction ; but until such court or courts shall be established and
organized, the circuit courts shall exercise such jurisdiction.
8. There shall be elected in each county of this State, by the qualified voters, an officer to
be styled the judge of probate, to take probate of wills; to grant letters testamentary of ad
ministration and guardianship; to attend to the settlement of the estates of decedents and
minors, and to discharge the duties usually appertaining to courts of ordinary, and such other
duties as may bo required by law ; subject to the direction and supervision of the circuit
courts, as may be provided by law.
9. A competent number of justices of the peace shall be from time to time elected in and
for each county, in such mode and for such term of office as the general assembly may di
rect, and shall possess such jurisdiction as may be prescribed by law ; and in cases tried be
fore a justice of the peace, the right of appeal shall be secured under such rules and regula
tions as may be prescribed by law.
10. There shall be appointed by the governor, by and with the advice and consent of the
senate, a chiet justice and two associate justices of the supreme court of this State, who
shall reside in this State, and hold their office for the term of six years from their appoint
ment and confirmation, unless sooner removed under the provisions of this constitution, for
the removal of judges by address or impeachment ; and for wilful neglect of duty or other
reasonable cause, which shall not be sufficient ground for impeachment, the governor shall
remove any of them on the address of two-thirds of the general assembly : Provided, how-
ever. That the cause or causes shall be notified to the judge so intended to be removed, and
he shall be admitted to a hearing in his own defence before any vote for such removal shall
pass, and in such case the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and entered on the journal
of each house respectively, and in case of the appointment to fill a vacancy in said offices,
the person so appointed shall only hold office for the unexpired term of his predecessor.
11. There shall be elected, at the time and places prescribed by law, by the qualified elec
tors of each of the respective judicial circuits of this State, one judge of the circuit court,
who shall reside in the circuit for which he may be elected, and the said circuit judges shall
continue in office for the term of six years from the date of their respective elections, unless
sooner removed under the provisions in this constitution for the removal of judges by address
or impeachment ; and for wilful neglect of duty, or other reasonable cause, Avhich shall not
be sufficient for impeachment, the governor shall remove any of them on the address of two-
thirds of the general assembly : Provided, however, That the cause or causes shall be stated
at length in such address, and entered on the journal of each house : And provided further,
That the cause or causes shall be notified to such judge so intended to- be removed, and he
shall be admitted to a hearing in his own defence before any vote or votes for such removal
shall pass ; and in such cases the vote shall be taken by yeas and nays, and entered on- the
journals of each house respectively.
\'Z. The appointment of chief justice and associate justices of the supreme court shall be
made every sixth year after their first appointment, and the election of judges of the circuit
court, and judges or chancellors of the chancery court, when established, shall be held in
every sixth year after their first elections, at the same time and places as the election for
members of the general assembly.
13. That w-heuever the general assembly shall create a chancery court, under the provi
sions of this constitution, the judges thereof shall be elected in the manner provided in the
last two sections of this article, and shall hold their offices and be subject to all the provi
sions of said sections : Prodded, however, That the said judges shall be elected by general
ticket or by districts, as the general assembly may direct.
14. That should a vacancy occur cither in the chancery or circuit courts, by death, re
moval, resignation, or otherwise, it shall be the duty of the governor to issue a writ of elec
tion to fill such vacancy, and he shall give at least sixty days' notice thereof by proclama
tion; and the judge so elected to fill said vacancy shall continue in office from the time ho
qualities under his commission until the expiration of the term of his predecessor : Provided,
hoirever, That should it become necessary to fill any such vacancy before an election can be
held under the provisions of this constitution, the governor shall have power to fill such va
cancy by appointment, and the person so appointed shall hold his office from the date of his
commission until his successor shall be duly elected and qualified.
L">. The, clerks of the circuit courts of the several circuits of this State shall be elected by
t^ r q'ui'.iiied voters in their several counties at such times and places as are now or may be
p.ovr.ltu bylaw: Provided, hotcecer, That the chief justice of the supreme court and the
cliuiiceilors of the court of chancery, when such courts shall be -established, shall have the
puwci to appoint the clerks of their respective courts.
](). The justices of the supreme conrt, chancellors and judges of the circuit courts shall,
by virtue of their offices, be conservators of the peace throughout the State.
17. The style of all process shall be "The State of Florida," and all criminal prosecu
tions shall be carried on in the name of the State, and all indictments shall conclude,
"against the peace and dignity of the same."
RECONSTRUCTION.
18. There shall be an attorney general for the State, who shall reside at the seat of gov
ernment, and he shall perform Mich duties as may be proscribed by law ; he shall be elected
by the qualified voters of the State, at the same time ami in the same manner that the comp
troller, secre ary of state and treasurer are elected, and his term of office shall be the same ;
but he may be removed by the governor or, the address of a majority of the two honses ot
Uie general assembly, and shall receive for his services a compensation to be fixed by law
J.J. 1 here shall be one solicitor for each circuit, who shall reside therein, to be elected by
the qualified elec.tor.s of the circuit, who shall hold his office for the term of four years and
1 receive tor his services a compensation to be tixed by law.
«>. No justice of the supreme court shall sit as ajudge, or take part m the appellate court,
on the tnal or hearing of any case which shall have been decided by him in the court below!
g|. Iho general assembly shall have power to establish in each county a board of commis
sioners, tor the regulation of the county business therein.
28. No duty not judicial shall be imposed by law upon the justices of the supreme court
the chancellors or the judges of the circuit courts of this State, except in cases otherwise pro
vided for in this constitution.
ARTICLE VI.
• The right of suffrage and qualifications of officers, ciml officers, and impeachments, and
removals from office.
1. Every free white male person of the age of twenty-one years and upwards, and who
shall be, at the time of ptter.iig to vote, a citizen of the United States, and who shall have
esided and had his habitation, domicile, home, and place of permanent abode in Florida for
one year next preceding the election at which he shall offer to vote, and who shall, at such
time, and for six mouths immediately preceding said time, have had his habitation, domicile
and Pjaee Of permanent abode in the county in which he may offer to vote, shall be deemed
a .qualified elector at all elections under the constitution, and none others; except in elec
tions by general ticket in the State or district prescribed by law, in which cases the elector
must have been a resident of the State one year next preceding the election, and six months
within the elective district in which he offers to vote: Provided, That no officer, soldier sea
man or marine, in the regular army or navy of the United States, or any other person in the
employ or pay ot the Lnited States, unless he be a qualified elector of the State previous to
bis appointment or enlistment, as such officer, soldier, seaman or marine, in the reo-ular army
or navy of the United States, or of the revenue service, shall be considered a resident of the
fetate^m consequence of being stationed within the same.
^ Th.° £cneral assembly shall have power to exclude from every office of honor trust o^
profit within the State, and from the right of suffrage, all persons convicted of bribery per
jury, or other infamous crime.
3. No person shall be capable of holding or being elected to any post of honor, profit trust
or emolument, civil or military, legislative, executive or judicial, under the government of
this 'State, who shall hereafter fight a duel, or send or accept a challenge to fight a duel the
probable issue of which may be the death of the challenger or challenged, or who shall be a
t to either party or who shall, in any manner, aid or assist in such duel, or shall be
knowingly the bearer of such challenge or acceptance, whether the same occur or be com
mitted m or out of the State; but the legal disability shall not accrue until after trial and
conviction, according to due form of law.
4 No person who may hereafter be a collector or holder of public moneys shall have a
scat m either house of the general assembly, or be eligible to any office of trust or profit under
ma* be Accountable ^counted for and paid into the treasury all sums for which he
5. No governor, member of Congress, or of the general assembly of this State, shall receive
tee, be engaged as counsel, agent or attorney, in any civil case or claim against this State
3r to winch this State shall be a party, during the time he shall remain in office.
l>. Ao senator or representative shall, during the term for which he shall have been elected
be appointed to any civil office of profit under this State, which shall have been created or
the emoluments or which shall have been increased, during such term, except such offices as
may be filled by elections by the people.
7. Members of the general assembly, and all officers, civil or military, before they enter
upoii the execution ot their respective offices, shall take the following oath or affirmation:
do swear (or affirm ) that I am duly qualified, according to the constitution of this State
to exercise the office, to which I have been elected, (or appointed,) and will, to the best of
my abilities, dischaige the duties thereof, and preserve, protect and defend the Constitution
of tins Mate and ot the Lujted States of America."
8. Kvery person shall be disqualified from serving as governor, senator, representative, or
rom holding any other office of honor or profit in this State, for the term for which he shall
have been elected, who shall have been convicted of having given or offered any bribe to
procure his election.
9. Laws shall be made by the general assembly to exclude from office, and from suffrage,
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 27
those who shall have been or may hereafter be convicted of bribery, perjury, forgery, or
other high crime or misdemeanor; and the privilege of suffrage shall be supported by laws
regulating elections, and- prohibiting, under adequate penalties, all undue influence thereon,
from power, bribery, tumult, or other improper practices.
10. All civil officers of the State at large shall reside within the State, and all district or
county officers within their respective districts or counties, and shall keep their respective
offices at such places therein as may be required by law.
11. It shall bo the duty of the general assembly to regulate by law in what cases and
what deduction from the salaries of public officers shall be imide for any neglect of duty in
their official capacity.
1'2. Returns of elections for members of Congress and the general assembly shall be made
to the secretary of state in a manner to be prescribed by law.
13. In all elections by the general assembly the vote shall be viva vocc, and in all elec
tions by the people the vote shall be by ballot.
14. No member of Congress or person holding or exercising any office of profit tinder the
United States, or under any foreign power, shall be eligible as « member of the general assem
bly of this State, or hold or exercise any office of profit under the State ; and no person in this
State shall over hold two offices of profit at the same time, except the office of justice of the
peace, notary public, constable, and militia offices, except by special act of the legislature;
but the legislature shall never unite in the same person two offices the duties of which are
incompatible.
15. The general assembly shall by law provide for the appointment or election and re
moval from office of all officers, civil and military, in this State not provided for in this
constitution.
16. The power of impeachment shall be vested in the house of representatives.
17. All impeachments shall be tried by the senate; when sitting for that purpose the sen
ators shall be upon oath or affirmation ; and no person shall be convicted without the concur
rence of two-thirds of the members present.
. IS. The governor and all civil officers shall be liable to impeachment for any misdemeanor
in office; but judgments in such cases shall not extend further than to removal from office
and disqualification to hold any office of honor, trust, or profit under this State ; but the par
ties, nevertheless, shall be liable to indictment, trial, and punishment, according to law.
ARTICLE VIL
Militia.
1. All militia officers shall be elected or appointed, under such rules and regulations as the
general assembly may from time to time direct and establish.
2. All offences against the militia laws shall be tried by court-martial, or before a court
and jury, as the general assembly may direct.
'3. No commission shall be vacated except by sentence of a court-martial.
ARTICLE VIII.
Taxation and revenue.
1. The general assembly shall devise and adopt a system of revenue, having regard to an
equal and uniform mode of taxation, throughout the State.
'Z. No other or greater amount of tax or revenue shall at any time be levied than may be
required for the necessary expenses of the government.
*J. No money shall be drawn from the treasury but in consequence of an appropriation by
law, and a regular statement of the receipts and expenditures of all public moneys shall be
published and promulgated annually with the laws of the general assembly.
4. The general assembly shall have power to authorize the several counties and incorpo
rated towns in this State to impose taxes for county and corporation purposes, respectively,
and all property shall be taxed upon the principles established in regard to State taxation.
5. The general assembly shall have power to authorize the levying of a capitation tux.
ARTICLE IX.
Census and apportionment of representation.
1. The general assembly shall, in the year one thousand eight hundred and sixty-seven,
and in the year one thousand eight hundred and seventy-five, and every tenth year there
after, cause an enumeration to be made of all the inhabitants of the State; und to the whole
number of white inhabitants shall bo added three-fifths of the number of colored people:
and they shall then proceed to apportion the representation equally among the different coun
ties, according to such enumeration, giving, however, one representative to every county,
and increasing the number of representatives on a uniform ratio of population, according to
the foregoing basis, and which ratio shall not bo changed until u ue\v census shall have been
taken.
28
RECONSTRUCTION.
2. The general assemb y shall also, after every such enumeration, proceed to fix by law
the number of sena ors which shall constitute the senate of the State of Florida, and which
shall never be less than one-fourth nor more than one-half of the whole number of the hoiiM
of representatives; and they shall lay off the State into the same number of 8c- im ri, "
tncts, as nearly equal in the number of inhabitants as may be, according to the ratio of
representation established in the preceding section, each of which districts shall be entitled
to one solicitor.
3. When any senatorial district shall be composed of two or more counties, the counties
of which such district consists shall not be entirely separated by any county belon-mi^ to
another djstnct, and no county shall be divided in forming a district
4 No county now organized shall be divided into new counties, so as to reduce the in
habitants of either below the ratio of representation.
5. The several counties of this State shall be entitled to the following representatives, viz :
Escambia three Sunta Rosa two Walton two, Hoin.es one, Washington one, Calhoun one,
I idiiklin one, Jackson four, Gadsden three, Leon four, Wakulla one, Liberty one. Jert«-r<.,n
three Madison two Hamilton two, Lafayette one, Taylor one, Suwaimec* one, Columbia
two, Baker one, Bradford one, Alachua two, Nassau one, Duval two, Clay one, St John's
>ne, lutnam one, Marion two, Sumter one, Orange one, Volusia one, Brevard one, Levy
one, Herimndo one, Hillsborough one, Manatee one, Monroe one. Bade one and Poik one
Ihere shall be twenty-nine senatorial districts in this State, which shall be as follows- The
county of Lscambia shall compose the first district; the county of Santa Rosa shall compose
the second district; the county ot Walton shall compose the third district; the counties of
Washington and Holmes shall compose the fourth district; the county of Franklin shall
compose the fifth district ; the county of Calhouu shall compose the sixth district ; the county
Of Jackson shall compose the seventh district; the county of Gadsden shall compose the
eighth district; the county of Liberty shall compose the ninth district; the county of Leon
shall compose the tenth district ; the county of Wakulla shall compose the eleventh district •
the county of Jefferson shall compose the twelfth district; the county of Madison shall
compose the thirteenth district ; the county of Hamilton shall compose the fourteenth district •
the counties of Lafayette and Taylor shall compose the fifteenth district; the county of
Columbia shall compose the sixteenth district; the county of Suwaunee shall compose the
seventeenth district; the counties of Baker and Bradford shall compose the eighteenth dis
trict; the county of Alachua shall compose the nineteenth district; the county of Nassau
shall compose the twentieth district; the counties of Duval and Clay shall compose the
twenty-first district; the counties of St. John's and Putnam shall compose the twenty-second
istrict ; the county of Marion shall compose the twenty-third district ; the county of Suu.t<-r
shall compose the twenty-fourth district ; the counties of Orange and Volusia shall compose
the twenty- fifth district; the counties ot Levy and Hernando shall compose the twenty-sixth
district ; the counties of Hillsborough and Manatee shall compose the twenty-seventh district-
the counties of Polk and Brevard shall compose the twenty-eighth district; and the counties
Of Monroe and Dade shall compose the twenty-ninth district; and each senatorial district
enall be entitled to one senator.
ARTICLE X.
Education.
1 . The proceeds of all lands for the use of schools and a seminary or seminaries of learning
shall be and remain a perpetual fund, the interest of which, together with all moneys accrued
from any other source, applicable to the same object, shall be inviolably appropriated to the
use of schools and seminaries of learning, respectively, and to no other purpose.
ic general assembly shall take such measures as may be necessary to preserve from
\vaste or damage all lands so granted and appropriated for the purpose of education
ARTICLE XL
Public domain and internal improvement.
i • Y ' -11 • / i "} ' " r". — "" "' l"v' f^^^w, uut iii no v\ ise 10 anect me purposes for
which said lands have heretofore been appropriated.
2. A liberal system ot internal improvement being essential to the development of the
resources of the State, shall be encouraged by the government of this State; and it shall be
he duty ot the general assembly, as soon as practicable, to ascertain by law proper obiec.s
tor the extension ot interim improvements in relation to roads, canals, and navigable streams,
and to provide or a su, able npnhcatioii of such funds as may have been, or may hereafter
be, appropriated by said general assembly for such improvements
3j That the general assembly may at any time cede to the United Stater government a
sufficient parcel or fraction ol laud lor the purpose of coast defence and other national pur-
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 29
ARTICLE XII.
Boundaries.
1. The boundary of the State of Florida shall be as follows: Commencing at the mouth
of the river Perdido ; from thence up the middle of said river to where it intersects the southern
boundary line of the State of Alabama, on the thirty-first degree of northern latitude ; then
due east to the Chattahoochee river; thence down the middle of said river to its confluence
with the Flint river ; thence down the middle of said river to the Atlantic ocean ; then south-
wurdly to the Gulf of Florida and Gulf of Mexico ; thence northwardly and westwardly,
including all islands within five leagues of the shore, to the beginning.
ARTICLE XIII.
Banks and other corporations.
1. The general assembly shall pass no act of incorporation, nor make any alteration in
one, unless with the assent of at least two-thirds of each house, and unless public notice in
one or more newspapers of the State shall have been given for at least three mouths imme
diately preceding the session at which the same may be applied for.
'2. No bank charter, nor any act of incorporation granting exclusive privileges, shall be
granted for a longer period than twenty years.
3. Banks chartered by the general assembly shall be restricted to the business of exchange,
discount, and deposit, and they shall not deal in real estate, nor merchandise, nor chattels,
except as security for loans or discounts, or for debts due to such bank; nor shall they be
concerned in insurance, manufacturing, exportation, or importation, except of bullion or
specie; nor shall they own real estate or chattels, except such as shall be necessary for their
.actual use in the transaction of business, or which may be received in payment of previously
contracted debts, or purchased at legal sales to satisfy such debts, of which they shall be
required to make sale within three years after the acquisition thereof.
4. The capital stock of any bank shall not be less than one hundred thousand dollars, to
be paid in suitable instalments, and shall be created only by the payment of specie therein.
5. All liabilities of such banks shall be payable in specie, and the circulation of no bank,
shall exceed three dollars for one of capital actually paid in.
6. No dividends or profits exceeding ten per centum per annum on the capital stock paid
in shall be made; but all profits over ten per centum per annum shall be set apart and re
tained as a safety fund.
7. Stockholders in a bank, when an act of forfeiture is committed, or Avhen it is dissolved
or has expired, shall be- individually and severally liable for the redemption of the outstand
ing circulation in proportion to the stock owned by each, and no transfer of stock shall ex
onerate such stockholder from this liability, unless such transfer was made at least two years
previous to said forfeiture, dissolution, or expiration.
8. Banks shall be open to inspection under such regulations as maybe prescribed by law,
and it shall be the duty of the governor to appoint a person or persons, not connected in any
manner with any bank in the State, to examine at least once a year into their state and
condition; and the officers of every bank shall make quarterly returns, under oath, to the
governor, of its state and condition, and the names of the stockholders and shares held by
each.
9. Non-user for the space of one year, or any act of a corporation, or those having control
or management thereof, or intrusted therewith, inconsistent with or in violation of the pro
visions of this constitution or of its charter, shall cause its forfeiture, and the general assem
bly shall by general law provide a summary process for the sequestration of its effects and
assets, and the appointment of officers to settle its affairs, and no forfeited charter shall be
restored.
10. The general assembly shall not pledge the faith and credit of the State to raise funds
in the aid of any corporation whatever.
ARTICLE XIV.
Amendments and revisions of the constitution.
1. No part of this constitution shall be altered except by a convention duly elected.
2. No convention of the people shall be called unless by the concurrence of two-thirds of
all the members of each house of the general assembly, made known by the passing of a
bill, which shall be read three times on three several days in each house.
3. Whenever a convention slmll bo called, proclamation of an election for delegates shall
be made by the governor at least thirty days before the day of election. Every county and
senatorial district shall be entitled to as many delegates as it has representatives in the gen
eral assembly. The same qualifications shall be required in delegates and in electors that
are required in members of the general assembly and voters for the same respectively, and
the elections for delegates to a convention and the returns of such election shall be held and
made in the manner prescribed by law for regulating elections tor members of the general
assembly; but the convention shall judge of the qualifications of its members.
30 RECONSTRUCTION.
ARTICLE XV.
Scat of government.
The seat of government shall be and remain permanent at the city of Tallahassee until
otherwise provided for by the action of a convention of the people of the State.
ARTICLE XVI.
General provisions.
1. Whereas slavery has been destroyed in this State by the government of the United
States ; therefore, neither slavery nor involuntary servitude shall in future exist in this State,
except as a punishment for crimes, whereof the party shall have been convicted by the courts
of the State, and all the inhabitants of the State, without distinction of color, are free, and
shall enjoy the rights of person and property without distinction of color.
2. In all criminal proceedings founded upon injury to a colored person, and in all canes
affecting the rights and remedies of colored persons, no person shall be incompetent to testily
as a witness on account of color; in all other cases the testimony of colored persons t>hall be
excluded, unless made competent by future legislation. The jury shall judge of the credi
bility of the testimony.
3. The jurors of this State shall be white men, possessed of such qualifications as may be
prescribed by law.
4. Treason against the State shall consist only in levying war against it, or in adhering to
its enemies, giving them aid and comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason unless on
the testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or his confession in open court.
5. Divorces from the bonds of matrimony shall not be allowed but by the judgment of a
court, as shall be prescribed by law.
C. The general assembly shall declare by law what parts of the common law, and what
parts of the civil law, not inconsistent with the constitution, shall be in force in this State.
7. The oaths of officers directed to be taken under this constitution may be administered
by any judge, or justice of the peace, in the State of Florida, until otherwise provided by
law.
ARTICLE XVII.
Schedule and ordinance.
1. All laws of the State passed during and since the tenth session of the legislature thereof,
in I860, not repugnant to the constitution of this State, or of the United States, shall bo
valid ; all writs, actions, prosecutions, judgments, and decrees of the courts of the State, all
executions and sales made thereunder, and all acts, orders, and proceedings of the judges of
probate, and of executors, administrators, guardians and trustees, provided they were in
conformity to the laws then in force, and not fraudulent, shall be as valid as if made under
the usual and ordinary legislation of the country, provided that the same be not repugnant to
the constitution of the State and of the United States.
2. All fines, penalties, forfeitures, obligations, and escheats, heretofore accruing to the
State of Florida, and not made unlawful by the Constitution or laws of the United States,
shall continue to accrue to the use of the State.
3. All recognizances heretofore taken shall remain valid, and all bonds executed to the
governor of the State of Florida, either before or since the 1st day of January, 18(51, or to
any other officer of the State in his official capacity, shall be of full force and virtue for the
uses therein respectively expressed, and may be sued for and recovered accordingly; and all
criminal prosecutions and px^mil actions which have arisen may be prosecuted to judgment
and execution in the name of the State.
4. The provisional governor of this State is hereby requested to authorize the civil officers
of this State who were discharging the duties of their offices prior to or during the mouth of
May, A D. J8G5, to resume the execcise of the functions of their respective offices, and to
make such other appointments to office as may be necessary or proper to reorganize or re
establish the civil government of this State; and all actions at law, or suits in chancery, or
any proceeding pending in any of the courts in this State, prior to or during the said month
of May. A. D. JSG5, and either before or subsequent to the JOth day of January. A. D I8GJ,
shall continue in all respects valid, and may be prosecuted to judgment and decree ; and all
judgments and decrees rendered in civil cases in any of the courts in this State during the
period of time last above specified, and not repugnant to the Constitution of the United
States, are hereby declared of lull force, validity, and effect.
5. The provisional governor of the State is hereby requested and authorized, at as early a
day as practicable, to issue writs of election to the proper officers in the <J;ileieut counties in
this State, and make proclamation for an election for governor lieutenant governor, sec
retary of state, treasurer, comptroller of public, accounts, attorney general, cm-ui'. judges, judge
of probate, sheriffs, clerks of circuit courts, solicitors, representative in Congress, senators and
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 3 1
representatives of the general assembly, county commissioners, coroners, justices of the
peace, county surveyors, and all other officers provided for by this constitution. The said
election shall be held on the 29th day of November, A. D. 1865. The said election shall be
conducted according to the existing laws of the State of Florida, and shall take placo on the
same day throughout the State, the returns to be made according to law. The members of
the general assembly so elected shall assemble on the third Monday in December, A. D.
3865. The governor* lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer, comptroller of public
accounts, attorney general, circuit judges, judges of probate, sheriffs, clerks of circuit courts,
solicitors, representative in Congress, senators and representatives of the general assembly,
county commissioners, coroners, justices of the peace, county surveyors, and all other officers
provided for by this constitution, shall enter upon the duties of their respective offices imme
diately after their election, and shall continue in office in the same manner and during the
same period they would have done had they been elected on the 1st Monday in October, A. D.
186'5. The representative in Congress shall continue in office in the same manner and during
the same period he would have done had he been elected on the 1st Monday in October,
A. D. 18C5.
G. The statutes of limitation shall not be pleaded 'upon any claim in the hands of any
person whomsoever, not sued upon when such claim was not barred by the statutes of limita
tion on the lUth day of January, A. D. 1861.
7. No law of this State providing that claims or demands against the estates of decedents
shall be barred if not presented within two years, shall be considered as being in force within
this State between the JUth day of January, J8G1, and the 28th day of October, 1805.
Done in open convention. In witness whereof, the undersigned, the president of said con
vention, and delegates present, representing the people of Florida, do hereby sign our names,
this the seventh day of November, anno Domini eighteen hundred and sixty-rive, and of
the independence ot the United States of America the ninetieth year, and the secretary of
said convention doth countersign the same.
E. D. TRACY, President.
THOMAS BALTZELL, DANIEL G. LIVINGSTON,
A. II. BUSH, THOMAS T. LONG,
F. B. CALLAWAY, JAMES LOVE,
JAMES T. MAGBEE, JOHN MCLELLAN,
G. TROUP MAXWELL, JAMES A. MICKLER, Jr.,
ASA MAY, S. L. NIBLACK,
W. B. COOPER, SILAS T. OVERSTREET,
W. R. COULTER, JAMES G. OWENS,
R. H. M. DAVIDSON, JOHN C. RICHARD,
ARTHUR J. FORMAN, JACKSON N. RLCHARDS,
ALEXANDER BELL, A. RICHARDSON,
JAMES GETTIS, W. WASH. SCOTT,
W. J. J. DUNCAN, MOSES SIMMONS,
JAMES D. GREEN, S. SPENCER,
FRANCIS A. HENDRY, J. L. TAYLOR,
W. JAMES MINES, G. K. WALKER,
D. P. HOGUE, D. W. WHITEHURST,
J. W. H. HOLDEN, JAMI:S A. WIGGINS,
JAMES F. P. JOHNSON, B. D. WRIGHT,
WTILLIAM W. J. KELLY, WILLIAM WILSON,
J. M. LANDRUM, WILLIAM CAPERS BIRD,
JESSE B. I^ASSITER, WILEY W. WHIDDEN.
FELIX LESLIE,
A. J. PEELER, Secretary,
Ordinances adopted at a convention of the people asscmlhd at the city of Tallahassee on the
25* h day of October, 18G5.
No. 1.
AN ORDINANCE to annul the ordinance of secession.
Whereas the people of the State of Florida are desirous, in good faith, to restore the State
to her former peaceful relations with the United States : Therefore,
Be it ordained by the people of the State of Florida in convention assembled, That the ordi
nance adopted by the convention of the people on the 10th day of January, A. D. 1861.
known as the secession ordinance, be, Hiid the same is hereby, annulled.
Done in open convention, October 28, 1865.
32 RECONSTRUCTION.
No. 2.
INO. '£.
AN ORDINANCE to provide for the pay and mileage of the members and other expenses of
the convention.
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Florida in convention assembled, That
the provisional governor of this State be empowered and authorized to borrow a .sum of money
sufficient to pay and discharge the pay and mileage of the members of this 'convention its
Officers, and all incidental expenses, and that he be authorized to sign a bond for the payment
of the money borrowed, with interest thereon, not exceeding the rate of eight per centum per
annum, the said bond to be paid and discharged out of the first money collected and paid into
the treasury, which may be sufficient for that purpose.
SEC. 2. Be it further orda<ned, That, in default of the ability of the provisional governor to
borrow the said sum of money, he be authorized to issue certificates of indebtedness to defray
the aforesaid pay and expenses, which certificates shall be made payable to the person or
bearer and shall be received in payment of all public dues, and be first paid in preference to
any other claim or demand against the State, out of any money hereafter collected and paid
into the treasury.
SEC. 3. Be it further ordained, That the pay of the members of this convention shall be a
per diem ot five dollars and mileage at ten cents per mile each way.
r uEC' *'J?C i{furi}l4ir ordained, That the pay of the officers of this convention shall be as
follows : The secretary shall receive for his services eight dollars per day, and each of his as
sistants shall receive for their services six dollars per day; the sergeant-at-arms shall receive
lor his services six golfers per day ; the doorkeeper for his services six dollars per dav • and
the messenger for his services six dollars per day.
SKC. 5 .lie it further ordained, That the secretary of the convention be, and he is hereby,
authorized to audit the account of the members and all other expenses, and upon a certificate
signed by the president and secretary, the same shall be paid by the provisional governor, as
hereinbefore provided.
Done in open convention, November 4, 1865.
No. 3.
AN ORDINANCE to repeal certain ordinances and acts therein mentioned, and for other
purposes.
SECTION ] . Be it ordained by the people of the State of Florida in convention assembled, That
au ordinances and resolutions heretofore passed by any convention of the people of this State
and all acts and resolutions of the general assembly of this State, conflicting or inconsistent
with the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Florida, and in derogation of
the existence or position of this State as one of the United States of America, be and'the same
are hereby, repealed.
Sec. '2. That all lawful and regular acts of the several executive, judicial, and ministerial
officers ot this State, since the lOth day of January, A. D. 1861, be, and the sumo are hereby
declared to be, in all respects regular, valid, ami justifiable.
SEC. 3. That it shall be the duty of the general assembly to make provision whereby per
sons who held offices under the United States in this State on or before the 10th day of Jan-
lary, A. 1). 186J, may be reimbursed or held without damage for moneys or other property
in their possession belonging to the government of the United States, and which were bv them
I over or paid to the treasury or government of the State.
SEC. 4. That all marriages to which there was no legal impediment, solemnized in this
State since the 10th day of January, A. D. 186J, by an ordained minister of the gospel, jus
tice ot the peace, judicial officer of this State, notary public, or commissioned officer in the
army or navy of the United States, shall be, and the same are hereby declared to be Wai
and binding, to all intents and purposes whatsoever.
Done in open convention, November 4, 1865.
No. 4.
AN ORDINANCE en vagrancy.
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Florida in convention assembled,
Inat upon complaint made on oath before a justice of the peace, mavor, alderman, or
intendant of police, or a judge of the circuit court, that any person able to work, or other
wise to support himself in a reputable way, is wandering or strolling about, or leading an
idle or profligate, or immoral course of life, to issue his warrant to the sheriff or anv con
stable, commanding him to arrest the party accused and bring him before such justice of the
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 33
peace or other officer, and if the said officer should be satisfied by the testimony of the guilt
of the accused, the said officer shall require him to enter into bond, payable to the governor
of Florida and his successors in office, in such sum as the said officer may prescribe, not to
exceed live hundred dollars, with sufficient security, to be approved by said officer, for h:s
good behavior and future industry for one year ; and upon his tailing or refusing to give siu-h
security, he shall be committed and indicted as a vagrant, and on conviction shall be
punished by a fine not exceeding five hundred dollars, and imprisoned for a time not exceed
ing twelve months, or by being sold for a term not exceeding twelve months, at the dis
cretion of the court, and that this ordinance shall be in force only until the general assembly
shall make provision on this subject.
SEC. 2. That it shall be the duty of the general assembly to pass such laws as it may
deem best calculated to prevent vagrancy in this State.
Done in open convention, November 4, 1865.
No. 5.
AN ORDINANCE to continue in force certain acts therein mentioned.
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Florida in convention assembled,
That all acts and amendments heretofore passed in relation to the municipal governments of
the cities of Pensacola and Appalachicola, not repugnant to the Constitution of the United
States, be, and the same are hereby, declared to be in full force.
SEC. 2, An election for mayor and other municipal officers may be held on the fourth
Monday in November, 1865, under the rules prescribed in the charters of said cities; and
the mayor and other members of the city government so elected shall continue in office as
though they were regularly elected on the election day fixed in the respective charters of the
cities of Peusacola and Appalachicola.
SEC. 3. That all acts and amendments thereto relating to the Alabama and Florida rail
road be, and the same are hereby, confirmed and declared to be in full force.
Done in open convention, November 6, 1865.
No. 6.
AN ORDINANCE in relation to the State treasury notes.
Be it ordained J/y the people, of the State of Florida in convention assembled. That all State
treasury notes issued, and all other liabilities contracted by the State of Florida on or after
the I Oth day of January, A. D. 1861, to the 25th day of October, A. D. 1865, except such
liabilities as may be due to the seminary and school funds, and such other liabilities as are
provided for by this constitution, be and are declared void, and the general assembly shall
nave no power to provide for the payment of the same or any part thereof.
Done in open convention, November 6, 1865.
No. 7.
AN ORDINANCE in relation to State liabilities.
Be it ordained by the people of the State of Florida in conrention assembled, Thr.t the
•rdinance in relation to State liabilities and treasury notes shall not be construed to invali
date, impair, or make void any bonajide contract or liability of the State of Florida incurred
or undertaken prior to the date of the ordinance of secession: Provided, That this ordinance
shall not apply to any claims which have heretofore been declared fraudulent or have been
rejected by the State.
Done in open convention, November 7, 1865.
No. 8.
AN ORDINANCE in reference to contracts made during the late war.
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Florida in convention assembled,
That in all proceedings in the courts of this State founded upon a contract or contracts made
and entered into during the late war between the United States and the late Confederate
States, the courts are hereby authorized to admit testimony as to the value of the property or
consideration contemplated by the parties to said contracts, and to instruct the jury to rind
accordingly, provided that the defendant shall allege by plea under oath, and prove to the
3 F L T
34 RECONSTRUCTION.
satisfaction of the jury, that the currency contemplated in the payment of said contract or
contracts was confederate or State treasury notes, or upon what basis the consideration, or
the value of the property or its use, which was estimated at the time of the formation of said
con tract or contracts. '
SKC. 2. Be it further ordained, That executors, administrators, trustees and guardians are
hereby authorized, by and with the approval of the probate court, to compromise with persons
against whom they hold notes or claims made during the war aforesaid, upon the basis of the
real value of tbe property or consideration for which said notes were given, or upon which
said claims were founded.
Done in open convention, November 7, 18G5.
No. 9.
AN ORDINANCE for the relief and protection of certain persons therein named.
SECTION 1. Be it ordained by the people of the State of Florida in convention assembled,
That in all cases in which judgment or decrees of the courts of this State have been rendered
against parties in the military service, whether such parties were defendants or plaintiffs in
their own right, or as the representatives of otters, the said parties ^hall have the right of
rehearing, new trial, or appeal for six months after the reorganization of the State government
Tinder this constitution, and no execution or other process shall it-sue under such judgment or
decree until after the expiration of six mouths, provided that the party asking for such re
hearing, new trial, or appeal shall make it appear to the satisfaction of the court that the
case on bis part has not been fully heard upon the merits, before such motion shall bo granted.
Done in open convention, November 7, 1865.
RESOLUTIONS.
No. 1.
A RESOLUTION making it the duty of the secretary of the convention to have published
and to distribute the ordinances and constitution adopted by the convention, and for other
purposes.
Resolved, That, as soon as practicable after the adjournment of this convention, it shall be
the duty of the secretary of the same to have published the ordinances and constitution
adopted by this convention, with a general index thereto, and with such marginal notes and
references as may be proper, and that when so published he shall send to each member of
this convention three copies of said ordinances and constitution, with three copies of the
journal of proceedings ; and that fo.r his services he shall receive such compensation as may
be fixed by the next general assembly.
Sr.r. 2. Be it further resolved, That when the secretary shall have discharged the duties
required of him by this resolution, he shall file with the secretary of state all the enrolled
ordinances and the constitution adopted, with all other books and papers remaining in his
hands and appertaining to the proceedings of this convention.
Adopted in open convention, November 3, 1865.
No. 2.
A RESOLUTION in reference to Jefftrson Davis, of Mississippi
AVhereas the convention of the State of Florida feel deep solicitude for the president of the
late southern confederacy, Jefferson Davis, and bring mindful that he was bur an instrument
of the people of the southern States, and guilty only to the extent of others, win. have
already been pardoned for the same offence, and respectfully suggesting that in his release
the g .'vernnient would illustrate its wisdom, magnanimity, and clemency, not only to the
people of the United States, but the world at layge:
Resolved, That his excellency Andrew Johnson. President of the United States, whose
administration has been signalized in a most extraordinary de-riee by the y.rent virtues of
c emeiicv and me ivy, be requested to extend a pardon to the said Jetler.-on Dav.s.
lii^olrul further. That the president of this convention be requested to communicate this
resolution to his excellency President Johnson.
Adopted in open convention., November 4, Ib65.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 35
No. 3.
A RESOLUTION in reference to S. R. Mallory aiid others, of Florida.
Whereas 'the convention, in common with the people of Florida, take a deep interest in
their ennui-lit fellow-citizens, the houorables D. 8. Yulee, S. R. Mallory, and Governor A.
K. Allison, now lor a long time detained in confinement by the general government, and feel
ing assured that they are no only well disposed and loyal to the government, but by their
talents, energy, and lair standing, would exert a favorable influence in restoring order and
prosperity to t'he State in her present disturbed condition, whilst their own private affairs and
the condition of their families require also their presence at home :
Be it thertfurf n:solced by this convention, That a deputation consisting of three persons
be selected bv the convention to wait upon the President of the United States at an early
period and respectfully to present the cogent claims of these individuals to his clemency,
and to express to him the great gratification it would afford the convention and people of
Florida to have their speedy release.
Adopted in open convention, November 4, 1865.
No. 4.
A RESOLUTION requesting his excellency the provisional governor to appoint a com
mission of three qualified gentlemen to examine and report to the next session of the gen
eral assembly, for their action thereupon, certain matters therein mentioned.
Rp.solccd, That his excellency the provisional governor be requested to appoint a com
mission of three qualified- gentlemen to examine and report to the next session of the general
assembly, for their action thereupon, the changes and amendments to be made to the exist
ing statutes, and the additions required thereto, so as to cause the same to conform to the
requisitions of the amended constitution, and with reference especially to the altered condi
tion of the colored race, under the operation of the President's proclamation of emancipation,
and the action of this convention.
Adopted in open convention, November 6, 1865.
No. 5.
A RESOLUTION requesting his excellency the provisional governor to exert himself to
have removed from the interior of the State, at as early a day as possible, the colored
troops of the United States, and for other purposes.
Resolved, That his excellency the provisional governor be respectfully requested to exert
himself to have removed from the interior of the State, at as early a day as possible, the
colored troops of the United States, and to the end that good order and peace may be pre
served, the provisional governor is hereby authorized to organize the militia forces of this
State for such purposes when in his opinion it may be necessary.
Adopted in open convention November 6, 1865.
WASHINGTON, February 3, 1866.
Brigadier General W. E. Strong appeared and presented the following report on the condi
tion of affairs in the State of Texas :
WAR DEPARTMENT,
BUREAU OF REFUGEES, FREEDMEN, AND ABANDONED LANDS,
Washington, D. C., January 1, 1866.
GENERAL : In accordance with instructions received from you early in October last, as con
tained in Special Orders No. 84, dated at these headquarters, I have the honor respectfully to
submit for your information the following report of my action and observation in the State
of Texas :
1 passed little more than a month in the State, and during that time used every endeavor
to ascertain the true condition of the freedmen; what they were doing to support themselves,
and what the citizens of Texas, their former masters, were doing for them under the new
order of things.
As it was impossible for me to visit every portion of the State without remaining several
mouths, and as the time allowed for my inspection was limited, I decided, alter consultation
36 RECONSTRUCTION.
with various officers on dutv at Galvoston and Houston, to travel in the eastern portion of
the State on the Trinity river, and between the Trinity and N-c-h.-s rivers. This secttonoi
country is acknowledged by all officers and citizens with whom I conversed to be the very
wont Lrtiou of tho State and it. was thought that more good could he done on this route
tluJn any other. 1 also visited the extreme western portion of the State and several points
alono- tl'ic eoast between Galveston and the month of the Eio Grande^
1 travelled with an escort of cavalry furnished by Major General Mower commanding at
Houston, and was accompanied us far as Huntsville by Brigadier General L.M. Gregory
assistant commissioner of this bureau for the State of Texas, and Colonel De Grass, provost
marshal general of the district commanded by General Mower, and who, m addition to his
military duties, has eharge of the freedmen, reporting direct to General Gregory
At Huntsville Generaf Gregory and myself separated-he swinging to the lei and head-
in- towards Mellicnn, the terminus of the railroad, and I, accompanied by Colonel I
with a portion of the escort, striking out in a due easterly course, crossing the Irmit;
at Evan's ferrv General Gregory and I separated, not on account of any disagreement or
miScre anding as was «Torted in New Orleans by a Texas delegation and te ographed
over the country: but simply for the reason that we believed more good could tovxQiar
^^^^r line of march the freedmen were collected togeth er from the
surrounding country, and as many of the planters as could be induced to at end and a
dressed by General Gregory and myself. We explained to them in as simple and clear a
manner as possible theiF rights, privileges and responsibilities, and what the government and
Country expected of them as freedmen. We told them that they were tree, and that they
could never be slaves again ; that they were free to go and come wherever they pleased and
to work for whomever they thought proper, and to control and use their own wages, and that
they had the same right to purchase and own land, horses, mules and farming implements
hat any whit person had f and we advised them, when they had accumulated money enough
to buy a piece of land, to invest it in that way. We also advised them to remain at heir old
homeland hire to thefc former masters if they had been kindly treated and could obtain fair
compensation for their labor ; and if not, to look about and make ""^.^.P""*
whom they had confidence, and who would treat them iairly and pay them liberally tor the r
work We urged upon them the necessity of making contracts tor the year Ifcbb, and when
Tee made that they must observe and fulfil them religiously ; and that if any of them broke
a con tract, through^ fault of the employer, they would forfeit their wages or be compelled
to carry out theifportion of the agreement. We also disabused their minds of the r,po,
that had been circulated very freely among them by corrupt and evil-designed persons aa ft
a general distribution of the property; and impressed upon their minds the tact th at there
wfs to be no division of lands, horses, mules, and tanning utensils on ISewlear s day tha
the lands were owned by the citizens of Texas, and not by the government ; that the I. mted
States had nothing whatever to give them ; that they had been made free by the action of
^egovWment fnd that in return for this they must show by their industry and perao-
VSralttyT:nV^sf a^tly able speaker, and these meetings, which wer,
usually held at uiiht, and conducted by him 'in conjunction with religious exercises I sun
we 11 satisfied made a lasting impression upon the freedmen, and resulted in much good.
I no my wish or intention to pass judgment upon the entire State of I exas by wha I
saw on my inspection tour. I, of course, travelled over but a small portion ot the State,
and, • I LveVeretofore remarked, in what is known as the very worst section. In the
large cities, such as Galveston, Houston, San Antonio, and Austin then- are many most ex
cellent men; men who are anxious and willing to abide by the laws ot the country, and
who would use all their influence and energy to promote peace and harmony among the
freedmen and whites. I found this to be true in several ot the larger ernes which 1 > sited,
it was particularly the case in Houston. I met as fine gentlemen as I have evei
was treated bv them, during my visit in the city, with the greatest kindness and cour esy
Thv a majority of these gentlemen were sincere in their expressions 1 am thoroughly e
n United States troops, and held , nndtt
strfc military discipline; and the citixens dare not express themselves m an un rendlv
n aniier towards the United States soldiers and the government, even though t.iey le
ined to do so. In the interior of the State, one or two hundred miles from the pi eminent
cties way froin the influence of federal troops and federal bayonets, at points where our
a my ha never penetrated, and whore the eiti/.ens have but little tear ot arrest and punish-
mem foTcSSmmitted, I assunj you there is a fearful state of things ; the trceduien are
rule, treated well. Cases of extreme
, .
crue we every rare. It was tor the interest of the master to take care ot them, and not
to H fVe U h,\ n ;y now it is quite different ; they have QO interest in tl.eir .eliare, and seem to
take everv ouuortunity to vent their rago and hatred upon the blacks. 1 hey are t.i;Mueuny
beaten umuei fully, aud shot down Uke wild beasts, without any provocation foUowea
wi? h oimd and maltreated iu every possible way. It is the same old rtory ot cruelty
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS 3 7
only there is more of it in Texas than any southern State that I have visited. I could cite
many casts of cruelty that came under my own observation if it were necessary to do so.
The planters generally seemed discouraged, and insisted that the system of free labor
would never answer ; that the negroes were idle and worthless, and showed no disposition
to work, and were wandering about the country utterly demoralized, and were plundering
and stealing indiscriminately from the citizens. It was also generally reported by the white
people that the freed men failed wholly to fulfil their contracts, and that when they were
needed most to save the cotton crop they would stop their work and leave them, and without
any cause whatever.
After a careful investigation, I don't find these charges against the freed men to be wholly
true. The entire crop raised in Texas — cotton, corn, sugar, and what was gathered and
saved by the first of December — most assuredly no white man in Texas had anything to do
with gathering the crops except, perhaps, to look on and give orders. Who did the work ?
The freedmen, I am well convinced, had something to do with it, and yet there is a fierce
murmur of complaint against them everywhere that they are lazy and insolent, and that
there is no hope for a better condition of affairs unless they can be permitted to resort to the
overseer, whip and hounds.
Two-thirds of the freedmen in the section of country which I travelled over have never
received one cent of wages since they were declared free. A few of them were promised
something at the end of the year, but instances of prompt payment of wages are very rare.
Net one m ten would have received any. compensation for labor performed during the year
18G5, had it not been for the vigorous measures resorted to by Colonel DeGrass, provost
marshal general of the district of Houston, who sends into the interior, frequently two hun
dred miles, and arrests the parties who have been guilty of cruelty to the freed people ; and
where they have violated their contracts with them, compels them to mak*' fair and equita
ble settlements. Colonel DeGrass has a small command of cavalry under his control, and
he keeps it in motion constantly through the country searching for parties who have mur
dered or maltreated the freedmen. I cannot speak too highly of the course pursued by the
colonel. He displays the same earnestness of purpose, and fearlessness in the discharge of
his duty, that he ever did in the old army of the Tennessee; and although his life has been
threatened by the chivalric citizens of the country, yet he is not deterred by their threats
from discharging his duty, as he understands it. He is a true friend of the black people,
and will not see them ill used. I know that some of the lessons which he has taught the
citizens in the vicinity of Houston will not soon be forgotten.
I saw freedmen east of the Trinity river who did not know that they were free until I told
them There had been vague rumors circulated among them that they were to be free on
Christmas day, and that on New Years there was to be a grand division of the property;
that one-half was to be given to the black people. The report circulated so extensively
among the freedmen with regard to a division of the property on or about the holidays, and
which was believed by many of them, was taught them by the citizens during the war.
Public speakers in different portions of the State declared and insisted that the only object
the Yankees had in continuing the war was to free the negroes, and that if the southern peo
ple were beaten, all the lands and property would be taken from them and given to the
blacks, and that the poor white and rich people alike would be enslaved. It is not strange
that the freedmen, hearing this matter talked of publicly for four years by men of influence
and standing, should finally believe there was some truth in it. Nearly all the freedineu I
met preferred to wait till after New Years be lore making contracts for the year 18(56.
In the vicinity of Mount Jordan and Jasper, on the Neches river, and San Augustine, and
in all that section of country situated and being between the Neches and Sabme rivers, and
as far north as Henderson, I was credibly informed ami iirnlly believe that the freedmen are
still held in a state of slavery, and aie being treated with the most intense cruelty by their
former masters ; and I am well satisfied that the freedmen will be kept in ignorance of their
true status, and will be forced to work without wages in these isolated districts, until troops
can be sent to occupy, fora time at least, this portion of the State, and until a few wholesome
lessons have been administered to the natives. One campaign of an army through the eastern
part of the State, such as was made by General Sherman in South Carolina, would greatly
improve the temper and generosity of the people.
The most intense hatred is shown by many of the citizens of the country towards northern
men, officers and soldiers of our army, and the United States government. Very many of
the ex-confederate officers and soldiers wear their old uniforms, with buttons, insignia of
rank, and nearly every man we met in travelling was armed with a kmfc, seven-shooter,
and double barrelled shot-gun. At hotels, and various places where we hajted for the night,
the gallant cavaliers who claim that they whipped the Yankees in the last battle of the war,
and that they are able to do it every day in the year, would co lect in groups and talk, in a
tone particularly intended for our cars, of the deeds they had performed, and aie number of
Yankees they had slain, and that if an opportunity ever occurred they were ready and anx
ious to fight against the United States.
After leaving Iluntsville our escort was reduced to twelve men, and a disposition was
shown upon one occasion to attack the party; but the Spencer carbines carried by the men
rather deterred them from so doing. Wo were not molested. We were treated, however, on
3 8 RECONSTRUCTION.
the road and in the villages at which wo stopped with the most marked discourtesy and
contempt. I cannot account for tin- bitter feeling tli.it seems to exist against soldiers In-long
ing to our army and the government, unless it inaj be for the reason that they know less
about the war, and have seen less of our troops than any other people, and therefore cannot
appreciate the power and strength of the government. In other .southern States I have been
treated with greater courtesy and kindness by officers and soldiers of the confederate army
than by any oiher class of people.
In my judgment, .there is but little trouble in getting the freedmen to work if the citizens
will treat them with some degree of fairness and honesty, and pay them reasonable Avages
when they work well, and luih'l their own promises and agreements. They have as yet of
fered no inducements for the freed people to labor.
I am not surprised that they have refused to make contracts for the present year. They
have universally been treated with bad faith, and very few have received any compensation
for work performed up to the close of the year 1865.
I cannot blame them for hesitating about making contracts which were to bind them for
a year, and with no guarantee that they were to be treated better than when they were slaves.
They have received, thus far, for their work, as a class, curses, blows, poor clothing, and
poorer food. There are exceptions. I learned the names of a few planters who had done
well by the freedmen, and had paid ten dollars per month in specie for first-class field labor,
and the other hands in proportion; but .seven out of every ten who have paid wages to the
freed people, in the vicinity of Houston, have done so over the point of the bayonet in the
office of the provost marshal general, rather than go to jail.
General Gregory assured them that their employers would be forced to pay them every
farthing that was justly due ; and I have learned that, during the month of December
many contracts were entered into for the year 1866.
The crop raised and gathered m Texas during the past year is immense, and provisions
ought to be very abundant. There is certainly sufficient to feed all classes, white and black,
rich and poor, if it could be properly distributed among them. The great difficulty is, the
corn and wheat is all in the hands of the wealthy planters, and the poor white people, who
did not own land, cannot obtain it for love or money.
The planters hold on to their corn, expecting there will be a scarcity in the spring, and that
it will then command exorbitant prices ; and, further, they fear to sell it to their poor neigh
bors, thinking, if they get a few bushels ahead, they might possibly hire some of the fieed-
men. Frequently the poor white people came to us and entreated us to interfere and compel
the rich people to sell them corn enough so that their wives and children would not starve.
I heard several of them say that tliey had been in the confederate service through the war,
and now that they had lived to get home, the wealthy men, who had been instrumental in
sending them to the field, would not assist them when in distress, nor could they purchase
corn for one dollar per bushel in specie to keep their families fr>m perishing.
If the freedmen fail in obtaining employment the present year, and if the planters refuse
to sell their corn to the poor white people at reasonable rates, there will necessarily be great
suffering in many portions of the State.
According to the best statistics I have been able to obtain, there were in the State, at the
beginning of the war, about two hundred and seventy-five thousand (^?">,(}()0) slaves. Dur
ing the war, and prior to its close, about one hundred and twenty-five thousand (J^f>.ou>)
were sent there from other southern States to keep them out of the way of the United States
forces, and for safe-keeping; making a total of about four hundred thousand (-100,000) at
the time of the surrender of the confederate armies. The great mass of freedmen were
owned and still remain on the rich plantations situated on the Sabine, Neches, Trinity, Bra
zos, and Colorado rivers, and within u distance of i5f>0 or 400 miles from the Gulf coast.
There are few freedmen north of Waco, on the Brazos river, or north of Austin, on the Colo
rado : a few are to be found as high up as Gonza'es and Signim. on the Guadahipe. but not
west of that river. Western and northwestern Texas is a wild, uncultivated, barren region,
anrt is occupied and held, and has been for years, by the Indians. The Coinauches com
mitted depredations in November within fifteen or twenty miles of Waco.
Of the 125,1100 freedmen sent, to Texas for safe-keeping during the war. from Louisiana,
Mississippi, and other States, nearly all of them are anxious to return to their old homes, or
at all events to get out of Texas. Thousands of this number have already returned, and
there is a constant stream pouring through the interior of the State in an easterly direction,
heading towards Louisiana.
The route usually taken by these people is the old San Antonio road, leading from Bastor,
on the Co orado,. through Caldwell. Madison, Crocket, and from thence running a little north
of east to Millan, on the Sabine liver, near the Louisiana line. This roa'd is famous as being
the first and best route leading across Texas, and all the refugees get on to this road as soon
as possible.
' I found General Gregory stationed at Galveston, and am satisfied that he is doing every
thing in his power to regulate the system of labor throughout the Suite. He has labored
with the most untiring industry since he has been in Texas to settle difficulties between
whites and freedmen satisfactorily and justly, and has passed a great deal of his time in
travelling through the country, correcting abuses, and explaining to the heedineu their truo
^FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 39
•status, and what was expected of them by the government. lie understands your views
and policy well, and will carry out your wishes to the best of his ability and against all op-
rition. I do not think it possible for any man to hold General Gregory's position in Texas,
justice to the freed men, and be popular with the people. The general has been particu
larly unfortunate in not being able to obtain officers to assist him in the work, lie is almost
entirely alone, having only six or seven subordinates, who are all stationed at the larger
cities. * In order to correct abuses, and regulate the labor system thoroughly throughout the
country, General Gregory should have fifty good officers to assist ; and if th se could be
placed on duty at the principal villages in the interior, for 350 miles north of the coast, arid
a small force of troops sent with each assistant to enforce law and order, it would be but a
short time before a decided improvement would be observed. It is the opinion of every
stanch Union man with whom I conversed, and of nearly every officer on duty in the
State, that if the United States troops were removed from Texas no northern man, nor any
person who had ever expressed any love Tor northern institutions or for the government of
the United States, could remain with safety, and the condition of the freed people would be
worse, beyond comparison, than it was before the war, and when they were held in bondage.
I have the honor, general, to remain, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
WM. E. STRONG, Inspector General
Major General O. O. HOWARD,
Commissioner Bureau Refugees, Frcedmen, Sfc.
WASHINGTON, February 7, 1866.
Major General David S. Stanley sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. State your position in the army, and what opportunities you have had for learn
ing the condition of things in the State ot Texas.
Answer. I was major general of volunteers and major in the regular army. I commanded
the fourth corps in the army of the Cumberland, and took that corps of 10,000 men to Texas
about the first of July last. We lauded at Indianola, and the troops were stationed there, at
San Antonio, and other points between the Brazos and Neuces rivers. I commanded the district
in Texas included between those rivers. From July until about the first of December, when
I left Texas, I had troops stationed over the greater part of the settled portion of that country.
My opportunities for learning the condition of things were from personal observation and
from reports of subordinates to me.
Question. State in a narrative form what you found to be the condition of things in that
State when you arrived there, and what they are at this time in respect to the circumstances
of the people, and their views and feelings towards the general government.
Answer. When I arrived in Texas, very soon after the breaking up of the rebel army, I found
matters very unsettled. The negroes had learned of the disposition that was to be made of
them by the government ; that is, that they were free. In the immediate, vicinity of the
troops there was no effort upon the part of the masters to restrain them ; but at points some
what remote — and that is a country of big distances — at points forty or fifty miles away from the
troops, the former owners tried to constrain the negroes to remain on the plantations. They
threatened them, and sometimes used violence; killing them in some instances. I remem
ber four or five instances where negroes were killed for trying to leave their masters. Of
course we endeavored in every case to arrest the murderers, arid we arrested, if possible, any
person who was even guilty of whipping negroes ; but this was difficult to do ; they generally
succeeded in eluding our pursuit. There was a widespread feeling at that time in Texas
that as that State had not been surrendered by Lee, and, as they said, not conquered by the
United States, slavery was still worth holding on to. And even where slaves left the planta
tions, their masters were very careful to trace them up, believing they would" be in some
way compensated for them if they were not restored. It was the almost universal feeling in
Texas that the government was bound to pay for the negroes. A large proportion of re
turned rebel officers, especially those who had been east, were disposed to accept the condi
tion of affairs as they found them, and submit to the government of the United States with
out any opposition or grumbliug ; but those who had remained at home — the greater portion
of the rebel army in Texas — were insolent and overbearing where they dared to be, and
were not afraid of military punishment, cursing the government and the Yankees ; and they
are so yet. It is necessary, however, to discriminate between the Americans and the Ger
mans in that country. The Germans, who form a very large proportion of ihe inhabitants of
western Texas, are a loyal people — highly so. They are even radical; they go beyond the
Americans in Union sentiment vastly. I think the only Union men 1 knew fn Texas, men of
any influence, would be comprised in ten persons. My belief— and I think it is well
founded — is, that the people ihere will submit to the United States government in a sulky
way. I do not think there need be any fear of an outbreak or resistance to the government,
but that if we become involved in a foreign war almost the entire American populatioL u
40 RECONSTRUCTION.
IVxas would go over to our enemies if they thought they had any chance of succeeding. And
that is not only my opinion, but 1 heard the same opinion expressed by Union men of ability
tlnr, such men as Judge Paschal, for instance, of San Antonio, who knows the people
better than I do.
Question. r^id you go among these Germans to whom you refer?
Answer. Yes, sir; I was intimate with them; I knew them well. They were the only
people, with the exception of the few Union men I have mentioned and one pardoned rebel
at San Antonio, who met us very kindly, with whom we were on any social relations at all.
rJ he Germane there were, as a class, very cultivated and refined people, superior to any
Germans I have met in this country.
Question. You spoke of meeting ten Union men ; did you mean ten Americans?
. Answer. Yes, sir. I do not wish to be understood that that is the precise number. The
great body of the Americans, however, did not care to have any friendship for or affiliation
with us as officers. The women were universally rebels, contemptuous, and disposed to be
insolent to American officers whenever they could.
Question. What are the feelings of the negroes there as to the federal government?
Answer. The negroes have confidence in any man they know to be from the north. Any
thing a northern man tells them, if they know him to be a northern man, they believe. I
found no difficulty in inducing the negroes at any time to do anything I told them was right,
and that they had better do it. The negroes at first were disposed not to work*, and they
were all opposed to working for their former owners. They could not comprehend that there
was any liberty or freedom in that. There was a good deal of confusion among the different
plantations on that account, the negroes leaving their former owners and going to other
places ; but that matter had greatly improved before I left. They were generally hiring out,
and I found in every case that came within my knowledge that when the employer would
pay the negro a liberal price — that is, a price he could afford to pay in that country — there
was no difficulty.
Question. State whether, in your judgment, the feeling towards the general government has
grown better or worse in Texas since the fall of the rebellion.
Answer. That is a question it is a little difficult to answer. In that country, especially on
the frontier, there was a very large population of lawless, violent men. WlVn we went to
Texas these men expected to be punished. They expected to be lodged in jail or run out of
the country. The course pursued was one of leniency, and my impression is that that lenient
course had a bad effect on that country ; that these fellows, finding there was no punish
ment in store for them, became more insolent, more disposed to resist the government, and
to oppress and outrage people of Union proclivities. The sentiment was diversified accord
ing to the district or place. Settlements in that State are widely separated, generally con
fined to the streams, and you will find, for instance, at San Antonio, at Victoria, and in the
neighborhood of the coast generally, people disposed to have peace, and disposed to do any
thing to aid the government— that is, the solid, thinking men— while in other places, siu'h
as Seguin, Columbus, Gouzales, and such points, you will find them bitterly hostile to the
government, evincing great disinclination to submit to the results of the war. I witnessed
that myself. I saw it take shape and form in insolence and disgraceful conduct towards
officers who were passing through the country. I had hard work on one occasion in keep
ing my staff officers, when they came through Gonzales, from shooting some of these fellows.
They wore rebel uniforms, except that they had taken off their stars, and were very insolent
and disreputable at the tavern where we stopped.
Question. Suppose these people are left to themselves, what sort of men will they probably
elevate to positions of place and power in the offices of the State?
Answer. I hope that in western Texas the German vote will be sufficient to enable them
to return Union men. It is a question whether they will have a majority or not. In the
other portions of the State they would send men who were leaders in secession; there is no
doubt of that. I consider Texas in a worse condition than any other State, for the reason
that they never were whipped there. Our military and naval operations there just touched
the coast, and did not affect the interior at all. The business men, generally rascals, made
money there during the war. There is more solid money, I think, in circulation in Texas
than in any other State. Even until we left Sau Antonio, when we went to market, wo
always took greenbacks and converted them into silver, which was the only circulating
medium of the country, and I presume is to-day. There has nothing happened to that
people to make them tired of war, except the killing of some of their relatives.
Question. What course would these people be likely to take, if left to themselves, with the
colored people of that country? ,
Answer. They would hold them in a bondage more galling than they were ever held before,
and they would be in a worse condition. I have no hesitation in making that statement.
Question. Can you te'ii what views the people have iheie as to the education of the blacks,
or as to their purchasing or holding real property, or anything of that kind?
Answer. No, sir; 1 cannot. There had no schools started when I left Texas. They were
about starting a colored school at- San Antonio. I heard no conversation about it, but any
pioposition about educating the colored people is received by a great portion of the residents
there with a sneer. 1 never heard the question mooted about their holding property, aud
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 41
cannot toll whether they would be opposed to it or not. The talk was this : that Texas, that
portion of it, is a stock-raising country, and I heard leading men there say in conversation
that the negro was a doomed race ; that he was a vagabond naturally ; would not work
unless compelled to; that in Texas he could live without work, because the herdd covered
the whole country; that they would go to killing cattle, and the consequence would be that
tlii-y wmild he killed by the owners of the cattle. The greater portion of the people there do
not believe that the negro will do anything if he can live or exist at all without:
Question. Is there any disposition there upon the part of the rebels, or would there be if
there were no restraint, to disturb these Geiman people ?
Answer. They would not dare to do it, and have not done it in any thickly settled portions
of the State. On the frontier the Germans were under a good deal of apprehension from
these men who had been rebel soldiers. I had three or four murderers in jail when I left,
and was making arrangements for a commission to try them. They were arrested for mur
dering prisoners, and came properly before the military courts. They were the only ones I
claimed jurisdiction over.
Question. What ft the condition of the courts in that State, so far as you know ; are they
organized and in operation?
Answer. No, sir; not in western Texas. The courts were being held only in a small
portion of the country there. I cannot speak for eastern Texas. I do not know as to that
portion of the State. The governor had appointed what he, no doubt, thought to be the best
men, and in cases where he knew them they were Union men. The judge at San Antonio is
a good Union man, and the chief justice is a good Union man, but there are some judges of
districts who are rebels. The governor said that he was going to correct that as fast as he
could. The judge of the district of Victoria is a man who held that the government was
bound to pay for the negroes. He did a good deal of harm by spreading that sentiment, and
arguing before the people that when the legislature of Texas got the State under their control
the negroes would be brought into the traces again. I refer to Judge White.
Question. Have the negioes there any adequate conception of the condition of things in
the country, or are they very ignorant ?
Answer. They are very ignorant. The belief wyhich existed among them in some of the
other States, that all the lands and property were to be divided among them, was at one time
almost universal among the negroes of Texas. I do not know how they got the idea, but
Lave no doubt that our own soldiers put them up to it sometimes out of mischief. Soldiers
are very apt to do such things, and I have no doubt the negro soldiers particularly gave them
the idea. A negro community is very much like a system of telegraph wires ; what one
knows the whole State knows in a very short time. *
Question. Were they learning otherwise when you left?
Answer. The agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, and the military officers at various points,
were instructed to address the negroes and tell them they could look for no such thing, and
I think they were becoming convinced of it. I think they know better now, though they
are very ignorant.
Question. Suppose they were allowed to vote at this time ; would the men who have been
their masters control their votes or not?
Answer. 1 think they would in all cases. I think the negro is so ignorant and so easily
influenced that .the man who would pay him a dollar a month more wages would have the
direction of his vote. They cannot read, and they have no means of getting information
excent such as the more intelligent part of community impart to them; except in this wild,
indefinite way — where a negro will spread a report of something he had heard, perhaps at
Indianola or San Antonio, a great deal more apt to be absurd and unreasonable than true.
Question. Could northern men go into Texas elsewhere than in the towns, acquire prop
erty, and do business in safety, without protection from the government at this time?
Answer. He could in some portions of Texas. I have referred already to the fact that the
people in some towns are more bitter, and in others more moderate. I could select places
where he would be safe. There are other places where this bitter feeling exists where he
would be unsafe.
Question. What degree of intelligence did you find among the white people of that country;
are they well informed as to matters and things pertaining to the affairs of the country, or
otherwise?
Answer. They are not well informed. They had no good means of being informed up to
the time I left. There were only three or four main post routes established through the State,
and they very rarely get hold of a newspaper published outside of Texas. There are news
papers published in the State, but I think I can safely say that four newspapers out of some
thing like a hundred are the only ones that may be regarded as loyal. One of them, " Fluke's
Bulletin," published at Galveston, is a paper of large circulation and a good deal of influence.
Question. What do you think, as to the necessity or not, of keeping a military force in
that State ?
Answer. I believe it will be a necessity for the next five years. I do not think there is a
necessity for a large force, but for police purposes; more to watch the people and have them
Understand that they are watched, than for any other reason. I believe the establishment
of posts through the entire settled portion of Texas will be necessary for five years at least,
42 RECONSTRUCTION.
nnd F do not know how much longer. The best Union man — as I consular him — in the
State, told me that if the troops were to he withdrawn from 'San Antonio, or if there was any
intention to withdraw them, lie wanted to know it. for he uould leave with them, lie thought
he could not live there without military projection, and I believe he is right. He i.s HU old
inhabitant too.
Question. What are the material circumstances of the people? Are they pretty well off
generally, or poor and impoverished?
Answer. The people generally are in very comfortable circumstances. A man can get
rich there by owning a few cows. It is the finest stock-raising country in the world. The
people are la/y ; they do not work much, for there i.s no necessity for it; cultivation is con
fined entirely to the alluvial bottoms. Stock-raising is the principal business of that country.
Property has greatly depreciated by the altered condition of affairs. It is hard to sav what
prices property is worth now; it has not begun to re-establish itself at all. Some people
anxious to gi-t away would sell for almost anything; others would believe their property
was worth as much as it was before the war. Bottom lands, unimproved before the war,
brought from s7 to £10 an acre, and improved lands as high as $30. *
Question. Were there many persons emigrating into that State when you were there?
Answer. No, sir ; I know of none except some few northern men — single men who were
working their way down there, raising cotton or trying to get into business— and some sol
diers who were mustered out and remained behind. There was nothing that you would call
an emigration at all.
Question. What, in your opinion, is the best course for the government to take in reference
to that State — to recognize it at once, and receive its representatives into Congress, or to
hold it in its present condition and continue to exercise military control over it ?
Answer. I would recognize the State; because I believe we could control these people
and pin them down to the undoubted policy of the government as easily as a State as we
can as a Territory. At the same time I think it would encourage the people to cultivate
loyalty. They no doubt feel a kind of despair at their condition now. I would establish the
Freedmen's Bureau under a proper and matured system, to watch the interests of the blacks.
I would consider that necessary. I would establish military posts over the State for the
purpose of protecting that bureau, fora general police of the aountry, and to show that the
United States is ready and willing to use its military force there if there is any necessity for it ;
I do not consider a large force necessary. Before the war Texas always had between three
and four thousand troops stationed within the State, and I think live thousand would be
enough now if they were properly distributed. Troops distributed on the main lines of com
munication could get information of any evidences of disloyalty or abuse of negroes through
out the State. You hear of it a long ways. Such information would come to me, for instance,
from 150 miles off. I do not see any advantage in holding these people in a territorial con
dition; I tUink we can handle them as well, as a State.
Question. Is there any probability in your mind, if the question were left to the people,
that they would extend to the blacks the right of suffrage, at any time, or in any form /
Answer. No, sir; they will not in any form whatever. Even those who are the most in
fluential men, who work with the Union party, and who were refugees from the State during
the war, are opposed to negro suffrage.
Question. That feeling, so far as you know, is universal, is it ?
Answer. It is universal. I have not seen a southern man who is in favor of negro suffrage
at this time. I have met liberal men in Texas who thought the negro ought to be educated,
and were willing to put him into a state of progress under a system that in twenty-five or
thirty years would fit him to exercise, the right of suffrage.
Question. What are the views of those Germans to whom you have referred about politi
cal matters, and the proper course to be pursued towards the negroes?
Answer. In conversation with the more intelligent Germans there, they have expressed
themselves in favor of educating the negro ; and as soon as he is capable of comprehending
the issues of the day, they are in favor of his voting. I do not think from my intercourse
with Germans who were educated men, men who were refugees from their own country, and
some of them formerly holding high positions in their own country, that they were in favor
of immediately extending suffrage to the negro; but they are much in advance of the
American population on that question. There is a Mexican population in that country who
have a vote, and they are no more fit for it than the negroes. They do not know anything,
and there are a great many of them, too. Mr. Hamilton, the governor, is not the most ac
ceptable man, even to the Union population. He is a man of talent, almost a genius ; but
he is a man of bad habits — drinks too much whiskey, and is considered unreasonable in
ni-iny things. I think Hancock would have made a more acceptable governor. He fled from
the State also during the war. I am disposed to think that time will work great changes
in the condition of the people of Texas. I think there will be a large emigration set in to
northern Texas. They have now nearly six hundred thousand white population, and pro
bably not more than two hundred and fifty thousand negroes; so that the chances of im
provement in that Stare, are about as good as in any that I know of.
Question. What is the number of < ionium voters, .should you think, in that State ?
Answer. Really, I cannot say. The German population is pretty much all west of the
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA TEXAS. 43
Brazos river, and is comprised, I think, -within one congressional district. They constitute
about halt' the population of western Texas, but I do not know their number. There has
been a scheme mooted ihere, long ago, to divide the State into western and eastern Texas,
under which the free-State party, the liberal men and the Germans, would control the western
State.
Question. State what you know as to returned rebels having arms.
Answer. I can say, I think within good and safe bounds, that every one of them has either
a six-shooter or a musket. They keep the muskets hid, but every man down there travelling
through the country has a six-shooter. They never turned in their arms, they concealed
them.
Question. Did youflearn anything about secret societies existing there ?
Answer. I do not think they have any. " They would be afraid to have anything of that
sort, for fear the fact would come to our knowledge, and some of the military authorities
would jerk them up I heard of one rebel general — I doiiov now remember his name ; I never
heard of him during the war — who was over there arguing the importance of keeping up
what he called their war organization. I intended to have got the authorities after him, but
he is not in Texas now ; he went back to Alabama. I heard the same kind of talk from a
common rebel soldier, but quite an intelligent man. I do not believe they have any secret
organization of that kind, i never heard of any
WASHINGTON, February 19, 1866.
Lieutenant Wilson Miller sworn and examined.
By Mr WILLIAMS:
Question. State if you have recently been in Texas; and if so, in what capacity.
Answer. Since June last I have been first lieutenant of the United States colored troops
doing duty in the southwestern part of Texas, headquarters at Corpus Chnsti.
Question. State to what extent you have travelled iu»the State, and what opportunity you
have had of making observations as to the condition of things there.
Answer. I have been over the principal part of that section of country embraced between
the Nueces and Rio Grande, not including that immediately on the Rio Grande. I have
been through the district lying thirty or forty miles back of Indianola and extending west
ward to the Nueces ; that comprises all the State I am familiar with from personal observa-
vatiou.
Question. State what, from your observation, are the feelings and disposition of the people
there towards the government of the United States.
Answer. I find the people of Texas divided into three classes on that question. The first
class are those who have been always, under all circumstances, friendly to the government,
who have mostly been refugees during the war, but have since returned. Of the remaining
portion, there are those who have been more or less active rebels throughout, the wealthy and
intelligent class ; and those who are not large property-holders, who are generally without
property, a class that I find in no other State, who would come generally under a vagabond
law, without any visible means of support — not all blacklegs, but principally non-property-
holders, or property-holders to a less extent. I find the feeling manifested by these two
classes entirely different. The most intelligent, and, as a general thing, the most wealthy
men in that portion of the State, whether they have been in the rebel service or not, are more
favorably disposed towards the government of the United States than the other class. They
appear more willing to accept the questions raised by the war as settled questions, and in
favor of measures calculated to adapt that country as rapidly as possible to the new order of
things. I do not know but I am speaking a little too rapidly in saying that this is the temper
of the class, because I have naturally from choice been brought in contact more with people
holding these opinions. The object I had in travelling over that section of country was
principally to come in contact with that class of men, in view of future operations in the
State. But I believe it is generally true that there is among them less bitterness, less hos
tility, and less looking forward to a future time when a second trial may be had, than I
found among the other class. I found some men, and I have now in mind one, who
was the largest slaveholder in western Texas that I knew of, and who I know to be a cordial
and hearty Unionist to day ; I am not certain but he has always been. He lost a son in the
rebel army; but he coidially supports the abolition of slavery and every measure that may
be taken tor the elevation of the negroes in Texas. He goes further than any other citizen
I have met there. But I have found the intelligent, educated men in western Tf xas rather
disposed to take that view more or less strongly. They are, however, but a small proportion of
the population of that country. Most of the population of western Texas is confined to the
towns. Those known as ihe white population include only those who are properly natives of
the United States, or immigiants into the State. Mexicans are not classed there, m the common
parlance or' the country, as white men. Some of ihis larger class of white men to which 1 have
referred engage in raising horses, cattle, &c. ; but the majority of them live I do not know
44 RECONSTRUCTION.
how. A large proportion of them are adventurers, some gamblers, and pthers without osten
sible means of support. Nearly all these men I have met have been at some time in the
rebel army. Their numbers have been greatly increasing since I first went to Texas, as they
have returned from different parts of the country where they have been in service. Win n
our troops first went to western Texas we found the feeling generally to be that of accept
ance of the fortunes of war. The question had been tried by battle, had resulted adversely,
and the general disposition was to submit to the, result. Since then I have noticed a gradual
change in the manifestation of feeling, which has been growing more and more independent;
and at the time I left, this class of people were becoming more and more outspoken in their
bitterness against the United States government, and more hostile towards tin- officers and
soldiers of the army in their intercourse with them. It appealed to be only restrained, in
towns, from breaking out into acts of violence towards our officers by the superiority of our
numbers. Occasional difficulties have occurred between some of our officers and the officers
and men late of the rebel army who would give utterance to their feelings of hostility towards
the United States government; but it was always met with such prompt chastisement on
the part of officers present that it was hazardous to renew it. Knocking down a rebel officer
in presence of his friends is very likely to exert a salutary influence for some time. There
appeared to be a general feeling among that class of men that in a few years, sooner or
Inter, and probably very soon, they would have an opportunity to try this question of rebel
lion again; that the late war did not settle it; that so far as it was disastrous to the confed
eracy was due not so much to the superiority of our armies as to mismanagement on the part
of confederate rulers, military and civil, both at the beginning and during the war. One
error, very commonly ascribed- by*the politicians and leaders among them, was the withdrawal
of the rebel members from the Congress of the United States. It was always regarded as a
fatal step at the commencement of the rebellion that they were withdrawn six months too soon.
Question. What, in your opinion, has changed the feeling there as you have stated?
Answer. In my opinion the conduct of the government, of the administration, the facility
frith which pardons were reported to be granted, the general disposition of the administration
to be lenient, and the impression which I have frequently heard spoken of by these people,
that they had strong friends in the north, and iu the government. The fact that they had
strong party friends in the north appeared to be the principal ground of encouragement they
had for supposing the rebellion to be overlooked, and that they could once more get the
political power in the hands of the south.
Question. State whether or not, in your opinion, it would be safe there for refugees, or for
loyal men, black or white, if the United States troops were withdrawn from the State.
Answer. Up the Nueces river, on both sides, there is quite a large population out of the
towns, of small planters and cattle-growers, principally from Old England and New Eng
land, who have settled there within six or seven years. As a general thing they have been
ail actively Union men — so much so that the heads or principal male members of families,
except those over age, have been compelled during the 'ust two or three years of the war to
be exiles from their homes. I have been among these people considerably, particularly
during the last three or four weeks of my stay in Texas, and their opinion was, in speaking
of the withdrawal of our troops, as they were gradually being withdrawn from that part of
the State, that if they left altogether, or were reduced to so small a number as not to afford
a salutary protection to them, they would not be able to remain. Their lives might not be
in danger, but the insecurity of property would be such that it would not be worth while to
stay there. They could not plant crops even around their own houses with safety. The
sparseness of the population where there were no roads, furnished greater facilities for men
to escape after committing outrages than any country I know of. Their apprehension of
danger appeared to me greater than was necessary, and I was surprised to find such appre
hension existing. After passing through what I had in safety, especially in the absence of
a very large number of desperate characters from San Antonio and other points, who were
there during the war, I should have supposed they would have felt a greater sense of security
than they seemed to. About Lavacca and Victoria the population is much more dense than
it is west of the Nueces, and there is a larger proportion of the American element there,
though the population is not so dense there us it is further east, back of Galvestou, and on
the Brazos.
Question. What is the condition, and what are the prospects, of the freedmen in that State,
so far as you know ?
Answer. In the extreme west, particularly about San Antonio, Victoria, and Indianola,
there is a demand for more labor than the freed men there at present can furnish. I cannot
speak of that, however, so much from my own observation, as the planting season was not
on when 1 \vas there, but I was told that during the planting season there "was employment
for all the freedmen there, and more too. The demand for labor there in that part of the
Siate is so great, that I do not think the freedmen there need anticipate any har.-h usage.
The. demand is especially pressing for those who can be u^ed as herdsmen ; for cattle-growing
is the muni business there. The fact is that most of the freedmen, who could as well as not,
have left that part of the count i y. They have gone further, east where there are larger plan
tations, or somewhere, 1 do not know where. There are not near so many there as 1 expected
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 45
to see, and not near so many as I was told were in that country when our troops first occu
pied it. In this connexion I may mention that there have been numerous outrages, of which,
of course, I can only speak from the reports of others. I am told there have been frequent
attempts to compel the negroes to work, even in the presence of our troops, up to the time
of the organization of the Freedinen's Bureau, in that region last fall, and it was owing, I
suppose, to that cause, in part, that the negroes left and went to £sew Orleans, arid other
parts of Texas; at any rate they availed themselves of every opportunity to get away.
Many complaints were made that even from officers of colored troops they did not receive
adequate protection,' and I am satisfied there was some reason for their complaints.
Question. What opinion, if any, did you hear expressed by white people there as to the
willingness of the negroes to work without physical compulsion?
Answer. Most of those I have talked with upon the subject in that part of Texas, which is
out of the large planting region, express the opinion that the able-bodied negroes would
work without compulsion better than they would with it ; but it was often coupled with
the statement that there was a large number of negroes who would not work, or do enough
to support themselves, and who would become a public charge. It was the general opinion
that those who had families depending on them would not be as well off as in the past, and
thac the decrepid and helpless would not be taken care of by the negroes.
Question. What is the feeling toward the negroes among the third and ignorant class of
whites you have referred to ?
Answer. I have very often heard the expression used — not only by that class, but by some
of the better class who have been slaveholders — similar to a remark made by Captain Ful-
lerton (who had owned eighteen or twenty slaves himself ) the last day I was there, that
there appeared to be a general hostility among rebels, in and out of the army, against the
negroes, not only from the old prejudice against the negro as an inferior creature, but an
active hostility growing out of this war. They appeared to hold the negro accountable for
their defeat. It is a very common expression, used to insult Union officers, that the United
Siates never could have succeeded if they had not taken their negroes to fight them with.
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity of the Freedmen's Bureau in that
State?
Answer. There are two or three grounds why I consider the Freedmen's Bureau an abso
lute necessity there, and they are generally applicable everywhere, as much in the south as
there. I think it is necessary for the purpose of furnishing labor to those sections AY here
labor is required, and of furnishing the laborers who seek it with employment. It is neces
sary, also, as a protection to the freedmen against imposition on the part of their employers,
whether southern men or northern men. I think there is as much, and perhaps more, dis
position in some neighborhoods on the part of northern adventurers who have leased or
purchased plantations to take advantage of the negro, than from any other quarter. With
out some such institution as the Freedmen's Bureau, to protect the freedman in his rights,
his chance for justice with either party would be very small. As a proteciion against cut-
rages from loyal whiles, it is more or less a necessity according to the state of public sentiment
in the particular neighborhood. There is a class of lawless men there who have nothing to
lose, who are generally the instrument of committing outrages. Without the presence of
the Freedmen's Bureau, and an armed force to back it, I do not think the life of a freedman
coming in the way of one of the disbanded rebel soldiers, of the class I refer to, would be
worth a cent.
Question. Plow long have you had command of colored troops, and what is your opinion
as to their inclination or capacity to observe law, perform labor, and exercise the rights of
citJEenship ?
Answer. In 1863 I was not in command, but was with colored troops in Louisiana. Since
early in the summer of 1864 I have been constantly connected with colored troops in the
army of the Potomac, the army of the James, or in the southwest. I have generally found,
so far as my observation goes, that the negro soldier i% as much disposed, if not more than
the generality of white folks, to regard discipline, and to obey civil or military regulations.
He is less disposed, according to my observation, to lawlessness. As to their general Intel
ligence and ability to acquire information, I may be considered a little extreme; but accord
ing to my observations, in and out of the army, in the extreme southern States, when you
come below what is called the educated and intelligent class of whites, the most intelligent
class you will rind next is the negro. I have found, upon all questions, that the negro knows
more of what i.s going on out of his sight than the poor white class in the southern States. I
have found among the negroes, whether in or out of the army, that there has always been a
disposition and a capacity to learn and improve themselves. In all our regiments whose
internal arrangements I have known anything about, the most acceptable present you could
make to a negro soidier would be a spelling-book. Last winter 1 was instrumental in fur
nishing a la.ge portion of the regiment with which I was connected with school-books of
various kinds. I have generally found the disposition to learn stronger among the treed
.negroes than among those born free. 1 have found negroes away out in the wildest part of
Louisiana, who had never, probably, seen a white man they dared talk to in any confiden
tial manner, and who had never seen a United States officer until tii^y saw me, but who had
4 6 RECONSTRUCTION.
been living there on the plantations, and yet who seemed to understand perfectly the political
history of the country lor the last live or six years, and who understood all ab.-ut the war, &o
that i have expressed my surprise to them how they could get so much in'ormaiion ; but
the negroes told rne they generally learned all these things about as quick as the white
people got it.
WASHINGTON-, February 20, 1866.
Lieutenant Colonel IT. S. Hall sworn and examined.
By Mr. WASIIBUKNE :
Question. What official position have you been lately occupying?
Answer. I lately occupied the position of lieutenant colonel of" the 43d United States colored
troops. I have been, for the last three months, sub-assistant commissioner for freedmen in
the northeastern district of Texas. I lost my arm in the mine before Petersburg.
Question. AY here have you been stationed?
Answer. Marshall, Harrison county.
Question. What have been your opportunities for learning the present condition and feel
ing of the peop'le of Texas ?
Answer. I have been thrown in contact with a great many of the most wealthy and in
fluential planters, as well as professional men, of fifteen or twenty different counties in north
eastern Texas, and have been intimately associated with them in matters of business.
Question. What did you find the state of feeling to be with the parties with whom you
have come in contact, in regard to the restoration of the Union?
Answer. There seems to be a very general desire — an eaiuest wish — to be immediately
admitted into the Union, which takes the shape of a demand of an absolute right. But there
is no real love expressed for the government: on the contrary, there is an expression of hatred
for the people of the north, and of Yankees generally, while the idea seems to be that they
should at once obtain possession of the political privileges and powers which they once had.
They seem to have the idea that they are entitled to all the rights under the Constitution
which they ever had.
Question. What is the expression of their feeling toward the government, and toward
those who control the government? t
Answer. Their expressions are used more particularly in a party sense. They express a
great deal of bitterness against the party which they term "the radicals " in Congress. Gen
erally they are in favor of what they term the President's policy; but they denounce most
bitterly the policy of the party which they Jerm the radical party.
Question. What do they say about the Freedmen's Bureau ?
Answer. They consider that an unmitigated nuisance. They think it can be much better
dispensed with than not.
Question. What shape does their opposition to the Freedmen's Bureau take?
Answer. They give it no definite form, any more than expressions in words, generally.
Question. Has there ever been any interference with the operations of the Frcedmen's Bu
reau? If so, to what extent?
Answer. There never has been any direct opposition to any of the officers or the men em
ployed by the government in that bureau, in that part of Texas. Theie never have been
any acts opposed to the operations of the bureau. In most instances they come forward
and make contracts under the regulations adopted by the bureau, simply because they are
imder military jurisdiction, and are compelled to.
Question. What won "
would be the state of the country in which you hove been, should the
militaiy force be withdrawn, and the officers of the Freedmen's Bureau be also withdrawn?
Answer. Judging from the state of the country in counties where there is no military
force, 1 can say there would be neither safety of person nor of property for men who had been
loyal during the war; and there would be no protection whatever tor the negro.
Question. What would be the condition of the negro under the circumstances, as compared
with his former condition as a slave ?
Answer. He would be, in many instances, forced to labor without any compensation, un
der some system of compulsion, nearly the same as formerly, lie would l>e liable TO worse
treatment than ever before — to assaults in many instances, and even to murdt r. Frequent
instances of murder have occurred in those counties where there has been no military force.
Question. Can von particularize some of those instances /
Answer. One case I can cite was that of a negro woman named Lucy Grimes. She was
taken in'o the, woods in the month of December last, by two men, and there stripped and
beaten until she tlied. These men — named Anderson and Simpson — were well known in the
county. On the ease being presented to the chiet justice of the county, who was appointed
bj Governor Hamilton, he stated that he could not issue a wan-ant lor their ariest on the'
evidence of a negro, as there was no other evidence but that of the son of the murdered
woman, and that he could do nothing whatever in the case. I made an effort to arrest the
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 47
murderers, but theypould not be found. They were secured and concealed by parties in the
neighborhood,
Question. Do you state these matters from your own personal knowledge ?
Answer. From my own personal knowledge. xThe case was brought before me. A com
plaint was made to me of the murder, in the first place.
Question. What were the circumstances attending or leading to the murder of this woman ?
Answer A child of this negro woman had taken some money which was lying about some
part of the house occupied by Mrs. Grimes, for whom she was working. The child had taken
it out of the house and was playing with it. Mrs. Grimes accused the child of stealing the
money, and required the mother to whip it ; the mother declined doing so. Then Mrs. Gi lines
went and had an interview with these two men-^-Anderson and Simpson. Next morning
they came and took away the negro woman, Lucy, saying that they designed taking her to
Marshall to present the case to me; instead of which, they took her to a piece of woods two
miles from the house, and there stripped her and beat her. She lived till next morning.
The sou found her and reported the case to me, and I immediately sent out a surgeon with
some cavalry. The body was found, and the facts were reported to me by the surgeon. No
trace of the murderers could be found.
Question. State the condition in which the body was, and all the circumstances, as you
learned them from the surgeon.
Answer. The body was found entirely naked, with the exception of a shirt. The back
was very much beaten and bruised, apparently with some sort of whip or strap. Across the
head and face there were several severe bruises, evidently made with a club; and, finally,
there was a break in the skull, which the surgeon stated undoubtedly caused the death of the
woman, made by a club.
Question. What were the antecedents of the murderers?
Answer. They were discharged rebel soldiers. Anderson was the son of a gentleman who
was considered quite respectable in Harrison county. Simpson was a desperado, not a resi
dent of that part of the country, but of Georgia or Alabama.
Question. Was the mistress of this woman examined by you ?
Answer. She was not.
Question. What part did she take in the matter, so far as you could learn?
Answer. I could not learn of he* taking any part, except conferring with Simpson and
Anderson, requesting them to have this negro punished in some way, simply because she
refused to whip the child.
Question. How^old was the child?
Answer. Ten or twelve years.
Question. Who came to see you about it ?
Answer. A grown man; a negro man '21 or 22 years of age ; a son of the woman who was
killed. He came to report the murder of his mother.
Question. You say the chief justice of the county court refused to issue a warrant ?
Answer. Yes ; the chief justice, who is now collector of internal revenue for that district,
refused to issue a warrant because there was no testimony in the case but negro testimony.
Question. What is the name of that chief justice ?
Answer. D. B. Bonuefoy.
Question. What are his antecedents ?
Answer. He has been considered an out-and-out Union man during the entire war.
Question. Do you think that his real motive for refusing to issue a warrant was his want
of legal authority ?
Answer. I believe it was, because he was firmly of the opinion that he had not the legal
autho: ity to do so.
Question. You think he acted honestly?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I think he acted honestly.
Question. That is the law of Texas ; is it recognized as being in existence yet ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; while that is the case, they at the same time punish negroes under the
same statute as they punish white men at present. They send them to the penitentiary and
punish them in the same manner.
Question Do you know of any other instances in which outrages have been committed on
colored people? If so, state them.
Answer. Dming'the month of November a young man named Webster fired upon a negro
woman who was in his employment for some language which he considered impudent. The
ball struck her in the back of the head, resulting in a serious wound, but not causing death.
For that offence lie was arrested by the military authorities and tried, and fined $IOU. That
was before I anved at that post. The post was then commanded by Brevet Brigadier General
Sheetz, of the eighth Illinois regiment of infantry.
Question. Is that the usual penalty imposed by military officers down there for shooting
colored people ?
Answer. That was the usual punishment in that part of the State. It had been for the
reason that there were no other means of punishment in the hands of the military autho ities.
That portion of Texas has been considered as belonging to General Canby's department. I
48 RECONSTRUCTION.
have never made any written communication to his headquarters, but I -asked General A. J.
Smith \vhat I should do in case I succeeded in arresting men who committed murder, where
there was no testimony but negro testimony. His reply was that General Canby would not
permit any citizen to be punished by military commission. That, of course, left the military
authorities there perfectly powerless to punish adequately any offences upon negroes. Another
case of outrage was reported to me as having occurred at Novara county. There is a family
of Ingrahams there, very wealthy and influential. An unknown negro came along and asked
for work. A son of Hugh Ingraham, and son-in-law, said they would give him work. They
armed themselves with revolvers, took the negro a short distance from the house, in a piece
of woods, and there tied him and flogged him to death.
Question. How do you know these facts ?
Answer. This case was reported to me by a citizen of that county. His name I am not
able to give; but it is on the records of the office.
Question. Did you take such testimony in the case as satisfied you of the truth of the
statement that you now make?
Answer. Yes, sir ; I applied to the commander of the post for a force to send out to arrest
those parties. For two or three weeks I was unable to obtain it ; the force there not being
adequate. The gentleman who reported these facts further stated that he had designed to
remove his family to Arkansas ; that he had engaged a number of negroes in the neighbor
hood of Ingraham's, and started them for a plantation in Arkansas; that his family had
been stopped and taken back to his house, the house surrounded by citizens of that part of
the country, and threats made that if he made his appearance there again they would take
his life. I never was able to get a force of troops to send there, and am not able to give the
result. The place is ninety-five miles distant from where I am stationed.
Question. Outside of the influence of the military, what was the condition of things ?
Answer, Exceedingly disordered ; no security for person or property, for white or black.
I received a letter from Judge Simpson, chief justice of Upshur county, in reply to a com
munication of mine requesting him to collect the wages of some negroes who complained to
me of being defrauded of their wages. He replied that he was unable to act in the matter
without a military force, and that it was impossible for him to arrest anybody or hold any
body accountable for acts committed against the negroex That letter I forwarded to Gal-
veston to the assistant commissioner. I also received a "letter from Chief Justice Priest, of
Cherokee county, asking that an officer be sent there with a military force. There is a simi
lar state of affairs in Panola county. In the month of December last four discharged United
States soldiers, returning to their homes at the north, from San Antonio, were followed by a
party of desperadoes and murdered in cold blood. The facts were reported to the military
authorities at Shreveport, and a force of cavalry was sent out to apprehend the murderers.
They passed through Panola county on their track, and reached the town of Henderson, in
Rush county. The advance guard of four or five men entered the town, when the citizens
gathered together, some with brickbats and some with revolvers, threatening them, and say
ing they could whip any number of Yankees that could be sent there. Their numbers con
tinued increasing until the whole cavalry party, about twenty men, under the charge of an
officer, came up, when they quietly slunk away. The officer who had charge of the party
reported the facts to me on his return to Shreveport. He did not succeed in apprehending
the murderers.
Question. What were the'circumstanees attending the murder of these soldiers?
Answer. As far as 1 was able to learn, it was a murder committed more for the purpose of
robbery than for anything else. •
Question. Disconnected Avith feelings of revenge ?
Answer. I was not informed whether there was any feeling of revenge or spirit of bitter
ness against them because they had been soldiers.
Question. Of what had they been robbed ?
Answer. Of very little except their horses. They were cavalry soldiers returning home
with their horses.
Question. Do you know the names and regiments of the soldiers?
Answer. I am not able to give you that information.
Question. You are satisfied, from the evidence you had, that they were really murdered J
Answer. I am satisfied of the fact.
Question. Did you get any clue as to who the murderers were ?
Answer. The name of the principal actor was reported to me, but I am not able to recol
lect it no<v. He had been a soldier in the rebel service, and had lost an arm.
Question. Do you know any other instances of violence committed there ?
Answer. In the town of Jefferson, Marion county, Mr. R. H. Robinson, United States
treasury agent, hud sei/ed some tithe-cotton ; 'he was arrested by the civil authorities and in
dicted by the irraml jury of the county, on a charge of swindling. The telegraphic commu
nication between Jefferson and Shreveport was interrupted, and the despatch which he at
tempted to send to (ieiierai Canby in New Orleans was not allowed to go. He was held in
custody until he could report the facts to the commanding officer of the force at Marshall,
who sent immediately an order to the chief justice, Judge Gray, to release him. Jiuigo
Gray refused to release him on the order of the commanding officer, who again sent another
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 49
order requiring the judge to release him immediately or he would have him arrested and tried
before a military commission. Before the second order reached, a file of soldiers, with a
captain, which had gone into the town for the purpose of protecting the office there, went to
the court-room and released Mr. Robinson. This case was afterwards reported to General
Canby, at New Orleans, and to Colonel Burbridge, the supervising special agent of the
treasury. On the case being reported the action of Mr. Robinson was fully approved, and
he was not only relieved from any charge in the matter, but he was sent back to his district
at Jefferson.
Question. How loug was he held in confinement?
Answer. About three days. On Christmas day two soldiers of the 46th Illinois, sta
tioned there at that time, furnished with whiskey by the citizens of Marshall, and under their
influence, murdered a negro by shooting him. The two soldiers were at once arrested by
Major Cliugman, who was commanding the post. Charges were preferred against them,
and a request was forwarded to General Smith for a military commission. The civil author
ities, through the chief justice, issued a warrant for their arrest, and a demand was made on
the major to turn over the soldiers to the civil authorities. The major very properly refused
to comply with the request. No further action has been taken in the matter, but this simply
shows the spirit of the civil authorities there.
Question. Do you know any other instances of outrage except those you have mentioned ?
Answer. I do not know any case of so serious a nature from my own personal knowledge ; I
have heard of cases frequently, but I am not prepared to make any statement about them.
Question. What do you know of the political sentiment of the State as developed by the
action of the State convention of Texas ?
Answer. In the county of Harrison, the candidates for the convention were Mr. Ware, a
conservative man, though not known as a thorough Union man, arid Colonel John Burke,
who was said to have held the honorable position of spy in the rebel service. Burke an
nounced, on his nomination, that he was opposed to the adoption of the constitutional amend
ment, opposed to the abolition of slavery, opposed to repudiating the rebel debt, opposed to
declaring the ordinance of secession null and void, and opposed to renouncing the right of
secession. He was elected by a majority of some eighteen in the county, over the conserva
tive gentleman. In the county of Smith there were two conservative candidates against
Judge Roberts, who had been president of the convention which passed the ordinance of
secession, and an ex-colonel of the rebel army. Judge Roberts and the ex-colonel were
elected over the conservatives. The same thing happened in Rusk county and in Panola
county, so far as I was able to learu ; I passed through the country from Marshall to Gal-
veston, and that was generally the case along the route to Houston.
Question. Did you have conversation with their political men going to the convention ?
Answer. Yes. I travelled in company with Judge Fraser, a member of the convention,
and met many of his associates who had been elected members of the convention. In nine-
tenths of the cases of those I met their election had been based on the action they had taken,
during the war. As a general rule they were elected because they had been secessionists,
and out-and-out rebels, and had taken an active part against the government of the United
States.
Question. What were their sentiments as expressed to you, in relation to the position which
they had been occupying during the rebellion?
Answer. The only regret I heard expressed for any action during the last five years was,
that they did not succeed. They were anxious now to be admitted into the Union, hoping
to unite the agricultural interests of the northwest with those of the South in order to obtaiu
the political power which they had staked on the issue of war, and lost.
Question. Did any of them yield up their favorite doctrine of the right of secession?
Answer. The expression was, that the question had been decided against them by the war —
not that they were convinced.
Question. What is your judgment, from all you saw and could learn when you were in
Texas, as to the practicability and propriety of admitting the State back into the Union with
all its rights?
Answer. In my opinion it would be unsafe to admit them back as long as they continue to.
select such men as they do to represent them.
Question. How long is it since you left Texas ?
Answer. I left Marshall the 21st of January, and came down through the country to- Gal-
veston, where I left on the 2d of February.
Question. Can you state any other matter or thing in reference to this general subject which
would be of interest to the committee ?
Answer. I will relate an incident to illustrate the spirit of the people there. About the
Christmas and New Year's holidays there was a general cry that there would be a negro
insurrection. Governor Hamilton authorized the chief justices to arm patrols for the purpose
of suppressing anything of the kind. In ali instances, where I had any knowledge of these
patrols, they were composed of the most reckless and desperate men. Under pretence of the
authority given them, they passed about through the settlements where negroes were living,
disarmed them— took everything in the shape of arms from them— and frequently robbed
them of money, household furniture, and anything that they could make of any use to them-
4 F LT
50 RECONSTRUCTION.
selves. Complaints of this kiud were very often brought to my notice by the negroes from
counties too far away for me to reach.
Question. These patrols were acting under the authority of the provisional governor?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Were any of them prosecuted for it ?
Answer. Not to my knowledge.
Question. Is there any way of punishing these men, except by our own military authority?
Have the negroes any rights whatever under the existing laws there, as administered at this
Answer. None whatever. I am informed by General Gregory that in Galveston they allow
negroes to testify in the courts, and to sue. There they give them some rights, but in north
eastern Texas none at all. The only instance I know of his testimony being taken in the
courts is in the town of Marshall. The mayor of that town came to me and asked me what
he was to do in the case of negroes, as the laws did not allow him to take their testimony.
I said to him: " If the laws do not authorize you I will hear the cases myself." He then
said he would give them their choice ; that, if they chose to -be tried by him, he would try
them ; otherwise he would refer the cases to me Under that arrangement he tried several
cases. But, to give you an opinion as to how impartially justice is administered : On Christ
mas day a citizen named Turner passed through the streets of Marshall, half-drunk, drew his
revolver and struck three negroes over the head, cutting their heads, and injuring them
seriously. For that offence the mayor of the town fined him ten dollars. Two negroes were
found playing cards in a negro boarding-house, and for that offence they were fined $17 50
by the same mayor.
Question. Is he a conservative ?
Answer. He has been a major in the rebel service, I believe. That is the only recommend
ation he has.
Question. Is there still a military garrison in Marshall ?
Answer. When I left, which is a month ago, there were two companies of the 8th Illinois
there — white soldiers.
Question. Who was in command there 1
Answer. Captain Bishop.
Question. Have you passed through any portion of the State of Texas where we had not
military control ?
Answer. Strictly speaking we have no military control after we leave Marshall, ti:
reach Crockett, in Hunter county, 200 miles. Ihere are no troops between those points.
Question. What did you learn of the situation of the coloied people outside oi military
jurisdiction and control ?
Answer. It varies in different localities; in some counties they are employed
wao-es, and treated fairly and honesUy. In other localities, frequent complaints were made
to me that the negroes were held in slavery and compelled to iabor as usual. In Rusk and
Cherokee counties these complaints were frequent— that the negroes were in the same condi
tion as before the war, where they were unable to leave home. I know of many instances
where! sent orders with negro men for the former owners to surrender the negroes' wives
and children,- and the owners refused to obey the orders. I had not sufficient lorce to com
pel obedience, so that they had to live in that condition.
Question. How la.-ge is the military force in northeastern Texas altogether?
Answer. There are two companies at Marshall. That is the only force.
Question. Is that a mounted force 1
Answer. No, sir ; a dismounted force.
Question. How much does that force amount to in keeping the peace m that portion of
Texas ?
Answer. It amounts to nothing whatever.
Question. What force, in your judgment, is necessary?
Answer I think that one regiment of cavalry in that portion of the State, with small gar
risons in different towns, would be amply sufficient. The influence would bo felt far beyond
the bounds actually occupied by the force, if they were mounted men, so that they could bo
used rapidly and expeditiously. But this little garrison amounts to nothing except to pre
serve order in the immediate town and neighborhood.
Question. What force is there in Galveston ?
Answer. Only two regiments were on duty there when I was there.
Question. Is there any military force at Houston 1
Answer. Yes, sir; I cannot give the number. There is a small garrison at Houston, and
also a small garrison at Crockett.
WASHINGTON, January 17, 1866.
J. W. Shaffer*sworn and examined.
By Mr. WASHBURNE :
Question. State your agf, residence, and occupation.^
Question. State your ag«s residence, ana occupation.
Answer. My age is thi;ty-n:ne; residence, Freeport, Illinois.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 51
Question. What has been your business for the last four or five years ? •
Answer. I have been in the service. I started out early in 18GI with Pope, when he was
first appointed, on his. staff. I was with General Hunter subsequently, and went through
the Missouri and Kansas campaign. When transferred to Hunter I went into the quar
termaster's department; then I was transferred to the department of the south. On the
Jst of May, IHfrJ, I was ordered to Ship island. By the time I got there New Orleans had
fal'en. I served until January, 18G3, in that department. I then had leave of absence, and was
sfrk for a long time. In October, 1803, I was ordered to report to General Butler, whenhe was
placed in command at Fortress Monroe. I acted as chief of staff to him during that campaign.
Question. State whether, during the war, while you were at New Orleans, you had a large
acquaintance with men and things.
Answer. During the time I was in New Orleans I was chief quartermaster of that depart
ment, and was in contact with the people daily pretty largely, black and white. I observed
the coqcluct of both classes very closely, and made up my miud as to the wants and feelings
of the people.
Question. Have you, since the suppression of the rebellion, been in the State of Louisiana ?
How long and at what time have you been there ? State fully in a narrative and concise
form the principal results of your observations in regard to the existing state of things there.
Answer. Something over two months ago I left home and started to go to New Orleans by
steamer from Cairo. In going down the river I learned something of the character of these
people. I was a stranger on the boat, and had a great deal of conversation with southern people;
stopped at Natchez quite a while, at Vicksburg quite a while, and spent some two weeks in
New Orleans and vicinity. I then went over to Mobile, spent about a week, and came back
to New Orleans, where I stopped about a week longer. I then went back to Mobile, came
to Corinth by rail on through Jackson back to Cairo, and came here. My conviction is, that
there are very few loyal men who were in the rebellion. The great mass are intensely disloyal,
I think there is nothing on earth they hate so bad as this government and northern citizens.
I met a great many I knew when I served in the department, and with whom I had dealings.
I found them, with an entirety different spirit from what they formerly held, much worse. I
conversed with General Sheridan and other military commanders, and they were all of one
opinion — that, in the event of a war with a foreign country, that whole population would be
the allies of our enemies without any sort of doubt. While they might not, many of them,
take up arms — though a great many would do that — the whole of them would lend their
sympathy and support in every way possible against us. The worst men I met, I think,
were those who were property-holders previous to the rebellion, and who are the leading
minds of the south, who have returned with their pardons in their pockets and have resumed
their old positions of leaders and educators of the public mind. They are bitter in the ex
treme ; while, possibly, should they meet any public character — any officer, civil or mili
tary — going south who is known to be a public character in the north, they would present an
entirely different front from what they would to a stranger or a man who acted as though he
was in sympathy with them. For example: the legislature sat some fifteen days without
having the flag displayed in any way at all, and then were only driven to it by some colored
women of New Orleans -who addressed a very polite note signed by Madam This and Miss
That, proposing to present a flag Supposing them to be some northern ladies, as the least
they could do they appointed a committee to receive it. In the mean time the matter leaked
out, and they directed the whole proceedings to be expunged from the journal.* By this
time attention had been called to the fact to such an extent that they supposed they had better
stick up a flag, which they did, but not where they could see it. The legislature sat at New
Orleans, not at Baton Rouge. All the candidates for offices — for doorkeepers, clerks, &c. —
for both houses, printed their tickets, " late of the confederate army," as a recommendation
why they should be elected, and every man elected was from that class. One poor fellow,
who had had both arms shot off, was a candidate for doorkeeper. He printed his tickets and
then dressed himself up in full rebel uniform. He was arrested by the provost guard under
an old standing order, taken to the provost marshal's office, and stripped of hi.s buttons and
insignia of rank. He went back in a day or two, and appeared again with the same trap
pings. He was reap-ested, and Mr. Duncan F. Kenner made a motion requesting that this
man might be remanded back, to be dealt with by the legislature, which was done.
By Mr. ROGERS :
Question. Are you giving these details from your own knowledge, or from hearsay ?
Witness. Partially each. That which I state I did not personally know, I learned from
most reliable authority.
Mr. RO<;KRS. Please designate in your answers what you testify from your own knowledge
and what from hearsay.
Witness. My informant told me he went and saw this candidate for doorkeeper, who was
an ignorant man, and asked him, " Why do you put yourself up here in defiance of the mili
tary, and at the risk of being punished ?" Said he, 4% I came here and made application for
this position. I consulted with Mr. Kenner, who is a leading man. Mr. Kenner told mo
how I must print my tickets, and told me I must put on that uniform. After I was arrested
and the buttons were cut off, M_r. Kenner told me I would be kicked out unless I put it on
52 RECONSTRUCTION.
again."» This Mr. Kcrmer was a rebel officer and a large property-holder in Louisiana; a
nutnof a good deal of influence, engaged, as I am told, in running the blockade, in which he
amassed a large fortune, got his pardon, and I think is a fair type of the southern people.
Now, in reference to the condition of the country — I observed that very closely, feeling a
strong interest in the subject. I conversed with commercial men, with planters in the in
terior and with planters on the river, and I made up my mind that seven hundred and fifty
thousand bales would be the maximum cotton crop for the coming season raised in the
south. I also made up my mind that had that country been entirely under the control of
the government of the United States, could Union men and northern capitalists have been
assured of protection in their persons and in their property until their crops were raised,
there would have been a million and a half bales more raised ; of that I have no doubt. I
will illustrate : A Mr. Brewster, of my town, bought his mules, his ploughs and his whole
paraphernalia for farming, arid sent his son ahead to Vicksburg to lease plantations. The
son went ahead, but found this feeling existing in that country, found the troops being with
drawn, and that just in proportion as the troops were withdrawn this malignant feeling in
creased. He got frightened. His father came on and got frightened. He went to New
Orleans and 1 introduced him to southern men and northern men, and the result was that he
telegraphed to his son to sell everything at whatever price it would bring and be prepared
to leave. I was talking with a Mr. Weed, whom I knew there, and was among the first to
lease plantations from the government. He has been farming there for nearly four years,
and has worked about two thousand negroes on quite a number of plantations, both sugar
and cotton. He made it profitable Ihree months ago he had made arrangements with
friends in New York to invest a million or a million and a half of dollars in plantations : but
he found, as the strong arm of the government began to be relaxed, that this spirit began to
manifest itself, and came to the conclusion that if he invested this amount of capital in that
way, he would be robbed before his cotton would be raised, and stopped. And my observa
tion was that seven-eighths of the Union men both at Mobile and New Orleans are making
arrangements to wind up their affairs in view of the turn things are taking. The southern
men, many of them, will not hire the negroes. Many more cannot hire, because the negroes
will not work for them on account of their reputation for brutality. A few who have always
been kind to their negroes, still have them. I met a gentleman on the boat who had been a
major in the rebel army, a man of some prominence. He told me he had plantations in
Alabama and in Mississippi ; that his negroes remained with him, and that he had no diffi
culty with them ; that they acted more shrewdly and sensibly than their white neighbors ;
that he made a contract with them for three years, on condition that if they saved enough
within that time to buy muies, ploughs, &c., at the end of the peiiod he would cut his laud
up into small tracts and lease it to them. He said they all went to work cheerfully, but that
right on the heels of that the legislature of Mississippi passed a law making it a criminal offence
to lease or sell land to negroes. The consequence was that his negroes in Mississippi stampeded.
He had just returned from Mississippi, and he told me that his negroes believed he had be
trayed them ; that he had taken this means to deprive them of their interest in their contract.
In travelling through Mississippi, I met many small farmers who were disposed to hire ne
groes, but that in hiring at random some of the negroes would prove good for nothing.
The laws of that State made it a, finable offence of five dollars a day to hire a negro who
had engaged to hire to anybody else. A man could not therefore affoid to work a plantation
at the risk of being fined five dollars a day each, for half the hands he had. Another class
cannot hire because the negroes will not work lor them. Nor: hern men can always hire as
many negroes as they want, but they are alraid to. The result will be that this surplus of
labor that cannot find employment will become demoralized and vicious. They will resort
to all sorts of expedients to live, and stealing will inevitably follow.
WASHINGTON, Monday, January 22, 1866.
J. W. Shaffer's examination continued.
By Mr. WASHBURNE :
Question. What is the present status of Louisiana so far as regards the courts — the adminis
tration of justice / State, also, what you know of the recent action of the legislature of that
State.
Answer. As I understand it now, in Louisiana all the State courts and all the entire civil
organization of the State is in complete running order. The governor has appointed the
sheriffs, justices of the peace, collectors, assessors, and all those various officers who are
usually elected. They have had no elections for county or municipal officers yet. Those
places are, however, all filled. The military has withdrawn all control <wcr civil affairs, and
only interpose in very extreme cases. The result is that there is being a tair opportunity to
test the working of the civil courts. My convictions are — in fact I was well informed, and
have no doubt of the truth of it — that all these offices, or nearly all of them, are filled by bitter
enemies of our government. Their courts ^m- i-spfi-ially so. I could possibly illustrate that.
There was a case, while I was in New Orleans, of a northern gentleman, who sued a citizen
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 53
of Louisiana in a federal court to collect a bill. The defendant pleaded that the plaintiff was a
citizen of Louisiana of right, and could not bring suit in that court. The question of citi
zenship has been tried heretofore in that court by a jury. Mr. Horner, who was the plain
tiffs attorney, immediately asked for a jury, and proved conclusively that his client was a
citizen of Ohio, and never had been a citizen of Louisiana. The defendant introduced no
evidence except the attorney's assertion that this man was a citizen of Louisiana, and that he
was playing the northern man to reb the south. The jury retired, and presently brought in
a verdict that the plaintiff was a citizen of Louisiana. The federal judge, without waiting
for a motion by the counsel, immediately set the whole proceeding aside, and stated that in
futui'e he would decide such questions himself. I had this from Mr. Horner, who was the
attorney for the plaintiff in the case. I found the general prevailing opinion there, based upon
a good many cases that had been tried, that no northern man could get justice in any of the
State courts. I found a man there whom I had known yery well in 1862, a man who had
lived in the south twenty-five years. He was very outspoken in his sentiments. He said
the other night he was walking in Canal street, when he was accosted by a couple of returned
rebel soldiers and threatened. He hallooed for help. There were some federal soldiers and
policemen near by, who came up and arrested them. They threatened to massacre him, and
were taken to the lock-up. He appeared the next morning against them in the recorder's
court. He told me that when the case was called up the two men stated that they had been
good confederate soldiers, &c., and the recorder dismissed them immediately. He told me
that he remained in court that morning to see how justice was administered in other cases,
and that in every instance where it was a rebel soldier who had been committing an offence
he was dismissed without punishment, but that every case of a negro was punished severely.
(Mr. ROGERS objected to mere hearsay statements being given as evidence, and witness
was cautioned to confine himself as nearly as possible to his own observations and conversa
tions. )
Witness. I was stating what I thought was the condition of the courts in Louisiana, and
was giving these facts to show the real cause of danger to loyal men and northern men who
were attempting to live among these people. The interference of the military now being
confined to very narrow limits, not being permitted to intervene except in extreme cases, has
permitted these people by their action to drive out a large number of northern men who had
settled there, and to prevent great numbers from coming there to settle. I think those who
had come there to remain would have risked staying, but for the impression that this relaxa
tion of the government power was to continue until the protection of the government should
be withdrawn altogether, leaving the State entirely under the control of its own officers and
people. I found among the people there a deep-seated determination to repudiate the
national debt. Of this I can speak from my own observation, and from conversation with a
great many people in the south. I recollect making use of this argument to several, and
their answers were substantially the same. I said that the government was now united,
and the honor of the whole country was at stake. Their reply almost invariably was, " You
have caused us to repudiate our debt, we have lost our honor, we have been humiliated,
and we cannot by any system of reasoning see by what right we should be compelled to tax
ourselves, poor as we are, to pay the debt contracted to bring us into our present humiliated
condition." When in Virginia, a week ago last Friday, I saw on the cars a Mr. Robinson,
a bank president, as I understood. There was a gentleman living in Richmond sitting
alongside, and I overheard a conversation between them in reference to confederate money.
Mr. Robinson, the banker, said to this man he had better hold what confederate money he
had, and remarked, " We are very much better off than they are in the north. We have no
debts, or very few, to pay. They are burdened down with a very heavy national debt, and
in a few years we will be in a condition to fund or pay some portion of the confederate
debt." The other man said he understood the south Avas equally holden with the north for
the payment of this debt. Mr. Robinson replied, "That may be so now, but when our
States get into their proper position the government will find it very difficult to collect a few
dollars from citizens of the south ; they will find it more expensive than the tax is worth to
send a file of soldiers to collect it in every instance."
(Mr. ROGERS objected to this kind of testimony as not legal or corhpetent, as mere hearsay
statements made by parties not under oath, as only cumbering the record, without accom
plishing any of the purposes of the investigation.
The committee decided to allow the witness to proceed with his narrative.)
Witness. I would like to speak of another thing. There was previous to the war an or
ganization at New Orleans known as the " Pilots' Association." When Admiral Farragut's
expedition arrived at New Orleans, about half of the members of that association had be
longed to the rebel fleet, the other half was there. Pilots were wanted very much; Admiral
Farragut sent ashore and said he could not go up the river without a number of pilots.
Then the whole pilot association was arrested and sent on board the fleet. Two or three of the
whole number volunteered. Admiral Farragut would not risk any pilots who would not volun
teer. There were several other pilots who had been expelled from the association during the time
of the rebellion for their Union sentiments, who came up voluntarily and offered their ser
vices. These men worked faithfully as pilots up to the time of the suppression of the rebellion.
The men composing this association have come back, and under the laws of Louisiana, have
54 RECONSTRUCTION.
reorganized. While in New Orleans I met a great many of the pilots and steamboat men
whom I met during the war, and who told me they were expelled from the association, and
that by a rule of the association and bt»artl of underwriters they could not be allowed, and
they are not to-day allowed, to take any employment upon any vessel on the Mississippi or
its tributaries.
By Mr. ROGERS :
Question. For what reason ?
Answer. Because of their Union sentiments. I found some of them, and some of the best
pilots we had; very poor. Here is a statement of John D. Walker, a man who aided us very
much, and possibly more than any other pilot during the war. I found him there in a very
destitute condition, and unable to get work ; for these pilots and steamboat associations ex
clude men from employment not only as pilots, but even as stevedores on the wharves. And
in this way these pilots who are Union men are cut off from all means of support by these re
turned rebels. I asked Mr. Walker to make out a statement ou behalf of himself and this
class of men, which he did, and which is as follows :
"NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA,
"December 16, 1865.
" COLONEL: This statement, made on my own behalf and in behalf of some forty pilots of
the Mississippi, Red, and tributary rivers, is for the purpose of placing in your hands facts
as to the treatment to which those citizens of the United States who have been loyal to the
flag in the days of its peril are now subjected by those Union men whose loyalty dates only
to the late destruction of their treasonable hopes by force of arms. You are at liberty, there
fore, to make such use of the same as may subserve the interests of the tine Unionists of New
Orleans and the dignity of the government.
" When the secession of the State was agitated, and after its accomplishment, I was im
prisoned for three months in New Orleans, for what was called disloyalty to the confederacy,
but which was, in other words, unflinching and outspoken loyalty to the United States. I
had been for many years a pilot and captain in the steamboat business from this port, and
always rated as a first-class pilot.
" When Admiral Farragut and General Butler captured the city, I was among the first to
enter the service of the government as a pilot and captain, serving, as you know, under
yourself, and afterwards under Colonel Hoiabird, in the quartermaster's department, until
after the capture of Port Hudson in July, 1863. In November, 1863, I entered the United
States navy, as a first-class pilot, and was honorably discharged on the reduction of the navy
in July, 1865.
" Since the close of the war, the board of underwriters here hare appointed an inspector of
pilots in harmony with the steamboat Pilot Association, which has been reorganized, and is
the same rebel concern it was on the arrival of the flest and army in 186^, when but one mail
would voluntarily work for the United States government, when ordered on board the fleet
by General Butler.
" Some twenty pilots who have spent their time voluntarily in the confederacy, giving
their best services to the overthrow of the republic, have been licensed, and about forty of us
who have been in the service of the United States have, for no cause except personal hos
tility, been proscribed. We are all regularly licensed United States pilots, and have our certifi
cates to that effect from the United States pilot inspector. In spite of this legal and only
appropriate license, we are now thrown out of employment, thus ; the reconstructed rebel
Pilot Association marks us out, the reconstructed rebel inspector of the underwriters pro
scribes us, the eminently loyal board of underwriters refuse to insure on steamers under our
pilotage, and we are thrown out of work.
" Although the flag we served during the war is re-established throughout the land, it is
powerless to protect us from insult and oppression for our own services in its defence. There-
tore, while I am aware that no power exists in the military arm of the government to right
wrongs of so purely commercial a character, I take this method of making known to those
who are engaged in the work of reconstructing the south, the hue of the pure patriotism of
these men, who rap at the door of Congress wi'h credentials of loyalty, while their hearts
are in the grave of the 'stars and bars,' Mid their acts oppress those who have served that
other flag to which they now owe safety and new-born prosperity.
"A list of the prosc.iibod pilots accompanies this, and 1 beg your influence at Washing
ton in exposing this fraud upon the clemency of the government and this injustice towards
her loyal citizens.
" I am, colonel, very respectfully, &c.,
"JOHN D. WALKER.
" Colonel J. W. SHAFFER,
"St. Ciuirles Hotel, New Orleans."
I found another one of these pilots there dressed in confederate soldier's clothes. He
said that after repeated efforts to get employment, and failing, this being at all times a
sure guarantee that men would be employed if employment was to be had, he put on that
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 55
disguise, after which he succeeded in getting work. He was a man who had been with
Admiral Farragut, and was on his old Hag-ship in that fleet. As he expressed it, he was
now a refugee in his own country. That rule of action holds good in every department in
the south. While at Mobile I saw a great many men whom 1 knew at New Orleans and in
the north who had taken stocks of goods to Mobile and gone into trade, but who were now
making arrangements to wind up their business and leave. They had been served with reso
lutions passed at Mobile warning them that they would not be tolerated there longer than a
reasonable time to close out their business. This was within the last thirty days. You will
bear one thing in mind, that the sentiment in the south has changed very rapidly within the
last three or tour months.
By Mr. ROGERS :
Question. How has it changed ?
Answer. It has become very much more rabid than it was at the close of the war. All the
Union men and northern men I talked with in the south tuld me that immediately after the
surrender of the southern armies their officers and men came back completely subdued,
manifesting as good a spirit as it was possible for men to manifest, admitting that the sequel
had shown that we were right and they were wrong. They said, "we do not know what
disposition the government is going to make of us; we have no assurance except that we
are ordered to go to our homes and remain there on parole ; we must make a living ; we are
desirous, as fast as possible, to recuperate our broken fortunes ; we are now ready to follow
your advice in all things ; tell us where we are to go, what we are to do, and what is to be
required of us, and we will obey cheerfully." This spirit entirely captivated the northern
men. There were a few southern men who understood southern character better than
northern men did ; but most of them, I think, thought it was a real, honest, heartfelt feeling.
Soon these people were all pardoned, their property restored to them, aud the government in
great haste made arrangements to put them into power and give them the entire control of
political affairs. They immediately began to show their malignant dispositions in their
elections. The man who denounced the government the most bitterly, and who had done
the most for the confederate government, was the most popular with their people. This con
stant talking, stump-speaking, and preaching renewed the old, feeling against the north,
and the more they discussed it the bitterer they got, until, as I said, you will find that the
men they looked upon as friends when they first came back from the war, they have now
turned upon like hyenas, and are giving them notice to leave the country.
By Mr. ROGERS:
Question. Who do you mean had notice to leave the country?
Answer. Union men.
Question. Did the authorities give them notice that they must leave the country ?
Answer. No ; the inhabitants gave them notice that they must leave the south.
Question. Do you know that of your own knowledge ?
Answer. Only as these men have told me, and from letters I have received and seen. As
I said, these three men at Mobile had such notice. The same spirit is manifested every
where. In the first place, they will admit no social relationship to exist ; that is all cut off.
Northern men and Union men are also cut off from any commercial relationship from south
ern men. You will see it in every branch of trade. Northern men who, six months ago,
were selling large quantities of goods, to-day are scarcely selling anything. You will see
on the bill of fare of the St. James Hotel such dishes as " Stonewall Jackson soup," " con
federate hash." Captain Plato, who served under mo at one time, came there with his wile
to stop. They took their seats at the table and sat there for about three-quarters of an hour,
hailing every servant that passed, but no one paying the slightest attention to them.
Question. Were they white or colored servants ?
Answer. I believe colored. He finally collared one of the waiters and told him he had
got to be waited on. The servant replied that their orders were not to wait on any Yankee
officer until everybody else was done. Plato being pretty plucky, managed after awhile to
succeed in getting his dinner. He reported the matter to the military commander, who sent
for the proprietor, and asked him what he meant by this course? Proprietor replied, sub
stantially, as follows : "I rent this hotel ; I pay for the lease. In Chicago or in St. Louis
a hotel-keeper has the right to choose as to his guests, to say who or who shall not be ad
mitted. I am catering for what I consider the most profitable trade. If, however, the mili
tary say this must not be done, I shall hereafter make no distinction." The coirmiittee can
gee what would be the condition of things if the military were altogether withdrawn. The;>e
people are determined to accomplish, if possible, an entire separation of interest of the two
sections. They cannot divide the territory; they have failed in that, but they are deter
mined to divide the people, socially, politically, commercially, and, if they had any standing
in morals on earth, morally also.
Question. Do they associate witk their negro population ?
Answer. The same as they always did, I take it, only that I found very great bitterness
among them, especially the private soldiers of the rebel army. They came home out of
employment ; a great many of them are carousing, and, in some districts of the country
56 RECONSTRUCTION.
(I have to tell this from hearsay) where the troops are being withdrawn, they do not hesi
tate at all to shoot a negro.
Question. That you hear ?
Answer. That I hear, and I have it from several gentlemen from the Red river country
above Shreveport.
Question. Do you think it possible they would allow, in any portion of the country, men
to shoot down negroes as they please ?
Answer. I thinK it is only allowed in the border portion in Texas, and in the poorest part
of Louisiana; they would in that country, as lam told. I found this to be true in the
south : on the rich alluvial lands, for instance, along the Mississippi river, there is a much
better class of planters than you will find on 'he poorer high lands back where the soil is
cheap. Mr Parham, an old Jawyer and citizen of Louisiana, told me that he had a planta
tion on tke Mississippi river and anotiier back in the country. During the war he remained
at home passive, was recognized as an anti-war man, and all his advice was against radical
measures on the part of the south, and he managed to get along very well ; but he told me
that now, with even his small show of Union sentiment, he would not be allowed to go back
and work his plantation in the country without the protection of federal troops, although he
was born and raised in that country. He said he would be frank enough to say to me that
he did not intend to put in a crop on his river plantation, because he did not wantto live in
a country where this sort of feeling existed against him, although he might be personally
safe there ; that he had made up his mind to sell if he could, and go to Illinois or some
State where he could live in quiet. I think any Louisiana man will tell you that he is about
as prominent a man as there is in the State.
Question. What is the status of the freedrnen in the courts of Louisiana at the present
time, as far as your knowledge extends ?
Answer. So far, the military have not given up jurisdiction ; but, under the Freedmen's
Bureau, they continue to take cognizance of cases where the negro is interested.
Question. Then the negro gets his rights through the military courts ?
Answer. Yes, in districts where there happen to be officers of the bureau ; otherwise not ;
but the bureau cannot remedy the difficulty of the great surplus of labor in the south. There
are vast numbers of negroets in the south for whom there is no employment, owing to the
fact that they want certainty of protection in the future. Very few northern men will hazard
the losing of their capital by going there now to work plantations. Some who are there
state their intention to remain and light it out; but the majority, rather than run the risk of
losing the capital invested, have left or are making arrangements to leave. With a great
portion of southern planters, \vlio had the reputation of being severe, it is almost impossible
to g<et a negro to hire to them. Then there are a great many others who will not hire on
principle — who will not work plantations. There are other southern men who do hire, and
who are working their plantations, so that there may be, as 1 said, perhaps seven or eight
hundred thousand bales of cotton raised where there should be four millions; for there is la
bor in the south to raise four million bales of cotton. You will see, therefore, that there is
a great surplus of labor in the south.
Question. How far do the laws of Louisiana, as you have known them, extend protection
to freedinen ?
Answer. The present legislature was in session when I was there, and was perfecting a
code of laws which was not then complete. It was based upon the New York vagrant laws.
They were at work at it, but it was very doubtful whether it would pass at all, as it had
been submitted two or three times to officers of the Freedmen's Bureau, who had replied that
unless it was modified very much they could not allow it to go into operation. Under the
late code of Louisiana free negroes were allowed to testify in the, courts, and that is one ad
vantage the negroes of Louisiana have over those iu the other southern States. From the
organization of the State to the present time freedmen have been allowed to testify in the
co-urts of Louisiana.
Question. How far are they protected in their rights of property ?
Answer. The old laws of Louisiana protect colored men iu their rights of property. I
know a great many wealthy colored men in Louisiana.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Did you discover, or have you the means of knowing, whether the negroes in
Louisiana are, or are not, allowed to purchase and hold real estate .'
Answer. The people there are very averse to that — more now tlwu before the war ; they are
very decided on that point. I find this feeling: I think the colored men who were free before
the war could get along pretty well in the cities, where there is more enlightenment and courts
are of a higher character than in the country ; but no man who had been a slave could have
any rights at all ; I am positive of that,
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity of maintaining in Louisiana a military
force sufficient to preserve jn-aco mid protect the rights of all persons.'
Answer. I am very clearly of the opinion that it is a positive necessity to keep a sufficiently
strong military force with power ample, on the part of commanders, to give complete protec
tion to the persons and property of all settlers who may come mere — sufficient to afford them
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 57
positive assurance that they may reside there protected and encouraged by the United States
government, and that this protection should be extended particularly to those entertaining
Union sentiments, or, at least, to that class first. I believe, if that course had been pursued,
in eighteen months from the time of the surrender of the rebel armies the people of that
State would have been all in peace or quiet, or nearly so. The emigration there would,
alone, have been sufficient to accomplish this. I suppose there were never more than about
three hundred thousand whites, all told, in the State of Louisiana; and the great profit to
be made on the staples of that State was such as to have induced an immense immigration.
Those of the committee who have been familiar with the growth of portions of the west,
"know that a very small time is required to bring one hundred thousand people into a State.
1 believe that number would have gone to Louisiana last fall if they had been encouraged by
the government to do so ; but a year has now been lost. I think there is no way to induce a
proper condition of things there for the present, except to keep the power as much as possible
out of the hands of these violent rebels and continue it in the hands of the military. They
will submit perfectly to the military ; that is the experience of every military man who has
been in the State. They will remain quiet and peaceable as long as the general government
is in power, and until you. give them the power.
By Mr. ROGERS:
Question. You stated in your evidence that the people of the south, if I understood you,
now have an intense hatred to the government of the United States. Is that general, or only
manifested in particular instances ?
Answer. I think among the real southern people it is almost universal.
Question. How did you gather your information in regard to that ?
Answer. By association with them, and by travelling among them, and by talking with
those with whom I am acquainted. t
Question. Have you ever heard any man in high standing at the south, lately or since the
war, say anything indicating his hostility to the federal government?
Answer. You can see it, or I did, in the legislature of Louisiana in all their actions.
Question. I refer to private conversations you have had.
Answer. I remember to have had such conversations.
Question. Wilh whom?
Answer. I recollect one with a gentleman by the name of Newcombe, of Louisiana.
Question. Whereabouts in Louisiana did he reside ?
Answer. At some place above New Orleans. He travelled with me a part of the way
through Alabama.
Question. What was his position in society?
Answer. He was a merchant before the war. Since the rebellion broke out, he has been
in the rebel army.
Question. What was his rank in the army?
Answer. I will not be sure of that; I heard him addressed as colonel, and I think he held
that rank. He told me this : "Any man who tells you that our people clown here are not fully
determined on repudiation tells you what is not the public sentiment. I know they are, because
I have ta.ked with the people, mixed with them, and because I feel with them. We hate the
government of the United States intensely. All the wrongs we have suffered have been in
flicted by that government and by your people."
Question. Are you stating his actual language, or your own version of it ?
Answer. His language as near as I can. He said, " We have simply submitted to superior
force, and we hope the day may come yet when our little government will be vindicated."
Question. What other man of note can you name?
Answer. I gave you the name of one other when I was here before.
Question. Can you name any other man of high standing in the south whom you have heard
express such opinions ?
Answer. I do not know that I could name individuals qf prominence with whojn I have
had conversations of that character. I could name a good many Union men of high charac
ter who tell me that southern people are determined on repudiation of the national debt. A
gentleman told me that Governor Sharkey, who is now here in the city, had expressed the
opinion to him that it was a great m'stake in government organizing State governments so
hastily ; that he found the people much more bitter than he expected, and, in present condi
tion, unfit to control.
Question. You say that you talked with General Sheridan and other military commanders
in that country, and that they all expressed the opinion that in the event of a foreign war the
people of the south would take side with the enemy. State what other military commanders
you have conversed with who have expressed that opinion.
Answer. I talked a great deal with General Bayard, one of the commanders in our army.
I conversed with General T. J. Wood.s, who is in command at Mobile. He is a major general
in command of that department, and expressed the same opinion, as did all the officers under
him. I also conversed with General Terry, and with General Turner, at Richmond, within
the last week, and 1 have talked with General Gregg in New Orleans. These embrace all
the military commanders of three or four States. Don't understand me to say that they
would take up arms against us, but would aid in any other way.
58 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question Do they include all you can remember whom you have heard speak in this way ?
Answer. All the prominent generals. I could mention many subordinate officers, all oi
whom concur in the opinion I have expressed. I did not talk with General Canby QU that
subject, but I understood from General Bayard that General Cauby's opinions were the same.
Question. How long have you been in the south since the war ?
Answer. My trip extended over about two and a half months.
Question. What States did you visit?
Answer. Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and also Virginia.
Question. You speak of the proscription of northern men there by southern people since the-
vrar; do you know of any instances of proscription of your own knowledge?
Answer. There is no instance where a man has been actually driven out by force, because
they still have some protection, but every Union man is proscribed.
Question. I ask you whether you know of your own knowledge of any instance where any
class of persons or any official authority has given notice to any northern people in the south
that they must leave ?
Answer. There has been no action upon the part of any officials that I know of in the
south.
Question. Are not these letters you speak of anonymous letters, without having the true
names of persons signed to them ?
Answer. That is generally true, but the whole tenor and condition of society and trade
shows the condition of things I have stated to be true.
Question. Do you know of your own knowledge that southern people have refused to trade
with people because they were northern men ?
Answer. Only from what these men told me.
Question. How long were you in any one town in the south?
Answer. I think the longest was about four weeks at New Orleans.
Question. Did you notice anything yourself indicating this proscription of trade?
Answer. I was not in many stores.
Question. Is not business becoming somewhat stagnated at the south?
Answer. Business is dropping oil" in all the southern States.
Question. Does not that account for the fact that northern men sell fewer goods ?
Answer. It would if southern merchants were not doing more than they ; but that is the
case. I recollect a gentleman in Mobile who has had a large saddlery establishment there
since the war. At first he did a very line business, because he had the only goods of that
description to be found, and because the people manifested a very excellent spirit ; but he
told me that as southern men began to get into power, and southern merchants began to get
their stocks of goods, people were told as they came in "This man is a Yankee ; that man is a
Yankee; you must not trade with them." The result is that their trade is almost entirely
cut off, and it will be absolutely in a very short time, I have no doubt.
Question. Do you think it is an evidence of hatred on the part of southern people toward
northern men, because in matters of trade they support their own friends and neighbors with
whom they have always done business, in preference to strangers locating there ?
Answer. I do, when taken in connexion with the fact that thesPnorthern people are allowed
no social status there at all.
Question. How do you know that these respectable northern merchants and business men
are not allowed any social status among the people of the south ?
Answer. I associated and mixed with them all the time 1 was in the south, and I have
relatives living there.
Question. Please name how they are deprived of association in the social circles of the
south ; what distinction is there made ?
Answer. In the first place, in the southern States, northern men can hardly get seats in the
churches, or at the hotel tables. This I know from my own observation. I had lady friends
boarding at hotels in New Orleans, and whenever they were in the parlors of the hotel, and
southern ladies were present, remarks would be made by the southern ladies to wound their
feelings, if not directly to insult them. Friends of mine in New Orleans told me that since
the rebellion their families could have no intercourse whatever with southern people, and
that the same was true in respect to southerners holding Union sentiments. For instance,
Mr. Neville, who was raised there, and who had good social position before the war, told me
he was living there as a stranger ; that he could have no intercourse with the southern people.
There is no more doubt of that fact than that I sit here.
Question. You state that as your judgment?
Answer. I do, and if you will examine anybody who has been in that country he will tell
you the same condition of things.
Question. Is this feeling you speak of applied to northern people generally, without regard
to their political sentiments?
Answer. I think it is.
Question. To northern people universally ?
Answer. I think it is. I do not think a northern man who went down there, as a great
many do, for the purpose of convincing the southern people that he had always been their
friend, would fare any better.
Question. When they talk about Yankees, who do they mean ?
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA— TEXAS . 5 9
Answer. All men from the north. »
Question. Did not you find the former slave population lazy and indolent, as a general
thing?
Answer. I do not think that is true as a rule: a great many of them are.
Question. Are not u majority of them so ?
Answer. I will answer that in this way : I believe a very large majority, perhaps three-
fourths of those who were formerly slaves, would go to work for the sake of earning something
and making a living, if they could be employed by men who they believe would treat them
fairly. I take it that God never made a man who worked simply because he liked to- work.
All northern men who have worked negroes in the south concur in the opinion that they are
most excellent laborers.
Question. Are not a, large majority of that population, whatever may be the cause, in
idleness ?
Answer. It is barely possible that a majority of them are substantially out of employment.
Many of them get little jobs from time to time, enough to make a living, but I think that on
the first of January one-half of the negroes, perhaps, were without permanent employment;
that would be my judgment, since which time many have found employment.
Question. What portion of these men are supported by the Freedmen's Bureau?
Answer. I only know that from hearsay. I should not think it amounted to five per cent.,
possibly not to two per cent.
Question. You mean two persons out of a hundred ?
Answer. Yes.
Question. In what States ?
Answer. In the States of Virginia and Louisiana, and a part of Alabama. I have seen a
published statement by the agents of the bureau that there were more poor whites than
blacks supported by the bureau ; I have seen that published in the form of an official report.
Question. What class of persons there are usually employed for servants about hotels,
stores, and other places of business, colored or white ?
Answer. In the St. Charles hotel they are white ; in the majority of hotels, stores, &c.
they are black.
Question. Who are employed as' house servants generally?
Answer. Colored Avomen generally, almost universally. There are a great many blacks
who formerly lived in the country now congregated in town.
By Mr. WASHBURNE :
Question. You have testified in reference to a large number of freedmen being in idleness;
what, in your judgment, is the remedy for that evil (
Answer. The certain assurance of protection to men of capital who Avill work the planta
tions and employ these men, as I am confident nearly all are Aviiliug and anxious to get em
ployment.
Question^ Is it on account of any indisposition to Avork that they are idle, or on account
of their Avant of confidence in employers /
Answer. I think in many cases the latter, and for reason that employment is not offered.
Question. Do you think these negroes refuse to work where they haVe confidence in their
Avhite employers ?
Answer. No ; I have given you instances in. the former part of my testimony, in the ex
perience of people to the contrary. For instance, Wade Hampton, of South Carolina, Avho
has been a very rabid man, found no difficulty. I passed hiui on his Avay from South Caro
lina, Avith his negroes Avho had been removed during the war. He had always been kind to
his men, and they remained Avith him and AA-ere now going to work for him. He had made
contracts Avith them and Avas as happy as a lark. He said to a friend of his, AA'ho told me,
that if all southern men would do the same there Avould be no difficulty in getting them to
work.
Question. Do you know of any other matter or thing on the subject about which you have
testified of interest to this investigation?
AnsAver. I believe I have gone pretty much over the ground.
WASHINGTON, Tuesday, January 30, 1866.
D. E. Haynes sworn and cross-examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. State your age and residence.
Answer. I am forty-seven years of age ; my residence, if I have one, is Eapides parish,
Louisiana ; I lived there when the rebels burned me out.
Question. State how long you have resided in Louisiana.
Answer. I came there an expatriated refugee from Texas, in May, 1863 ; I lived in that
parish before I Avent to Texas.
60 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. How long did you live in Texas ?
Answer. About three years and a half.
Question. Where were you at the beginning of the war ?
Answer. I was in Texas.
Question. How long since you left Louisiana ?
Answer. I left Louisiana on the 6th of December direct for Washington ; I think I ar
rived here on the 15th.
Question. State as briefly as you can what you know about the present disposition and
temper of the people of Louisiana towards the federal government?
Answer. I was acting as military sheriff of Madison parish from the 20th of August, 1864,
till the last of July, 1865; sent there by Governor Hahn, or rather by Governor Wells, act
ing as governor. At the close of the war and cessation of hostilities west of the Missis
sippi, nearly all of the rebels there had abandoned that parish and retreated west. As they
returned I conversed with some of ihem, men who I knew had been in the rebel army, but
who now returned as refugees, and had taken the oath of allegiance ; I found them hostile
to the United States and to the Union army. The best word that they could speak for a
northern man was to call him a d d Yankee.
Question. How do their feelings at present, in that respect, compare with those they man
ifested at the close of hostilities ?
Answer. At the time I left Alexandria, about the 8th or 10th, perhaps, of November, their
own acts towards myself would be an index of their feelings on that subject. Some time
before that they beat me violently, and I have no doubt would have murdered me, but for
the interference of friends. During the war I received a gun-shot wound which broke my
right arm, tho bullet lodging in my breast, and since the injuries at Alexandria my right
shoulder has become entirely disabled.
Question. State what was the occasion of the treatment which you received at Alexandria.
Answer. The occasion was that I had been in the Union army ; they could not assign any
other reason for it.
Question. Do you know what their treatment has been of other men who have been Union
men or were in the Union army ?
Answer. The same. When I returned to Alexandria, or to my home, thirty miles north
west of Alexandria, I was met by a friend of mine, a Union man, who told me that an old
neighbor of mine, then returned from the rebel army, had informed him that if old Captain
Haynes ever returned there it would not be well for him. I stopped at night with an o^d
lady, a neighbor of mine. I was convalescent at the time from an attack of typhoid malaria.
The morning following, feeling very unwell, about 10 o'clock I fell asleep. When I woke
up the old lady told me that two men came to the fence and asked her if old Captain Haynes
was staying there. She replied that he was, and they told her that if she harbored Captain
Haynes she should share the same fate with him. They mentioned several rebels whom I
knew, who had declared that 1 could not stay in the country, and others, who were my
friends, told me it would be dangerous for me to stay in that country. I then went to Alex
andria, and while there endeavored to employ a lawyer, whom I knew to be a good Union
man, by the name of Barlow. He would not take the case ; said he was going north at the
time court was to be held, and referred rne to a Captain White, whose status as a Union
man or rebel I did not then know. Barlow did not go north, and I found that the reason
why he would not take the case was that he would lose caste in that community by allowing
himself to be employed by a Union man. My intention was to prosecute these rebels, two
of whom had shot me, and others had committed a violent assault and battery upon my per
son, and still others had robbed my wife.
Question. State the details of the assault and battery of which you speak.
Answer. I had gone to a saloon with a friend of mine to take a drink of whiskey, and as
I was coming out I was set upon by three or four : one of them struck me with his baud on
my throat and knocked me off my licet. Being convalescent from sickness, I had hardiy the
strength of a three-years-old boy, and I have no doubt they would have killed me if friends
had not interfered.
Question. State under what circumstances you were shot.
Answer. During the war, in 186:?, having been captured by the rebels, I escaped, and
while on my way Lome was halted by two guerillas, not in the regular confederate service,
and not obeying their orders, I was shot by them on the public road.
Question. State whether, in your opinion, it is now safe for Union men in Louisiana
without the military protection of the government.
Answer. It is not safe.
Question. What reason do you give for that opinion?
Answer. I give the treatment which I received myself, and the language which I heard
expressed by many southern rebels previous to my leaving Louisiana about the d — d Yan
kees, and a wish to kill them all off at once. In regard to the feelings they entertain toward
Union men, I will say that all those I consulted told me it was no use to sue for damages ;
that no Union man could get damages. Captain WThite, who was himself a rebel officer, told
me he would not undertake my case under any circumstances. I asked them if the moral
turpitude of the secessionists had got so low that they would perjure themselves rather than
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 6 1
do justice to a Union man. I went in November last, by direction of the chief quartermaster
of that department, seventy miles northwest of Alexandria, and talked with the people in the
country through which I travelled. The young men had all been in the rebel army. They
told me of a speech which had been made a short time previous at the county seat of that
parish, in which it was stated that their policy was to kill all the colored soldiers as soon as
they were discharged from the Union army for taking up arms against their masters. I have
heard several expressions of that kind. While acting as military postmaster for the army
opposite Alexandria I had occasion to go to every boat for the mails, and I have heard rebels
there publicly declaiming their hostility to the United States on board the boats, while Union
officers would stand by and not interfere.
Question. Do you know whether the returned rebels have arms or not?
Answer. Yes; I saw many of them coming back after Dick Taylor's surrender with their
side-arms and ammunition. They never surrendered regularly in bodies. There was merely
a written surrender, and having access to the magazines, they took out all the powder they
wanted, and took their aims home with them. That is what I understood, and I have no
doubt about it at all.
Question. What course do you thinlt these rebels would take, if the military protection
was withdrawn, towards the colored Union soldiers?
Answer It would not be safe for them at all ; they would have to be colonized. It was
not even safe for a Union white man to express himself when I was there. I would not go
in the packet running between Alexandria and the falls just above, at the time the legislature
was convened by Governor Wells, at the time the rebels were coming down. About a week
before that a quartermaster had paid his passage up, and finding that threats were made
against his life, because of the opinion he had expressed in conversation that the confederacy
was played out, he forfeited his passage money rather than trust himself on the boat. While
on the way down from Shreveport there was a rebel officer, a lieutenant, on the boat, who,
before he knew I had been connected with the Union army, said that every d d fellow
who had been ought to be killed. I was very cautious about having it known, while I was
on the boat, that I had been in the Union army.
Question. Were you there when any election took place ?
Answer. I was away on the service of the quartermaster's department. In the conversa
tion I had with some rebels who did not know me, they expressed their choice for the rebel
Governor Allen, but they did not kn,ow whether the President would pardon him, and pre
ferred to vote for Governor Wells, who was known as a Union man, because the State would
be more likely to be admitted into the Union. The same expressions were made use of pub
licly in New Orleans.
Question. State what is the condition of the State government of Louisiana now; whether
it is under the control of Union men and Union influence, or under the influence of rebels.
Answer. I learned after I came to New Orleans, on inquiring the political status of the
legislature, that there wras one Union man, and all the rest were rebels. I know it was the
general recommendation for a man to get office that he belonged to some organization in the
rebel army. In Alexandria there was an article published in the Democrat, with respect to
the rebel Governor Allen, showing why rebels should not vote for him, which I have here.
Question. State whether or not the patronage or favor of the administration of Governor
Wells is lor or against the rebels ?
Answer. From my own ^observation, while I was acting as sheriff of Madison parish,
rebels were appointed to ail the offices in that parish. The man who was appointed over me
was at that time in the confederacy. The governor was born and raised in the parish of
Rapides, and knew almost every man in that country. He appointed as sheriff of that
parish John R. Williams, in the rebel service as a captain of cavalry at the time the army
surrendered. He was a man of a great deal of wealth and influence, and Governor Wells
knew him as well as he knew his own brother. He appointed as constable in Rapides parish
a man by the name of G. W. Smith, commonly called "Big George Smith," who was a
lieutenant of guerillas, and with the company which killed seven men there in September,
1863. On the 2d day of December, according to Governor Wells's organ in New Orleans,
the Southern Star, he appointed six or seven captains of militia for Rapides parish, all of
whom I knew, and only one of whom was a Union man. One of them was a fellow by the
name of Jake Gunter, who came into Alexandria in 1864 and joined the Louisiana Scouts,
under Captain Strother. When Alexandria was evacuated, he took the oath of allegiance to
the confederacy, and was with the party which captured Dudley, one of the Louisiana Scouts,
and killed him at the same time they killed Captain Strother.
Question. Are these returned rebels there taking steps towards forming military organi
zations ?
Answer. Under Governor Wells's proclamation, declaring the civil status of Louisiana,
militia organizations were authorized to be formed; but from what I found out previous to
my coming here, and from what I have seen in the newspapers since, they are officered
entirely by rebels.
Question. State whether, in the localities where these appointmento are made, there were
Union men who could have been appointed had Governor Wells been so disposed ?
Answer. Yes, to my knowledge, for I lived in the edge of Rapides parish, and raised a
62 RECONSTRUCTION.
company of Union soldiers there. Governor Wells knew these Louisiana Scouts, and could
have appointed them if he had been disposed. While I was in Alexandria or Pineville, under
the protection of the federal garrison there, I conversed with three or four of these scouts,
and I know that not one of them was appointed. As I said, one of these men appointed was
a Union man. I know that, for he gave me $100 in gold to publish my correspondence, and
the finger of scorn is pointed at him there for being a Union man I endeavored to obtain
entrance into the grand jury room while they were in session in October, ]865, in order to
give evidence against parties who had shot me, burned my house, and made an aggravated
assault and battery upon me, but was repeatedly told I could not then enter; and while
standing there a man who had been a member of 'the rebel legislature at Shreveport, under
Governor Allen, came out and cursed me, calling me "a d— -d old thief and robber:" and
others, who I supposed to be jurors from the manner in which they went into the room with
out interruption, repeated the same language. Threats were made against my life, and I
apprehended that I should be assassinated. I went across the river to Pineville and reported
the case to the commander, but he would not interfere.
Question. What is the feeling there of returned rebels as to the free blacks ? What rights
and privileges are they disposed to allow them ?
Answer. If there was no interference from a superior power they would be in a worse con
dition than they were when in a state of slavery. A bill was passed the senate of that State,
I think on the 5th of December, which, if carried into execution, would place the negro in a
much worse position than be'bre he obtained his freedom ; and ordinances which, if passed
police juries in respect to police regulations in the different parishes, would render the negro
less free than he ever had been before. They throw upon him the responsibility of support
ing himself, and at the same time oppress him worse than he ever has been. My conviction
is, from facts which have come into my possession and from conversations I have had, that
if the army is withdrawn from that section of country the Union men will have to abandon
it or be sacrificed by the rebels.
Question. What is the feeling there among these rebels as to allowing colored people to
acquire and hold lands, and also as to schools?
Answer. One universal opinion is that they shall not be allowed to acquire or hold land.
I have heard that expressed from the first. They say that unless negroes work for them they
shall not work at all. I did not hear any expressions as to the education of the blacks ; but
from its connexion with their general conduct in other respects I should say they do not
•want the blacks to know anything. Their great policy is to keep the negro in ignorance.
I believe that previous to the rebellion it was a penitentiary offence there to teach a negro to
read and write.
Question. How did the blacks act there during the rebellion, and how have they since, as
to the cause of the Union ?
Answer. During the war I was captured three times, and while escaping and being
hunted through that country I always found I could trust the blacks, and during the entire
war there was no disturbance made or crimes committed upon the part of the negroes. They
exhibited an amount of forbearance that I did not anticipate at all. Even while the Union
armies were passing through they seldom committed depredations upon the whites. I have
heard since of some marauders, such as there will be among the whites; but as a general
thing I never heard of any act of barbarity committed against their old masters or anybody.
The most they would do would be to steal a horse and ride t4 the Yankees. There were
three regiments of colored soldiers at Alexandria while I stayed there, for <wo months, and
even the rebels themselves acknowledged that they were very orderly ; that more depreda
tions were committed by the whites than the blacks.
Question. State what position you occupied during the war, and how long you were in
the United States service.
Answer. I was captain of the Louisiana Scouts, then attached to the 2d Louisiana
cavalry. We enlisted during the military operations in Louisiana and Texas. Through
the malice of Major Williamson, who was piqued because I reported a remark made by him
that he did not care a d— n who beat, the north or the south, he, with another officer, pro
cured my honorable discharge from the service, as being too old. I made a statement of
this to Secretary Stanton, and he ordered the whole ba'ialion to be disbanded. My actual
service after I obtained my commission was two months and eight days.
Question. Did you raise a company ?
Answer. I did, and mustered into service one hundred and eighteen men, rank and file.
Question. White men ?
Answer. Yes, .sir, white Union men, and these men have now comeback as refugees into
the State in a destitute condition. They never received any bounty. Governor Wells
promised them three hundred dollars bounty ; but they have never got any.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS 63
WASHINGTON, January 30, 186&.
Rev. Joseph E. Roy sworn and examined.
By Mr. WASHBURNE :
Question. Please state your name, residence and occupation.
Answer. Joseph E. Roy, clergyman ; Jhicago, Illinois.
Question. Have you recently visited the States lately in rebellion ; if so, what States have
you visited ?
Answer. I have spent the last three months, October, November and December, in visiting
the south, embracing: Kentucky. Tennessee, Mississippi. Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, South
Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, and touching at Helena, on the Arkansas side.
Question. How long time were you in Louisiana?
Answer. Twelve days in the city of New Orleans, besides my passage down the Missis
sippi river.
Question. At what time were you in the city of New Orleans 7
Answer. The last of November. *
Question. What was the occasion of your visiting those southern States in rebellion?
Answer. I am agent of the American Home Missionary Society, and was deputed by them
as special representative to explore the south in the interest of evangelical religion, and espe
cially of that society, with a view to planting congregational churches where they should -be
wanted among the loyal people there, and the newcomers from the north. I was travelling
with that m mind, but was all the while looking out for the relations politically, so that I
might have them enter into the prob'em of missions.
Question. What was the condition in which you found things, so far as regarded the poli-
» ticai <ituation of affairs, in the State of Louisiana ? Please proceed in the narrative form as
succinctly as you can, confining yourself to the State, of Louisiana.
Answer. The legislature came into session while I was there. I dropped in several times.
I found them adjourning from day to day, not for lack of a quorum, but because a large
majority or the country members were remaining behind. I found them delaying to bring
up a resolution introduced by Mr Brown ^to drape the speakers chair with the colors of the
United Siates. His resolution went on imS table for several days. He tried 'to bring it up,
but could not. What the resul was, I have not heard.
I was knowing, also, to the fact that loyal ladies of New Orleans sent in notice to the legis
lature that they would pay for and furnish them with a beautiful flag of our country. They
accepted the offer, but when they found that they were colored ladies, they declined accept
ing it.
To show the spirit of the men, one of the members of the legislature passed around the
Lincoln colored school, close by the legislative hall. I was standing there with Rev. Mr.
Alvord, ot Boston. The children were out at play. The member came around and said,
"What is that ?" "A school.'1 " Is it a nigger school?" "Yes, sir." ''Taught by females?"
''Yes. sir, so it seems." " Well," said lie, '• I have seen the end of all absurdities." He
was one of the legisla^rs of thaf State.
While I was there, the superintendent of education under the bureau for the State told me
tha four schools among the colored people had been broken up at Franklin, in the State, by
citizens, when the troops weie withdrawn. At Terrebonne, one colored school-house had
been torn down and another burned after the withdrawal of the troops.
On the steamer, the captain of the vessel, speaking of General Butler, who had been in
charge of that department, called the general the greatest thief in the world. We reminded
him i hat the government might be obhged to send him back there to straighten them up if
they did not behave. That seemed to bring him to. It was not a desirable thing to be
secured.
The legislature did not get into working order before I left, and I was there twelve days ;
so that I know nothing of their official action on what I have spoken. I was present at the
session of tour or five other legislatures.
Question. What seemed to be the general spirit of the people of New Orleans and the State
of Louisiana, so far as you gathered it from their acts and conversation ?
Answer. Well, sir, of course ihe people are not all alike. I found some true Union men of the
old style — men who represent the Union men of the south, as I found them generally — that is,
men whose love of country caused them the loss of patronage and of soc;al relations. I found
such men there that I could name, truly loyal, devoted to the governmert,andvery despondent.
Mr. B. F. Flanders, supervising agent of the United S ates treasury, elected last year to the
United States Senate, with whom I had a very pleasant acquaintance, as he went into our church
society, to.d me that if the troops were withdrawn, he believed the Union men could not stay
in the city twenty-four hours. Mr. Waples, the United States prosecuting attorney, also
Mr. Walton, the city treasurer, old Union men, expressed similar views. These gentlemen
and the old Union people that I met universally seemed to have a despondent view, think
ing that the government was losing what it had gained by the war. At first I thought that
their judgment was warped ; for 1 went to the south with the purpose to see, if possible, the
hopeful side. But finding the old Union people -unanimously of this opinion, I was coiv-
64 RECONSTRUCTION.
strained to believe that their judgment was not merely the effect of prejudice, but there must
be some force in it, because they were everywhere of that opinion. Wherever we met such
men they would remark that if this course goes on we shall go under; Union men will be
driven out. They were looking hopefully to the action of the Executive and of Congress to
protect the rights of Union men. That was one class of men — the Union men.
Other men whom I met there were disposed to be loyal; to submit to the government
because they must, and do as well as they could, still retaining the spirit apparently of the
old times of secession. In many cases there was a bitterness of spirit, an unrelenting spirit
of opposition to the Union men that were coming in from the north, and especially to the old
Union men of the south. They have a greater grudge against the old Union men than
against the new-comers, and there was there, as almost everywhere I went, a disposition to
ostracise Union men socially and commercially, and to show favor generally to the men who
had been in the rebel army, and men whose devotion to the rebel cause had been unsus
pected. This ostracism the Union men complained of.
Question. What was the idea of the Union men as regards what was necessary to be done
by Congress and the President in this state of things ?
Answer. Their idea was that the government should retain the troops in the south for the pro
tection of the loyal men there, and should retain and re-empower the Freedrneu's Bureau,
feeling that if the troops were withdrawn, the northern men would be driven out, and the
negroes would be greatly persecuted.
Question. What was the status of the colored people, so fa* as you were able to judge from
your own observation, in the State of Louisiana ? How were they regarded and treated ?
State in relation to their employment or want of employment ; the refusal of the people to
employ them at fair wages, and whether they were willing to work if employed.
Answer. Of course, just having been set free, they were disposed in some measure to enjoy
that freedom ; to go to the cities and see for themselves ; to leave their old masters for a time.
But I found them ready to make contracts where they felt sure that the contractor would
keep his bargain. Many of them had been disappointed in the contracts they had made with
their masters, who had turned them off at the end of the year. One editor (not in Louisiana,
but in Eichmond) told me he thought that one-half of the planters had broken their contracts
with the negroes. At the several offices of the Freedmen's Bureau I learned of many cases
of the failure of the planters to keep "their contracts'with the negroes after they had got their
cotton in the bale, often turning them off in the face of winter with their families to support,
and with nothing to support them. But the negroes were perfectly willing to make contracts
with men who had been kind to them — the Yankees, as they called them — the soldiers, and
gave satisfaction to all such persons. I found many cases — I could mention the particulars —
where kind planters, northern men, had employed them greatly to the satisfaction of both
employer and the negro, where they had both made money and both been satisfied. They
are disposed to labor and abide by their contract with men in whom they can confide. But
I found them very suspicious of their old masters — several cases of that kind. The negroes
would want to know whether a northerner who had rented a plantation had anything to do
with the old master ; if he had, they would not work for him ; and if the northerner con
trols the plantation, then' the negroes will work hard and work satisfactorily, being giad of
the opportunity to work for wages.
A great many cruelties are practiced on the colored people. The southern people seem to
have transferred their spite at the government to the colored people who have not injured
them. They charge the negroes with being exceedingly ungrateful, whereas, in my judg
ment, the white people are exceedingly ungrateful towards the negroes because they did not
rise during the rebellion and massacre their defenceless people at home. But in many cases
southerners testified to me that the negroes had behaved well during the war. They re
mained at home, and sustained not only their families at home, but raised the produce for the
support of the rebel army.
I could go on and state in regard to cruelties inflicted upon the negro, if I am not
confined to the State of Louisiana.
Question. Go on and state generally.
Answer. At Jackson, Mississippi, General Chetlain, a federal officer, told me that within
forty miles of that city, going out on an official trip, he found seven negroes killed. He was
commander of that department. He also said that in two months within his district of nine
counties there had been an average of one black man killed every day.
Colonel Thomas, assistant commissioner of the Freedrnau's Bureau for the State of Mis
sissippi, told me that there had been a daily average of t\vo or three black men killed in that
State by the citizens.
Dr. Silverton, a inun who had papers from federal officers testifying to his good character
and standing, and who was then on his way to Savannah on some business for the govern
ment, said that he saw a master beat his old servant seventy years of age, who had made a
crop for him, using a board, and causing a resonance so loud as to be heard a great way off.
Chaplain Buckley, superintendent of education under the bureau in the State of Alabama,
at Montgomery, told me that his brother had rented a plantation and went out to hire the
negroes, but could not get access to them. The planter kept constantly in his presence.
Ou returning his servant told him the reason. The planter had just knocked down and left
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 65
one of the servants, who remained insensible for two days. The planter had threat
ened to shoot any negro who should inform Mr. Buckley of that fact.
At Mobile, in the office of the Freedmeu's Bureau, November 29, Lieutenant Colonel Yer-
rington, assistant superintendent of the bureau, showed me his official record of injuries com*
rnitted upon black men on the Sabbath previous in that vicinity.
Dr, Hall, of Mobile, strack Delia, his servant, several times with a whip, and then to
screen himself complained of her for larceny in a civil court and had her imprisoned thirty
days at hard labor.
James O'Neil, at Starts landing, near Mobile, crossing the bay, cat with an axe the head
of a man, Joe Hanscrd, colored, in the presence of the crew and passengers.
James Sweeney, in Mobile, tried to cut the throat of John Hazel, colored. Failing in this,
he cut him over the forehead, and stabbed him in the eye.
Colonel Marshall, a rebel officer, resident of Mobile, owned a negro woman. She called
upon his wife for pay for three days1 service. He charged her with insulting his wife, because
she said that Mrs. Marshall told her to call that morning and get her pay. She did so, sup
posing she was not wanted longer ; Mrs. Marshall then sard she wished her to remain. She
told her she did not suppose she wanted her longer and did not wish to remain. For that
Colonel Marshall struck her on the side of the head, so that a large contusion occurred. She
started to run ; he followed her and struck her on the forehead, so that a large swelling was
on her forehead ; he kicked her, pursued after her and kicked her again. He was brought
up before the Freedmen's Bureau, and thence sent under guard to a justice and was about to
be bound over to court. He offered to settle it by paying $50, which was allowed.
This list of cruelties, except the last, occurred on one Sabbath.
Question. You say that Colonel Marshall compromised it with the bureau ?
Answer. No, sir; with the civil court. They turned over this case, as was the rule in
Alabama, to the civil court ; and this officer compromised with him by letting her receive
fifty dollars instead of having him bound over to court.
Mr. McDonald, of Mobile, shot, with a shot-gun, Henry Bowlings, colored. Bowlings
was going through an alley : McDonald scolded him for it. Bowlings said, "This is a high
way ;" whereupon McDonald shot at him.
George W. Davis, of Mobile, on the same day, tried to kill the boy Starr, colored, with
stones and bricks, having his head pounded, as Colonel Yerrington said, to a jelly.
Henry Davis beat the celored boys, S. Gould, N. Gould, and Jesse Rip ley, on the way to
church.
Mr. Sibley, of Mobile county, with Stark and Watkins, shot and killed the colored man
Bufford and another negro, and wounded Captain Puffer, colored — (he had got the soubriquet
captain; whether it was real or not I do not know) — because they said that they would not
submit to be tied up.
Colonel Yerrington also told me that 'there had been thirty-eight murders of black men in
that bureau district, of six counties, in three months.
He also told me, Colonel Robinson, superintendent, himselt confirming, that a squad ot
negroes had come to the river, in Choctaw county, to find the federal forces. Bill Odana
came up. As they saw him come up, they «,!! fled to the woods except a woman and her
children. As he came up to her, he said, "Where are you .going? Down the river, ain't
you?" "Yes, sir," she replied. "I will show you the way through helL," said he. So he
drew his bowie-knife and cut her throat ; also the throat of her boy, nine years old ; also the
throat of her girl, seven years of age ; threw their bodies into the river, and the live baby
after them.
Question, Where did you get this information ?
Answer. Colonel Yerrington, assistant superintendent of the bureau, showed it to me on
the official record.
Question. Was it derived from an official investigation, or mere hearsay ?
Answer. I cannot say that there had been an official investigation ; I do not know ; there
might have been ; he just gave it to me as an officer.
Question. Did he have these facts recorded as you have stated them, or did he just detail
them to you in conversation ?
Answer. Most of them were recorded, as I took them from his record ; some were detailed
in conversation, but I have no doubt he had record of all of them.
Question. Did he believe the facts to be as stated by you ?
Answer. He did, most positively.
Question. Was he in a situation to ascertain them ?
Answer. I judged that he was, because he was in the way of receiving reports from the
sub-officials all over the district, and he desired me to make the facts known.
Question. Did you hear anything in relation to negroes being kidnapped along the coast ?
Answer. I did not ; only in the papers. In this connexion I would mention one or two
other things furnished to me by the same authority,
On the Tombigbee river, a woman and her children were nailed into a hen-coop and
thrown into the river.
At Clayburn, on the Alabama river, six or seven negroes had been killed at different times.
He also told me— and it was confirmed to me by Captain W. A. Poillon, superintendent of
a sub-district — that three negroes were lodging in a corn-crib. Planter Dudley came up in
5 F L T
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the early dawn ; and, as the boys fled, he shot one, and then another. A second planter sbtft
at the third man, but did not hit him. That third negro testified before this officer, Captain
Poillon, that planter Dudley shot the two* negroes. The case was then referred to the civil
court— to the justice of the peace— and they were cleared. The military authorities were at
that time searching to recapture them.
Four miles from Claiborne, Alabama, a father and mother, a girl of seventeen, a boy, and
a baby, the child of the murderer, were all killed by Mr. Sallie, who was a fanner, as he was
taking them back from their effort to escape to the Yankees. Four companies of colored
troops had been stationed at Bladen's springs. Having been abused by white citizens, the
citizens promised to do better if the troops should be removed. The troops were removed.
Lieutenant Slick, who had been in charge of the troops, was left behind, sick ; a meeting of
the citizens was held, who sent word to Lieutenant Slick that he must leave within five days.
He did so. At the same meeting it was resolved that all white and black persons who had
befriended colored troops should leave within five days. Fire white families did leave, and
many blacks. The same day two negroes were murdered by white men in that neighbor
hood. At Atlanta, jn the three days previous to my passing through, six black men and two
white men had been killed; the citizens having requested the removal of the military patrol
during these days.
Officers of the bureau gave me this information. Two citizens of Atlanta took out a
negro, giving him three hundred lashes. The bureau fined each man one hundred dollars.
Seventeen miles out from Atlanta some planters were claiming their negroes as slaves and
defying the bureau ; shot the negroes as they went away. One man coming from th-e
neighborhood was shot through the lungs.
General Tillson, assistant commissioner for the bureau in Georgia, told me lie was after
twenty men who had turned off. their negroes without paying them, after a summer's work.
THE MILITIA.
General Tillson said that ia northern Alabama the milhia were driving ont the negroes.
At Skipworth landing, on the Mississippi river, Colonel Bissell, furnishing wood for govern
ment boats, said that the militia in that neighborhood had been worrying the negroes very
much ; taking from them the cotton raised during the war.
FEELING OF THE WHITES TOWARDS THE NEGROES.
Here are some facts. The engineer of our train, in North Carolina, said, in my hearing,
to a friend, "When our State gets into the Union again some of these negroes will get
shot." A passenger on the cars, a planter, said in my hearing, "If the negroes were left
to me I would send them all down to hell." Another passenger, a Mr. Williams, of
Savannah, who had owned ninety slaves, said in my presence, "I would give my las-t
dollar to put them out of the way," with a spirit indicating a bad purpose. A doctor,
from Texas, who had owned three hundred and fifty slaves, was on the cars when a friend
came on board. The doctor says, "What news?" Friend replies, "One or two negroes
have been shot." "That is right," said the doctor, with a spirit of approbation. I
heard very many persons remark, with great satisfaction, that the negroes would become
extinct in a few years. Another passenger, boasting that he had watched nights with
his slaves, would not now lie awake three minutes for any of them. Many masters
are not confided in by the negroes, because, although they feed and clothe them well,
are unkind in their treatment; for instance, the postmaster at Charleston, Mr Trott, told
me of a large planter in that State who claimed to be kind to his negroes, and yet they
left him. Another planter replied, " The reason is, when you owned them it was 'do this,
you damned nigger;' 'do this, you skillet head.' " General Abbott told me that he sent out
thirty negroes to work for a planter, but they soon left ; he then sent another squad, but they
left, and yet the planter was said to be a kind master. The general then went himself, and
found an ex-rebel soldier, an old officer, acting as overseer to these negroes, and heard him
command a negro, "Do this, or I will smash your head." The Reverend and Captain
Horace James, late superintendent of freedmen at Newbern, told me that, having rented a
plantation, he oft'ered to hire the negroes on it ; but finding them hesitating, he inquired the
reason; they said, "they feared the old master was to have something to do with the planta
tion." As soon as he told them that he alone was to control the plantation, they were per
fectly willing, and glud to make contracts with him. Indeed, I found the negroes willing,
everywhere to make contracts with northern men, Union soldiers and planters who had
treated them kindly. At Mobile, three African churches — two Methodist and one Presby
terian — had been burned just before I passed through.
THREATS AGAINST UNION MEN.
David Turpie, 17 miles back of Helena, a quiet man, being a loyalist, left during the war,
having just come back to his farm. Six of his neighbors agreed among themselves to ki?l
him if he did not leave. A female friend informed him of this, and he did leave. The post
master, Chester, at Helena, told me this fact. He knew the man, and had just seen him that
day, and testified to his inoffensive spirit. In several other cases I heard the southern people
threatening that, when the Yankee troops were gone, they would clean out these northern men.
FLORIDA —LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 6 7
INTERFERING WITH SCHOOLS,
Rev. Mr. Litts, at Natchez, superintendent of freedmen's schools, told me that he had just
taken two lady teachers into the country to start them in schools, and that they were both
driven back by the citizens. G. G. Adam, esq., at Vicksburg, said that Mrs. Ringler, who
was teaching a colored school in the African church at Jackson, Mississippi, had been warned
by the white trustees, and advised by Governor Sharkey, to give up her school. At last she
was driven out by a civtt warrant. A doctor at Mobile, who had just been pardoned, was
trying to oust the freedmen's schools from the medical college. As General O. 0. Howard
came along, calling upon the doctor, he was abusively treated, the doctor saying that he had
no business there. Captain Pease, superintendent of education for the bureau in Louisiana,
told me that four colored schools in Franklin had been broken up after the withdrawal of the
military forces. Also at Terrebonne one school-house for colored children was burnt, and
another one torn down after the troops had been withdrawn.
FUTURE RESISTANCE.
The Rev. Mr. Rutherford, of Vicksburg, said to us, "We submit now because we can't
help it, but we hold our principles in abeyance and watch for our chance." Judge Lumpkin, of
Georgia, told my informant, the Rev. Mr. Gwoodell, of New Britain, Connecticut, that by
and by they meant to join the west and leave New England out in the cold. Colonel Seibles,
a lawyer of South Carolina, who had been with General Lee four years, told me that they still
looked to the west for a Union against New England ; that they had been disappointed in the
conduct of the northwest ; that he did not believe in a republican government. Governor
Brownlow told us that the rebels intended to get a peaceable separation now, leaving New
England out,
LOYALTY OF THE PEOPLE.
Besides the original loyal men at the south and northerners, there are some who not only
submit to the government, but try to have the spirit of loyalty ; but in the mass of the people,
as I met them, there was scarcely any national spirit — a lip loyalty, but not one of the heart.
Their purpose is, as it seemed to me, as they can no longer constrain labor by the lash, to
compel it by legislation to make the negroes servants of society instead of servants of individ
uals. They desire the removal of the troops and of the bureau, so that they may enact such
legislation as will furnish an equivalent for the late system. A Methodist minister at Mont
gomery, who had been a member of the secession convention, and there made a speech for
•which he was complimented, told the Rev. Mr. Goodell that he had just re-examined the
whole subject of slavery, having read the principal works on both sides, and had decided that
slavery was right ; that the death of the confederacy was as a trial of their faith, not as a con
demnation of slavery, which, in his judgment, was to remain the same in spirit, though not
in fonn, with some advantages, viz : that they would not now be obliged to care tor the
children, the aged, and decrepit ; and alluding to the amendment of the Constitution that
slavery should not prevail, except for crime, he said "We must now make a code that
will subject many crimes to the penalty of involuntary servitude, and so reduce the negroes
tinder such penalty again to practical slavery." Mr. B. F. Flanders, treasury agent at New
Orleans, told me that the night before at the Varieties theatre the " Bonnie B'ue Flag," when
sung, was cheered ; the Star Spangled Banner, when sung, was hissed. Dixie was then
sung and again cheered, and this in the presence of General Hurlburt. Also that, at another
theatre, General Sheridan being present, a man below spoke, and said he wished he could get
hold of the general and put him out of the way. I was at Augusta on the day when General
Grant passed through on his recent tour of inspection. In the forenoon he had scarcely any
calls from the citizens. In the afternoon, riding through the streets, something of notice hav
ing been given, the negroes were enthusiastic along his way, but citizens showed little or no
attention. Alighting from his carnage, as I was informed by a federal officer, a general, hw
aid remarked to him, "General, there is some loyalty in Augusta." "Yes," was his reply,
appreciating the loyalty of the colored people, "among our smoked Yankee friends." Rev.
Dr. Wilson, of Augusta, told me that he found it hard to get his people to submit. At the
national thanksgiving in his large church, where I was present, there were only fifty-three
persons, several of these being soldiers and northern men, and this the only public service
among the white people on that day.
SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE.
Reverend Doctor Ross, in the confederate Presbyterian assembly, said : "One great anxiety
I feel at the present time is, that I hear so many in the church sav, we do not submit to this
dispensation of Providence; others say, we submit only becaus>e*it is of God and right; we
cannot help it; that, sir, is no submission."
At Savannah, a photographer told me that elite ladies, looking over his pictures, and buy
ng pictures of Booth and his accomplices, would frequently express their gladness at the
death of Mr. Lincoln, wishing that all Yankees might thus be swept away.
68 RECONSTRUCTION.
Doctor Presley, a member of the South Carolina legislature, told me that he thought it provi
dential that President Lincoln was taken away; ho would have been so severe upon the
south. At Jackson, Mississippi, while I was there, General Howard being present on his
tour of inspection, and the legislature being in session, Governors Shark ey and Humphreys
called upon him and expressed desire that he should make an address to the legislature.
Being there as a representative of the President arid government, he was quite willing to do
T A •/* T i_^A J „ J _1* _l_i. Al 1 • 1_i._ J- _ 1~ —. ~-,J ~_ ~C i.1
vent negroes from squatting on any lands if they were not employed ; and a member of th*>
legislature said to us when we inquired the object of it : "We mean to keep them down:
we do not mean to allow them to get up." And the spirit of the six legislatures which I
visited seemed to be that of oppression towards the negro.
FREEDMEN'S BUREAU.
My business led me into acquaintance -with the assistant commissioners and the superintend
ents of the bureau, to the number of twenty-five at least, in the several States which I
visited. I was greatly pleased with the character and ability of the men — men who seemed
intent on doing justice to the blacks and to the whites. The necessity of the bureau for the
protection of the blacks, and indeed of the whites, is to me beyond question. I found the
commissioners and other superintendents everywhere seeking to promote the physical comfort
of the negroes, and to secure their protection from violence, to encourage their elevation by
education, to inspire them with ambition, and to lead them to industry. The negroes every
where look to it with confidence, and expressed many times fear that it would be removed ;
all loyal citizens share in the same conviction; many citizens, who were not distinguished
for their loyalty, also said that the bureau was a necessity for the protection of white people.
General Fisk, superintendent commissioner for Kentucky and Tennessee, told me on Satur
day last that in Kentucky, while Senator Davis was berating the bureau as a nuisance, he
was receiving information from the neighborhood of the senator to this eft'ect, that a black
soldier, a neighbor of tbe senator, who had been just mustered out of the service in Texas,
had returned to get his wife and child. Appealing for them, the master set upon him and
beat him most cruelly, pummelling his head. The general saw the soldier. And also that
ex-Governor Helm, of the Kentucky legislature, had said to him: "You will not need an
agent in my district; everything is all right and quiet there;" but while he was preseut at
Frankfort the general and the ex-governor both received information that one of his neigh
bors had been burned out because he employed negroes.
CAPABILITIES AND CONDUCT OF THE NEGROES.
I found them more intelligent than I had expected to find them ; indeed, capable, in my
judgment, of exercising the elective franchise. Since the holidays they have been very ready
to enter into contracts and to go to work with men who will treat them kindly and justly. I
made many inquiries as to the prospect of insurrection among the negroes. They always
denied it, and said they knew nothing of any such thought or plan. They even laughed at the
idea. I found them almost universally exercising a charitable spirit towards their former
masters ; scarcely ever a menacing or vindictive spirit, but willing to forgive and forget the
past, if now they could only hare justice and kindness. I found them everywhere aspiring
for education and the possession of land ; proud that they were American citizens, and proud
of the heroism of the black soldiers. In my judgment it would be extremely disastrous to
the welfare of the country, of the citizens, black and white, to withdraw the troops from the
south. The northerners and Union men would bo driven out, the negroes would be per
secuted and killed. Moreover, if the troops were withdrawn this would prevent emigration
to the south, which is the great need of that country. Many people desire to go there if they
can be protected in person and property, but will not go if the troops are withdrawn. This
I found to be the sentiment of all the Union men and of the negroes. It is also my judg
ment that the bureau ought to be continued and re-empowered for the work to which it has
been assigned. It is also my conviction that the southern people ought still to be kept on
probation, deprived of the society of the federal family, until they shall show a better spirit.
They will have more of respect for the government if a firm discipline is administered,
even by judicious military control, than if treated with inconsiderate leniency. The mass
of the people do not seem to appreciate or even to comprehend the clemency of the govern
ment. They should be taught respect for the civil authority of the government as well as
for its military power.
THE FEELING OF THE PEOPLE AT THE PRESENT TIME COMPARED WITH THAT AT
THE COLLAPSE OF THE REBELLION.
I was told by citizens and by travellers who went through the south immediately after the
collapse that then the people were awe-struck, feeling that they had forfeited all their rights,
and were ready to submit to almost anything that could be prescribed by a wise govern-
. FLORIDA — LOUISIANA - TEXAS. 69
meut, even soliciting the good offices of known Union men, hoping thereby to secure favor,
and inquiring earnestly of northerners happening there what the government intended
to do with them, apparently submissive to the government. But now nearly all that is gone.
Instead of willingness to accept prescribed conditions, many claim their constitutional rights,
and are imperious for their original position in the government, the spirit being that of bit
terness towards the government and towards the north. I heard but one man in all the
south, in the constant communication I had with the people, who said that we ought to deal
with the negroes as we would be done by. I heard from not one individual, in the whole
trip, who expressed or manifested in any way any sense of wrong-doing in connexion with
the rebellion — no conviction of crime in the matter. It was to them rather a misfortune.
Yet in my judgment the people have behaved as well as we could have expected under the
circumstances, with their property swept away, with their government overthrown, and with
their civil status denied. I made the whole trip without any experience of rudeness, and
was personally well treated.
I may say, in respect to the composition of the present legislatures at the south, that,
except in Tennessee, in every case where I visited, they represented and appeared to be
under the control of men who were disloyal in spirit.
AS TO NEGROES ACQUIRING PROPERTY.
A few persons whom I met would admit that they had the right to acquire property, and
that they ought to be protected in it ; but the great mass of the people were opposed to their
having a chance to gain possession of real estate. Only one of the legislatures had made
provision for negroes owning real estate — that of Georgia. A rebel colonel told me that he
would rather his property were sunk in the middle of perdition than to lease it to negroes,
much less to sell it to them ; and many others expressed similar sentiments.
If the troops and the bureau were withdrawn the schools for freedmen would most certainly
be broken up. It was the general belief by the freedmen themselves, by teachers, and
Union men, that this would be the case.
SUCCESS OF FREE LABOR
Wherever planters have shown a disposition to be fair and ust the negroes have been
willing to work for them, and work faithfully, and such planters have, in every case I have
heard of, done well for themselves and for the negroes. A planter near Lexington, Ken
tucky, seeing that slavery was dead, told his men that he would give them fifteen dollars a
month if they would stay with him and work. They did so ; he had made a good crop and
was entirely "satisfied. Major Isbel, of General Forrest's staff, told me that his father told
his men that he would give them twelve dollars a month. They remained with him ; he had
made good crops and was entirely satisfied. He had sixty-three men on his place, near
Huntsville, Alabama. Judge Fisher, of Mississippi, the unsuccessful candidate for the gov
ernorship, an old whig and Union man, told his slaves that he would take them into part
nership — so Colonel Thomas told me. They consented, and he gave them a portion of the
crop, one-half, and he said he had never made so much money in any one season as this.
At Helena, two or three companies from the north had rented large plantations and sublet
them to the negroes in parcels of twenty and forty acres each. The proprietors told me they
were successful, and satisfied with the working of the negroes, and the avails of their sum
mer services. Jerome Pillow, a colored man, had in this way cleared this season seven
thousand dollars. Hal. Burton, on thirty-two acres, had cleared six thousand dollars.
Twenty colored men had in this way cleared from one thousand to two thousand dollars each
this year. A lawyer at Helena told me that in Phillips county, in which Helena is, he knew
of fifty colored men who had cleared fifty thousand dollars this year. One old colored
woman, with her hoe, had made five hundred dollars in cotton. Messrs. Stevens & Curtis,
eight miles from New Orleans, whose plantation I visited, had purchased the land and
worked eighty negroes, giving them twenty dollars a month, were perfectly satisfied with the.
working of the negroes and their conduct; had done well on the plantation. Mr. J. E.
Meister, a Prussian, whom I met in Charleston, had purchased in South Carolina forty
thousand acres of pine lauds, and had hired three hundred negroes, and intended to hire
many more. He gave his coopers fifty dollars a month, and his common hands from fifteen
to thirty dollars, and was perfectly satisfied with the results of free labor. He scouted the
idea that the negroes would not work and could not be relied upon. He said he had more
applications than he could accept for employment. I also met several other planters from
the north and some from the south, who by kind treatment, fairness, and justice, had
received from the negroes satisfactory labor and conduct,
WASHINGTON, February 7 1866.
Brigadier General Charles C. Doolittle sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS:
Question. State your position in the United States service, and what opportunities you
have had of learning the condition of things in the State of Louisiana.
70 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Brigadier general United States volunteers ; I was stationed in the northeastern
part of Louisiana, on the Washita river, commanding district of northeast Louisiana. I was
brought in contact with the people there during the three months I remained.
Question. State what you found the disposition and temper of the people to be as to the
authority of the government of the United States.
Answer. Among the better class of citizens, while I do not think there was a very hearty
loyalty, perhaps, there was a disposition to conduct themselves in support of the government.
The greater number, perhaps, regretted the war ; more, perhaps, from the fact that their
property was destroyed and so much suffering entailed on them, than because of the under
taking itself. A great many were sorry they had not succeeded, but were willing to accept
the condition of things, make the best of it, and do everything they could now to support
the government ; and there are others who have just as much bitterness as ever towards the
northern people. In some of the parishes of* that portion of Louisiana I was in the resi
dents are exceedingly bitter towards northern people. That was not the universal senti
ment, however, even there. Delegations called on me — I recollect one from the worst parish
in my district — who seemed disposed to do everything in their power to treat the negro prop
erly, and support the government. But my opinion about Louisiana, or that portion of it,
is, that there is not much hearty loyalty among the people. I think, when they come to see
that their own interests will be advanced by supporting the government, they will do it, and
after awhile, perhaps, become attached to the government or" the United States. The worst
class of men down there are those who were not in the army. The confederate soldiers
have had enough of war, and are now disposed to do right, and can be more fully trusted.
Question. Were there many northern people in your district ?
Answer. There were some, and some who had intended to settle there, but not a large
number. That portion of the State embraces a very fine cotton country, and there is a good
deal of wealth there. There are a good many Union men there, who have been Union men
all through. I think there has been a change in the sentiments of the people, from what I
could learn in talking with prominent men, and from what I saw myself, from the time ot
the surrender until I left. Soon after the close of the war they would have been glad to
have accepted anything, but they are now getting rather more bold. The better class of men I
think could be fully trusted ; but there are many who seem disposed, if they had an oppor
tunity, to make trouble. I should not think it safe to withdraw the troops entirely from the
State. I bel'eve as long as there is a shadow of the United States authority there the people
will keep within bounds pretty well. I think, perhaps, that after a .year or so they may
change in their feelings, and find their interests are being advanced under the new system
of labor Avhen it gets well established.
Question. What is the condition of the black people there, as far as you can judge ?
Answer. Some of them were at work ; but the larger portion of them were indisposed to
do so at the time I was there. The idea was very prevalent among them that about the holi
days the government was going to apportion the lands, or do something for them. We
labored to disabuse their minds of that ; but they were indisposed to make contracts. Some
plantations were being worked ; but the negroes, as a general rule, were not disposed to be
steadily at work. This idea that they were going to cultivate land of their own, or to do
something for themselves, made them indisposed to labor very steadily, and the camps at
tracted a good many of them. So long as the soldiers were in contact with them, especially
the black soldiers, I think it had a tendency to demoralize them. If a black soldier had
anything to spare in the way ot tood he would share it with some of them. My idea in regard
to troops at the south when I was there was that, if any were kept, they ought to be white.
The black troops, in many respects, are better than tho white at this stage, and that one fact,
that their contact with the laboring class had a bad effect upon them, would be the only
motive I would have for replacing them with white troops ; otherwise they are better for this
duty. I think, with that idea driven out of the heads of the black people, they will be dis
posed to do well. Some planters hold to the idea, and I suppose they will not think other
wise, that the negro will not work, and they are not disposed to make a fair trial, while
others are ready to contract with them and go on with the work of their plantations. General
Kusk, of Arkansas, was in my neighborhood while I was there with all his negroes with
him. He took them to Texas, but they came back with him on to his plantation, and he ha<l
.leased another plantation. Some others who had gone off to Texas were returning about
the time I left with their negroes, and they were going to work ; but, as a general thing, I do
not think the cotton crop will be very large in that section of Louisiana.
Question. What wages do they pay these blacks there?
Answer. In some cases they pay them nothing but their board and clothing for the first
year. Some of them pay $5, and others pay ijjilU a month.
Question. In what condition would the Union men be there if the troops were withdrawn ?
Answer. I think in some sections of Louisiana, and in some of the parishes of my district,
they would be persecuted, perhaps not openly, but they would be annoyed. In the parish
of Washita, for instance, there is a class of men who seem better disposed. That part of
Louisiana was strongly Union, with the exception of a few parishes, and gave a strong
Union vote, but they were almost all of them engaged in the rebellion. They went into it
finally.
FEORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 71
Question. What do the people s&y there as to the education of the negroes, or their hold
ing- property f
Answer. "There are varieties of opinion about that. Some are in favor of it. The thinking
people are in favor of it, but the more ignorant class are not. There were some trials of ne
groes in court while I was there, and they were treated very fairly, indeed.
Question. Were you there at any election ?
Answer. Yes-, I was there at the last election.
Question. Were there tickets in the field known as Union or secession tickets ?
Answer. No*, there "was not that distinction made. The candidates made the ticket. The
only merit claimed for the candidate who was run against Mr. Ray was, for instance, that
he had been an officer in the rebel army. But Mr. Ray was elected by a very large majority.
Question. To what office was Mr. Ray elected ?
Answer. Member of Congress. Among the members of the legislature there were some
few Union men elected from that section ; others were officers of the confederate army. I have
talked with them, and they seem to manifest right views; you could not really ask anything
more of them. And I think the legislature of Louisiana has passed some very good laws in
regard to the freedmen. I do not know what they may have done lately. About the time
I left a bill was passed, which I did not see, but which some officers told me was very just
towards the freedmen.
Question. What position did Mr. Ray occupy during the rebellion?
Answer. He was a Union man all through. I think he had something to do with sup
porting poor children. He had nothing to do with the confederacy at all, though almost all
men in the south, whether Union or not, had something to do w'ith it some way. They must
have something to do with it, or they could not stay there. Mr. Ray was a man very much
respected everywhere, and soon after the surrender the people very generally united upon
him as a man to represent them in Congress. He himself was a little afraid that they might
elect this other man ; for, after the lenient policy adopted by the President, they began to
think that they might perhaps all have a chance. Still, I can say in respect to that section
there, that the people are about as loyal as wre could reasonably expect. It is difficult for
men to change their views so soon after so long a struggle. There has been very little dis
turbance through that country. Some men who had been neither on one side nor the other
•during the war, but had been robbing both sides, were making a little trouble just before I
left, and I sent a detachment after the robbers ; but, as a general rule, a person can. travel
through that country without any difficulty or danger of being disturbed.
Question. Did the people appear to be anxious to be restored to the Union?
Answer. Yes, sir, they are very anxious, and they begin to think they are entitled to a
good deal. They want to be represented. There are some there who, if they could not
send the men they wanted, would rather not be represented, and who voted and advised
others to vote for a man who could not take the oath ; though a good many of them may
have been induced to do that under the impression that it would be modified in some way, so
that men of that class could be admitted. I was of the opinion that the people in that sec-
fciou would get along very well without the military. There was not very much for them to
do while I was there. The citizens were determined to preserve order, and determined to
put down all kinds of riotous conduct or attempts to disturb the community. I was at
Baton Rouge for about ten days, and found that the people in the country west of there
were very bitter.
Question. What do they say or what do they expect to do when restored to the Union ;
have you any idea!
Answer. No, sir ; I have never heard any of them make any special expressions upon
that subject. The great mass of the people were anxious to get their business re-established
and their plantations in operation, and they were looking to their financial more than to
their political status. I suppose the same class of men who before the war were politicians
fhe're will now be seeking after power, and that the people, who are very easily led, will fol
low these men. I have no idea that another rebellion or war could be gotten up. I do not
think they could be induced to fight again ; but they might follow these leaders in measures
antagonistic to the government, simply because they are in the habit of following them.
They are ignorant, and that is one great trouble with the mass of the southern people now.
They believe everything told them by these men.
Question. Are the men who are now leaders down there the same who were before the
rebellion !
Answer. Some of them are.
Question. What is your opinion as to whether it is best or not to restore the State imme
diately to the Union, or hold it in its present condition, with a military force in the State?
Answer. A few months ago I should have been in favor of restoring them, but I am not
now. I have not been in favor at any time of withdrawing the military, even if they were
restored, until they have become so thoroughly settled in their condition that there could be
no necessity for its further continuance. Even with a representation in Congress I should
be in favor of continuing the military in the State until they had become accustomed to the
new system of labor, and until all the disturbing elements left at the close of the war should
It&ve toeeome quieted.
72 BECONSTRUOT1OW.
WASHINGTON,. Marc* 10,
Major General George A. Custer sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question, State whether yon have been in any part of the States lately m rebellion. If
«o, in what part and m what capacity?
Answer. 1 have been in Texas and western Louisiana, in command of cavalry. I wa»
lately in command of all the cavalry in the former State, and- previous to that in command
of a division of cavalry in western Louisiana. I also commanded tie central district o$
Texas.
Question. When did you go to Texas and when d?d you Isave there ?
Answer. I went to Texas ra the early part of September last from western Louisiana. I
went to western Louisiana in June. I left Texas about the middle of February.
Question. State if you have been in different parts of Te:sas, and what opportunities you
have had to ascertain the views and feelings of the people of that State.
Answer, I have been over a considerable portion of the Stats, the eastern, southeastern,
and central portions. And, in addition to thisv I have, in my official capacity as com
mander of cavalry, sent detachments of troops to many of the points not visited by myself.
In sending out these detachments of cavalry I have instructed the commanding officers to
ascertain the condition of affairs as regards the sentiments and disposition of the people
towards the general government, and to report to rae on their return. In this way I have
had facilities for ascertaining the true condition of the people, their present disposition and
sentiments^ to a greater extent than almost any other officer in the service.
Question. State from your own personal knowledge, and from such information, as you
have received from subordinate officers, what are the present temper and disposition of the
people of Texas in regard to the power and authority of the United States.
Answer. I do not regard the disposition of the majority of the people towards the general
government as at all friendly. To use their own words, they "accept the situation, " but 2
think their motives are entirely selfish ; and they acknowledge that it is from a desire to ob
tain the benefits of the government, rather than to give the government any support. The
feeling of the people there towards the government is far more hostile and antagonistic than
it was three or six months ago. They affirmr as a reason for thisr that they are kept in the-
condition they ar« now in, and are denied the exercise of their former power. They are
particularly dissatisfied with the action of the government in not permitting them to reoc-
cupy those places in Congress which they voluntarily relinquished five years ago, and to
uphold which course they have been fighting during the past five years.
Question. What proportion of the people,, where you have been,, are now, or have beect
during the war, faithful to the Union ?
Answer. In Texas it would hardly be possible to find a man who has bees strictly faithful
to the Union, and remained in the State, during the war. They forced all who were truly
Union men to leave the State. Those who did not were murdered. The people of the
north have no conception of the number of murders that have been committed in that State
during and since the war. A great many of the Union men who were compelled to leave
the State have returned since the return of the United States troops to the State. There are
men in the State who claim to be loyal and yet have remained, during the war, unmolested ;
but, upon investigation, it will be found that their loyalty is not unimpeachable, and that
they have, to a certain degree, sympathized and acted with the rebels to a greater or less
extent.
Question. What would be the condition of the loyal men in Texas now, in case the mili
tary protection now afforded were withdrawn from th« State ?
Answer, I would not consider it safe for a loyal man to remain in Texas, at least in thai
portion I have visited, after the troops were withdrawn. I have within my possession let
ters from prominent Union men in the State, saying that if the troops were to be withdrawn
they wished to be informed of, it for the purpose ot making arrangements to leave when the
troops did ; that it would be unsafe and unwise for them to remain after the troops were
withdrawn. Even now there is no friendly feeling, and very little intercourse, between the
loyal and disloyal portion of the inhabitants. The feeling of hostility towards loyal men is
carried to such an extent that a loyal man engaged in business recsives no paironage ex
cept from loyal men.
Question. What do the disloyal people desire upon that subject ; ase they willing to have
the troops remain, or anxious to have them withdrawn ?
Answer. They are very anxious to have them withdraw. They say there is no longer any
necessity for them, if any necessity ever existed, and that it is an imposition upon the people
for the government to keep them there. And this assertion, that there was no necessity for
the troops, has been made ever since I first entered the State.
Question. State, as fully as you are able, what were the condition, sentiments, and dispo
sition of the people of Texas towards the general p-overament at the time you went into the
State, and what they are now. And if any char -0<i has occurred, gjve your opinion M
reason of that change.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 73
Answer. When I entered the State last summer I found the condition of the people, as
regards their sentiments and intentions towards the general government, to be as satisfactory
as any loyal man could wish, so far as it was observable. They made use of no expressions
hostile to'the government, or against government officials, or against the policy of the gov
ernment. On the contrary, they regarded the result of the war as final — no appeal to be
made from it — and were willing to conform to any conditions the general government might
see fit to impose. And I am confident that, especially their leaders, those wrho had borne a
prominent part in the rebellion, were in the expectation of being dealt with in accordance
with the extreme provisions of law. Those of them possessing much property believed their
property would be confiscated, and they also thought that at least the leaders would be tried
and executed for treason. So long as the policy of the government towards the southern
States seemed undeveloped or unknown, the most submissive feeling was everywhere preva
lent. Those who had been engaged in rebellion, particularly those who had borne a promi
nent part, realized, without being told, that they had forfeited every right, even to that of
life. They regarded the course of the government as riiagnanimous in the extreme, and far
more generous than they had reason to expect. After it was seen what policy was to be pur
sued towards the leaders, and towards the southern States generally, they assumed a more
defiant position, assailed the government, assailed the measures of the government, denounced
the system of provisional governments which had been established in the south, were opposed
to the location of troops their midst, and were opposed to the location of agents of the
Freedmeu's Bureau. And this feeling continued to grow and manifest itself more strongly,
day by day. I think their opposition to the government and disloyalty is as openly visible
and as plainly manifest now as it was in 1861. I am speaking of the majority. Of course,
there are exceptions. There are men who have borne a prominent part in the Avar, but wrho
fairly accept the situation in good faith, and do not do so from any selfish motive, but from
a sincere desire and purpose to sustain the government. If necessary, I could name honor
able exceptions, of men who have, since the surrender of the rebel armies, labored energeti
cally in support of the government and of government measures, notwithstanding the fact
that during the war they were foremost as its opposers. This class adhere strictly to the
terms and conditions of their oath of allegiance, and as conscientious men regard their oath
as binding to the fullest degree. The majority, or at least a large proportion, of those who
have taken the oath of allegiance to the general government, do not hesitate to assert that
they do not regard it as binding, but maintain, for some unknown reason, that the oath has
been forced upon them, and was taken only with a view of obtaining protection under it.
Question. State your opinion as to whether or not the lenient policy which has been pur
sued towards the rebels has been beneficial to that country, or otherwise.
AnsAver. In my opinion it has been very detrimental, not only to that portion of the
country, but to the entire country, and more immediately to the interests of the Union and
Union men in the south. It has certainly produced one result not intended nor contem
plated. It has led the people of the south to forget the enormity of the crime they committed
by engaging in rebellion, and they are noAv endeavoring to school themselves to the belief
that they are the party aggrieved, and the general government the aggressor. To such
an extent have they succeeded in thus educating themsehres, that I have no doubt, had they
the pOAver, they Avould arraign the government for suppressing the rebellion.
Question. Is there as much freedom among the Union men noAv in the expression of their
views there as there Avas at the time you went there? And if not,. Avhat is the reason for it?
AnsAver. In many parts of Texas Union men dare not express their sentiments as regards
loyalty to the general government. Their lives AA'ould be endangered by so doing. Union
men are being murdered there to this day ; at least murders Avere occurring constantly before
I left, and I think were on the increase.
Question. Do you knoAv of any cases in Avhich Union men Avere murdered, and the reasons
why they were murdered ?
Answer. Except that it did not fall under my own personal observation, I have as posi
tive information as a man can haAre of Avhat he does not actually Avitness. I have within my
reach Avritten documents from prominent Union men in the State informing me of the mur
ders of Union men for no other reason than that they were Union men, and had fought in
defence of their country. I know one instance of a man who AAras murdered about two Aveeks
prior to my departure from the State, Avithiu twenty miles of Austin, the capital of the State.
During the war a Texas regiment of cavalry of Union soldiers Avas organized, composed for
the most part of refugees. They were not, I think, organized in the State, but in New
Orleans, during General Butler's command there. Since the close of the war this regiment
has been mustered out, and the men long returned to their homes. I have learned, officially
and otherAvise, of the murder of several of these men. I Avas informed by Governor Hamilton
of the murder of six of them in one county. Three days before I came aAvay I received the
flag I haVe in my hand, sent to me by a Union lady from Texas. The large flag from which
this was made was raised over the house of her husband. A committee of citizens waited on
him and told him to take it down. He refused, and they shot him, intending to kill him.
He escaped, hoAveA'er, Avith his life, but suffered the loss of an eye. The name of this loyal
man is F. W. Sumner, of Avhom mention has been made in some of our northern papers. I
believe this transpired about three weeks before I left the State. The circumstances, as I
have related them, Avere reported to me officially by un officer of my command, Avhom I had
74 RECONSTRUCTION.
sent to that part of the State with a detachment of cavalry. Several similar instances have
been reported to me. In one case a man raised a Union flag1 over his house ; was ordered by
a committee of citizens to take it down ; he refused, and was killed. In Fannin county,
Texas, I learn from \vritten reports of Union citizens, some of whom participated in the meet
ing:, and also from the official report of the officer who was sent there to restore order, that the
Union citizens met for the purpose of listening to Union addresses from loyal men. They
formed a procession and marched down one of the streets with a flag at the head of the pro
cession. The disloyal portion of the inhabitants collected together, and, being armed, dis
persed the meeting, took possession of tire flag, dragged it through the streets, tore it in
pieces, and gave notice that no Union sentiments could be proclaimed there. A party of
cavalry was sent there for the purpose of arresting the leaders, but they escaped. The facts,
however, are as I have stated. I have the written report of the officer in command, also a
written statement of some of the Union citizens who participated in the meeting. I reported
the facts to Governor Hamilton at the time.
Question. Were you there when the election in that State took place ?
Answer. I was.
Question. What feeling was there prevalent at the time of the election as between those
who were Union men and those who were rebels as candidates for office?
Answer. The two parties, loyal and disloyal, had each their candidates. In Travis county,
wrhere the Union party have usually been stronger than in almost any other county in the
State, except the German settlements, the disloyal party elected their candidates by a vote
of about three to one. Some of the most prominent Union men in the State were candidates
for the convention in this county; but they were defeated by a large majority. Candidates
generally before the convention seemed to base their claims upon the extent to which they
had opposed the government during the war, and the extent to which they at that time
opposed measures that had been adopted by the government in reference to the southern
States. A large number of members came to the convention before having taken the
amnesty oath, or having received special pardons. The secretary of the convention took his
seat wearing the uniform he had worn in the rebel service.
Question. To what convention do you refer?
Answer. I refer to the convention which was called by Governor Hamilton for the purpose
of reorganizing the State.
Question. Have you any knowledge of an organization in that State, secret or otherwise,
for the purpose of opposing or thwarting the action oTthe government of the United States?
Answer. It was reported to me frequently that such organizations did exist, and I have no
doubt in my own mind that they have existed in the northern part of the State. I was so
thoroughly convinced of the fact that I sent a considerable force into that section of the State
to disperse them. The fact that such organizations did exist was confirmed by the state
ments, written and oral, of loyal men, and by the reports of officers sent there on duty.
Question. What feeling do they evince in Texas towards officers and soldiers of the United
States ?
Answer. Where the soldiers are in sufficient numbers to control the section of country in
which they are located the people are very respectful to them and to their officers, because
they are unable to adopt any other course ; . but officers or soldiers travelling in small parties
through the State are insulted wherever they meet any considerable number of citizens. In
leaving the State it was necessary that I should travel one hundred and twenty-five or one
hundred and fifty miles overland before reaching railroad communication, and wherever a
number of the citizens were met, either at hotels or on the cars or steamboats, their conver
sation was generally of the most insulting character, being abusive of the federal govern
ment and of its measures, and strongly opposed to the army. Such conversations are
generally not directed to the persons for whose ears they are intended. By this course they
aim to prevent loyal men from remaining in their midst.
Question. What do the people desire there as to the recognition of the State by the federal
government ? Do they expect or desire the reception of their senators and representatives
into Congress ?
Answer. The division of opinion is very clearly marked upon that question. The entire
disloyal portion of the inhabitants are very anxious that the State should be immediately
restored to its former rights and privileges in the Union; that it should be represented in
Congress and in the other branches of the government; while the loyal portion of the
inhabitants are equally anxious that the general government should continue to maintain its
present control over the State. In this they say is their only safety, in which opinion I most
heartily concur.
Question. Do the disloyal people expect that when the State is restored and its representa
tives received into Congress the troops will immediately be withdrawn from the State, and
they be left to take care of themselves ?
Answer. They think both these events will occur together; that the troops are only being
kept there while the State is under a provisional government. They are convinced that the
present governor, who thoroughly appreciates the condition and wants of his State, is
strongly opposed to the removal of the troops. They are equally well satisfied that if per
mitted to elect or choose a governor, ono will be selected who will favor and urge the with
drawal of the federal troops.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 75
Question. What, in your judgment, would have been the effect as to the development of
Union feeling: and strength in that State if there had been, up to this time, a military gov
ernment preserved there adequate for the protection of the Union people in. the ; expression
and advocacy of their Union views and feelings ?
Answer. I think that, while at present the Union men are entirely without influence and
are forced to remain silent, in that case they would have been the predominant or ruling
party, because, there as everywhere, there is a large portion of the inhabitants who try to
attach themselves to those who are in power, or to those who have most authority. As it is
now, the Union men have little or no voice in controlling the local affairs of the State. I
think that a great many men who, at the close of the war, were anxious to be known as
Union men, and to act with the Union party, have been deterred from so doing by the influ
ence and strength of the disloyal portion of the inhabitants. Had military rule prevailed, I
am confident that the strength of the loyal party would have steadily increased, while the
opposing party would have undergone a corresponding decrease, until, in course of time,
treason would become unpopular, and traitors would not be chosen as office-holders. There
is no disguising the fact that loyalty at the south has become a byword and a reproach to
those who have the courage to profess it.
Question. Can you give any opinion, from what you have seen and heard in Texas, as to
what the people there would do if they were to obtain the power or ascendency in that coun
try, and could have entirely their own way ?
Answer. I think, in the first place, none 'but those who had been most prominent as leaders
in the rebellion would be appointed or elected to office ; this no one will deny. If they
were allowed to legislate upon the question they would be opposed to paying their share of
the national debt unless the rebel debt was incorporated with it. Indemnification woukl be
claimed and insisted upon for all losses sustained by ret el property-holders during the war;
while a system of laws regulating labor would be passed which would virtually place the
freedmen under the entire control of their former owners. Had they the power, neither
northern men nor freedmen would be permitted to acquire property in the south.
Question. Suppose the general government were to be involved in a foreign wrar with Great
Britain or France, what course, in your opinion, would these rebels take ; would they fight
for the flag, be neutral, or join the enemy ?
AnsAver. That question frequently comes up in conversation in the south, and there is a
division of opinion. I could scarcely decide which way a majority would go, whether it
would be for or against the flag. I think, though, that the most sensible, and certainly all
those inclined at all to be loyal, would fight for the flag. The original secessionists would
undoubtedly fight against it.
Question. Suppose an opportunity was offered to a majority of the people in Texas to se-
cede without war, do you suppose they would prefer to stay in the Union or go out ?
Answer. I think they would prefer to go out.
Question. State what you know as to the operations or necessity of the Freedmen's Bu
reau, or some other agency of a similar nature in that State.
Answer. I have paid considerable attention to the action of the Freedmen's Bureau in
various parts of the State ; at least such parts as were embraced within the limits of my
command, and I am firmly of the opinion that unless the present bureau or some substitute
is maintained for an indefinite period, great wrongs and an immense amount of oppression
would be entailed upon the freedmen. As it exists there at present, the bureau is totally
unable to do all that might be done or that is required to be done.
Question. What feelings do these people, or a majority of them, evince at this time to
wards the freedmen?
Answer. There is a very strong feeling of hostility towards the freedmen as a general
thing. There are exceptions, of course ; but the great mass of the people there seem to look
upon the freedrnan as being connected with, or as being the cause of, their present condition,
and they do not hesitate to improve every opportunity to inflict injuries upon him in order,
seemingly, to punish him for this. This feeling exists to a certain extent, and is often mani
fested in their courts. I might illustrate it by stating what I know to be true, that since
the establishment of the provisional government in Texas the grand juries throughout the
State have found upwards of five hundred indictments for murder against disloyal men, and
jurisdiction for various slight offences ; that the fourteen had all been convicted and sen
tenced to various terms in the State prison. And to show you the manner in which justice
is meted out in their course towards the freedmen, one was tried and convicted of stealing
one bushel of sweet potatoes, and sentenced to the penitentiary for two years. Another for
stealing an equally small amount was sentenced for the same period. Then, to show you
their hostility further, it is of weekly, if not of daily, occurrence that freedmen are mur
dered. Their bodies are found in different parts of the country, and sometimes it is not
known who the perpetrators are ; but when that is known no action is taken against them.
1 believe a white man has never been hung for murder in Texas, although it "is the law.
76 RECONSTRUCTION.
Cases have occurred of white men meeting freedmen they never saw before, and murdering
them merely from this feeling of hostility to them as a class.
Question, What are the views and feelings of the freedmen in Texas, as well as you could
ascertain them, towards the government?
Answer. They are loyal without a single exception, so far as my experience goes. They
were always our friends, both in time of war and since active hostilities have ceased.
Question. Have they any apprehension or understanding of the condition of things in the
country ?
Answer. They have, to a certain extent. They realize, as all Union men in the State do,
that their only safety and protection lies in the general government; and they realize, too,
that if the troops are withdrawn, they will be still more exposed than they are now.
Question. What would be the condition of the colored population in Texas, if the people
were left to do with them just as they pleased?
Answer. I think a system of laws would be passed, which, while it would not give to
former owners the right to transfer freedmen without their consent to another owner, they
would still have as much control over their labor as they had before slavery was abolished.
And I think, too, they would inaugurate a system of oppression that would be equally as
bad as slavery itself.
Question. What do those who have been rebels say as to the education of the freedmen,
and the extension to them of the right of becoming property -holders in the State ?
Answer. They are opposed to allowing them to possess land ; they are fearful that by so
doing they will eventually lose control over them. They rather look upon the idea of edu
cating them as an absurdity ; and while you will find exceptional cases of southern men
doing all they can to advance the freedmen intellectually, you will, in a majority of Ceases,
find them opposed to the principle of schools for freedmen.
Question. What is the prevailing opinion there as to whether the negro will or will not
work without physical compulsion?
Answer. The expressed opinion is, that he will not work without physical compulsion. I
hardly think a majority of them are sincere when they say this, because they have demon
strated to a great extent that the freedmeu will work as well, if not better, in some cases, by
giving him an interest in the proceeds of his labor, than by the former method. There are
many cases where it is impossible to make them labor ; but it is not to be wondered at when
we consider what a great change has taken place in their condition. I frequently visited
quite a number of plantations in Texas, and saw the freedmen at work in the cotton-fields.
As a general thing, they did well ; and, in many instances, picked more cotton than they
had done in former years, because the owners of the cotton paid them so much per hundred
weight. I believe three or four hundred pounds is a very good day's work for a hand in picking
cotton ; but I have known hands paid fifty cents per hundred weight, gathering six hundred
in a day. One reason or difficulty in the arrangements for labor in many cases, as I am irv-
formed, occurs from the disinclination of the planter to contract with those whom he formerly
owned. He does not like the idea of relinquishing his former claim, and the difficulty in
these cases is not because the freedmen are unwilling to contract, but the unwillingness is
an the part of the planter. In many cases, however, the freedmen are unwilling. To cork-
firm the opinion that the fault lies to a certain extent with the contractor or former owner,
northern men, who have engaged in business in the south since the surrender of the rebel
armies, have had little or no difficulty with the labor question. As a general thing the freed
men are anxious to acquire the title to land, and cultivate it for their own interest.
Question. Have these freedmen any knowledge of the political questions and discussions of
the day ?
Answer. They manifest a great interest in the discussions that are going on, and are very
anxious as to what the result will be, particularly as regards themselves.
Question. Do the freedmen have anything to say in reference to, or do they expect to ex
ercise the right of suffrage at any time ?
Answer. They are very quiet as regards that question. They do not seem as anxious
about that as they are whether the general government will continue the control as it does
now, or whether the affairs of the State will be placed entirely in the hands of the State au
thorities ? They seem to be very anxious, indeed, to acquire education, and those who are
working under contract and have not an opportunity to attend schools have purchased books
and are acquiring such information as they can under the tuition of those who are more ad
vanced. And in this manner many have made remarkable progress.
Question. Suppose the federal government were to withdraw all interference in the affkirs
of the State, into whose hands would the political power of that country go ?
Answer. It would be at once transferred into the hands of the most prominent rebels. Of
the truth of this I do not entertain a doubt.
Question. Do you think that any out-spoken Union man could be elected to Congress in
Texas ?
Answer. I do not think that any man but one who had borne a prominent part in the
war, or one who had distinguished himself in his opposition to the federal government, could
be elected — certainly no loyal man could. Some months ago they were willing to make a
sacrifice of their opinions, for the time being, if by so dj^iug. — by sending a man who would
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 77
be accepted — they could regain their former place in the Union ; but they do not seem to
think now that even that is necessary, and in case of an election 1 think they would select
a man of their choice, and that man would be disloyal.
Question. How long were you in the State of Louisiana?
Answer. I went to Louisiana about the middle of June, and left the first of September.
Question. State what you found to be the condition of things in that State.
Answer. The condition of affairs at that time in Louisiana was more encouraging than
the present condition is in Texas, for the reason I have stated, that at that time they were
uncertain what policy the government would pursue towards them. They seemed to feel that'
they deserved punishment, and to expect it. The only question was, which of them would
be punished ; and they were conducting themselves remarkably well at that time. But that
feeling was undergoing a gradual change before I left the State. In our march from Alex
andria, on the Red river, through western Louisiana and eastern Texas, I found that the feel
ing towards the government was by no means friendly. At that time there were very few
Union men there, and they were not allowed to remain at their homes. They had been
generally driven away during the war and had not returned. The freedmen were not per-
mitted to contract. In many cases their former owners would not contract with them, nor
would they allow them to leave the plantation to contract with other planters. I think as
many as a^dozen instances were brought to my notice where freedmen had been fired upon
and wounded in their attempts to leave their former owners to contract with other planters,
and at the same time they could not contract with their former owners. I marched through
a portion of the country which, up to that time, had not been occupied by our troops. And
as my command marched along, at every encampment the freedmen would flock to my
headquarters in large numbers in order to ascertain and understand their precise condition,
as to whether they nad the right to contract with other parties, saying their former owners
had told them they had no right to do so. The hostility of the citizens was so observable —
it became so manifest that in several instances when we encamped they would fell trees
across our road two or three miles in advance of us during the night in order to impede and
delay our march.
Question. Suppose the colored population in Texas were allowed to vote; what would be
the effect, in your judgment, upon the whites and upon the blacks 1 What course would
they probably take ? Would they co-operate and act together with Union men, or would
they be controlled by their old masters ?
Answer. I think the vast majority of them would co-operate with Union men. There
might be exceptional cases in which the freedmen would be under the control of their em
ployers to such an extent that the employer would control their votes ; but, as a general
tiling, I believe the freedmen would consult their own interest in casting their votes, and,
judging from their conduct during the past war, their votes would always be cast in favor
of loyalty and union.
Question. Have they generally the necessary intelligence to distinguish between Union
men and rebels, and between those who would be friendly to their interests and those who
would oppose their interests ?
Answer. As far as my experience goes they could discern more quickly who are their
friends and who are their enemies than many of the white inhabitants or than our soldiers
or officers could — probably because they have better opportunities for ascertaining. For
the same reason we always relied on them during active operations in the field for informa
tion, and their information was always correct, or far more correct than that we derived
from the whites who were disloyal.
Question. During the war did you find in your operations negroes who were unwilling to
assist the federal government, or Avho attempted to mislead or do you any injury ?
Answer. 1 have had many opportunities of judging of that, by having command of cavalry,
atrd generally being in advance of the army, in search of information as to the strength, posi
tion, and intentions of the enemy. It was necessary to inquire of the inhabitants of the
country through which we marched, and I cannot call to mind an instance of a negro mis
leading us or giving us false information. It was in fact very seldom that I inquired of any
but negroes, because the whites could not be relied upon ; being unfriendly, they would mis
lead us, if the opportunity offered ; but the negroes were always friendly, and gave us all the
iirformation in their power. As far as knowledge of roads and people was concerned, they
seemed to be more correct and better, informed than the whites. I never found a negro who
was not thoroughly loyal and friendly to the Union army. They were willing to do any
thing to aid them. At the battle of Trevilian Station, I was ordered with my command to
move by a by-road and attack the enemy in the rear. No man in my command knew the
road, and no white man in that portion of the country would have been willing to give me
the information. A negro guided me to the point I desired to reach. And this occurred in a
large number of cases within my experience. I could not repeat the number of cases. I
almost invariably had negro guides, and I never hesitated to place the most implicit confi
dence in them. They would sometimes ride or walk miles to give us information which they
thought would be valuable to us, such as of the position of the enemy's forces, or of their trains,
which we might desire to capture. They would count the guns and troops as they passed
a certain point, and they would give us the number with remarkable accuracy.
78 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What, in your judgment, is the best policy for the government to pursue in ref
erence to those parts of the south as to which you have testified ?
Answer. I do not regard the people in that portion of the southern country in which I hav«
been as in a proper condition, or as manifesting a proper state of feeling, to be restored to
their former rights and privileges under the general government. And I do not think they
have been sufficiently taught the enormity of the crime they have committed by rebelling
against the government. I think the government ought to maintain control of those States
that were in rebellion until it is thoroughly satisfied that a loyal sentiment prevails in at least
a majority of the inhabitants — that certainly does not exist now ; and when allowed repre
sentation, none but loyal men should be admitted as representatives. Five years ago the
southern people voluntarily abandoned their rights and privileges as States in the Union,
and with their rights and privileges they forfeited their share in the general government.
Having waged a bloody and determined war for four years to carry out their designs against
the government, and having failed up to the present time to manifest a penitent spirit for the
great crime committed against the nation, or to give a proper and sufficient guarantee of future
good conduct, I cannot but give it as my opinion, that a just regard for our national safety
in time to come, our obligation to foster and encourage throughout the southern States a
proper regard and affection for the national authority, as well as to give support to those
who are and have been loyal, imperatively demand that the government should maintain
its present control of the States lately in rebellion until satisfied that they may, without
detriment, be intrusted with their former rights and privileges.
WASHINGTON, February 22, 1866.
Thomas Conway sworn and examined.
By Mr WILLIAMS:
Question. State how long you have been in the State of Louisiana, what position you oc
cupied there, and what opportunity you had to ascertain the condition of things in that State.
Answer. I occupied the position of assistant commissioner of Bureau of Refugees and
Freedrneu. I went to Louisiana soon after General Banks was placed in command there,
and devoted my attention and time mainly to the organization of colored troops, or the corps
d'Afrique, as we called them. Soon afterwards I was put in charge of affairs connected
with the freed men by order of General Banks, and along the western boundary, or that por
tion of Louisiana, which we held under our control at that time ; and soon after that, in
August, 1864, I was placed in entire charge of the freedmen in so much of the State as we
then occupied ; and, as we continued to drive the rebels back, not only in Louisiana, but in
Alabama, my jurisdiction increased in accordance with the increase of territory acquired by
our army. Last spring, by order of General Oanby, I was made general superintendent of
freedmen for all the State, comprising the military division of the west Mississippi, which in
cluded Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, and West Florida. I entered immediately
upon the discharge of the arduous duties imposed upon me. I went over to Alabama and
spent three or four weeks there, riding from one plantation to another, and entered a portion
of Mississippi. The northwestern portion of Mississippi was at that time mainly under the
control of General Thomas. The southern portion I had charge of, and operated so far as
my facilities admitted at the time.
Question. When did you leave that portion of the country ?
Answer. I was relieved in October last, by order of General Howard, and upon the ex parte
representations of rebels in Louisiana, and arrived in New York about the middle of No
vember, after having served in the State nearly three years.
Question. State, if you please, what you know as to the views and feelings of the white
people in that region of country — those who have heretofore been rebels — as to the authority
of the general government, and also as to whether any change in their views and feelings
are manifest since hostilities ceased ; if so, what that change is, and what has been the occa
sion of it, in your opinion.
Answer. In the neighborhood of Now Orleans, comprising about twenty parishes in Loui
siana, which we have mostly controlled since the time of General Butler's arrival, there has
been, to my knowledge, a considerable loyal element— not an element which became loyal
since the occupation of the district by our troops, but men who were loyal previously. With
those who sympathized with and participated in the rebellion, (and I think I know them all,)
I was brought in contact, and with nearly every property-holder in the State. My
communication with them, and my knowledge of their actions, convinced me that at
heart they were not changed, but were opposed to us and opposed to our government —
not willing to make their opposition physical, but secret and quiet. They do now, and
always have thrown every possible obstacle in the way of our work — men, too, ot
whom I had expected better things. Some of the leading officers of the State down
there — men who do much to form and control the opinions of the masses — instead or
doing as they promised, and quietly submitting to the authority of the government,
FLORIDA— LOUISIANA— TEXAS. 79
engaged in issuing slave codes and in promulgating them to their subordinates, ordering them
to carry them into execution, and this to the knowledge of State officials of a higher character,
the governor and others. And the men who issued them wrere not punished except as the mili
tary authorities punish them. The governor inflicted no punishment on them while I was
there, and I don't know that, up to this day, he has ever punished one of them. These
codes were simply the old black code of the State, with the word "slave" expunged and
"negro" substitiited. The most odious features of slavery were preserved in them. They
were issued in three or four localities in the State, not a hundred miles from New Orleans,
months after the surrender of the confederate forces, and years after the issue of the eman
cipation proclamation. I have had delegations to frequently come and see me — delega
tions composed of men who, to my face, denied that the proclamation issued by Presi
dent Lincoln was a valid instrument, declaring that the Supreme Court would pronounce
it invalid. Consequently they have claimed that their negroes were slaves and would
again be restored to them. In the city of New Orleans last summer, under the orders of
the acting mayor of the city, Hugh Kennedy, the police of that city conducted themselves
towards the freedmen, in respect to violence and ill usage, in every way equal to the old days
of slavery ; arresting them on the streets as vagrants, without any form of law whatever,
and simply because they did not have in their pockets certificates of employment from their
former owners or other white citizens. I have gone to the jails and released large numbers
of them, men who were industrious and who had regular employment ; yet because they had
not the certificates of white men in their pockets they were locked up in jail to be sent out to
plantations ; locked up, too, without my knowledge, and done speedily and secretly before I
had information of it. Some members of the seventy-fourth United States colored infantry,
a regiment which was mustered out but one day, were arrested the next because they did not
have these certificates of employment. This was done to these men after having served in
the United States army three years. They were arrested by the police under the order of
the acting mayor, Mr. Hugh Kennedy. The meetings of the colored people during a portion
of the summer were broken up whenever they were continued after 9 o'clock at night.
There was an order issued at all the station-houses in the city, that the police in their various
beats should break up any meetings of colored people held after 9 o'clock, and in some places
meetings were broken up and the worshippers all carried off to jail. This was done violently,
and, on account of it, the city was almost reduced to a state of riot and revolution, the col
ored people having been unwilling to endure the persecution.
Question. They were religious meetings ?
Answer. They were religious meetings ; yes, sir. An order was subsequently issued by
General Canby, called forth by that state of things. It was to the effect that religious meet
ings of colored people were to be treated with the same respect in every particular that the
white churches enjoyed ; that they were to be equally protected and respected in the enjoy
ment of their proper privileges. I came down the Alabama river on the same boat with
Captain Semmes, of the pirate Alabama, and there were other rebel officers with him, on their
way home from the surrender. Semmes and the other ex-officers with whom I conversed,
stated that they acquiesced simply because they must or lose their lives; that they submitted
to force, but still believed their purposes were right, and the means used for accomplishing
their purposes were also right, and that they should always think so. They had their amnesty
oaths with them, and the provisions of those oaths required different conduct of them. Most of
them were on their way from Montgomery, Alabama, to New Orleans, and they indulged in
language that was insulting to the government, and for which they would have been arrested
smartest men on the top of the earth," language that I noted down in my memorandum book
at the time. In New Orleans I held nearly $100,000,000 worth of abandoned property, and
the holding of that property brought all the former owners of it to my office almost daily, for
months, seeking for its restoration. In their demands for it, and in their treatment ot me
while they were striving to have it returned, they evinced a spirit of defiance, of boldness,
of impudence and hostility that was exceedingly mortifying to me, and led me to believe that
they were not in the least subdued in spirit or in heart, but merely submitted to force, as they
told me repeatedly. When they received their property back, it was mainly by having special
pardons : they would sometimes come into my office, and in one or two instances which I now re
call, men who were formerly judges of district courts shook their pardons over my head to
defy me, at the same time telling me that they had the order of President Johnson to have
their property restored, and that they did not care for anybody. I had to use force two or three
• times to get some of these men out of my office, and they were some of the wealthiest men in
the State and the leaders of public opinion. The treatment received by the agents I sent out
into the country, particularly those sent to establish freedmen's schools, especially in the Red
river country, was obstructive and crippling to our efforts, and in some cases hostility and vio
lence was used. At one time I sent agents to the Red river country; they were driven back
to the boats, and told that if they attempted to establish freedmen's schools they would not
only burn down the school-houses, but that they would kill the men employed to erect them,
and kill the men who employed them. These parties came back and reported to me, decliii-
80 RECONSTRUCTION.
ing to return to that country under any circumstances whatever. The only schools we suc
ceeded in establishing in that country were at military posts, and I became convinced that we
could not establish them in any otuer place with safety.
Question. State what, in your opinion, was the effect upon these people of the system of
pardoning that was adopted by the government.
Answer. The effect was — as I know full well, from seeing it every day while I was
there — after pardons began to be issued, it emboldened them, and encouraged them to exhibit
a spirit of defiance toward officers of the government, and toward loyal men in that region.
This went on to such a pitch that General Canby one day remarked to me that he did not
think loyal men could long remain anywhere outside the military posts ; that, in his judg
ment, in ninety days there would not be a loyal man anywhere in the State, except in close
proximity to the military. General Sheridan, about the same time, came one day into my
office, and in speaking of the hostility manifested by the rebels in the city towards myself,
said : "Mr. Conway, these men want to dri e us away from here, but by God we won't go."
General T. W. Sherman, who commands the eastern district of Louisiana, formerly the de
fences of New Orleans, told me before. I left that he had issued an order requiring all big
subordinates to report from time to time the temper and spirit of the inhabitants, as to whether
they appeared to evince any loyalty to the government, and he said to me that the reports he
received justified him in believing that there was as much need of military authority to pro
tect the loyal people as there ever was ; that there was as much need of military power to keep
the rebels in order and subjugation as there was before the surrender. In the streets of New
Orleans, a few days before I was relieved, one of the police officers of the city, in front of the
same block where my headquarters were, went up and down the street knocking in the head
every negro man, woman, and child that he met, tumbling some of them into the gutter, and
knocking others upon the sidewalks. The opposite side of the street was filled with men,
most of whom wore gray coats, and many of whom I knew to have returned from the rebel
army. This policeman was cheered by the crowd, numbering probably some two hundred
persons, in front of some coffee-houses there. I pitched upon him, held him, and told him
he was my prisoner. Immediately some of the guard I had at my headquarters came round
the corner to assist me in forcing this man to the provost marshal's office. The crowd made
a movement to get between the colored soldiers and myself, leaving the policeman with hig
club to make such demonstration as he could, and to get the better of me if possible. A colonel
in command of one of the colored regiments, seeing the affair, rushed across the street,
and seeing the crowd intending to keep the colored troops away, ordered them to stick their
bayonets into any one that opposed them, and when they came up, the policeman continuing
his obstinacy, he ordered a colored soldier to stick his bayonet into him if he did not move
along, which the colored soldier did, and in that way he was taken off and locked up. There
were in the crowd many leading merchants, who seemed to be delighted at what the police
man had done, and exceedingly mortified and maddened because we had succeeded in arrest
ing him. The man, when I left there, was locked up in the jail connected with the Freed-
men's Bureau, and has since been tried, I believe.
Question. He was not seriously injured by the stab ?
Answer. No, sir. About that time, in some regions of the State, I received information
from some of my subordinates, showing that the planters were continuing their system of
flogging ; that in some places the stocks were still in use and persons put into them ; in other
places shooting, whipping, and the use of dogs were in vogue. One justice of the peace,
not far from the city of New Orleans, sentenced a man, for the crime of stealing a horse, to
receive forty lashes on his bare back. I received the sentence in his own handwriting and
sent it to General Canby.
Question. State whether, in your opinion, Union men, black or white, would be safe in
their property or in their persons in the State of Louisiana, if the military power of the
United States were withdrawn ?
Answer. I think that Union men in that State would not be safe in their property or in
their persons without the aid of the military. The negroes without military aid, or without
the aid of the government, would not be able to secure their wages ; no justice would be
shown them, and they would be murdered. The plans and measures adopted by the planters of
bringing in a system of charges, covering a great portion of what they should receive, and
sometimes more than was earned, almost invariably .result in their receiving no pay at all, and
in the consequent dissatisfaction on the part of th'e freedmen. In almost every instance
where the freedmen show any feeling or evince any sense of wrong, they are punished se
verely. In my judgment the withdrawal of the protection of the government from these
people will be certainly followed by the grossest wrongs, violence and persecution, and the
end would be anarchy in the southern country and extermination for the blacks — a matter
anxiously looked for by the white population.
Question. State whether, in your travels through that region of country, you found many
men who had lived there before the war who were Union men, and what was the propor
tion of men who were true to the government during the war to those who were rebels ?
Answer. I do not think there were more than three per cent, of them Union men ; I am
quite sure that to-day, in Louisiana, there are not more than that proportion among the old
residents who are sincerely loyal to the government. There are northern men there in large
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 81
numbers living near military posts, such as Baton Kouge, New Orleans, Shreveport, Port
Hudson, &c., who have stated over and over again to me that they would retire from their
places just so soon as the military were withdrawn, and whenever any proposition came,
signed by large numbers of planters, a counter proposition for the retention of the military
was in almost every instance received from the loyal people.
Question. State what are the feelings and views of the men of Louisiana in whose hands
the State and county authorities are at this time.
Answer. I was in Governor Wells's headquarters frequently in New Orleans, and saw him give
commissions as judges, district attorneys, mayors of towns, and other officers, to men who yet
wore their confederate uniforms, and many of whom I knew had scarcely been back live
days from the rebel army. I have known him eject men from their offices who were elected
by the same votes which elected him, simply because they were not favorable to him ; and
he continued in this until every loyal man was out of office there. These offices were filled.
in some cases, in the city of New Orleans especially, by men who had not been in the rebel
army, but who were regarded in New Orleans as in favor of the rebellion — quietly and se
cretly, perhaps, but men who were not actively and openly loyal. I had occasion once or
twice to complain of the sending of these officers into some places in the country, and that
their conduct was not of a kind to encourage loyalty, or to protect the freedmen. He (the
governor) acknowledged that he put these men into office at the recommendation of men in
their districts, and that from these recommendations he felt sure they were good men, and
said he should retain them. I frequently attended the sittings of courts in and out of New
Orleans, and in the main, found that so far as justice to a freedman is concerned, it is a pre
tence and a mockery.
Question. What chances for an election, in your judgment, would a man in that State
have to any office who had been a thorough-going Union man during the war ?
Answer. He would have no chance at all. In the city of New Orleans the man would get
quite a number of votes, but any attempt to elect such a man, even in the city of New Or
leans, would be rendered null by the violence of the people, without the presence of the mili
tary authorities there. They would break up their polls and destroy their ballots ; and I
think on the day of election they would murder the parties engaged in promoting the cause
of loyalty ; but I think that with the aid of the military in the city of New Orleans, and for
ten miles around the city, a Union man might receive quite a good vote, and with the aid of
colored men, if allowed to vote, be sure of a majority. Outside of that I do not think a
loyal man would dare go and vote for a candidate who had been always loyal.
Question. What, in your judgment, would have been the effect, if there had been a rigid
military government preserved in Louisiana up to this time, upon the feelings of the people ?
Would it have increased or diminished loyalty in the State?
Answer. It would have increased it, because there are a great many people there who are
controlled principally by those who hold office. There are poor people who work for the
city and town authorities, who are the mere tools of those who employ them. After a loyal
rule there of two or three years they showed a good deal of loyal inclination — as much as
could be expected from people of such low character and capacity, but since the offices have
been filled with disloyal persons they have accordingly become the dupes and tools of these
officials. Just as soon as these offices were filled by persons of that stripe the conviction ap
peared to gain ground, that to have been in the rebel army previously, or to have done
something in the rebel service, was a recommendation to a man. I know that when I left
Louisiana loyal men were advised that it was best for them in the street not to make any
noisy demonstrations of loyalty under any circumstances. I have seen, myself, in Canal street.
such men as Thomas J. Durant, Mr. Flanders, and Governor Hahn passing up and down the
streets, who would be the objects of sneers and curses by men wearing gray coats, and these
men would give other evidences of their spite towards them, making life there, as it is to-day,
very disagreeable to a loyal man. There are no physical or violent demonstrations, but the
whole mass of the people look upon a man who has made any demonstrations of unconqiier-
able devotion to the government as a fit sTibject for sneers and abuse. It is a system of tor
ment and a life of torment bordering on hell itself. I myself, in walking the streets, after the
news came that I had been relieved, was advised by my friends never to be out after sun
down. I was contemplating a trip to the north by the Mississippi river, but I was told by
hundreds of loyal men many times, that there were men who said that if I ever went up the
river they would take my life, and I was compelled to take passage in one of the ocean steam
ers and come home by that route. Many of these wealthy men held me responsible for tak
ing away their property or for seizing it, and consequently their bitterness towards me was
hardly equalled by their bitterness towards General Butler. Many loyal men in Louisiana,
to-day, even in the presence of our military forces, are living lives of continual torment from
the viudictiveness and bad temper of these people. Whenever they meet them on the street or
elsewhere, they annoy and insult them. In riding in the Star cars, (to which colored people
are admitted,) when a negro enters, I have frequently heard them call him "Freedman's
Bureau," and sneer at him, and curse him. In some cases they have allowed him to get on
to one of these cars long enough to pay his fare, and then kick him out. In some instances
while I was riding in these cars, in citizen's clothes, and I have attempted to interfere, I
met with insults, and once I was kicked out of a car myself for attempting to shield a freed-
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82 RECONSTRUCTION.
man in the enjoyment of his rights. I looked around for the provost guard or police to arrest
the driver, but it was storming1 pretty severely. I failed to take the number of the car, and
the matter rested in that way. I reported the affair to General Sherman, and to the officers of
the railroad company, but nothing further came of it.
Question. What are the views and feelings of the people there in reference to allowing the
1'reedmen to own lands or have schools ?
Answer. The feeling there is unanimous that they shall not own an inch of land or have
any schools. They are more hostile to the establishment of schools than they are to owning
lands. They had broken up some of our schools at the time of my departure, and since then
I have official reports from those who have charge of the schools that upon the withdrawal
of the military from the parishes of St. Mary and Lafourche the freedmen's school-houses
in those parishes were, before night, burnt or pulled down, the schools disbanded, and the
teachers frightened away. This statement was made to me by the general superintendent of
schools for freedmcn in that State. It wras my determination that these schools should be es
tablished and maintained that worked my removal from office. It was also my deter
mination that, under the act of March 3, 1865, relative to the public lauds, these freed-
men, where they were able to purchase or lease lands and carry on farming operations,
should enjoy the benefit of that act, which led these people to conspire for my removal.
There was scarcely a newspaper in the State that did not charge me with inaugurating a
system of insurrection and conspiracy on a gigantic scale; establishing armed negro colonies
in their midst, and attempting, with the aid-of the military force, to keep up negro schools,
throwing upon me all the odium they attached to the system, instead of attributing it
to the law of Congress which I was simply endeavoring to carry out, as directed
by General Howard ; and to so great an extent was the animosity of these people stirred
up by these statements and appeals, that I felt I could not live there ; that they would
murder me in some way or other. Under this act of Congress, when ordered by General
Howard to carry it into execution as far as practicable, I proceeded to make inquiries into
the means in the possession of families of freedmen to ascertain how many of them were
able to purchase or work the forty acres allowed in the law. It was my purpose to appor
tion these lands to them, as directed by General Howard, and it appeared that my conduct
was condemned by the President and General Howard together. But that purpose, as I
have said, resulted in every possible persecution and misrepresentation; and the governor
of the State, instead of sustaining me, sent extracts from the rebel papers to the President,
charging me with doing what in reality was done by act of Congress, or what was ordered
by my superiors in office. General Howard did not sustain strict compliance with his own
directions, but left me to bear the odium growing, in the first place, from his conduct.
Question. At whose instance and by whose authority were you relieved ?
Answer. The planters of Louisiana, excepting those who are loyal, and the governor of
the State, acting as their agent, secured my removal by ex partc representations made to the
President, who sent them to General Howard, and I was relieved by his order. The chief
commissioner wrote me about the time I was relieved, approving my conduct. He told me
on my arrival here that the planters of Louisiana made such demands, and that such demon
strations were made by Governor Wells, that the President two or three times sent the
papers over to him, and he found he must remove me or break with the President. The
President received these papers without calling for any information from me, and to this day
has not called upon me for any statement as to the truthfulness of the charges made against
me. I know, from one of the governor's secretaries, that a number of planters had stated
that if it cost millions of dollars I must be gotten out of my office, and the next morning
the governor wrote a violent letter to the President, which was the mainspring in my removal.
Just about that time I received a communication from General Howard, in which, referring
to my reports of the outrages committed by these rebel planters, he said to me, "Do not
allow slavery to get the upper hand of you in any particular." I was under the impression
from this order that the determination of the government was to maintain, at all hazards,
the freedom of the negro, and to do so in such manner as to let the rebels know that his
freedom was on the same scale as that of the white man; and I was laboring in accordance
with these orders. I knew that I was a friend of freedom, but this order caused me to think
I was not radical enough to suit the President or General Howard. But, suddenly, the
very power which gave my instructions censured me, and removed me for acting in strict
obedience to them. This was the first experience of this kind that I had. Prior to this I
had found that obedience to orders and faithful discharge of duty would secure the pleasure
and not the censure of my superiors.
Question. What, in your judgment, would be the effect of the withdrawal of the Freed
men's Bureau or some organization or system like that from Louisiana ?
Answer. I should expect in Louisiana, as in the whole southern country, that the withdrawal
of the Freedmen's Bureau would be followed by a condition of anarchy and bloodshed, and I
say that much in the light of as large an experience upon the subject as any man in tlie
country. I have been in the army since the 19th of April, 1801 ; I have been over the
whole country, almost from Baltimore to the Gulf. I was one of the first who held any
official position in regard to the frcedmeu, and I am pained at the conviction I have in my
own mind that if the Freedmen's Bureau is withdrawn the result will be fearful in the ex-
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 83
i v
treme. What it has already clone and is now doing in shielding these people, only incites the
bitterness of their foes. They will be murdered by wholesale, and they in their turn will
defend themselves. It will not be persecution merely ; it will be slaughter ; and I doubt
whether the world has ever known the like. These southern rebels, when the power is
once in their hands, will stop with nothing short of extermination. Governor Wells himself
told me that he expected in ten years to see the whole colored race exterminated, and that
conviction is shared very largely among the Avhite people of the south. It has been threatened
by leading men there that they would exterminate the freedmen. They have said so in
my hearing. In reply I said that they could not drive the freedmen out of the nation, be
cause, in the first place, they would not go ; and for another reason, that they had no authority
to drive them out; and for a third reason, that they were wanted in the south as laborers. To
that they replied, that, if necessary, they would get their laborers from Europe ; that white
laborers would be more agreeable to them ; that the negro must be gotten rid of in some
way, and that, too, as speedily as possible. I have heard it so many times, and from so many
different quarters, that I believe it is a fixed determination, and that they are looking anxiously
to the extermination of the whole negro race from the country. There is an agent here now,
with letters from the governor of Louisiana to parties in New York, with a view of entering
at once upon negotiations to secure laborers from various parts of Europe. There are other
parties endeavoring to get coolies into the south, and in various places there are immense
efforts made to obtain white labor to supplant that of the negro. It is a part of the immense
and desperate programme which they have adopted and expect to carry out within ten years.
It is the same determination to which I referred in my report. I said the negro race would
be exterminated unless protected by the strong arm of the government ; no weak arm will do.
The very strongest arm of the government is needed to shield them. The wicked work has
already commenced, and it could be shown that the policy pursued by the government is
construed by the rebels as not being opposed to it.
Question. What action do you think these people would take in case of a foreign war?
Do you think they would be true to the flag of our government, or not?
Answer. I do not think they would aid the flag. I think that instead of aiding the gov
ernment, the leaders of opinion in the south, so far as I know them, would welcome a foreign
war and assist our enemies. I am convinced that they believe the ultimate separation of the
south is to be accomplished ; that it is destined in the nature of things ; first, by the forma
tion of the country, and by the superior character claimed for the southern people; and, second,
they think something must occur by which it will be accomplished. I think that this feeling
would control them, and that if they believe it could be accomplished by means of a foreign war
they would welcome that ; if by pestilence, they would welcome that ; if by wicked devices,
by which to bring about internal convulsions among our own people, they would welcome
that ; anything to gain the desired end.
Question. What is their opinion as to the willingness of the negro to work, or his capacity
to take care of himself without physical compulsion?
Answer. I think they have an almost universal conviction that he is not able to take care
of himself; that he must have a master in some shape or other. My own opinion and
knowledge is that he is able to take care of himself, and that there are fewer paupers among the
negroes in Louisiana than among the whites ; and this has been the case during all my ex
perience there. When we issued ten thousand rations to white people, we were issuing five
hundred to the freedmen in charge of the bureau.
Question. Are the people there disposed to resort to personal violence or chastisement to
compel the negroes to work now ?
Answer. They are so disposed in nearly every instance. A resort to violence is the first
thought that I have seen exhibited when freedmen did not act exactly to suit the employer.
The planters frequently came to me with requests (in fact, it was almost daily) to be allowed
to correct the laborers on their own plantations. It is the universal conviction, and the uni
versal purpose with them, too, to do that so far as they are allowed to do it; and, so far as
they can, they will do it. The only constraint put upon them in regard to it is through the
agency of the Freednien's Bureau. Without that, I am satisfied, they would very rapidly
return to the old system of slavery. In some portions of the State of Louisiana, now, they
have organized patrols of mililiamen, who go up and down the roads the same as if they
were scouting in time of war, to prevent the negroes from going from one place to another.
I am satisfied, from the most reliable reports, that under the most strict rules of evidence it could
be proved that in portions of the State these acts are being done the same as under the old sys
tem ; that, except as regards buying and selling, the old system of slavery is being carried
on in all its essentialjfeatures, and that there is a deep-rooted determination, arising from the
old habits of treating the negro, to continue the same treatment and the same restrictions that
existed prior to the war. The Freedmen's Bureau was regarded by the planters in Louisiana,
in the language of one of their leaders, as a "conservative machine." This arose from the
conduct of General Fullerton, whom the President sent to relieve me.
Question. What is your opinion as to the extent of general knowledge among the freed
men ; and what is their capacity for understanding their rights and the questions that are
being agitated in the country ?
Answer. I have taken a great deal of pains to secure, for my own satisfaction, accurate
84 RECONSTRUCTION.
information on tlmt subject, and I have questioned the lowest and meanest of them as to their
ideas of liberty and their duty as citizens ; and I have never yet found any view cxpv.
byjlhem, or any evidence through their answers or conduct, which led me to think they were
any lower or more ignorant than the lower order of the white people who live down there, or
that they had any less accurate knowledge of government ana duty toward it than the lower
class of white people. I have seen very ignorant white people there who had all the privi
leges of citizenship. I have seen them go to the polls and vote, when they had no better
idea of the questions at issue in the election, or the importance of the act they were perform
ing, than the lowest negro I ever saw. The great majority of colored people understand very
well, and have a very accurate idea of what their personal liberty is, and how far it is to be
regulated in order to be a blessing to them, and a very good idea of their duty as citizens.
Triey have one idea which underlies every other, and that is, that notwithstanding the treat
ment they receive at the hands of the government, and the want of complete protection and
complete liberty the government has so far caused them to suffer, they believe that it will
yet secure them full protection, full liberty, and a full enjoyment of all their rights as citizens
and as men ; and they are working very energetically in Louisiana for the attainment of
that purpose. They have their societies and clubs, in which they canvass very carefully
every act of the government in regard to them, and in regard to the rebels who live all around
them. They read the newspapers pretty generally. I believe two-thirds of the negroes in
Louisiana can read. They publish a newspaper there, read it, and sustain it. With the
use of schools, and the diligence they manifest in learning, it will not be many years before
as large, if not a larger, proportion of them will be able to read than of the whites. There-
is great eagerness and diligence in learning among them, which arises partly from the sud
denness of the opportunity presented, and in part from a desire to ascertain precisely what
the government is doing for them, and how they can best live as men and citizens ought to
live. These reasons, I think, mainly explain the causes of the desire they manifest in this
regard, and the result will, I think, be their nearly all becoming quite intelligent in a
short time.
Question. What, in your opinion, would be tho effect upon whites, blacks, and all con
cerned, of giving the negro the right Jo vote ?
Answer. I do not think the effect would be to inaugurate a war of races there, for this
reason: Tho negroes are so numerous, and they would be so intensely determined to enjoy
what rights they have in that respect, that the whites would submit, seeing the impossibility
of preventing it, and for the purpose of avoiding collisions and bloodshed in the country.
The lives and safety of loyal white men require the protection and assistance that would
grow from the negro's vote. I think the troops should be retained, and that small squada uf
them should be stationed all through the country, so as to shield the freedmen in the enjoy
ment of this right till the whites have become familiar with it. The militia forces should not
be organized in the south during this generation. These things being done, my judgment is
that there would be no trouble at all. On the contrary, it would, in a more speedy and
thorough manner than any other, secure permanent peace and prosperity to the country, h:
the present condition of things there they cannot hope for peace or prosperity, because loyal
men cannot remain without the protection of the government, and the negroes have no saii-tv
in the protection of their white foes. When the negroes come to see that their own Jit'c and
liberty are to be sacrificed, they will struggle manfully against such a result, and they will
importune the government, and call upon mankind to be their witness, until liberty and
.safety are insured them ; they will persevere devotedly until their rights are accomplished.
There are so many of them, and so many white people to help them, I don't see how the
government can resist giving them every protection warranted by the Constitution. Cer
tainly, so long as it is not accomplished a very large military force will have vo be kept up :
a large standing army will have to be maintained for years and years to protect the country
against anarchy, violence, and bloodshed. I think, to-day, if there were a suitable military
force, and an extension of suffrage so that the black man could vote in accordance with the
same rules that control the votes of white men, it would be an end to the whole conflict.
The negroes in Louisiana, and many loyal white men who are friendly to their claims f.-r
justice, will not rest till the ballot is in their hands ; and a denial of this right will positively
bring more trouble than if it were enjoyed by them. The best loyal men in New Orleans
are the colored men, and they are most capable of being intrusted with the interests ot the
government there. There are among them men who are the graduates of colleges ; the owners
of property ; men who are fine scholars, and capable of taking a stand alongside of the MM
white men in the country. There arc traitors there to-day, white men holding offices of trust under
the State government and under the government of the United States, who were disloyal,
and who now hate the freedom of the negroes. The mayor of the city of New Orleans is one
of these— a rebel, I know. He is an officer appointed by the military power of the govern
ment. He w as not elected by the people, but is maintained there by virtue of the authority
of the President. I do not think it would be at all a dangerous thing to expedite the exten
sion of suffrage to the blacks. I do not see how the relations of the southern States to tt
loyal States of the Union will ever be permanently or satisfactorily settled until the loya.
men there are able, by the exercise of the elective franchise, to be in the majority. In this
manner I expect that pleasant relations can be brought about between the southern States
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 85
and the loyal States of the Union, but I see of no other way in which this result can be
done consistent with justice or good policy.
Question. State fully what you know as to abandoned property in the State tf Louisiana.
Answer. I held about eighty plantations, and about the finest plantations in the State, in
my hands, either as confiscable or abandoned — most of them abandoned — and also two or
three hundred houses and lots. I received these by transfer from the Treasury Department,
and, when received, they were leased out, some for one month and others for one year. I
used some of these plantations — four or five of them — as colonies for aged and infirm freedmen,
and worked them with a view of their bringing us in considerable profit, by means of which
we could render the bureau self-supporting. I had very good crops, and every negro con
sidered unfit for ordinary plantation work, as well as those who were able-bodied, Averc com
pelled, while under niy care, to do something on these farms, so that their day's work always
more than compensated for their rations, medical attendance, school and other expenses ;
and that in this way, as well as by the rents we received for tenements and dwellings in the
vicinity of New Orleans and other cities, instead of being a charge upon the government, we
were entirely able to maintain ourselves. The surrender of this property, almost by whole-
sala, in pursuance of orders from here, crippled the bureau in its operations, and, for a time,
threw everything into confusion. The schools were ordered to be discontinued on the first
day of February of this year, and the whole policy seemed to change from punishment of
treason to universal pardon and surrender of property. About the time this property was
given up the schools for the freedmen had to be given up for want of means. The owners of
that property were mostly persons who have been engaged in the rebel army, and many
of them were men who had fitted out small armies themselves — men of great wealth ;
and the men who owned the largest amounts of property, and the men of greatest influ
ence, were those men who first came to me with pardons ; while the men who owned the
least property, who were the poorest ot all, were those whose pardons I neither saw nor
heard of while I was there ; and the property of the poorest remained in my hands and was
not given up. The first piece of property I gave up belonged to the wealthiest family in the
State. The property given up in the course of about a week covered about half a million dollars ;
in fact each property -holder seemed to have priority almost in proportion to his wealth, so
that it seemed almost as if that had been observed as the gauge of pardons ; not that I
think it was so, but it seemed to be so in appearance. It was a source of vexation to us,
that poor people who were really driven into the rebel army, and consequently had their little
property taken, were those who had to wait until the last to get their property returned.
Many applied for pardons, but were not possessed of means enough to defray the expense of
coming on here to secure them, and their property is still, in many instances, held by the
government. But the wealthy class who came back with pardons came Avith more hostility
to the government than any others, so far as my observation Avent. The amount of property
Ave held there at one time Avas nearly a hundred million dollars' AA'orth — more, by far, than Avas
held in any other State.
Question. HOAV much of that has been restored to the rebels ?
AusAver. I think about ninety per cent. ; I do not think that more than five per cent, is
still retained by the bureau. General Fullerton, AA'ho succeeded me, told me he had priArate
instructions from President Johnson concerning this and other matters. He gave up pro
perty with scarcely any examination, and the rebels all over the State seemed to think he
Avas sent to them as a special friend.
Question. HOAV much of that belonged to persons coming under Avhat is knoAvu as the
$20,000 class in the President's proclamation?
AnsAver. I think nearly one-half of it belonged to persons Avho came under that excep
tion and Avho had received special pardons. The possession of a special pardon ahvays
seemed to bo taken to justify these people in the use of the most bitter language tOAA'ards the
government, and the most offensive conduct toAvards its officers.
Question. Can you suggest any remedy, or AA-hat, in your opinion, is the best remedy or
course to be adopted by the gOA'ernment at this time for the state of things you haAre de
scribed in that State ?
AnsAver. I think a strong military establishment is the first great necessity ; but a perma
nent settlement of the Avhole difficulty lies in an extension of the right of suffrage to the col
ored man. Then loyal men Avould undoubtedly be elected to office in sufficient numbers to
secure the rights of loyal men and the interests of the government of the United States, and
it Avould inaugurate, in the most speedy and effective manner, harmonious relations betAvcen
the southern States and those States which Avere always loyal to the Union. I have given
that subject the most careful and extensiATe consideration, and I have not been able to deri\re
any other conclusion as to the safety of the loyal Avhites and blacks, and the establishment
of satisfactory relations betAveeu the States of the Union. The extension of equal rights to
all our citizens Avill save us ; I cannot see IIOAV anything else Avill do it effectiA'ely. Military
pOAver will not do it ; it will do some good, but it Avill be very costly, very disagreeable, and
uncertain as to its effects upon the condition and relations of the people; Avhereas, the other
Avoujd be a permanent settlement of the Avhole question. I think you Avill find the same tes
timony and the same opinion expressed tyy every unconditional friend of freedom in Louisi
ana, many of whom Avere once opposed to suffrage for the negroes, but AA'ho cannot noAv see,
86 RECONSTRUCTION.
any other \vsiy of giving1 permanent protection to their lives and property than in its enjoy
ment by the blacks. Without the settlement of that question, the loyal men will eventually
have to remove away from there. Some of the old residents of New Orleans have already
written to me, requesting me to aid them in the purchase of homes in New York or Philadel
phia, where they can reside in peace, with permanent safety and protection for themselves
and their families. Nearly every office in the State is held by men who aided the rebellion,
and those who loved the government of the United States all through the darkest and most
dangerous of its hours are to-day the least protected or respected, so that they think of
moving aAvay from the State as their only hope of happiness or peace.
WASHINGTON, February 28, 1856.
John T. Allen sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Have you resided in the State of Texas ; and if so, how long, and what have been
your opportunities for ascertaining the spirit and temper of the people there towards the gen
eral government?
Answer. I went to Austin, Texai, in 1850; lived there until June, 1863; I then left and
went to Louisiana ; returned to Texas in August, 1865, and remained there until the 26th Jan
uary, 1866.
Question. What was the occasion of your leaving Texas in 1863?
Answer. I was ordered to report as a conscript to the conscript officer of the confederacy
there. Not being willing to do so, I got on my horse and started for New Orleans.
Question. State as succinctly as you can what you know of the feelings and disposition of
the people in Texas at this time towards the government.
Answer. It is a very difficult matter to state distinctly my ideas upon that subject. I be
lieve the county in which I live was as loyal as any county in the State at the beginning of
the rebellion — perhaps more so than any other. A large portion of the loyal element there
embraced men of ability, wealth and influence, which made itself felt in the surrounding
counties. A majority of votes of that and the surrounding counties were cast against the
adoption of the secession ordinance.
Question. What course did these men take during the rebellion ? What side of the
question did they advocate ?
Answer. With great earnestness and ability they advocated the Union side until the ordi
nance of secession was adopted, when all was hushed, and no voice was ever raised for the
Union until the destruction of the rebellion. During the rebellion a few of the Union men
remained at home, some of whom were forced into the rebel army ; some, like myself, left
there after a time. Governor Hamilton and quite a number left before I did.
Question. Did any considerable number of those who voted against secession change their
views after the war commenced, and take part in the rebellion ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; a great number did.
Question. What is the feeling of the people there at this time — are they as loyal as they
were before the rebellion, or less so ?
Answer. It is a matter of necessity with them not to be demonstrative in their disloyalty.
if that be their feeling. It is therefore difficult to tell what men are, as they are quite reti
cent in regard to their opinions and feelings; but we can judge somewhat from their acts,
and the tones in which they give expression to their views.
Question. What is your opinion of their loyalty or disloyalty, judging from the cxpiessiui:
of their views and feelings ?
Answer. There are few loyal men there ; that is, according to my opinion of what consti
tutes loyalty — what was considered loyalty at the beginning of the war. Those who com
plain of military despotism, and desire a removal of the troops from the country, are set down
by us as not loyal Union men. The real Union men believe that their safety depends upon the
presence of the troops.
Question. What do 3-011 suppose to be their object in desiring to have the troops with
drawn 1
Answer. I believe it is principally the work of politicians, in order that they may not only
acquire their former power as politicians, but that they may at the same time control to sonic
extent the labor of the country.
Question. What, in your opinion, would be the condition of things there should the troops of
the government be entirely withdrawn ?
Answer. According to the present feeling of the Union people, almost all would leave the
country who could do so. But those distant in the interior, and where their leaving might
be attended with many difficulties, might remain; but the greatest mischief Avould arise from
the attempts of white men to control the freedmen and their labor, the consequences of
which are fearful to contemplate.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 87
Question. What sort of men are they who take the lead there in political matters and eon-
trolling public opinion ?
Answer. They are mostly of the old class of politicians ; a few of them may have been
Union men, (that is, the Union as it was, with slavery.) I hardly consider them such now.
Some of them hold that they can recover from the government the value of the slaves set
free, and advise the former slaveholders to keep their negroes in hand, so as to some extent.
I suppose, control their persons and labor.
Question. Were you there at the time the members of the State convention were elected ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. What class of men were elected to that convention — those who had been
rebels, or those who had .been Union men ?
Answer. The returns were not all in when I left. We had an excellent Union man run
ning in our county, a man of very high character, great moral worth, ability, and popularity:
his opponent expressed the views I have stated about keeping- the nog-roes in hand and suing
the government for their value ; the latter was elected.
Question. It will be sufficient for my purpose if you will state what was the political com
plexion of that convention.
Answer. It is composed principally of those who have been rebels. I do not think there
are over ten Union men in the body — perhaps not five who ardently desire to see the national
government prosperous and respected. There were five candidates as floater for the conven
tion.
Question. What do you mean by the term " floater?"
Answer. By a " floater " I mean a member elected by the votes of two counties. Each of
these five candidates published addresses to the people. The last who came out said in his
address " that he should vote to repudiate the State bonds issued on confederate account, but
he would prefer doing it voluntarily, rather than from an order from the President of the
United States or anybody else." In speaking of his opponents, he said " they had all conceded
something to the negro, but that he would concede to them nothing." He casts odium upon
his opponents by charging one with being "a renegade from the south and assisting our then
oppressors, and another by being connected with the Hamilton administration." He was
elected (because I believe he expressed the feelings and sentiments of those who elected
him) in spite of men having higher and better claims in every other respect for the position,
and this, too, in two counties which cast a majority of votes against secession in 1861 ; and I
will say further, that I believe these sentiments and feelings are held and entertained by
nine-tenths of all the people of the State.
Question. What course do you think the people of Texas would take in regard to national
questions if left entirely to themselves ?
Answer. It would be rather difficult to say what they would do. I suppose they would
take the course that necessity would prompt them to take. If they were left entirely to
themselves they would return to the old order of things as nearly as possible. That is only '
my opinion, biit I do not think there can be any dcubt about that.
Question. I understand you to mean that they submit to the general government now
from compulsion, and not from choice ?
Answer. From necessity entirely — yes, sir ; there is no mistake about that. Not one in
ten, I believe, submits from choice, or considers it anything but a matter of dire necessity.
Question. Do you think if they were left to act for themselves they would seek to consoli
date the nation and strengthen the government, or would they seek to weaken and embar
rass the government in its operations ?
Answer. If they were left to themselves they would seek to return to the old order of
things, because they consider the present condition of things the greatest misfortune that has
ever befallen them. They would go back to the old order of things if they could. The peo
ple there really never desired secession, but the pressure of politicians and the press brought
them to it. They had been taught by the press and politicians, for a great number of years,
to despise everything that came from the Yankees, as was the expression, and four years of
war has ingrained that feeling deeper into their natures. They may throw it aside and get
rid of it in time, but they cannot do it in one year. It will take time and favorable circum
stances to eradicate those feelings and supplant them with others. But in a few years I be
lieve the people will return to their allegiance to the United States, provided the influence of
the politicians and the all-pervading influence of the press be kept in check by the power of
the United States.
Question. Can you state whether the unlimited exercise of the pardoning power there has
had any effect upon those politicians ? Has it made them more or less friendly to the gov
ernment of the United States ?
Answer. It has made them more friendly to President Johnson. I do not know that it
has had any favorable effect upon their feelings towards the government.
Question. What is the condition of the freedmen in the State of Texas, so far as you know ?
Answer. The condition is very varying; it depends upon the different portions of the State
you consider. Texas, as you know, is a very large State ; some parts of it are densely popu
lated ; other parts are very thinly populated. In some portions there is a large black popu
lation : in other portions the black population is comparatively small. It makes a very
88 RECONSTRUCTION.
great difference what part of the State you are considering. As to the meaus of information,
two or three hundred miles in the State of Texas is as much as a thousand miles in a coun
try where communication is easy. In Texas communication is mostly on horseback, and it
is no easy matter to travel two or three hundred miles on horseback ; therefore, what is going
on in one portion of the State is not easily made known to those in another. I may say that
when I was in New Orleans I knew as much, if not more of Texas, than when I was m the
interior of that State. I cannot say what the general condition of the freedmen is in the State
of Texas. Reports continually reach us of the killing of negroes in various parts of the State,
particularly in those districts remote from points where the military is located. I have pa
pers in my room containing some accounts of those transactions. But those murders and
barbarities are not usually published in the newspapers ; we receive the information from
travellers. It reaches the governor by couriers and through affidavits filed in his office. In
a conversation with the governor in regard to that subject, he stated to me that he had inform
ation of the dead bodies of freedmen being found here and there throughout the State — some
found in waters of the creeks, others floating down streams, others by the roadside and else
where — amounting in all to about two hundred and sixty up to that time, which was the
middle of the month of January last.
But in and around Austin, the Freedmen's Bureau, through an agency, is in operation, and
some people there have gone into the matter with a great deal of sound sense, having hired
their former slaves, giving them a third of the crop, and both parties believe they have
done well. Others again are not doing so well ; they cannot get freedmen to work for them.
Those who have been unkind to their former slaves are known to the negroes all over the
country. The negroes know more about the character of their former masters than do their
white neighbors themselves. On Sundays and other occasions when negroes meet together,
their conversation naturally turns to what mostly concerns themselves, their families, their
homes, the character of the members of the family who owned them, so far as it affected their
condition, and particularly the conduct of their masters and overseers, because their lives, their
happiness, their sufferings, and their whole condition, depended there. The consequence is
that every man who owned slaves has a well-defined general reputation among them, founded
upon years of experience of those who had opportunities of knowing what others outside
of the plantation could not know. I believe that a master who has been harsh and cruel
to his former slaves can never obtain the voluntary services of freedmen within the sphere
of his reputation. But, as a general rule, men who have been good masters can obtain hands
to labor for them — at least, that is the case about Austin.
Question. So far as you know, are the negroes disposed to work Avhere they receive fair
wages and kind treatment ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they are all willing to work, so far as I have seen, and I have seen a
great deal of them. But there are some men who have employed them, who up to Christmas
have not paid them — have driven them off without payment or with a mere pittance. Of
course the negroes have lost confidence in those men, and begin to lose confidence in others.
But they are all willing to work for men in whom they have confidence, so far as my knowl
edge goes, and I have seen them daily, and had frequent conversations both with employers
and employed.
Question. What is the extent of their knowledge at this time, and what is their capacity
for exercising the rights of free men ?
Answer. That depends much upon where they have been, under what circumstances they
have been placed, and what opportunities they have had of acquiring knowledge. In west
ern Texas, and all through that region where the country is thinly populated, a great deal of
stock is kept. The negroes there are very frequently employed in hunting stock, riding a
great deal in the open prairies ; consequently they are very different from negroes kept closely
confined to plantations. Again, some of those in towns can read, and a few of them write ;
some of them are quite intelligent, especially those who have been mechanics and have
worked alongside of white men for a great many years ; they have acquired the same knowl
edge, as far as intelligence in the ordinary affairs of life is concerned, as the white men, and
it is an every-day occurrence to hear intelligent negroes consulted by white men — on the
plantation, in the workshop, and on the stock farm — in regard to tbe work and management
of their respective affairs. Upon asking one of these intelligent negroes, who is a mechanic,
what he thought of his freedom, he replied, "Well, I must try and make a good crop this year.''
I asked him what he thought when we went away ; referring to our leaving the State during
the rebellion. "Oh," said he, while his face lit up and his eyes sparkled, "I knew you
would come back." " What made you think so? " He replied, "I have been watching this
thing from the beginning ; I told one day, when I met him on the road, that if
they had not brought on this war just now, they might have kept us as slaves for thirty yrnrs
longer." From that and other conversations, I concluded that there had been much talking,
some reading, and a great deal of thinking, upon the subject among the negroes.
Question. What is the feeling in Texas, particularly among those who have been rebels,
in regard to allowing the negro to own land, to acquire an education, and to become a citizen?
Answer. I do not think there is much opposition cither to their acquiring an education or
owning land ; I have not heard much said about it. That is principally due to the fact that
the negroes have no means with which to buy lands. For the first few years they must work
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 89
in the fields and elsewhere for wages. Schools have not yet been established in the country ;
therefore those questions have not been agitated. We had no free negroes at all in Texas ;
there was an act passed by the legislature before the war requiring every free negro to leave
the State or to choose a master. Those left who could leave ; those who could not leave,
chose masters.
Question. Do those who were formerly slaveholders in your vicinity recognize the freedom
of the blacks altogether?
Answer. Yes, sir ; as a general rule they do.
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity of the Freedmen's Bureau or some such
agency in Texas?
Answer. I have thought much upon that subject. The Freedmen's Bureau, properly ad
ministered, would be the very greatest blessing we could have. The interests of the black
man are so completely identified with the interests of the white man, that they must always
be blended together. There will be the employer and the employed? contracts will be vio
lated and crimes perpetrated by both parties, and it is necessary that some tribunal should be
established to see that justice is done. If it be left entirely to the verdict of a jury, as in cases
between white man and white man, if will be found that jurors, however honest they may be
cannot entirely rid themselves of their old prejudices. I have seen that illustrated in the
State of Louisiana, where I was district attorney in 1864 and 1865. I have seen men who
were just as good jurymen as I would wish to have in a jury box in ordinary cases pay no
attention to, but utterly disregard, the evidence in a case where a white man and a black man
were concerned, and yet in charity I must presume that the jury thought they were doing
their duty.
Question. What rights are the white people of Texas disposed to give to the freedmen there ?
Answer. They are disposed to treat them kindly, but they do not propose to grant them
any political rights.
Question. What civil rights are they disposed to grant to them? What are they disposed
to do in regard to allowing them to sue, and enforce contracts, and to testify as witnesses in
courts ?
Answer. There has been nothing of that kind brought under my observation : whatever has
been done there in that regard has been done through the agency of the Freedmen's Bureau.
About Austin I speak ; I know nothing of it in other parts of the State.
Question. Do you think negroes, as freedmen, would be safe in Texas, without the enjoy
ment of civil or political rights, in the absence of the Freedmen's Bureau?
Answer. I think some such agency as the Freedmeu's Bureau is indispensably necessary,
both for the white and the black ; the party that is wronged and the wrong-doer will both
be benefited by it. It will compel persons to do that which is right, as well as secure per
sons in their rights.
Question. Suppose the negroes about Austin, for instance, were allowed to vote ; would
they vote for those men who have been rebels, or for those who have been Union men?
Answer. There is a great difference of opinion upon that subject. Men of much thought and
of sound minds have supposed that if negroes were allowed to vote, they would go with their
masters or those who employed them. I am inclined to think that the employer would have
his influence over them to a certain extent, as all employers have everywhere ; yet, notwith
standing that, I do not believe that one out of twenty would vote for a man who had been a
rebel or secessionist ; they know every one of them better than the white men know them.
Question. Do the negroes there indicate any appreciation of the difference between Union
men and disloyal men in that couutiy ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they know that better than the white men do ; they can tell every Union
man in the country ; they know them well.
Question. They know their friends ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And depend upon them?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they know all those who have departed from their former professions,
and express their opinions upon them, and very sensibly too. Many men who were recog
nized as Union men before secession became secessionists after that ordinance was passed,
some of them the most bitter and unrelenting persecutors of Union men ; others struggled on,
doing and saying but little, but they were looked upon with suspicion by the rebels, who
marked them as Union men. Since the termination of the war, some few of those who dur
ing the rebellion were regarded as Union men have commenced to curry favor with the politi
cians. The pardoning of so many has had a great influence in favor of the rebels ; and those
Union men who wish to obtain power, seek that influence by courting the favor of the rebels.
Question. What is the feeling in Texas in regard to northern people coming there and go
ing into business there?
Answer.' That feeling has not had time to develop itself fully. Texas is a very large State,
and there are a great many Germans there, who it is well known have been the most loyal
men in that State; they have been the most determined and unswerving Union men. There
is so much room in that State, it is expected that there will be a large immigration there; and
90 RECONSTRUCTION.
three or four hundred thousand people coming there would greatly change the general char
acter of the people there, and I do not think that immigrants would be badly received there.
There lias always been a goodly sprinkling of northern men in the towns, but they were
strongly suspected of being Union men. A great many left. Most of those who were obliged
to remain took sides with the rebels. Some, in order to save their property from confiscation
and their persons from violence, were very extreme and open in the expression of their views,
while others were real rebels, many doing a thriving business, making money, and at the same
time doing much mischief to the United States government and her citizens.
Question. In your opinion what is the better course to pursue in regard to the recognition
of that State by Congress ? Is it better at once to receive her representatives in uongrcss and
recognize her as a State, entitled to all the rights and privileges of a State in the Union :
or is it better, in view of the condition of the loyal white people there, and the condition of
the blacks, to wait awhile and keep a military force there, and in that way maintain the au
thority of the federal government .'
Answer. The truly loyal people are mostly ignored both by the federal government and by
the State government. If these men who come here claiming seats in Congress represent
truly the feelings of the State, represent the disloyal element I speak of, I see no difference
in receiving them now and receiving them the day they laid down their arms, because their opin
ions have not had time to change. The changing of one's opinions is not within a man's
powers. It takes time and circumstances to alter and modify them. They cannot change
and throw off their opinions as they would a garment.
Question. What do you mean by saying that the government ignores loyal men ? Do you
mean that appointments are given to men who are not loyal?
Answer. The loyal men feel that they are ignored. Yet it is difficult to answer the ques
tion so as to be understood by one not acquainted with all the circumstances of their situation.
Vv'hich I will endeavor to explain.
A minority of the people of Texas voted against secession. Shortly after this fact was made
known by the rebel convention, one-half or perhaps two-thirds of that minority went over to
the majority, leaving comparatively very few loyal men, whose numbers by subsequent causes
became still further reduced. The few that are left alive are called the loyal men of Texas.
When Governor Hamilton arrived in Texas he proceeded at once to organize the State by
appointing State, district, and county officers out of the best material he had, some of it not
of the choicest quality. Yet all acknowledged that it was as well as could be done under the
circumstances, and were satisfied. But soon a feeling of uneasiness began to pervade the
minds of loyal men ; they perceived that Mr. Johnson was the real governor of Texas, Mr.
Hamilton the nominal governor, but in reality only the agent of President Johnson, who
caused voters to be registered, whereby eveiy rebel soldier and secessionist, not exempted by
the amnesty proclamation, had but to take the oath, have his name registered, wait until the
election, then immediately proceed to govern and control the State. They perceived that the
power of the rebels was being daily strengthened by the granting of pardons to great num
bers of the wealthy and influential rebels, who were returning with all their former influence
uudiminished, and a kind of political importance added to it. A proclamation was issued
for a convention, and an election ordered to be held, whereby those who had been registered
could vote for its members. The loyal people were ignored by these proceedings, their feel
ings or wishes never consulted on those all-important matters, whereby they were completely
divested of all political power in the State. In the convention they can have no influence :
any State government established under it will speedily remove every loyal man from office.
The few loyal men feel that had they been traitors or rebels, their condition would have been
much more desirable than it now is in some respects. Yet they know and feel and say that
loyalty is the highest public virtue, and that treason is the greatest political crime; that it is
the duty of the President to protect, honor, and render virtue powerful, to make crime odious,
despicable, and powerless. Therefore the loyal men say that Mr. Johnson has not kept hi*
faith with his country ; that he has violated the pledges he made to them, and betraj-ed the
trust they reposed in him ; that by his conduct and management of affairs in Texas he has
made treason not odious, but reputable, influential, and powerful, and by the same means he
has rendered loyalty odious, despicable, and powerless ; consequently loyalty in that State-
now lies prostrate and bleeding under the heel of subjugated rebels.
The untold sufferings that these time men have endured, the sleepless nights they have
spent in brooding over their wrongs and contemplating their dismal future, the uncertainty,
the wretchedness, cannot be explained. Most of them desire to leave the State, and many are
making preparations for that purpose. Many believe that they will not be allowed to live in
the State, or, if they are permitted to stay, it will be in ignominy and bondage.
This explanation of the circumstances in which the loyal men are placed may account for Un
feeling that they are ignored ; they also feel that they are the victims of the federal and St;it.
governments. I have ever had an entire reliance in the worth and ability of Uie present
Congress to help the loyal men in the State of Texas, but, generally speaking, they are vi : ;.
hopeless — almost despairing.
In regard to appointments by the President, much interest was manifested in this matter
at first, and names of good men were selected for some of them ; but delays occurred, and ap
pointments were few. In the mean time incidents and events which I have just related were
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 9 1
transpiring, and overshadowed all interests of that kind. Men who are about to be driven
out of the State think nothing of these things ; nay, some of the best officers themselves think
of leaving.
Question. It has been pretended here, by those who control the appointments, that there
arc not loyal men in the south for all the offices. I desire to have your opinion upon that
point in regard to Texas. Are there loyal men enough in Texas to fill the offices ?
Answer. Your question would require some thought and reflection. It is said that there
are not loyal men enough to fill the post offices.
Question. You can state, as far as you know, whether or not the offices of the general
government can be filled with loyal men, should the government be disposed to select them
for that purpose.
Answer. There are loyal men to fill all the offices, and fill them well, too, if they were se
lected for that purpose ; but in some districts there are no loyal men — in others they are com
paratively numerous ; they are not equally distributed all over the State. So far as numbers
go, there are loyal men enough who are capable of filling twice the number of offices. It is
impossible to find loyal men in every county to fill county offices. I believe that one-half
of the counties of Texas are in this situation. The old officers of these counties were
mostly rebels, many of them forming vigilance committees for the destruction and murder of
Union men, and were the means of driving off from the country those Union men who could es
cape their vigilance, many of whom will never return. I will state that there are officers of
the general government who employ clerks who have been deeply identified with the rebellion,
who say they cannot get Union clerks. My impression is that they cannot obtain them un
less they use the proper means. Let them advertise for such, and they would have crowds of
applicants to choose from. I have said this, as I repeatedly said and insisted upon in Lou
isiana, that the first and indispensable requisite for office was loyalty, and that they ought
to send off for loyal men if they could not get enough there who were loyal.
Question. Have you been in the State of Louisiana ? If so, state what position, if any, you
held there, and what opportunities you have had for ascertaining the condition of affairs in
that State.
Answer. I was in the Teche campaign, on Major General Ord's staff. I returned to New
Orleans in January, 1864, and then studied the laws of Louisiana. In August, 1864, I was
appointed district attorney for the fourth judicial district of that State.
Question. Will you state whether the offices of the different parishes in that State are in
the hands of loyal or disloyal men ; and what you know about any change, if any, that has
taken place in those offices ?
Answer. My district was composed of five parishes, though I attended courts in seven
parishes, and was familiar with that number. I knew nearly every officer in each of
those seven parishes ; that is, the sheriffs, clerks, recorders, justices of the peace, and most
of the police jurors. The police jury is a very important matter there — an influential body,
and a kind of local legislature there, controlling the parish. During the administration of
Governor Halm great care was taken to fill those offices with loyal men, and he succeeded
almost entirely in doing so. Shortly after Mr. Wells became governor, one after another of
the officers appointed by Governor Hahn was removed, until very few loyal officers were left
in those seven parishes with which I was acquainted. Sheriff's, clerks, recorders, justices of
the peace, and police jurors, were all successively removed, and in their places were appointed
disloyal men, all of them identified with secession and rebellion, having been engaged in
various ways for years inflicting injuries and wrongs upon the government and her citizens —
returned rebels and paroled prisoners from Johnston's army; but not one Union loyal citizen
was appointed by Governor Wells in either of those parishes. I will add, that "those few
officers that have not been removed by Governor Wells were always reputed to be of equivo
cal loyalty. I can think of but two or three original Union men that held office in August
last ; perhaps they are now removed. The number of officers in those parishes must amount
to about one hundred or more. It is impossible for a stranger, or one who has not mixed
familiarly among those Union men at their homes, to estimate the amount of virtue they pos
sess, the trials they have endured, and the courage with which they have so sternly kept their
faith with their country and their government. Nor is it possible to convey in language to be
understood by a stranger, the sufferings, the wrongs, the despair of those men, when they
saw what Governor Wells was preparing for them — rebels in their uniforms, returned from
the army to their old homes, the former persecutors and personal enemies of the loyal men.
whose yery names were associated with "wounds inflicted not to heal," and recollections of
burning wrongs — these, and such as these, were the men appointed by Governor Wells to
wield the authority of office over the loyal men of those parishes. I believe the parishes of
Terre Bonne and Ascension were supplied with full sets of officers — say, from fifteen to twenty
each — at one swoop, the loyal incumbents having no notice of their removal until commis
sions were presented to them, and their books, papers, &c., demanded by the new appointees.
They refused to comply with the demands They considered the conduct of Governor Wells
unjust, base, and atrocious — unjust, because he removed all the officers at once without
giving notice to either, and without any reason assigned ; base, because in the place of loyal,
true men, he appointed those who had l-een false to their country — traitors and rebels ; atro
cious, because they were the personal er.emies and persecutors of the loyal men. All the loyal
92 RECONSTRUCTION.
men believed that the incumbents were removed because they were loya1. These loyal men
still refusing to comply with the demands, and being determined to maintain themselves at
the risk of their lives, prepared themselves accordingly. But the men who had persecuted
and driven them from their homes before, by the aid of armed confederates, now applied for
military aid from the United States for the purpose of again crushing the same men : not with
out trouble was it at last accomplished. Some of the loyal officers had to flee from their
homes after the change was complete ; and I saw the recorder of Terre Bonne parish a refugee
in New Orleans a few weeks ago, when I was informed that many others were leaving the
parish. I could say a great deal more in giving details that accompanied these proceedings.
I have stated facts, which, if they be true, are of the most important character. It is my
opinion that there is no State in which loyalty has been so deliberately, thoroughly, and, by
the government, systematically crushed as in Louisiana. Texas is going the same course,
unless it be arrested. The last arid only hope of loyal men is in the republican party
in Congress.
A.
Appendix to testimony of John T. Allen.
CIRCULAR OF JAMES H. BELL, CANDIDATE FOR CONGRESS.
FELLOW-CITIZENS: I have been absent from the State for two months, and have just re
turned, to find that my friends have thought proper, in my absence, to place me in nomina
tion before you for a seat in the convention which has been ordered, by Governor Hamilton,
to assemble on the 7th day of the next month. There is brief time left between this and
the day of election for me to communicate with you, and to make known to you the views
upon which I shall act if you do me the honor to elect me to represent you in the convention.
I have been much pained, fellow-citizens, to hear that in many portions of the State there
is apparently but slight interest felt in the election of delegates to the convention. Why this
is so I am at a loss to understand. In my judgment, much depends upon the views upon which
you act in this election, and the action of the convention itself will be fraught with the most
important results, either for good or for evil, to the country. It is not an idle ceremony in
which you are invited to participate. You are called upon to lay again the foundations of
government within your State, and this under circumstances delicate and momentous beyond
anything in the experience of this generation. The case of the States lately in rebellion
against the government of the United States is novel and without any precedent in our
history; and the work of reconstruction involves questions which, in their solution, will tax
the best powers of the best and ablest men of the country. It is a work which should be
approached with though tfulness, and with a single and patriotic purpose to readjust the diffi
cult fabric of government upon principles which will endure all the tests of human infirmity.
It is a work which should elevate the minds of those to whom it shall be committed above
the prejudices, the resentments, and the personal interests of the hour. Our country has
been in mortal agony. The great struggle has been attended by incidents and is followed
by consequences which can be contemplated by the philanthropist and the patriot only with
sentiments of regret and humiliation. But I do not permit myself to doubt that out of this
sore trial will spring the enduring greatness of the republic — power unexampled, influence
that will be felt in the four quarters of the earth, and a glory that will appear to the eyes of
those who shall live to behold it, "like another morn risen on mid-noon."
The work now to be done is to restore harmony to the country. In order to be in a proper
temper to bear our appropriate part in this work, we of the south must be able to banish al!
feelings of resentment towards our northern brethren which have grown out of the war.
\Y'e must be able to look at events, and to perceive their significance, and the duties which
they impose, without dwelling upon the displays of passion, and without brooding over the
private griefs which attended these events in their development. You will say that to be
able to do these things calls for the exercise of virtues beyond the endowment of mortal men.
It does, indeed, call for the exercise of high virtues, but I am assured, fellow-citizens, that
just in proportion to the exercise of the virtues of justice, moderation, tiuth, and charity by
the actors of to-day, will their work redound to the advantage of themselves and their pos
terity.
Let me remind you, fellow-citizens, that the people, both of the north and the south, have
been in the habit of looking at those questions which have disturbed the country from dim-rent
points of view. This habit of the public mind of the two sections still remains, to a consid
erable extent, in force. It is the duty of both sections to enlarge their view, and to act upon
a policy as comprehensive as the whole country. An opinion prevails throughout the south
that the people of the north are our enemies, and that their purpose is still further to humiliate
us, and, by their legislation, to oppress us. I do not think so. 1 have lately conversed with
many public men in the north, and with a great many intelligent men of business, and I am
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA-— TEXAS. 93
persuaded that the prevailing sentiment among1 the northern people is one of sorrow over the
calamities which have befallen the country, ot sympathy and kindness for the people of the
south. You will be told, I do not doubt, that I have always been an apologist for the people
of the north, and that my opinions and advice upon all sectional questions are to be taken
with many grains of allowance. I think it is nigh time, fellow-citizens, that you should
cease to be misled by the insinuations and the declamation of those who hope to accomplish
their own purposes by promoting sectional animosity and discontent, and who find it necessary
to denounce all who pursue a different course. Be the consequences to myself what they may,
I shall always express my opinions with frankness and candor, leaving it to the people to
attach such importance to them as they may think proper. There are undoubtedly, in the
northern States, people and politicians of extreme views — views which, if carried into effect,
would be detrimental to the prosperity and the social . tranquillity of the southern people.
Many of these are honest men, who consider questions in the abstract, and without a just com
prehension of all the conditions of the case under consideration. The class of politicians to
which I refer do not control public affairs, but are restrained by those who are more practical.
In my judgment it depends upon the people of the south themselves whether, in the matters
vhicii now. most nearly concern them, the views of extreme men or of moderate men shall
prevail.
Undoubtedly the great body of the politicians and people of the north feel that it would
not have been wise, immediately after the cessation of hostilities, to have permitted the men
who were so lately engaged in the attempt to establish an independent government in the
south to return to the exercise of the same power in the Union as had been enjoyed by them
previous to the rebellion. They feel that the war would be without adequate results if recon
struction should take place in such manner as to leave it within the power of disaffected men
to disturb again the peace of the country. They feel, too, that having proclaimed the free
dom of those who were formerly in a state of slavery, it would be a reproach to the govern
ment of the United States to fail to protect such persons in the enjoyment of their lately ac
quired freedom. What measure of power the government of ^he United States will think
necessary to exercise in order to secure to the negroes the enjoyment of their freedom, will,
I think, depend very much upon the disposition manifested toward the blacks by the white
people of the south. I do not believe the people of the north wish to force the southern States
to consent to negro suffrage as a condition of reconstruction ; but I do believe that if the
people of the south are so unwise as to attempt, by State legislation, to establish a compul
sory system of labor within their limits, and thus practically to put the blacks in a state of
slavery, and if they refuse to do what may reasonably be demanded as a condition of restora
tion to their former condition as States of the Union, the people of the north may be easily
driven to act upon those views which are now considered radical, and the result will be that
the southern States will be continued under military rule indefinitely, or the right of suffrage
will be conferred upon those who will be prompt to organize State governments in accordance
with the views of Congress. I think it my duty, fellow-citizens, to be plain with you on this
subject, and to conjure you to proceed with thoughtfulness and without any bitterness of
feeling in everything that pertains to the work of reconstruction.
I am informed that the impression has been made upon the minds of some of you that I
am in favor of negro suffrage. I have not conversed with a man in Texas, or out of it, who
does not know that I am entirely opposed to the right of suffrage being conferred upon ne
groes. I regard the whole future ot the negro race in this country as' a problem which time
only can solve. In my judgment, there is much room to doubt whether they will exist
among us half a century hence. If they do, it will be because they are useful laborers at
least. They may possibly develop aptitude for a higher degree of civilization than they have
attained in a condition of slavery. They may possibly establish themselves in particular
localities and form political communities. They may continue to reside among the whites,
and in the course of time become intelligent and useful citizens. I do not think that many
meu are wise enough to be able to say with much safety what they will think proper to do iu
jeference to questions that may arise in the (perhaps distant) future. I am sure that I am
not. But I have already resolved, so far as my intelligence will enable me, to act towards
the blacks with justice ; and I shall always, as a private citizen or as a public servant, be
ready \o accord to them all the rights which an enlightened public opinion may think it
proper for them to enjoy.
Permit me to say here, fellow-citizens, that in reference to the action which the convention
ought to take with a view to reconstruction, I think it is perhaps premature for any one to
attempt to be very explicit. The Congress of the United States has not thought proper to
admit the senators and representatives from those southern States which have already had
conventions and held elections. A committee has been appointed by Congress, to which the
whole case of the States lately in rebellion has been referred. This committee will probably
report, and Congress will adopt, some general plan of reconstruction. No one yet knows
what features that plan will contain. If such action skall be taken by Congress, it will be
come the duty of the convention, if it does anything, to consider whether or not it will con
form its action to the views of Congress. In this event I can promise no more than that, if
I am a member of the convention, I will act upon my most deliberate judgment of what is
for the interest of the people of Texas. I think the people should send their ablest men to
94 RECONSTRUCTION.
the convention, and that every question which shall come before that body should be care
fully discussed and considered, and the convention should act upon all the lights before it,
and its action should be referred to the people for their approval or rejection.
I think the convention should distinctly recognize, in all its action, that slavery no longer
exists in Texas ; and I think that the next legislature of the State ought to ratify the consti
tutional amendment abolishing slavery. It is true that the amendment is already in force as
a part of the Constitution, but I think that the people of Texas ought to manifest their
cheerful acquiescence in what has been done by ratifying the amendment.
I am of the opinion that the debt contracted by the State for military purposes, since the
act of secession, ought to be repudiated ; or, in other words, it ought to be declared that the
people shall never be taxed to pay this debt. I am in favor of paying whatever debt has
been contracted for the ordinary expenses of the civil government of the State during the
rebellion.
I am of the opinion that the ordinance of secession of 1861 ought to be declared to be null
and void.
I am of the opinion that the constitution ought to secure to all persons, without respect to
color, the right to testify in the courts, under such rules and regulations as are, or may be,
prescribed by law. And on this subject I will say that I am of opinion that no person ought
to be held incompetent to testify in court because of interest in the suit. I think that par
ties to suits ought to be permitted to testify, and that the jury should decide upon the credi
bility of every witness.
I am of opinion, fellow-cititizens, that some important changes ought to be made in our State
constitution respecting the tenure of our State offices. I think the governor of the State
ought to have more power than is committed to him by our present constitution. He is the
head of the executive government, and is responsible to the people as such. He ought,
therefore, to have the power to control, within the limits prescribed by law, those officers
who are subordinate to him and who are connected with him in the daily administration of
the government. I think the governor should have tho appointment, with the consent of
the senate, of the comptroller of public accounts, the treasurer, the commissioner of the laud
office, and the attorney general. I think the governor ought to hold his office for four years,
and that he ought to be paid a salary which will enable him to live in a style becoming the
head of a great State. I do not mean that any republican magistrate ought to put on the
airs of a prince ; I simply mean that he ought to be able to dispense a liberal hospitality to
wards his fellow-citizens who may visit the capital, and towards his neighbors and friends,
without impoverishing himself by doing so.
I am of the opinion that the governor should appoint, with the consent of the senate, the
judges of the supreme and district courts, and that these officers should receive better sala
ries than they have heretofore received. After all, fellow-citizens, the firm and impartial and
intelligent administration of the law in the courts of the country is the soul of good govern
ment. Experience, I think, ^has demonstrated that the election of judges by the people im
pairs the independence and firmness of the judiciary. It is not because the people want in
telligence to select capable men, because they generally possess that intelligence, but be
cause considerations will necessarily mingle in popular elections that ought to have no influ
ence in the selection of judges. Where elections are by the people, it is impossible to ex
clude politics in times where party spirit runs high. But the main consideration why
judges ought not to be elected by the people is, that it operates injuriously upon the judge
himself. It places him under a temptation to show favor to men of influence, to which a
judge ought never to be subjected. The ablest judges which this country has produced
held their offices by appointment and during good behavior; and I do not know a single in
stance of a judge who has acquired high distinction since the election of judges has been
generally committed to the people. These are facts worthy the considerate attention of »
people who desire good government. In a State so large as Texas, those persons who are
qualified to sit upon the bench of the supreme court of the State can be known to but a
small portion of tho people, and it results that the people take but little interest in such elec
tions You will be told that I propose to take power away from the people, and I am well
aware that this is a subject upon which it is easy to alarm your fears. The appeal is to your
intelligence; if you are satisfied that the old system of appointing judges, with which all
the old men of the country were once familiar, tends to the greater purity and independence
of the judiciary, then you ought to be willing to return to it. You will elect the governor
and the senators, and they will be responsible to you for their appointments. You therefore
exercise the controlling power, and you remove the judiciary outofjthe reach of improper in
fluences. There is one great reason, fellow-citizens, why I think we ought to give greater
respectability to State offices. The success of our sj-stem of government depends upon the
preservation of the balance between the general government and the State governments.
The men who made the Constitution of the United States intended to give to the general
government certain powers, and they expressly declared that all the powers not granted to
the government of the United States were reserved to the States or to the people. The ten
dency of the late war is to the centralization of power in the general government at the ex
pense of the States ; and the only practicable way to counteract this tendency is to attach
men of talent to the service of the States rather than to the service of the federal govern-
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 95
ment. It' the State governments are in the hands of men of ability, their influence will be
felt at the national capital, and that influence will induce caution and deliberation in the na
tional administration. The only way to attach men of talent to the State service, rather than
to the federal service, is to make the State offices desirable. I should be well pleased my
self to see the day when any citizen of Texas would rather be the governor of the State or
occupy a seat orTthe bench of the supreme court than to be a senator in Congress.
I arn extending this address, fellow-citizens, beyond my original intention, and I am
obliged to write so hurriedly as not to be able to do justice either to myself or to the subjects
upon which I have touched. I should have been pleased to have had time to visit the differ
ent neighborhoods of the district, and to discuss the issues of the day, and the duties that lie
before us, more satisfactorily that I am able to do in a brief address. I am informed that
efforts are being made to damage me in your estimation because I thought proper to accept
office under Governor Hamilton. It seems there are gentlemen who think to gain your favor
by assailing the provisional government, and to damage me by reason of my connexion with
it. I shall not suffer myself to be betrayed into the impropriety and vanity of making my
self responsible for the acts of Governor Hamilton. He is tolerably well able to defend him
self. This much I have to say : I had no expectation of being connected with Governor
Hamilton's administration until he tendered me the position which I now hold. I could easi
ly have stood aloof from Governor Hamilton, and might, perhaps, have distinguished myself
as a critic of his administration. But I felt that the times were such as required from every
man who loved Texas something besides criticism. I thought that I might be able to contri
bute something, however little, towards the restoration of order in the country; something
towards the tranquillity of the public mind ; and I resolved, without hesitation, that no man
should have it to say that I stood aloof from the public service for fear of a little criticism.
Whenever you can be persuaded, fellow-citizens, that I desire anything else than your wel
fare — whenever you can be made to believe that I am false to the State that gave me birth, it
is my wish that you withhold your confidence from me, and bestow it upon some one whom
you may deem more worthy. I have always been frank to declare that I desired to connect
rny name honorably with the public service of Texas. I do not affect to be indifferent to the
honors which you have it in your power to bestow. The ambition of others may demand a
wider theatre for its gratification. The approbation of the people of Texas is enough for me.
The service of my native State is the only service to which I aspire. I have loved the Union,
because I thought it conferred blessings on mankind, but more especially because it conferred
blessings upon Texas. I still look to the Union with undiminished affection and with undi-
minished hope. I believe it will confer yet greater blessings upon mankind, and yet greater
blessings upon Texas. I give, then, to the Union my hopes and my fervent prayers. I give
to Texas the teudercst place in my heart. I loved her in the day of her prosperity ; I love
her more tenderly in this, the day of her great adversity. I desire to serve her, I hope from
as pure motives as ever have their origin in the fallible heart of man. If you think proper,
fellow-citizens, to honor me with a seat in the convention as your representative, I shall
serve you and my State to the best of my poor ability; but if, from any cause, you prefer to
bestow your suffrages upon another, I shall accept your decision Avithout a murmur.
I am, with respect, your obedient servant,
JAMES H. BELL.
B.
Circular of W. C. Dalrymple, opponent of Mr. Bell.
FELLOW-CITIZENS OP WILLIAMSON AND TRAVIS COUNTIES : I am a candidate to repre
sent you in the approaching convention, and take this the usual mode of acquainting you
with my views on some of the more important subjects now engrossing attention.
The great question prominent before the convention will be the future of the negro. No
question of such magnitude has or will come before the people of Texas during the present
generation ; and on this I differ from my opponents now in the canvass. They each and all
concede something to the negro ; some more, some less, approximating to equality with the
white race. I concede to them nothing but the station of "hewers of wood and drawers of
water." God Almighty has placed a sufficiently broad line of demarcation between the races,
and it does not seem the part of wisdom to attempt to obliterate it. If a republican form of
government is to be sustained, the white race must do it without any negro alloy. A mon
grel Mexico affords no fit example for imitation. I desire the perpetuation of a white man's
government. The patriot must strike now for our cherished institutions and the ascendency
of the white race. The negro is and must remain free. This is one of the results of the
late conflict, and he must be protected in person and property ; this is due to justice and hu
manity, but I hope and believe that legislative wisdom can devise some mode of securing
fully those rights without an equality in the courts of the country. Of course I am opposed
to negro suffrage in whatever form or with whatever limitations it may be proposed.
I shall, if honored with a seat in the convention, vote to repudiate the State bonds issued
96 RECONSTRUCTION.
on confederate account, but I would prefer to have the credit of doing it voluntarily, rather
than from an order from the President of the United States or anybody else.
I am in favor of the qualified voters at the ballot-box electing all officers, from constable
to chief justice of the supreme court, as heretofore. I see no cause to distrust the people :
they have shown their wisdom by generally putting the right man in the right place.
Texas voters heretofore have been able to select supreme and district judges who compare
favorably with those of any appointing power that I know of, not excepting those of our
own distinguished provisional governor. I think voters hereafter can exercise the same sa
gacity, and I am unwilling to take the selection of any officer from them.
I am of opinion that the convention should meddle but little with the State constitution :
in fact, would prefer letting it stand as it is, with such changes as arise from our situation,
and will start us on the high road to our proper place in the Union. When reason shall have
completely resumed her sway ;' when high sectional feeling shall have subsided ; and when
the federal sword shall have been returned to its scabbard ; then, if the constitution needs
remodelling in other respects, that is the proper time to do it.
I have but little to say about myself. I loved the Union with a devotion amounting to
idolatry ; but I supposed the States had a right to sever their allegiance to the general gov
ernment if they chose to do so ; and when the effort was made, my duty was plain ; when
the unfortunate war commenced, I did not hesitate to follow the example of the illustrious
statesman Sam Houston, on whose staff I then was. I, too, gave my labors for what, for
the time, was my country, exacting my allegiance, and protecting my fireside.
I have been known by many of you for over twenty-live years ; have been honored by
the voters of part of the district perhaps above my deserts. If my past life is not a guar
antee of integrity and patriotism, no argument of mine could supply such evidence, no
schedule of antecedents or promises of fidelity would claim respect.
lam a candidate without reserve, and will cheerfully abide your decision; and whether)
elected or defeated, will remain your fellow-citizen,
W. C. DALRYMPLE.
c.
Letter of Mr. Dulrymple.
AUSTIN, TEXAS, January 2, 1866.
Editor of the Gazette :
I came to town last Saturday, but had not the pleasure of hearing Judge Allen's address
to the citizens, though I learn from friends that he treated myself and other opponents with
cold indifference, paying his respects only to Judge Bell. The remark of a friend was, that
I was not "considered in the race." Well, I am in the race; but will take occasion to
say that I would not have been a candidate, if the principles and antecedents of other can
didates had been such as I could approve. Who, then, have the people before them to mak<-
choice from ?
Judge Bell, a quasi negro suffrage advocate, and secretary of state to the Hamilton .id-
ministration.
General Talbot, a renegade from the south, assisting pur then oppressors.
Colonel Sansom, who left Texas during the hottest of the strife, made his way through the
lines, went a thousand miles or so, took the oath of allegiance to the United States, and
returned; and finally, my good old friend, Judge Allen, who has been charged with being a
Kentucky emancipationist of the olden time, and which he has never denied, to my knowledge,
and is now in favor of introducing the negro into the court-house, cheek by-jowl-with the
white man.
I gave in a circular, a few days ago, my views on some of the most important subjects
now engrossing attention. By comparing my own to the position that I have briefly assigned
to each of my opponents, I hope I have done them no injustice. The truth is manifest. Let
the people decide.
W. C. DALRYMPLE.
D.
INAUGURAL ADDRESS OF GOVERNOR P. MURRAH.
Gentlemen of the Senate and House of Representatives, ladies, and you, ny fcllow-citi-cns :
I have been chosen by the people of Texas chief executive of the State for the next two
years. The office of the chief magistracy of a great sovereign State like Texas is at all times
one of great importance and responsibility; but now, when war is waged upon our common
country, and danger threatens the State upon every hand, and when so many grave questions
of policy are to be met, its importance and responsibilities are greatly magnified.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 97
I fully appreciate the fact that a majority of the suffrages of the people have been cast for
me at a time when all that is sacred to us is involved in the issues of a war of such magni
tude, and of such virulence in character, and when the perilous condition of the country
requires of the executive so much discretion, watchfulness, soundness of judgment, and firm
ness in the discharge of the duties of his office.
I most sincerely thank the people for the distinguished honor conferred upon me, and for
their manifestation of confidence under circumstances so marked and significant. And while
I distrust my ability and my experience in public affairs, I can promise, without reservation,
a will and a determination to discharge the duties of this high trust with a firm hand, and as
nearly as I can in accordance with the wants of the State.
I indulge the hope that a zealous devotion to the great interests of the State in these times
of peril will plead not unsuccessfully, and excuse, for my shortcomings and want of wisdom
in this high position, and that a generous constituency will be slow to desert or abandon a
public servant faithfully laboring for the public good.
If statesmanship and ability, the power to distinguish, and the disposition to observe the
true character of our political system, be essential qualifications in the officials of the con
federate, they can be no less so in the officials of the State government. Texas, in allying
herself to the other States of the south for general purposes, and for the common weal, sur
rendered not her sovereignty, or her complete control over all matters of. a local concern; and
it follows, as a matter of course, that a wise and judicious administration of the affairs per
taining to the local, can be of no less importance to the welfare of the people, than the proper
administration of the affairs pertaining to the general authority. A full appreciation of this
simple fact, and a rigid observance of it in practice, will have no little influence in producing
sober and correct views as to the scope and objects of the confederate authority, and in mod
ifying tendencies to partisan organization and partisan strife, founded alone upon differences
of opinion as to the extent and objects of that authority.
But the responsibilities of position, in a government like ours, and especially at a time like
this, when the services of all are needed, should not deter the citizen, through timid appre
hensions of evil conseqiiences to himself, when called by the voice of his country, from yield
ing his services to it. The life of the State is threatened, its welfare being at all times an
object near the heart of the patriot ; and all selfishness and merely personal considerations
should be banished, and the citizen in private life, and in public station, should be guided
alone by the most exalted patriotism, discarding from every act and utterance bearing reference
to public affairs all baser motives.
We are struggling through the perils of bloody fields for the preservation of the institutions
inherited fr< m a glorious ancestry, and it surely behooves us to heed their voice, to be in
structed by their experience, and to study well the conditions and means by which they are
not only to be maintained by the sword, but perpetuated and wisely administered. For the
machinery of government, of all machinery, is the most intricate and the most difficult of
adjustment and management ; and the science of government, of all sciences, has claimed
from mankind the greatest share of their attention, and yet has secured from them the least
uniformity of opinion as to its true mission, and as to the principles which should be em
braced in a perfect system.
Though the builders Avere master builders, yet the complicated and refined character of our
political system, together with the absence of experience and precedents as guides, gave rise,
from its very origin, to the most serious and delicate questions in the adjustment of State and
federal authority— questions often involving the most bitter party strifes, and the most alarm
ing excitements in the public mind, bringing at an early day to the minds of the original
framers grave apprehensions of the long duration of the workmanship of their own hands.
Our bleeding and struggling country warns the people of the dangers of holding to differ
ences of opinion vital in their character, as to the tine nature of the government of their own
formation, and of yielding themselves up blindly to partisan organizations and partisan
strifes, for the purpose of building up theories at variance with the government as written
and ordained. Instructed by experience, and guided by the lights of the past, it is hoped and
believed that if we are true to ourselves we may escape such dangers for the future, and
from the beginning of our new political career, not only understand, but put in practice the
government according to its true theory.
The objects and the ends of the State and confederate governments are so distinct, the
powers to be employed by them so well distinguished and defined, that it becomes a matter
of wonder how they can be involved in confusion and uncertainty.
The strength and beauty of a federal system of government, its value and completeness
as a government, its harmonious and energetic action, absolutely require, in both the general
and local authorities, a rigid observance of the boundaries of power lying between them and
marking out their appropriate spheres of action.
This simple rule forbids alike the usurpation of authority upon the part of the general gov
ernment, the infringment upon local authority, and the denial on the part of the State to the
general government, the exercise of authority clearly granted in the Constitution. These
observations are not deemed out of place here, for the reason that the extraordinary events
daily transpiring in our country, together with the universal demands of this war upon its
energies and resources, are trying both the strength and character of the State and confede^
7 F L T
98 RECONSTRUCTION.
rate organizations, the extent of their authority respectively, and bringing iuto action a
large class of powers, which in ordinary times, and especially in times of peace, lie dormant
and unobserved in the organism of a complicated political system.
A distinction will of course be observed by every intelligent and just-minded man, at a
time when necessity forces upon the government the employment of so many agents for so
many varied purposes, between deliberate acts on the part of the government at variance
with the constitution, and mere irregularities in the exercise or execution of authority on
the part of officials, which may be promptly arrested and corrected by appeals to the proper
tribunals.
To make such irregularities the foundation for factions and organized opposition to the
government would be at all times unjust and unwise; but in times like these, madness and
It 'is not apprehended by me that the confederate government will either inaugurate or
persevere in a line of policy that will touch the sovereignty of the States — infringe upon the
rights and privileges of the citizen, violate the compact between these States, or fail to re
buke and punish usurpations of authority upon the part of officials when properly brought to
its attention. Its disposition is conceived to be the reverse of this, and it is believed that the
State and confederate authorities not only may, but should, in their own appropriate spheres,
and moved by the agencies appropriate to their own organism, work harmoniously together
in uniting and directing the energies of the country in this deadly conflict for freedom and
humanity; for while this contest shall continue for national existence, our main business must be
war. To its demands all other considerations must yield, just as a man yields all else for
the preservation of his life. The destiny of Texas for weal or for woe, and by her own voli
tion, is connected with that of the southern confederacy, and she has pledged herself to her
sister States of the south that their triumphs shall be her triumphs, and their fall her fall-
their f lory her glory, and their sorrows her sorrows.
She has pledged life and sacred honor that the lone-star banner, around which cluster so
many glorious memories, sacred to the cause of civilization and well-ordered government,
shall never be a banner of treason to the southern confederacy or to her own plighted faith.
Texas can, of course, as other States, act but a subordinate part in the conduct ot this
war. And yet the line of policy to be pursued by her as a sovereign State, under existing
circumstances, may not only be essential to her own liberties, but to the liberties of the
southern confederacy.
Up to this period in this bloody drama, Texas has discharged her duties fully and nobly-
even beyond the legal demands made upon her energies and resources.
Wherever danger has been incurred, or glory won upon the Held of strife, her sons have-
poured out their generous blood freely, and won for themselves, their State, and their com
mon country, imperishable renown.
But dangers thicken around us, and make still greater demands upon her patriotism and
power. The fall of Vicksburg and Port Hudson, the consequent imperfect correspondence
with the States east of the Mississippi river, and with the government at Richmond, has ren
dered the trans-Mississippi department, to a very considerable extent, self-dependent, ii<
only for counsels, but for the means of prosecuting the war and defending itself. The peo
ple of Arkansas and Louisiana are flying by thousands with their property to our borders to
escape the presence of an insolent and insulting foe ; and large portions ot the territory of
those States are already within federal lines.
Under these circumstances, it will be admitted that Texas occupies a large place in ti:
trans-Mississippi department. Her territory is vast, her geographical position favorable,
her resources great ; her credit has been used but to a limited extent ; her people have net
been driven from her borders, murdered upon her soil, or her property destroyed, as
been the case with her sister States.
She will own these advantages, appreciate her grave responsibilities, and rising witl
occasion that demands still greater effort, make full preparation to put forth her strength to
the best advantage, when the occasion shall present itself. The glories of San Jacinto. Itt
horrors of the Alamo, and the tyranny of Mexico, are too fresh to her memory ; her sacni
in this war are too great, and her experience too bitter, for her to fail or falterin this, perhaps,
the darkest hour of this dark contest. The spirit of her departed heroes— of dough, ol
Dickson, ot Barnes, of Carter, of Terry, of Lubbock, and of thousands ot others, who offer*
up themselves freely upon the altar of their country— cry aloud for vengeance, and tor s
greater sacrifices on the part of the living in the cause for which they tell. A young giant—
as she is, almost, of the forest, with limb unfettered and spirit erect and free, that never
stooped to disgrace or tyranny, Texas has not forgotten or forsaken the taith involved m t
issues of secession ; she owns the presence of a divinity in the wild storm ot human passioi
that racks this continent, and rinds the true interpretation of this, as of all great revoli
in human affairs, in the mysterious ways of an all-wise and overruling Providence.
As a matter of course, the conduct of the affairs of the State, and its legislation, shou
have reference in the main, to our condition in a state of war. But we know not how ki
these clouds shall hang over the land. In the midst of the embarrassments and dangc
war, we should not forget that the essential end of government, and of all struggles
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 99
eminent, is the protection of society and the securing its welfare physically, morally, and
mentally. The laws, therefore, should be upheld and honored, and, iw far as consists with the
circumstances surrounding the State, rigidly enforced, so as to visit speedy punishment upon
ndencies to anarchy and violence,
the offender against its mandates, and check the wild tendencies
resulting from the demoralizing agencies at work in these times of evil. We shall strive in.
vain upon the field of blood, if in the mean time the bands of society are to be broken
asunder — the habit of obedience to law and the authority of government forgotten and aban
doned — human life and individual rights lefc unguarded or exposed to the caprices of the
mob, and the matured and youthful mind accustomed and familiarized to the fearful and
dreadful scenes which always occur when lawless passions hold their sway. We claim to
read in the northern mind a downward course to the dark abyss of confusion, anarchy and
hopeless tyranny which but too often marks the destiny of nations involved in protracted
wars and bloody revolutions. Warned by the ruin and misery that seems to overhang their
society, and by the instructive voice of history, we should not in these times of excited pas
sions, of jealous apprehensions, and of real dangers, overlook the importance of a frequent
recurrence to the fundamental principles of security lying at the foundation of society and of
government, of trusting to the regularly and legally constituted authorities and tribunals, and
of laboring zealously, watchfully, systematically, and with proper foresight, to make them
fully adequate to the punishment and suppression of crime, and to the protection of society
from the wicked offender against its peace, its welfare, and its life. WTe should accord our
conduct with the spirit of the constitution and the theories of our government, and make the
law a shield to every man, and cause every offender to be punished according to the law.
In the midst of this revolution, the education and the training of the rising generation ap
peals with peculiar force to the whole society and to the authorities of government, so far as
they have control over the subject. W^e are losing many men by the casualties of the war,
and many others are absent from home beneath the banner of their country contending with
the foe, some of whose sons cannot be educated unless they receive aid from the State
through that system which finds its foundation in the constitution. The lapse of but a few
years will~1ntroduce the youth of the land upon the stage of active life, to act their part in
society for good or for evil. Every consideration as to the welfare of society, and of gov
ernment, under our institutions, requires that they should be trained, educated, and prepared
for the stern and varied duties that lie before them as citizens.
The establishment of manufactories for the leading articles of husbandry and of daily con
sumption, so as to relieve the people from a dependence upon a foreign, irregular, uncertain
and corrupting trade, is a consideration that will be owned by all to be of the highest moment.
The consummation of this desirable end rests mainly with the people, limited and pre
scribed, as the government is, in its powers over the subject. They own the capital, the la
bor — the raw material — the most useful metals lie imbedded beneath our soil, our geograph
ical position is favorable to the introduction of the necessary machinery. What can be ac
complished in this line, by associations of individuals and of capital, by enterprise and reso
lution, can only be determined by persevering, systematic effort. The necessity and the in
ducements for effort cannot be overrated. It is far better and far more economical, as I cor.
ceive, to make capital yield its profits, not only during the war, but after its close, to make
an enduring monument of a lofty, self-reliant spirit in the people, by investing it in perma
nent and useful manufacturing establishments, than to squander it away forever in purcha
sing goods from nations perhaps indifferent to our fate, or from a foe who are striving by
the appliances of war to subjugate and enslave us.
Besides, the uncertain duration of this trade should be impressed upon the public mind
We know not how soon the direction of the war may close the trade across the Rio Grande
and leave us not only without a market for clothing, but without the machinery necessary
to the manufacture of material for them.
It is gratifying to learn that the public mind, to some extent, is being awakened to the
importance of this subject, and that combinations are here and there being made for devel
oping the mineral resources of the State, and for the introduction of machinery for manufac
turing purposes. Let the spirit of enterprise be diffused, and let the good work go on until
every man, woman and child in Texas, if need be, shall be clad in homespun or in domestic
manufactures, and until every field shall be ploughed with iron from our native ores.
The first act of my induction into this high and responsible office is the taking of a sol
emn oath to discharge its duties according to the constitution and the laws established in ac
cordance with its provisions. This oath forbids me to tamper with the provisions of the
constitution ; it binds me to make it the law to my official acts, as it is the law not only to
the governed, but to all of its officials. Where its provisions are plain, difficulty is at an end ;
and wherever doubtful, resort should be had to the rules of interpretation sanctioned by time
and experience.
I should with the more apprehension take upon myself the administration of the affairs of
the State were I not to be aided through the co-ordinate branches of the government. I indulge
the hope that the officials of the various departments of the government may labor harmo
niously and energetically together, with the single purpose of securing the welfare and the
highest interests of the State, trusting that the God who has thus far sustained our cause
and given victory to our army upon an hundred bloody fields will vouchsafe his guidance
to all those engaged in the admiuistraton of the public affairs of the country.
100 RECONSTRUCTION.
Message of Governor P. Murrah to the extra session of the tenth legislature.
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, AUSTIN, May li, 1804.
Senators and Rcprcscntatites :
I greet you again iii the capitol of the State, a co-ordinate branch of the government, and
call for your counsels in these times of trouble and of danger. I return you my thanks for
the kindness and courtesy extended to me during your last session, and for the zeal and de
votion exhibited by your legislation to the cause of justice and of liberty. I have convened
you in extraordinary session with reference alone to the public interests, and rely with con
fidence upon your advice and aid. I called you together in no gloomy mood. I am to-day
more sanguine of our ultimate and complete success than I have been since the war began.
The prospects, to me, are more bright and cheering, and betoken an early dawn to our hopes.
Our arms are triumphant, east and west of the Mississippi river; and the recent victories in
Louisiana arid Arkansas cannot be overrated in value ; and our gratitude cannot be too deep
to the officers and soldiers who periled their lives and achieved these triumphs. Many were
gathered to their fathers from these victorious fields, and we are still left to mourn their loss,
to honor their names, and to counsel and legislate for the cause in which they perished. But
one sentiment can animate our bosoms — patriotism and devotion to the altars upon which
they sacrificed their lives.
If the respite and safety secured to us, for a time, by these successes are properly im
proved by the people and authorities, State and confederate, the trans-Mississippi depart
ment may, in a few months, be placed in a stronger and better condition than it has been
siKce the contest began.
I shall detail to you, plainly, the condition of the State, and call your attention to such
matters of public interest as I consider require your serious and patient consideration.
THE CURRENCY.
Congress owned the fact that the confederate currency was almost worthless, and pro
vided for its withdrawal from circulation. The act was bold, if not approved by wisdom
and good faith. It was an act of financial destruction, if not of financial skill. They cre
ated, they destroyed. I have no comments to make. I shall deal with the legislation of
Congress as it affects the finances of the State.
In regular session, last winter, in a spirit of patriotism, and for the purpose of sustaining
the confederate currency, you made all the appropriations in it. You authorized the taxes
to be collected in it, and the obligations of the State to be paid from it. You believed that
Congress would provide, in some way, to sustain the currency. After the first of July, it
the currency is paid out at all from the treasury, it must be at a discount of 33fc per cent,
on the dollar, and on the one-hundred-dollar notes at a still greater sacrifice. One-tenth of
the annual taxes making the common-school fund, shares the same destiny. This heavy
discount is upon a currency rating from twenty to thirty to one in value in comparison with
specie. What proportion of the taxes has already been collected, what proportion is yet to
be collected, I am not informed ; but it is beyond controversy that this accumulation iu^ the
treasury is almost worthless, and that measures must be speedily adopted to relieve the State
from this embarrassing position. Whether the collection of taxes in the present currency
should not be at once arrested, and the disposition of what is already collected, and what
may yet be collected, is for your consideration. I brlieve that it should be exchanged tor
the new issue. The State cannot afford to hold it and fund in bonds. This would^at once
deprive her of the means provided by law to meet her pecuniary obligations. Wiien this
exchange can be effected, I am not informed ; but that it should be speedily done, is evident.
The State, so soon as the necessary measures can be put in operation, should cease to pay
out this currency. After the first "of July, if it can be avoided, no payments should be mMC
with it. Whether the old can be exchanged for the new issue, and taxes gathered in the ii.-w.
with sufficient expedition to meet the wants of the government, is a matter tor your imme
diate inquiry.
It is necessary to look beyond a few months, or mere temporary arrangements, m ivier-
ence to the financial policy of this State.
The issue of treasury warrants was very properly arrested, to prevent them from being
paid out in connexion with confederate notes, and at the same depreciated rates.
The question is now distinctly propounded to you, and must be answered by your legisi
tion, whether you will continue the same financial system, depend entirely upon confedera
notes in all their fluctuations and rapid changes as to value and form, or adopt a diftere
system. This system has been fully tried, and the results to the State are fully before you.
The new currency will doubtless be' better than the present, and may continue so lor soi
time; but how long, none can tell. What value will be placed upon the new issue is
the future to determine ; but the habit is established by the people, in the use of cot
money, of receiving and paying it out at its market value. The confederate governim-ii
not only proclaimed the present currency depreciated, but it long since taxed go!
tion to its superior value over confederate notes.
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 101
It is certain that a revolution has taken place in the minds of the people and the general
government on the subject of currency. A more firm basis is being looked for, and specie
is being recognized as the standard by which to determine the value of the paper currency.
It is useless to deny the fact or attempt to conceal it. Every-day transactions, from Rich
mond to San Antonio, prove it. The currency is treated as depreciated, and is so estimated
in buying and selling, and the habit being so generally established, will certainly continue
until the currency ceases to be depreciated, and is regarded as sound. I do not believe, how
ever, that the State and the people should forget the obligation to sustain it as far as possible,
by making all the sacrifices that can be expected. The question, however, is presented,
whether or not the State alone shall continue to receive this currency at par ; and if so,
whether she can continue to conduct her operations, and discharge her pecuniary obligations.
If, however, the policy is to be continued, of relying alone upon the confederate currency,
the issue of treasury warrants should be avoided, if possible, for the reasons heretofore
given. If a different financial system is to be adopted, what shall it be ?
I confess that the pressure of engagements has prevented me, thus far, from giving that
full attention to the subject which its great importance demands, and which is necessary to
the formation of views which could be recommended as decided convictions.
But the interest of the State requires that the subject should be thoroughly canvassed ; and
it might be considered whether the assessments of 1860 or J861 might not be taken as a basis
of values, taxes collected in State treasury warrants, coupons of State bonds at par, specie,
and the confederate currency at its value in the market. Treasury warrants could be substi
tuted for the coupons as they were paid into the treasury, and a provision made for funding
the warrants in six per cent, bonds whenever too many of them were found in circulation.
The fact that the coupons were received in payment of taxes would increase, in all proba
bility, the value of the bonds, and at the same time diminish the amount of specie necessary
to redeem the coupons. It might not be necessary to fund any of the treasury Avarrants for
some time to come, perhaps not until the war shall end, as they would become a circulating
medium, and be sought for by the tax-payer. Under such a system the taxes might be
greatly diminished and yet be of greater value. It is not my purpose to elaborate, but
merely to call your attention to this subject.
I am aware that it would require time to depart from the present system, arid to put into
operation such a one as is indicated above. There would be difficulties to overcome. It
would, practically, be found difficult to determine the value of confederate notes in a manner
satisfactory and just to all portions of the State. The government would have to be provided
for until taxes could be collected under such a system; and how far the present currency and
the new issue will meet the want, and in what manner it should be employed for the purpose,
would be for your consideration. The taxes that may be remaining in the treasury on the
first of July will be diminished in amount one-third by the operation of the law of Congress,
unless funded in the six per cent, confederate bonds.
It is at all times important to sustain the credit of the State ; and'no w that we are so isolated
from the government at Richmond, it is even more so. Her credit in the progress of this
struggle may not only be essential to the safety of the State, but important to the whole
trans-Mississippi department. It should, therefore, be guarded and cherished with great
care. The resources and position of the State will enable her to cany a very large debt,
should it become necessary, and it is for you to determine whether the interest on the bonds
outstanding shall be regularly paid or not. It is important that it should be done ; and it
can be, provided the State is unembarrassed, in a judicious plan of piirchasing and disposing
of cotton.
STATE TROOPS.
At your regular session last winter you provided for an organization of a State military
force, to continue during the present war, embracing all capable of bearing arms between
the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, not liable to confederate service, and those be
tween the ages of forty-five and fifty. This organization was intended to be a reserve corps,
to be employed in the defence of the State, and in co-operation with confederate troops, and
under confederate authority, whenever the necessity should exist. The organization was
calculated to do much good, and, completed and employed as designed by the law, was well
suited riot only to the wants of the State, but also to its defence. The organization was
never thoroughly completed as provided for. It was defeated by the operation of various
unexpected and unforeseen causes and difficulties. It is for the present as a State force gone ;
and, as you left this force to some extent under my control and in my charge, the explanation
is due to you and to the country from me why the organization was never completed, and why
it is gone, and it shall be frankly and concisely given. When the legislature adjourned in
December last the enemy were in considerable numbers threatening the State from the coast,
and also from Louisiana, and you had by law empowered me to continue the State troops in
the field, if deemed necessary, and the law contemplated that a reorganization of them might
take place in the field. I determined that it was not only necessary that the troops should
continue in service, but that the reorganization should take place* on the coast, where the
troops then were, under the command of Major General Magruder, and, on the 6th of Janu
ary, I not only caused the necessary orders to be issued to the officers to hasten to the coast
102 RECONSTRUCTION.
the State troops uot theu iu service to participate in the reorganization, but I issued also an
address urging upon them the necessity of a prompt and cheerful obedience to the law. I was
soon gratified with the intelligence, coming up from different portions of the State, of a gen
eral disposition to obey the law, and soon many began to move to the post of duty to which
they had been called.
The troops in service were still under the command of the major general commanding the
district of Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, for the period of time for which they were
drafted and had volunteered had not then expired, and as they had been received into con
federate service at different dates, their time of service expired, some early in February, some
later in that month, and some even late in the month of March. It became necessary, there
fore, to fix a day intermediate between the period of the expiration of the service of the first
companies, battalions, and regiments who had entered the field and the last, and the 2Uth of
February was mutually agreed upon between Major General Magruder and myself as the
proper time.
On the twenty-third day of January I issued a formal order continuing the troops in ser
vice, and at the same time announced to them the twentieth day of February as the day
agreed upon for the reorganization, and notified them that, after the reorganization, they*
would be continued under the command of Major General Magruder.
Late in January I learned that great discontent prevailed among this body of troops, and
that many of them were leaving their posts and going home, and that a different day than
that agreed upon had been fixed by the major general for the reorganization ; and I also
learned that various orders had been issued from his headquarters affecting the reorganiza
tion, and certainly calculated, though not designed, to delay and to defeat for a time any
thing like a complete State organization. Among others, General Orders Nos. 7 and 14 were
issued on the 12th and 20th of January, respectively, which show that an. effort was made
to enrol and conscript those between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years before the
term of service of the State troops, of which they were a part, expired, and that, too, after
an order issued by me prolonging the service of these troops. I found, when I came into
office, that a large number of those embraced by the State troops were under forty-five years
of ago. You so left the organization when you adjourned last winter. I had no other im
pression, from my correspondence with General Magruder during the session of the legisla
ture, and for some time after its adjournment, but that it was his desire and expectation that
this element should be continued with the State force; that while fronting the enemy upon
the coast it was no time for separating them from those between the ages of forty-five and
fifty years; and that you, judging from the law enacted, expected these two classes to remain
in conjunction, forming one organization for six months, to meet the crisis then threatening
the State from the coast. I acted upon these impressions in arranging the plan for the reor
ganization of the troops in the field. I was not apprised of any other impression or inten
tion, on the part of the major general commanding tin; district, until some time after the
issuance of General Orders No. 14, already referred to, and until I heard of the dissatisfaction
prevailing among the troops.
It is due, however, to General Magruder to state that ho claimed to have a different im
pression as to the organization and disposition of those between the ages of eighteen and forty-
rive ; and that in endeavoring to enroll and place them into regiments separate from the State
troops, he was acting under the orders of General Smith. It is also proper here to state, that
General Smith, in the conference hereafter alluded to, said that it was understood, between him
and ex-Governor Lubbock, when this class of men were organized with the State troops, that
they were, at the end of six months, to be liable to conscription and be continued in confed
erate service. The statement of General Smith was fully corroborated by Governor Lubbock.
Still, this understanding was not made known to the men, and they were, under the orders
referred to, deprived of a privilege, granted under the law conscripting them, of selecting
their commands, and. virtually, arbitrarily assigned to service.
With as little loss of time as possible, after receiving this intelligence, I met Generals
Smith and Magruder, by invitation, in Houston about the third of February, in consultation
upon this subject : and, after a full and free conference, the following order was announced :
["Special Order No. 35.]
"HEADQUARTERS DlST. OF TEXAS, NEW MEXICO, AND ARIZONA,
" Jfouston, Ftbruary 4, 1864.
" After a conference between his excellency the governor of Texas and the commanding
generals of the department and district, the following is announced to the State troops a> tin-
decision ultimately arrived at, and by which all concerned will be governed :
"All members of the State troops under forty-five years of age are permitted, at their op
tion, to form new organizations of companies in the Confederate States' service to serve for
the war, and to elect their officers, or may join existing organizations in the confederate
service, and all who do not join either will be reorganised on the tiOth instant with the State
troops under the late State law.
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS 103
*' On the reorganization of the State troops, all men now liable to conscription will be en
rolled, and will be allowed to remain in the State troops for the period of six mouths, at the
expiration of which time they will be transferred, in accordance with the conscript law, to the
confederate service.
"By command of Major General J. Bankhead Magruder.
"\V. A. ALSTON,
" Assistant Adjutant General."
On the fifth of February, after still further considering the condition of the troops — the
fact that so many of them 'had left the field, and the smallness of the number left — General
Orders No. 13 was issued, with niy full consent, as follows:
["General Orders No. 13.]
"HEADQUARTERS STATE TROOPS, DlST. OF TEXAS, N. MEXICO, AND ARIZONA,
" Houston, February 5, 1864. ,
"In order to enable the State troops now in the field to reorganize within their brigade
limits, so as to permit those about to enter the service under the recent act of the legislature
to participate in the reorganization, as well as to afford the men entitled to furloughs the
means of reaching their homes, the major general commanding directs :
"I. That on the 15th day of February the regiments and battalions of State troops, (except
ing those persons who have volunteered under General Orders No. 1C,) under the comma'hd
of their officers, shall be marched to their original battalion encampments, where they shall
be furloughed until the 15th of March next. Commanders of the companies of State troops,
on arriving within their brigade districts, will immediately report by letter to the acting brig
adier general of the district, with the muster rolls of their companies as they stand, stating
the names and residences of their officers and men.
"II. Quartermasters of each regiment and battalion of State troops will furnish such trans
portation and subsistence as is absolutely necessary (not exceeding one wagon to every one
hundred and fifty men, including field, staff, and company officers) to enable them to reach
their battalion camps. All other public property will be turned over by the quartermaster
for the use of the companies organized under General Orders No. 16.
"A commissioned officer will be assigned to act as quartermaster for detached companies
of the State troops, to procure supplies on the march.
"Leaves of absence may be granted to the officers, and furloughs to the men from the 15th
of February to the 15th of March next ; but those receiving furloughs will not be furnished
with transportation or subsistence.
" III. Upon the 15th day of March next the companies of State troops, including those
enrolled under the last act of the legislature, will assemble at the original battalion camps.
All those residing in the brigade district, as originally formed, rendezvousing at the battalion
camp of that district, Avhen they will be, within five days thereafter, reorganized into compa
nies in conformity with the State law.
"The senior commissioned officer now serving with the State troops, and present at the
reorganization, will act as mustering officer, and will make returns of the muster-rolls, one
copy of which shall be sent to the adjutant and inspector general of the State at Austin, to
the brigadier general commanding the district, and to these headquarters.
" Those companies forming the regiments and battalions will be brought together under the
orders of the State brigadier generals, when the regiments and battalions will be reorganized.
"IV. Upon the reorganization of the regiments and battalions in conformity with the State
law, as provided for in the preceding paragraph, the non-commissioned officers and privates
shall each be divided into three classes, to be called the first, second, and third class. The
third class shall be composed of those not now in the field. Those now in the field shall be
divided by lot into two classes, in accordance with the provisions of the law, and those of
the first class shall be furloughed for three mouths.
"The classification as above made shall be noted on the muster-roll.
" V. All commissioned, regimental, and company officers will retain their respective positions
until the reorganization is completed, in accordance with these orders. The assistant quar
termasters of each regiment and battalion will provide forage and subsistence for the men
while on the march and in camps, and will remain on duty witli the same after the reorgani
zation until further orders. In the mean time they will settle up their outstanding accounts.
"VI. The commanding officer of each regiment or battalion will hold himself subject to
the orders of the brigadiers of the militia, appointed by the governor, in order to aid in the
execution of the militia law of the State.
''He will also take the necessary steps for the anest of deserters from the present commands.
"VII. The major general commanding announces that a paymaster will be sent to each
camp to pay off the State troops before they leave their present encampments.
" VIII. All persons who have volunteered from the State troops into new companies or old
organizations on or before the 15th instant, in compliance with General Orders No. 10, or who
shall do so before the 15th instant, shall be immediately granted a furlough by their company
commanders for thirty days. Those residing in the northern sub-district shall receive n fur
lough for fortv days/
104 RECONSTRUCTION.
" The troops arc reminded that those who present themselves properly armed, mounted,
and equipped will be received as cavalry.
" By command of —
"Maj. Gen. J. BANKHEAD MAGRUDER.
"JOHN SAYLES, A. A. General.'"
In conformity with these orders the companies reported themselves at the time and at the
places designated therein, and were reorganized ; but as to the numbers who reported, I am
not informed. In obedience to orders which I caused to be issued from the office of the ad
jutant and inspector general, four of the brigadier generals who had been appointed by me,
under the authority of the law passed by the last legislature, designated places in their re
spective brigade districts for the assembling of the companies to be organized into battalions
and regiments, in conformity with Orders No. 13 and the laws of the State, soon after the
reorganization of the companies. Brigadier Generals McAdoo, Barnes, Throckmorton, and
Griffith acted with great promptness, energy, and zeal in laboring to assemble the companies
and organize the battalions and regiments, and their conduct entitles them to my thanks and
commends them to the country. Brigadier General John S. Ford was in active service in the
field, and was therefore unable to give his personal attention to the orders issued on this sub
ject. The companies, however, in his district were reorganized ; and it is but just to say, in
reference to the people of that brigade district, that so many of them were already in service
tha.t but comparatively few remained to be organized as contemplated.
In brigade district No. 4, embracing many of the eastern counties, and for duty in which
Colonel H. H. Cuinby was appointed a brigadier general by me, no place was designated for
organizing the battalions and regiments, in consequence of his failure to act and obey instruc
tions issued after accepting the appointment tendered to him.
From these facts it will be seen that I lost no time and spared no labor to have the troops
reorganized in conformity with the laws of the State and Order No. 13. I was watching the
movements of the enemy, and was anxious to have the troops ready to be transferred to the
field.
In the mean time another difficulty arose of much greater magnitude, and which finally
resulted in defeating and destroying the State organization.
Major General Magruder, so soon as the recent act of conscription passed by Congress was
published in the trans-Mississippi department, declined receiving the State troops as State
troops in any form of organization, although tendered to him, and expressed his determination
to rely alone upon the law of Congress for troops. This law was published in Houston,
according to my recollection, about the 20th of March, and the troops in the four districts
already named were then assembling in their brigade encampments to be organized as the
law of the State required, and in conformity with General Orders No. 13. issued by himself,
with my consent, after they had been continued in service as State troops by my orders,
already referred to. The position assumed by General Magruder virtually involved the as
sumption that the law of Congress annulled the laws the legislature enacted, and that the
confederate military officers were thereby authorized to break up a military organization
formed under the authority of the State as a reserve auxiliary corps, embracing men never
before embraced by any legislation of the confederate government, and designed to per
form nearly the same service and to accomplish the same ends as those proposed by the
law of Congress. Of course, I need not state that my opinions did not at all accord with
his on this subject, and that I so represented to him. 1 preferred that the State organixaliou
should be completed, and that the troops should go to the field as State troops, at least until
the legislature should meet and dispose of the embarrassing question by transferring them
regularly to the confederate service in a body, or to be organized in conformity with, and for
the purposes indicated by, the conscript act, and by adjusting the legislation of the State to
that of Congress, if that body should deem it proper so to do. I insisted upon this as the
only proper and legitimate course to be pursued; but General Magruder did not accede to my
views. I believed that, in this way, a larger number of these troops could be more readily
thrown into the field than in any other way, to meet the emergency then threatening the
State. The position of the major general involved the necessity of disbanding or furlonghing
the State troops, for the State was not prepared to arm, equip, and subsist them in the field.
The enemy, in large numbers, were moving up Red river, through Louisiana. Steele was
moving with a large force from Arkadelphia towards northeastern Texas. The enemy, in
force, were threatening northern Texas from Fort Smith. Our forces were called from the
coast to meet the foe in Louisiana, and that portion of the State left with few defenders.
The enemy were in sufficient force on the Rio Grande to require all of our force in the west
to hold them in check. The least appearance of differences and of conflict between the State
and confederate authorities was to be avoided when the enemy were approaching iY»»m so
many directions, and the State and trans-Mississippi department so seriously threatened.
Time was important, action was necessary, and a mere negative course neither accorded with
my duties nor met the emergency. I pursued the course which I deemed best, under all the
circumstances. I called upon the State troops, and upon those liable to conscription under
the recent act of Congress, by proclamation issued on the 14th of April, to volunteer and or-
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA TEXAS. 105
ganize, in conformity with the confederate law. I could not order them so to do ; I had no
authority for this.
In view of all the questions and interests involved in the subject, and affecting, personally,
those who were embraced in the State organization, General Orders No. 1 and General Orders
No. 15, issued from Houston and Austin on the llth day of April, were mutually agreed on
between General Magruder and myself; and to these orders and the proclamation mentioned
above you are respectfully referred for the details involved in the final disposition of this em
barrassing question on my part. The importance of this subject causes me to place the facts
connected with it so fully before you. The State and the confederate laws both stand unre-
pealed. They embrace, in the main, the same class of men, and are designed to accomplish
nearly the same objects.
The act of Congress, if executed as it was intended to be by its frarners, and the organiza
tion embraced under it held as a reserve corps strictly, and employed as such, and kept in
service only when actually needed in the defence of the State, will accomplish nearly the
same ends intended by your legislation as an auxiliary force ; but, in other respects. I seriously
apprehend is not so well adapted to the varied wants of the country. Such a corps, thor
oughly organized under the authority of the State, would not only have been an auxiliary
force to co-operate with the confederate army whenever an emergency should have presented
itself, but a reserve of laborers, sowing, planting, and reaping for the support of those in
regular service, and interrupted in their domestic vocations as little as the exigencies of the
country would have permitted. I may be mistaken in my calculations, but I am of the
opinion that the men between the ages of eighteen and forty-five years, if well equipped, sus
tained, and armed, would furnish a sufficient force in the Trans-Mississippi department to be
continually in the field, and would be much more formidable than greater numbers not so
well armed and provided for. The whole subject is before you. and is worthy of a full con
sideration in all of its bearings.
The State is now without any military force whatever. She has not even a sufficient police
under her control in any county. My views have not changed since my last message to the
legislature as to the necessity of providing for this want, jliose between the ages of fifty
and sixty years, and those exempt from military service under the laws of Congress, should
be organized into minute companies in their respective counties, under the authority of the
State, and their muster-rolls forwarded to the office of the adjutant and inspector general.
Thus organized, they would aid in the execution of the laws, civil and military; they would
form an efficient police force to watch over and control the slave population , and prevent them
from being tampered with; they would arrest deserters and break up their haunts, and root
out disaffection, disloyalty, and treason to our cause ; they would aid in protecting the com
munity from violence, and from the horrid murders, robberies, and other outrages, which are
daily being committed in many sections of the State ; they would uphold and sustain the laws
and assist in their execution, and make the wicked offender everywhere feel that the way of
the transgressor is hard, and thus strengthen the local or7anization for the protection and
defence of the State. These duties are all consistent with giving their time and attention
mainly to domestic interests.
FRONTIER ORGANIZATION.
The military organization in the frontier counties, provided for by an act of the 10th legis
lature, was completed so soon as practicable after the passage of the law, and the frontier
regiment transferred to confederate service on the first day of March last. I appointed AVilliam
Quayle, commanding officer of the 1st district, George Erath, of the2d, and James M Hunter,
of the 3d, each with the rank of major of cavalry, as provided by law ; and it affords me
great pleasure to bear evidence to the zeal, energy, and intelligence with which the}' have, thus
far, discharged the arduous duties imposed upon them. The indications so far are, that the
organization is based upon proper conceptions of the wants of that exposed section of the
State, and that, when thoroughly completed and placed in working condition, it will afford
the protection and accomplish the good anticipated from it by the framers of the law. If
thoroughly systematized and faithfully executed, it promises better protection against the
peculiar warfare waged upon the frontier by the Indian than any plan heretofore adopted.
It seems to harmonize well with the habits, the peculiar interests and pursuits of the people of
those counties. Bona fide residents are employed in this service, who have families and
property to protect from roving bands of savages prowling about to murder and pillage, and
thus the protection of home is blended with that of the public.
So far as reports have reached me, the disposition of the organization to discharge its
duties according to the requirements of the law, as a general thing, is gratifying, and
good service has already been rendered by it to the State and to the confederacy, which time
will fully develop. Deserters from the army have been promptly arrested and returned to
the post of duty ; and orders issued from the office of the adjutant and inspector general of
the State to sustain, encourage, and aid the civil authorities in the discharge of their duties
in investigating violations of the law, and in bringing to punishment offenders ; to arrest
and transfer to confederate service those who failed to do their duty as soldiers in this ser
vice ; to inquire into all combinations against the State and the confederacy, and to arrest
106 RECONSTRUCTION.
for punishment, and hold in custody, all connected with such combinations, have been
promptly obeyed by the commanding officers of the districts. The services rendered by Ma
jor Quayle in his district, in detecting and arresting and investigating the facts connected
with a band of conspirators against the government, are very important. Major Hunter,
though laboring in the midst of great difficulties, deserves great credit for the energy and
address exhibited by him in prosecuting an inquiry into the facts connected with the horrid
murders and robberies committed in Gillespie county. I respectfully refer you to the office
of the adjutant and inspector general for full information upon all these subjects.
The number of men embraced in this organization is greater than was anticipated by you
when in session last winter, and the appropriation made for its pay and support is far short
of what will be required. With the number of men now reported on the muster rolls — if one-
fourth only of them is kept in service at a time — the expenses will amount to about eight
hundred thousand (-$800,000) dollars, from the best estimates that I can make.
If the frontier regiment is to be permanently withdrawn from service on that border, and
its defence left to this organization alone, there may be a necessity for putting a larger pro
portion of the force in active service, and then the expense will be increased in proportion to
the additional numbers employed. This regiment was, about the 9th of April, ordered from
the frontier, and the condition of affairs in the district commanded by Major Quayle caused
him to call to his assistance a large proportion of the force at his disposal.
How it is that the numbers in this organization have swelled up so much beyond the cal
culations made by the 10th legislature is a matter for your inquiry. I am not informed of
the rule adopted to determine the "bonafide citizen under the law!" Instructions have been
issued from the office of the adjutant and inspector general that the term excluded deserters
and those who had left other sections to avoid military service, and that it only embraced
those who were there, in good faith, before the passage 'of the law, with their families and
property, and who did not come there to shirk duty elsewhere. No man should be permitted
to remain in that service who does not fully discharge his duties as a soldier and a citizen.
Every man who is not true to the country should be expelled from the organization and
placed in service under confederate authority, and, when found guilty of conspiracy and trea
son, punished as the law demands. The citizens of the border counties were placed in that
service to protect their homes ; to protect the frontier ; to uphold the laws, and to do their
duty to the State and the confederacy. The organization, thus purged, and composed only
of lonafide citizens and good and true men, as already stated, will do much good. Such
an organization, freed from demoralizing elements, in conjunction with a reliable battalion or
regiment to co-operate on the outside of the border counties, will, it is conceived, give better
protection to that exposed portion of the State than has been afforded for years, and seems
really necessary to break up and guard against the dangerous combinations and elements
collecting far beyond and threatening it so seriously.
If the same views are entertained by the confederate authorities as to this mode of defence
to the frontier, why may not arrangements be made by which the means for sustaining this
organization may be furnished to the State from the confederate treasury ?
THE PENITENTIARY.
You adjourned your regular session last winter without providing by law for the distribu
tion of the products of the penitentiary. You left this important matter to the discretion of
the financial agent and the directors of that institution, and imposed the responsibility upon
them. I respectfully submit that the disposition of these products, their price, and to whom
they should go, are peculiarly in your province, and should be fixed by law. The people
expect this of their senators and representatives ; and coming, as they do, from all portions
of the State, they are best calculated to judge of and regulate this matter, and the interest
of the State requires it. Whether the price should be fixed at the market value, or some
other, is for you to determine, and also in what proportions they are to be distributed to the
army, the families of soldiers, and the community. The subject left without regulation by
law, it becomes a question whether, in a legal point of view, the financial agent is not bound
to sell these products at their market value. He is but an agent, intrusted with the sale of
the property of his principal, and the principal has failed to fix the price, or regulate the dis
position of the property, and left the agent, under heavy bonds, to hunt out his legal obliga
tions through precedent and authority. In ordinary times the position would not be so
embarrassing, for the products would not be in such demand, and sales at the market value
would dispose of the difficulty. But now, when the families of soldiers require a portion of
these fabrics — the army needs them, and the community clamor for them — your legislation
should fix the rules for the guidance of the agent. His difficulties are increased by the con
stant and rapid depreciation of the confederate currency, which he is bound to receive in pay
ment for the products. This depreciation devolves upon the financial agent and the directory
the necessity of increasing the price of the goods from time to time, otherwise the institution
would either stop or become an expense to the State ; and yet the increased prices intended
to meet, and that only to a very limited extent, the depreciation of the currency, causes dis
satisfaction and complaints in the community, which would not be the case if the whol
m atter was regulated by law.
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 107
The institutions for the blind, the deaf, and dumb, and the lunatic asylum, should be fur
nished with such products as they may need from the penitentiary, at the prices that may be
fixed. It is certainly very poor economy and very lame financiering for the State to appro
priate money from her treasury to support these charitable institutions and have a large
portion of it expended in the purchase of fabrics at fifteen and twenty dollars per yard, not
worth, intrinsically, so much as the products of the penitentiary, sold from three to five dol
lars per yard in the same currency.
The financial agent and directory represent the necessity of purchasing many articles in
Mexico which cannot be procured in th« country, and yet are absolutely necessary to the
machinery and to the institution. These articles can, of course, be purchased only with cot
ton or specie, and they should be authorized to purchase and export, under such regulations
as you may deem proper, such amounts of cotton as will be necessary for these purposes. I
have to some extent responded to the necessity, as represented to me, by authorizing the
purchase and export of some cotton ; but authority for this should be directly given by law.
COTTON FOR SOLDIERS' FAMILIES— MEDICINES.
I am advised, through frequent communications addressed to me, that many of the fami
lies of soldiers, in some portions of the State, cannot procure cotton to make clothing when
they have the spinning wheels and looms, and are willing to perform the labor. The atten
tion of the county courts should be called to this, and this want in some way supplied.
I am also informed that there is great scarcity of medicines throughout the State, and great
suffering prevailing in consequence of this. Applications are numerous from physicians,
sustained by the people, for the privilege of exporting small amounts of cotton to supply this
want. I call .the facts to your attention, that you may provide a remedy for this evil, if
practicable.
DEMORALIZATION.
Imperative duty requires of me to call your attention to the fearful demoralization and
crimes prevailing throughout the State. In some sections society is almost disorganized, the
voice of the law is hushed, and its authority seldom asserted. It is a dead letter, an
unhonored thing upon the unread pages of the statutes. Murder, robbery, theft, outrages of
every kind against property, against human life, against everything sacred to a civilized
people, are frequent and general. Whole communities are under a reign of terror, and they
utter their dreadful apprehensions and their agonizing cries of distress in vain. The rule of
the mob, the bandit, of unbridled passions, rides over the solemn ordinances of the govern
ment. Foul crime is committed, and the criminal, steeped in guilt, and branded by his own
dark deeds with eternal infamy, goes unwhipped of justice. Not even a warrant is issued
for him, no effort made by the sworn officers of the law or by the community to bring him to
punishment. Too often the deed is excused, the community is divided in opinion as to the
guilt, and the criminal is screened from justice, unless Ins offending chances to touch some
particular influence or prevailing notions, and then, without trial, and without the forms of
law, he is hung by a mob. The law is not at fault. It has denounced its fearful penalties
against transgressors of ail kinds. It has provided all the necessary officers to expound and
enforce its provisions. They are solemnly sworn to faithfully discharge their duties. They
are armed with authority to employ the power of the country, when necessary, to execute the
law. They are paid from the treasury of the State, and from the taxes of the people. They
are set apart for the time being, through the organism of government, to this solemn
work. Every county and every judicial district has the legal and moral power, were the
officers and the people earnestly and cordially to co-operate, to root out these evils, arrest
these crimes, punish the offenders, and to restore the la\v to vigor and to regular operation.
Thus the law would again become the harmony of society, and secure it against this fearful
confusion and these fearful dangers.
In view of these facts, the judiciary and all other officers should be at their posts, and fear
lessly and faithfully discharge their duties. The people should encourage and sustain them,
and hold them to a strict accountability for their short-comings in office. Sacrifices must be
inade and moral courage displayed by the civil as well as the military officers. These quali
ties are as essential in the one as in the other, and as important to society. The severest
penalties should be provided for the civil officer who now fails to discharge' the obligations
pertaining to his position. He should not be permitted to eat bread in idleness and in neglect
of his sworn duties. The law must triumph, or tyranny and unbridled passions will reign,
Order must prevail, or anarchy and the reign of terror ensue. Let the solemn warning from
the pages of history instruct us, and let us be wise in time.
PUKCHAsE OF COTTON WITH STATE BONDS.
Diligent and as full inquiry as I was enabled to make satisfied me that the bonds of the
State, pledging payment in cotton, could not be sold except at most ruinous rates. I fully
believe that to have pursued, literally, the acts of the legislature on the subject of the disposi
tion of these bonds would have cost the State, perhaps, from three to five millions of dollars
108 RECONSTRUCTION.
to have realized one million. This could only have sunk the credit of the State still
lower, and was therefore, if possible, to be avoided. And besides, it was very necessary to
adopt some plan upon which the State could speedily realize upon these pledges of her credit,
and, as a matter of course, it was necessary to conform the plan, to some extent, to the most
singular condition of affairs existing in the State, in order to make it effective.
I found the condition of things, with reference to cotton, about this : Congress had then
laid no restriction whatever upon its free exportation ; and the only restrictions imposed upon
it were by military authority, claimed to be exercised under the impressment law. The man
ner in which this authority had been exercised — the toufusion and dissatisfaction that reigned
upon the subject — the poor returns to the public benefit from the thousands of bales that
had been exported — are well known to you and to the country. Contracts of the most extrav
agant character were in existence for the introduction of goods and other army supplies —
absorbing vast amounts of cotton of the best grades — some of which, it is gratifying to learn,
have been since annulled.
A cotton bureau was about being organized at Houston, by the authority and under the
direction of General Smith, intended to control cotton for purchase of supplies for the army.
This bureau was organized, and commenced its operations, and gave something like system
to the military control over cotton. The plan of the bureau was about this : They gave to
the vendor what are popularly called specie certificates for one-half of his cotton, at prices
varying, as I am informed, according to the quality, from ten to fifteen cents per pound,
and exempted from impressment the other half, or furnished him with a permit to export the
same amount. This system proceeded upon the calculation that the vendor could not afford
to spare to the government mure than half of his cotton, and that his own necessities required
him to retain the other half.
Transportation was scarce, and difficult to procure. The men, generally, of the State,- up
to fifty years of age, were then in the army, find the transportation controlled by the mili
tary authorities. It was generally conceded that the cost of transportation of cotton, from
any distance in the interior to the Rio Grande, was equal to one-half of its value — risks,
losses, wastage considered.
The producer could not afford to sell all his cotton for State bonds, however willing he
might be to divide with the State for the public necessities. If he took the bonds of the
State for one-half, he must retain the other for his own use, and be protected in its control,
so that he could realize from it — the protection thus extended being the main inducement to
sell. A system of permits, authorizing the vendor to export the same amount of cotton for
himself which he had sold to the State, was susceptible of great abuses ; and, besides, did not
secure other objects necessary and constantly kept in view. It was necessary that the cot
ton should be taken care of — that some one should be responsible for it, from the purchase to
the sale ; and that expedition and energy should hasten it to the market. The teams and
slaves of the planter were necessary, for the interests of the military service would only
admit of details, as I believed, and, as the military authorities stated, to a limited extent ; and
the planter and the vendor must, therefore, be interested. Had it been practicable, without
extending any privileges to the producer, to purchase cotton for State bonds, as it was not,
for the reasons already given, save at enormous and ruinous prices, it could not have been
transported to the Rio Grande by persons and agents hired for that purpose, having no
interest in it, for less than half of its value, when the wastage, carelessness, charges, and
losses in various ways, usually attending public property, were considered. It would then
have required as much cotton to have realized to the State a given sum of money, by buying
the cotton entire — even if it could have been purchased at the same prices — as it will to realize
to her treasury the same amount upon the plan adopted. And besides, the confederate cur
rency had sunk so low in value that had the State undertaken, through agents and em
ployes, to export cotton entirely upon her own account, it would have been necessary to
provide, in advance, specie for paying freights and charges, or to have interested parties,
able to control the necessary transportation, in the cotton itself. And again: Permi
they are termed, claimed to have been extended by confederate authority to export cotton,
were, as I am informed, afloat, and are still, in numbers; and could be bought at from four
to six cents per pound of the cotton authorized to be exported by virtue of them, and be-
specie to some extent had to be competed with in purchasing.
Again: the two acts passed by the legislature — the one contemplating the sale of the six
per cent, bonds for specie, or arms, munitions of war and machinery, cotton being pledged
on their face for their redemption ; the other contemplating the issuance of seven per cent,
bonds, redeemable two years after the war should end, and to be used in the purchase of the
cotton — were passed at the same session, embraced the same subject-matter, and were designed
to accomplish one result, and might, therefore, justly and legitimately be construed together
as one act of legislation. Such a construction would not only be sustained by legal rules <»t
interpretation, but would secure practical and beneficial results to the State, and prevent the
sacrifice of thousands of dollars, perhaps millions, to mere technicalities. Why should both
classes of bonds be used when one only answered a better purpose ?
In view of these facts and considerations, I adopted a piau lor the purchase of cotton with
the seven per cent, bonds, which I believe just to the planter and to the vendor — true to the
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA TEXAS. 1 09
public interests, to the State, and to the confederacy — and which, I believe, will realize to
the State her bonds at par, so far as they may be sold, as I anticipated when it was adopted.
The main features of the plan are these : the vendor transfers his cotton to the State, and,
under the authority of the State, transports it to the Rio Grande at his own expense and risk.
He then retains one half of the cotton for his own use — he receives State bonds for the other
half at its specie value at that point, less the actual cost of transportation— the tran^sporta-
tion west of the Trinity not to cost over one-fourth of the value of the cotton in that market.
Where the vendor cannot export the cotton, the State pays him for it in State bonds, at its
value where purchased — generally, from nine to eleven cents per pound, according to
quality — he exporting a like amount, under the protection of the State, for himself. One
contract, according to its terms, pays the State fifty dollars in specie for each, bale exported.
The departures from this plan, so far as my information goes, are to a limited extent, and
admitted only for the purpose of securing necessary energy and transportation, and proper
compensation to those who were laboring and expending their money in the purchase^ and
exportation of cotton, the purchase of rope and bagging, &c., for the benefit of the State.
The departures have been indulged only for these reasons, and then limited in extent, so as
not to defeat the realization to the State of her bonds at par, in specie or its equivalent, and
all that was promised for the cotton when purchased.
There is no illegal force, no illegal and oppressive exactions made of the producer ; there
is but little risk incurred by the State, no chance for fraud, as the State only pays for what
she actually receives. It is a direct appeal to his patriotism, his liberality, and to his interest,
private and public, and his energies and capital — united in the promotion of the two interests.
The tithe— the only tax imposed upon cotton by Congress, except the export duty— is paid ;
and if the owner and- producer realizes something out of the remainder, it is but his due, for
the property is his own hard earnings. The producer, of all classes of men, should be en
couraged ; "and one design of this system was to give him encouragement, to arouse his ener
gies, and cause him to feel that he "had some interest in his own productions.
To prevent cotton from being exported in the name of the State, not embraced under the plan
proposed, and to secure to her treasury all that is promised from it, this plan was thus sys
tematized. The cotton is reported at, and recorded in, the offices at Houston, San Antonio, .
and Eagle Pass, and from those offices to me, at this place ; and by me, the reports are re
ferred to the military board, to be preserved and recorded, and, on the arrival of the cotton
on the Rio Grande, it is to be disposed of in accordance with the agreements under the plan.
Colonel E. B. Nichols, of Galveston, a merchant of long standing, and well known for his
success and ability as a business man, was selected as the agent or commissioner of the
State, to dispose of the bonds and purchase and dispose of the cotton. The appeal was
made to the citizens and they cheerfully responded to the call, and in a few weeks a large
amount of cotton was conveyed to the State under this plan, and much of it is now being
transported to the Rio Grande and a part has been sold, and more is directed to be forwarded
to Houston to pay for arms already imported from abroad, and to be purchased at that point.
It is my intention to forward to that point as much of the cotton as can be used to advan
tage in" the purchase of arms and munitions of war. If the State is freed from embarrass
ment in the execution of this plan, she will, in a short time, be enabled to pay for several
thousand stand of arms, all the munitions of war necessary to frontier protection, and per
haps much more, and have quite a surplus left to sustain her or to be expended in the pur
chase and introduction of machinery, and she can procure these>supplies in no other way.
All the arms of the State, including the eight hundred and sixty Eurield rifles recently pur
chased, have been placed at the disposal of the confederate authorities, and are in their pos
session.
The State, in the execution of this policy, is exerting the means and the energy not yet
placed under the absolute control of the confederacy, together with her credit, to strengthen
herself, to strengthen the confederacy and to give additional aid to the cause in ^yhich we are
eno-ao-eil. Notwithstanding all this, it is my duty to inform the senators and representatives
ot'lhe people that the most serious obstacles and embarrassments have been thrown in the
way of the State, and that she is not yet freed from them.
Subordinate officers on the Rio Grande, claiming to act under instructions from officers
higher in rank in the Confederate States service, have interfered with cotton transported
under the authority of the State, and have delayed and prevented its exportation. I am in
formed by Colonel" E. B. Nichols, agent of the State, that they have prevented cotton, be
longing to the military board, from being exported, and have claimed half of it for the con
federacy. I am, as yet, not informed what particular cotton this is ; but it is either cotton
purchased by the board, with means placed at its disposal by the legislature, or cotton ex
ported under contract for the purchase and introduction of machinery. They have thus in
terposed themselves between the State and the execution of her laws, the providing of means
for her defence and to clothe her people.
I have borne these embarrassments with patience, and have labored faithfully, and I arn
still laboring, to secure an understanding, to have harmony and concert of action between
the State and confederate authorities. I am now in correspondence with General Smith on
this subject, and I do not despair of complete success. The liberal views manifested by
him in reference to the civil authorities of the State and her rights, the disposition, and even
RECONSTRUCTION.
deep interest manifested by him in reference to the introduction of machinery, afford me
strong assurance that, when this subject is fully understood, all embarrassments will be re
moved and complete harmony and concert of action secured. The same liberal sentiments
have been expressed by Major General Mag-ruder and by Lieutenant Colonel W. J. Hatch
ing chief of the cotton bureau at Houston, in their correspondence with me, and I am
therefore, led to the belief that the difficulties referred to have grown out of the want of a
mutual understanding1.
This whole cotton business, once systematized and controlled in a manner consistent with
the rights of the citizen and what is due to the public necessities, the State and confederate
authorities exerting themselves in concerted effort, the most gratifying results may be an
ticipated.
uch of the cotton in the StMate is in the seed, wasting in pens and houses : bagging and
rope must be introduced from abroad, and it requires a system, combining energy and lib
erality, to place the cotton in a condition for market. About the — day of April I directed the
agent of the State to arrest the purchase of cotton, for the reason that it was represented to
mejthat the operations of the State were embarrassing the procurement of cotton by the con
federate authorities, to be used in the purchase of supplies for the army.
The correspondence with the military authorities on the subject of cotton, so far as it has
progressed, you will find in the office of the military board, together with the reports of the
amounts purchased under the plan alluded to. I hope to be enabled, in a few days, to place
before you the final conclusion of the military authorities as to the purchase and exportation
of cotton by the State under the system proposed. It is, in my opinion, absolutely essen
tial to the public interests of the State that she should be fully sustained in the policy pro
pounded for the purchase and transportation of cotton, for the accomplishment of the ends
proposed by your legislation.
From the facts and considerations already stated, it is believed that this is the only plan
that will speedily, and at a reasonable cost to the State, secure the results desired and <?o es
sential to the public welfare.
NECESSITY OF CORRESPONDENCE WITH THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE TRANS-MISSISSIPPI
DEPARTMENT.
As we are almost cut off from the government at Richmond and as General E. Kirby
Smith is vested with so much power, it is very necessary that a correspondence should be
constantly keps up with his headquarters, and that the executive should have a ruore relia
ble mecans of correspondence than the slow and uncertain correspondence by letter through
the mail. The necessity for this has been several times felt by me since my induction into
office, and is likely to continue so long as the enemy control the Mississippi river and its
valley to the extent they now do ; and a full and complete understanding as to matters af
fecting the interest of the State, her condition and wants, should at all times be had between
the executive and the general commanding the department. His mind should not be left to
impressions obtained through any indirect ways, as to the interest, the policy, and the con
dition of the State. I record, with pleasure, my confidence in the integrity and uprightness
of General Smith, and in his disposition to accord to the State what is due when he has full
information.
My experience in office, and the condition of affairs in ttherans -Mississippi department,
only add strength to my convictions that the State government should be preserved intact,
and in as full vigor as is compatible with our surroundings. Texas is the only civil power
left intact west of the Mississippi river, and she should profit by her good fortune, and give
the benefit of it, by her vigor, her energy, and her achievements, to her less fortunate sister
States. Missouri is overrun by the enemy ; Arkansas and Louisiana have, for a time, lost
the possession of large portions of their territory, and they are, therefore, shorn of their com
pleteness as sovereign States, and deprived of the ability to have anything like a regular
and systematic civil policy. She should, as she has heretofore done, yield cheerfully and
readily whatever may be legitimately required for the common cause and the common de
fence ; and her remaining energies and powers should 'be wisely and systematically em
ployed in preparing for a still more evil day, and in gathering still greater strength for a still
more desperate struggle in the contest for justice and independence. If it should become
necessary, in the progress of this fearful struggle, for her even to sacrifice principle, which
in times less pregnant with danger she would not sacrifice, let her make the sacrifice in
that noble spirit of patriotism so characteristic of her people, but let her, at the same time,
mark well the latitudes and longitudes of the departures, and return to them with firm de
termination when the storm and the hour of gloom have passed with the conflict of arms.
May she be the last State to give up the cause of her bleeding and suffering sisters ; and mav
she be the last to bow her discrowned head, and own that she is no longer a sovereign pov.-<-r.
erect and free.
SPIRIT OF PUBLIC ENTERPRISE.
The spirit of enterprise now manifested by individuals, associations of men, and by char
tered companies, in employing capital and labor for the manufacture of iron, and various
other articles necessary to the people and the army, the purchase and introduction of niachi-
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. Ill
nery for the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods, is not only gratifying, but a source
of hope and congratulation to the whole State. With proper protection and encouragement
extended to those who are engaged in prosecuting these enterprises, in a few months, large
amounts of iron, and other necessary articles, will be daily manufactured, and very consider
able amounts of machinery, of a varied character, introduced and put in operation, not
withstanding the great risks and expenditures incurred, in prosecuting such undertakings, in
these times of peril and confusion. The capital of every kind, the laborers, the agents,
mechanics, superintendents, directors, &c., employed, should be protected, by law, against
interference or interruption from any and every source. You will be enabled to see some
thing of the amount of -capital already devoted to these objects, the spirit and energy exhibited
by those engaged in their prosecution, by the report of the military board, and from the
papers in that office.
I have missed no opportunity of encouraging, sustaining, and of protecting, in every way
within my power, and within the sphere of my influence, those devoting their capital, labor,
and time, to the prosecution of these and all other enterprises, calculated to benefit the people
and the army; and, as I think, essential to our success in a long-continued struggle.
"I have considered it the best policy, as well as the only one calculated to insure speedy
and certain success, to encourage individual enterprise, rather than attempt the accomplish
ment of these varied, necessary, and numerous objects, alone through the capital, agents,
employes, and management of the State. This policy not only insures better success,
but it more readily adapts itself to the wants of the country, and diffuses its beneficial results
more generally.
In my efforts to execute and make this policy efficient, I have endeavored to place under
the protection of the. State and the military board those engaged in, and proposing to engage
in, such enterprises, together with the capital and laborers thus employed, making such regu
lations as I thought best calculated to insure good faith and success. While the State troops
were under my command, I made such details as I thought reasonable and necessary for the
accomplishment of these ends. In order to insure the introduction of machinery from abroad,
and the appliances essential to its operation, when so introduced, the exportation of cotton
is necessary; and, for these purposes, the exportation of it, in such quantities as are deemed
proper, has been authorized under the authority of the State, and under such regulations as
were considered sufficient to insure good faith in the parties exporting the cotton, without
crippling their energies, or embarrassing them in the accomplishment of the objects proposed.
You are respectfully referred to the office of the military board, the agreements there on rile,
and to their report, for full information on this subject.
In view of the great interests involved in this whole subject, I earnestly recommend that
you authorize the military board and the executive to make such arrangements and contracts
with individuals, associations, and chartered companies, who are possessed of the capital and
the powers necessary to introduce and operate machinery, or to manufacture any necessary
articles for the people and the army, as»will insure to them the protection of the laws of the
State, in the devotion of their capital, labor, and energies, to the accomplishment of their
objects. This done by you, and one other end secured — the cordial co-operation of the con
federate authorities with those of the State, in systematically sustaining and encouraging
this policy, protecting those engaged in such enterprises, granting the necessary details,
mechanics, laborers, agents, &c. — the most gratifying results may be anticipated by the
public in a few months. So many of our population are now drawn into confederate service,
and are under military authority, that the co operation mentioned is essential to relieve those
thus employing their capital and their time, and incurring the incidental risks, from appre
hensions of being interrupted in the midst of their labors and plans, to enable them to make
reliable calculations, and to insure to them the necessary laborers and mechanics. Such a
co-operation as this will result equally to the benefit of the State and the confederacy, to
the people and the army, and to the families of soldiers, and would seem natural and easily
to be obtained, and I most sincerely hope is. I invite your attention to its importance, and
ask of you to lay the foundation for insuring it.
The State is also, under her own authority, and by means of her own capital, prosecuting
public works, in some of which she has large amounts of capital involved, and they result
equally to the benefit of the confederacy and to the State. She is, through contracts, manu
facturing, on a limited scale, small-arms, powder, and laying the foundation for an increased
manufacture of powder, necessary to the frontier and to the various counties. She is also
manufacturing ordnance, and beginning the manufacture of spinning jennies, to facilitate
the manufacture of cotton cloth, and the same remarks, as to enterprises prosecuted under
her authority, as to the co-operation of the confederate authorities, the detail of the neces
sary mechanics and laborers, apply with equal force to the works directly prosecuted by the
State. I take pleasure in stating to you, that in my conversations and correspondence with
Generals Smith and Magruder, on these subjects, they have manifested a full appreciation of
their importance, and a most liberal dispositon to foster and protect such enterprises, and to
give all the facilities consistent with the military service. I am encouraged by the belief,
that a systematic and thorough co-operation between the State and confederate authorities
'can be secured in the prosecution of these enterprises, when the objects had in view by all
are fully understood.
112 RECONSTRUCTION.
CERTIFICATES AS TO OM K !.];>.
The recent act of conscription, passed by Congress, exempts from military service "the
vice-president of the Confederate States, the members ami officers of Congress, of the
several legislatures, and such other confederate and State officers as the president or the
executives of the respective States may certify to be necessary for the proper administration
of the confederate and State governments, as the case may be." Has Congress the power to
invest by law the president of the Confederate States with authority to strip the gi
government of these States of the officers provided for its administration by the constitution
and laws? Has the confederate government the power to vest the executive of a sovereign
State, or any other officer, with authority to displace the officers, provided for its administra
tion by the constitution and laws of that State ?
I will not argue these questions, and thereby leave the implication of doubt on my mind
as to them. There can be but one answer given to them — that answer must be in the negative.
The constitution and laws of Texas have not only provided, but have determined, the
officers necessary to the administration of the government, and they are, in their respective
offices, discharging the duties imposed upon them by the authority referred to.
It is the duty of the executive of the State to respect and execute its laws, and to see that
its constitution is not violated. These obligations are imposed on him by a solemn oath.
He is nowhere empowered to veto or nullify laws already in force, nor to set aside provisions
of the constitution.
The confederate government did not create the State government, nor did it establish its
various offices, and provide for officials to fill them. It certainly, then, cannot judge of the
officers necessary to its proper administration, or take them from their places of trust. If that
government cannot do so directly, it certainly cannot do so indirectly, by vesting the power
in any officer or person. So far as placing officers of the government into military service
is concerned, it is a matter addressee! to legislative and not to executive discretion, and that
discretion is then restrained and restricted by the constitution. The legislature, so far as it
is not controlled by the constitution, may dispense with such offices and officers as, in their
wisdom, may be deemed proper, in view of the difficulties and dangers threatening the coun
try. The executive can dispense with none, civil or military. Were I, as the executive of
the State, to certify that any or all of the State officers were not necessary for its proper ad
ministration, the certificate would be without legal effect or power, and co"uld be regarded in
no other light than that of an authorized license given to the military authorities to deprive
the State of the officers provided for its administration, and thereby utterly to prostrate and
bring into contempt the State government.
\Y here should I begin with the exercise of the power ? Where should I end with it ? How
am I to determine the officers necessary ? They all have their duties assigned them by the law.
Shall I commence with the judiciary ? Shall 1 deprive the courts of their magistrates, judges,
clerks, sheriffs, and other officers? Shall I deprive the State of a comptroller and treasurer,
of an adjutant general and secretary of state? Shall I break up the county courts .' The
attempt, therefore, to exercise such a power would not only be dangerous, but utterly unau
thorized ; and my respect for the whole frame-work of our government, and for my oath, as
executive, forbids me to attempt its exercise. Its exercise can do no good ; it can give i\<> ap
preciable strength to the army or to our cause, and no such excuse, in my opinion, can be
offered for it. It may be that the law of Congress was not intended to apply to the officers
already provided for in the constitution and laws, and who are actually employed in the ad
ministration of the government, but to such only as might be thereafter found, from time to
time, to be necessary to assist in the administration of and in conducting the business of the
State government. ]Jut it is not so construed by the conscript bureau in the trans-Missis
sippi department.
It is for you to determine' whether the exigencies of the country require the abolishment of
any of the offices established by the laws of the State, and of the functions of their officers ; and
if so, to make such regulations as you may deem proper and necessary. I cannot, however,
be true to my convictions and forbear the expression of the opinion that the officers of the
State, in view of the existing laws, the duties imposed by them, and the general condition of
the community, should be kept in their positions, and held to a rigid and strict discli;;
their duties. Those, however, who fail to discharge their duties faithfully should be placed
in military service. JS'o office, civil or military, should be a mere sinecure in this hour of trial
and of peril to the country.
WRIT OF HA11KAS CORPUS.
There can be no doubt that Congress is vested with power, under the confederate constitu
tion, to suspend " the privilege of the writ of /< /////•// * corpus, when, in cases of rebellion or in
vasion, the public safety may require it;" Congress must, of course, judge, at their peril, of
the existing necessity, and define the class of offenders from whom the privilege shall, for the
time specified, be withheld. They were in a position to know the condition of many portions
of the confederacy, about which we know but little as to current events ; and they, perhaps,
judged wisely as to the necessity. The objects, however, to be attained by the suspension
of the privilege of this writ must be clear to every thinking and well-informed man who has
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 113
*
close attention to the subject, and is well illustrated from the legislation and jurispru
dence of England. It is to deprive of a speedy, public trial, to prevent the release from legal
custody, of those who may be found plotting treason, and conspiring against the government
and the life of the community, until such time as they may be released or tried consistently
with the public safety. This object should be the guide to all the regulations attending the
suspension of the privilege of the writ ; and no departure from principle, or the safeguards
thrown around the liberty of the citizen, in the constitution of the State or confederacy, is
necessary to the accomplishment of this end. The departure from principle, the danger, does
not lie in the mere suspension of the writ, for this is provided for, where the public safety
requires it, but in the manner in which the suspension may be regulated and carried out. It
seems consistent with the objects to be attained by the suspension of this writ, that an informa
tion or affidavit of the facts against the accused should be filed, and that the warrant of arrest
should be issued by some officer, legally authorized to issue such warrants. If a party is
guilty of any of the offences named in the act of Congress, some person or persons must
know the facts, and the information can be given, and the affidavit tiled. It is not deemed
necessary to discuss the question whether Congress possessed the power, under the constitu
tion, to authorize the President, the Secretary of War, and the general officer commanding
the trans-Mississippi military department under his authority and control, to order the arrest
and to hold in custody citizens not in the military service, charged with any of the offences
specified. It would be difficult to demonstrate the existence of such power ; and the exercise of
such power is not essential to the accomplishment of the ends proposed by the law. Unless this
power is construed into an unlimited license, given to the President, to employ the military,
through the officers named, under his orders as commander-in-chief of the army, to judge of the
offences, and to make arrests, it can have but a very limited operation. If this is to be the con
struction and operation of the law, the military authorities are made judges of offences and
crimes, properly cognizable by the judicial tribunals, and the liberty of the citizen is in their
hands, at least so far as arrest and detention, for a time, is concerned. Why the courts of the
country, which have been so ready to sustain the legislation of Congress in this struggle, should
be ignored, and officers appointed by the president to investigate the cases of those arrested by the
military authorities, I am unable to perceive. There are courts in almost every county and dis
trict, in every State of the confederacy, and they could not only issue wan-ants and cause ar
rests to be made in the instances defined by the act of Congress, but they could investigate all
the facts, and report them to the president, under proper regulations. Such a course as this,
it is believed, is much more consistent with the whole framework of our government than
the one adopted by Congress. If the law was intended to prevent any citizen from an ap
peal to the established judicial tribunals, to determine whether or not it was in accordance
with the constitution of the Confederate States, it is a precedent most dangerous, in practice
most alarming, and utterly without constitutional warrant.
Practically, I fear that this act of Congress adds no strength to our cause. It divides
public opinion as to its propriety. It produces alarm and dissatisfaction. Every offence
defined in the law is prorided for in the laws of Texas, and, I believe, in the laws of the
Confederate States, and are properly cognizable by judicial tribunals ; and were these judi
cial tribunals faithfully to discharge their duties they would much more effectually punish
the offenders classified under this law than can be done under the regulations made by it.
I do not believe that the president will abuse the powers conferred upon him. I have too
much confidence in his wisdom and patriotism ; but whether he can prevent abuses or not,
is more than doubtful. It is a question, however, above the mere disposition and character
of the president, and the patriotic intentions of Congress. It is a question of safe precedent
in law, and of wise and judicious legislation. It is the precedent of the confederate Con
gress in the suspension of the writ of habeas corpus, and, in all of its bearings, merits full
consideration and an unequivocal expression of your views in regard to it. My convictions
are, that the law should be repealed or entirely changed in its regulations.
The laws of Congress in relation to currency, the writ of habeas corpus, conscription, the
attempt to vest the president of the confederacy and the executives of the States with the
authority to deprive the governments over which they respectively preside of the officers
constituted by the constitution and the laws, are certainly extraordinary and unprecedented
acts of legislation, and, when taken together, most significant. It required unusual nerve
to adopt them; and if they are justified at all, they must be justified by the unusual crisis,
and as a means to save the life of the nation.
Let us all stand firm in our allotted places, and discharge fearlessly and faithfully the du
ties devolved upon us, and the God of Hosts, who has crowned with success our armies,
elate with victoiy over so many fields of blood, will vouchsafe to our country independence,
and a proud place in the family of nations.
P. HURRAH.
8 F LT*
114 RECONSTRUCTION.
WASHINGTON, March 3, 1866.
Hon. John Covode sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Have you been in the State of Louisiana at any time since the surrender of the
rebel armies; if so, at what time were you there, in what capacity did you go, and under
what authority?"
Answer. I was there in June and July last. I wen,t there commissioned by the Secretary
of War, who authorized me, in general terms, to look into matters connected with the in
terests of the government in the Mississippi valley. It being impracticable to give me spe
cific instructions, everything was left to my discretion. I was requested by the Secretary
of War to report to him, from time to time, by letter, and also by telegraph whenever I
deemed it expedient to do so ; and I used both means of communication.
Question. Confining your answer mainly to Louisiana, state fully and in detail what you
learned in regard to the temper, spirit, and disposition of the people.
Answer. I found a very great difference of feeling among the people of the south who had
remained at home during the rebellion, and those who had been in the rebel armies, which
had then just surrendered. Among the politicians and others who hud remained at home,
more especially among the female portion of the population, I found a very bitter feeling
towards the government of the United States. Many of the wealthier planters had deter
mined to leave the country; some were preparing then to leave; some few had even then left,
believing that they would have no power or part in the affairs of government, and also be
lieving that the government would lay a heavy hand on those who had precipitated and cur-
Tied on the rebellion. On the other hand, I mingled considerably with the army of Kirby
•Smith, that had just previously surrendered, Price's command, arid other portions of Kirby
Smith's army, to the number of several thousands, that I found at the mouth of Red river. I
•was careful to ascertain the temper of the army by conversing not only with the officers, but
with the private soldiers. I was surprised to find how docile and submissive they were. In
no. single instance, either there or on the steamboat where I travelled with them, did I hear
.any bitter or unkind feeling expressed towards the government. The general expression
among them was that they were whipped and well whipped ; that they were glad the war
wras over, and were ready to come back under the old flag and submit to what was required
of them. Many of the more intelligent men of the army said their leaders had made a great
mistake in going into rebellion against the government ; that they should have remained in
the Union, and endeavored to accomplish their purposes by political measures, in which
they said they could have been sure of the aid of the northern democrats ; that by precipi
tating the rebellion they had tied the hands of their northern friends. To all appearance the
anen of the army had not the remotest expectation of being again intrusted with political
power and privileges, at least for some time. This 1 found to be the case until after I
reached New Orleans, to which place a great many of the army also went.
Question. How long was it after you left Washington that you reached New Orleans?
Answer. About three weeks, I should think. I attended to business at different points on
my way out there.
I will add, that understanding what I may call the home sentiment, the sentiment of those
who had remained at home during the war, and especially the sentiment of the female por
tion of the population, to be so different from the sentiment of the army, I felt anxious to
learn what sentiment w-ould obtain the control when the two classes came togvther. My
impression, however, then was that the army sentiment would control the home sentiment,
and neutralize to a great extent the bitter feeling towards the government.
But, just previous to my arrival at New Orleans, Governor Wells, of Louisiana, returned
there from Washington. After his return a public meeting was called at Lafayette square, which
it was understood he would address. The meeting was consequently very largely attended.
The Union men having elected Governor Wells, felt an interest in hearing what he would
say ; and the disunion element also i'elt an interest in ascertaining, if they could, what they
might expect from the government. A Dr. Cottinan, a man of some influence, who had been
very conspicuous in the secession movement, and Mayor Kennedy of New Orleans, had been
with Governor Wells, at Washington. The rebel element seemed to receive a great deal of
encouragement from the reports of the intentions' of the government which these men brought
back.
At that meeting Governor Wells made a speech, which was published in the papers of New
Orleans at the time. I hud a copy of the paper containing bis speech, which I liled w'.;h
other papers on my return to Washington. Not having a copy of the paper now, I can speak
only from recollection. Governor Wells stated that he had seen the President, who was a
southern man and a democrat, and that Mr. Johnson would be a bulwark between the south and
northern abolitionism and fanaticism. He made open issue against the former administration
of Mr. Lincoln, charging it with the contraction of an enormous debt, &c., and claiming
that the administration of Mr. .Johnson would be of a very different character. He urged
upon the people to organize and elect members of Congress, &c. His speech was generally
of the character I have indicated.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA. TEXAS. 115
While this encouraged the rebel element, it equally discouraged the loyal element of that
State. It was the first clear demonstration the Union men had received that the governor had
betrayed them, and it completely discouraged them. They came to me very despondent and
asked me if it was possible they had come to this. I told them that it was not so ; that I had
just come from Washington myself, and I felt certain that Governor Wells had misrepresented
the administration.
They asked me to make them a public speech, and I consented to do so. I attended a meet
ing of the people a few evenings afterwards, and addressed them. I said to»them that I did
not believe it could be possible that Governor Wells had received any authority from President
Johnson to make any such representations as he had made in his speech. I encouraged the
Union men there to go on and organize, to have their men registered, and to register the names
of such colored persons as were authorized to vote under the then existing constitution of the
State. That included three classes of colored persons: those who had served in the Union
army, those who paid taxes, and those who were educated. I said to the people there that
of course the votes of the colored people would not be received, but would be rejected. But
I urged them to have them registered, and their votes offered at the polls, and then if mem
bers of Congress elected by the rebel element, without permitting all the loyal element to vote
who were entitled to vote, should present themselves for admission into Congress in Wash
inglon, I knew Congress well enough to be able to assure them that not one of them would
ever get their seats. I was much cheered and applauded for my speech, which seemed to
encourage the Union people very much.
But Governor Wells went to work immediately upon his return from Washington to
remove from office the loyal people who had been appointed by Governor Hahn, and to fill
their places with returned rebel officers, men of the worst class generally. Every day Union
men would be turned out of office, and rebels appointed in their places. Seeing how matters
were going on, I made arrangements with a man in position there to furnish me an account
every evening of the changes that had been made during the day, and at my request a table
was prepared, covering several large sheets of paper, giviug the names of the officers ap
pointed by Governor Hahn, who had been removed, the positions they had occupied, and
also the names of those appointed by Governor Wells, with a margin for remarks, in which
was set forth the position the appointees of Governor Wells had held in the rebel army, or
what they had done during the rebellion, &c. A large majority of them had been officers in
the rebel army ; others were among the worst class of men who had remained at home. I
recollect distinctly that one man was appointed to a high position who had kept blood
hounds during the rebellion with which Union men had been hunted to death.
The most barbarous and cruel treatment had been practiced on the Union men during the
rebellion. At the time I was there, many Union men who had been compelled to leave
their homes in different parts of Louisiana felt it necessary to remain within reach of the
military for protection, and were unable to return to their homes in safety.
Question. Have you this table of which you have spoken, or a copy of it ?
Answer. I have not. I filed those tables with the other papers after my return to Wash
ington. But I recollect distinctly that I stated in my report that the tables would show over
one hundred rebel officers who had been appointed to positions under Governor Wells.
Some of the papers that I filed contained accounts of the cruelties practiced there.
Question. Was there any change in public sentiment while you were in Louisiana ? If
so, what was the change, and to what cause do you attribute it '/
Answer. There was a very marked and rapid change even among those who had returned
from the rebel armies. After they came home and found Governor Wells on their side, as I
may say, and their friends daily receiving appointments from him, there seemed to be a great
change in their feelings, at least in those they expressed. I had opportunities of learning a
great deal of this while I was there. I boarded at the St. Charles Hotel, where a large
number of the officers of Kirby Smith's army were also boarding. The heat was very great,
and it was the custom after dark for the boarders there to sit out upon the large verandah or
porch in front of the hotel. They had no lights there, on account of the mosquitoes that
would have been attracted by them.
There I heard — for I could not help hearing it — much of the conversation of those rebel
officers and the rebel citizens who were there poisoning their minds. Their plan seemed to
be to hurry and register themselves and be ready to vote ; consequently they were flocking
to the office every day and being registered. Many of them had no money to pay the neces
sary taxes, but it was furnished them by others. Among the papers which I filed on my
return to Washington was a list of names of persons who were registered to be ready to
vote who had refused to take the oath of allegiance to the United Spates. They said they
were willing to take the oath of allegiance to the State of Louisiana, but not to the United
States ; and since my return I have obtained reliable information that of tho whole number
that were registered there, some 0,1)00 or 7,000, only about 2,300 took the oath of allegiance
to the government of the United States.
One reason why I devoted so much attention to affairs in Louisiana was that I became
satisfied that at least half a dozen other States would be affected for good or evil by the course
which Louisiana might pursue. I conversed with loyal nieii from other States, Mississippi,
Alabama &c. who were then in New Orleans. They expressed a deep interest in having
116 RECONSTRUCTION.
a correct policy inaugurated in Louisiana on account of the effect it would have on their own
States. They said that it' Louisiana was directed in the right course at the start, from .her
position and relations to other States, it would go far to produce the best results in several
other States.
I will here state that many of the truly loyal men whom I met in New Orleans seemed to
lack confidence in their being ultimately protected and supported by the government ; and
I was frequently asked, if I became satisfied or convinced they were to be abandoned to the
rule of the rebeWelement, to notify them in time to enable them to get away, more especially
if the troops of the United States were to be withdrawn. They said that if the troops were
withdrawn they could not liv.e there. I know many citizens of Louisiana who remained
within reach of the military, because they did not dare to venture to return to their former
homes; and after my return north, I received a letter from a very intelligent man, informing
me that he had returned to his old home, but had been compelled to go buck to New Orleans,
as the condition of things at his old home was about as bad as during the rebellion, and get
ting worse every day.
Question. How long did you remain in Louisiana?
Answer. I was there about three weeks. When I first arrived there I called upon Governor
Wells, and had considerable conversation with him. He began to make demands with
regard to what the government should do. He said the government must pay for the slaves
that had been emancipated, for it had taken or destroyed property enough for that purpose.
He also said that the government must remove the colored population from there, and when
I asked him where it would remove them, he replied to Mexico or somewhere else. I made
some remark about involving ourselves in foreign difficulties to undertake to settle the affairs
of Louisiana in that way, and he replied that it would not necessarily do so. I then said to
Governor Wells that I had been on a great many of the plantations in that State, and I was
satisfied they could not get along in Louisiana without the labor of the blacks that were
there ; that if the blacks were removed the country would become a wilderness ; that I had
not seen a white man touch a plough or a hoe since I had been in the State. He replied, " We
can import labor from abroad or from the north." I thought to myself that when northern
men went down there it would be to own the laud themselves, and not to labor on it for others
Question. What was the condition of the freedmen in Louisiana, so far as it came under,
your observation ?
Answer. I visited many of the larger plantations in the State in company with Mr. Con-
way, the head of the Freedmen' s Bureau in Louisiana. Having heard a constant clamor at
all points from the rebel element that the freedmen would not work without compulsion, but
would steal; that they never could raise cotton, sugar, &c., I desired to ascertain something
about that matter for myself, and therefore visited the plantations, as I have already stated.
I think I can tell, from the business in which I have been engaged in my life, what is the
proper amount of labor for men to perform, and I must say that I found the freedmen working
well. I have conversed with them on the plantations in order to ascertain if they understood
their present position, and found that they did. I encouraged them to be faithful and to >r> k
to become good citizens. I have conversed with their employers wherever I went, and I
never heard one of them say that the freedmen did not work as well as when they were
slaves, particularly where they were getting any wages. But I did not find a planter who
said that he paid regular wages to those he employed. They all promised payment when
the crop was made ; the highest wages being, so far as I could find, §8 a month and support,
and from that down to much less. I found, however, that many of the freedmen had a want
of confidence in their former masters. The old master was not inclined to treat them differ
ently from what he did when they were slaves ; and they, knowing they were free, were not
willing to submit to any such treatment. The old planters were very unwilling to come
down and make bargains in good faith with those who had been slaves. Some of the frci d-
inen I found working for a portion of the crop, say from one-sixth to one- tenth and their
support while the crop was being made. I examined the different modes of farming there.
One is what is called the colony system, the government employing and paying them, and
taking the crop. Another is that of the old planters and lessees employing them and paying
them after the crop is made, as few had the means to pay them before. A third is for the
colored man to rent a piece of land, or have it allotted to him by the government from the
abandoned lands, and cultivate it for himself. This last plan I recommended in my report
to General Howard as the best plan, for several reasons. It teaches the colored people to
rely uppn their own exertions and management. It places them in a position to respect the
domestic relations of husband and wife, where they live by and for themselves, more than
where they are congregated in large numbers on the large plantations. And I will state that
throughout the whole Mississippi valley the best crops of corn I saw growing there, the
cleanest and in the best order, were those on land farmed by the negroes for themselves.
About 10,000 of them have been employed the last year ui that way on about that number of
acres of land near Vicksburg, including Davis's Bend. I often heard it said that the negroes
were not willing to raise cotton and sugar, when they would work to raise corn. I asked
many of the negroes if that was so, and why. They replied that when they worked to raise
corn they had a prospect of something to live on ; but if they raised cotton or sugar their
employers would take it away and sell it, and they had no assurance of getting anything.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS 117
Employers themselves tokl me that the negroes would work at raising corn, even when they
were not certain of being paid, while they were unwilling to work at raising cotton or sugar
for the reasons I have stated. I was informed of many instances of negroes, who tanned ibr
themselves during the year 18(54, who had saved several hundred dollars each. And in l-i>r>
they were doing the same thing, farming for themselves, and with their surplus earnings of
the year previous were hiring others to work for them.
Question. What seemed to be the general disposition among the freedinen to work where
they were well treated, and were assured of receiving proper compensation for their labor /
Answer. I cannot recollect a single instance where the employer himself did not admit that
the freedmen were willing to work as well as they ever did if they had reasonable assurance
of being paid.
Question. What appeared to be the disposition among the land-holders in reference to
allowing the negroes to become owners of land ?
Answer. There was great opposition to that, because it was putting them in a position of
independence, and calculated to elevate the race.
Question. WThat appeared to be the disposition of the freedmen in regard to acquiring edu
cation, and what measures, if any, have oeen taken to enable them to do so ?
Answer. I gave considerable attention to that subject. Before I reached Louisiana I ex
amined into the schools at Memphis. I there found some 1,900 colored persons attending
school, mostly children. Among them, however, I found an old woman, a grandmother,
who was then reading in the Second Reader. 1 met the teachers there on one occasion, and
they assured me that the freedmen were learning rapidly. I also inquired in regard to the
colored regiments at Memphis, of which some were about leaving for Arkansas. I was in
formed that from two hundred to five hundred in each regiment were able to read, very few,
if any, of whom knew a letter when they entered the service of the United States. On the
steamboat I saw them very attentively reading the books which had been kindly furnished
them by the Christian Commission. I cannot say that there seemed to be as much disposi
tion to acquire information among the whites of the south as among the colored people. As
regards Louisiana, outside of the military posts the rebels were breaking up .the colored
schools, intimidating the teachers, and driving some of them away. In the city of New
Orleans the schools for the freedmen were under the superintendency of Major Rush Plumley,
of Philadelphia. There were some 15,000 colored children attending school there. I visited
many of these schools, and, in some of them, I am free to say I found children under fifteen
years of age who were better scholars than I ever was. The discipline of these schools was
excellent. On one Saturday evening the schools were congregated in the grounds attached
to the Medical Institute, (I think the place was called.) I was requested to meet them there
and to address them. A large number of the teachers, northern females, were there. And
at this point I cannot forbear saying that to these teachers civilization will owe much, for
they were patient, kind, attentive, and devoted to the purpose ibr which they had come
there. The sea of faces upturned towards me of this enormous congregation of children was
a very interesting sight. They were of all shades of complexion, and having observed them
carefully, I came to the conclusion that not one-fourth of them were full-blooded negroes.
Some of them appeared to be as white as I am, and I could not detect a trace of negro blood
in them. I asked the teachers if one-fourth of the scholars were full-blooded negroes, and
they concurred in my opinion that they were not. On the next day I addressed a large num
ber of adults, and of them I think not one-fourth appeared to have any white blood in them.
On the Saturday when I met the congregation of children, after singing and music I addressed
them. I suppose it is not important for me to state what I said to them. In addition to
these 15,000 children attending schools at New Orleans, there were over 4,000 adults being
taught at night and in Sunday schools. The colored people in New Orleans possess con
siderable wealth. They pay taxes on about $14,000,000 worth of property, and many of
them are men of superior business capacity and intelligence. On one occasion I saw their
liberality tested. It was announced by their minister on Sunday that there was a great
deal of suffering and destitution among the freedmeu at Selma and at other points in Ala
bama, and he made a call on them for two thousand suits of clothing, which he said he
wanted to be delivered during the week following. That was on the Sunday before I ad
dressed the adults. When I had closed my remarks to them on the Sunday following, the
minister announced to the assembly that the two thousand suits of clothing had all been
delivered during the week, and he said that he wanted $100 in money to buy boxes in which to
ship the clothing, and he directed one of the congregation to set out a table upon which
those could put their money who desired to contribute. I stood beside the table for a short
time, until 1 was satisfied that there was more than $100 there, much of it being in coin. I
instance this merely to show their spirit of liberality and their ability to be liberal.
Question. What seems to be the general disposition on the part of the white people of the
south to aid the freedmeu in obtaining an education or permitting them to do so ? t
Answer. They are divided in sentiment. The rebel element is almost entirely opposed to
doing anything to enable the negro to obtain an education, while the loyal element is almost
as unanimously in favor of allowing them to do so. At a meeting of loyal whites which I
attended, with one exception there was a unanimous expression of opinion in favor of negro
auffrage in some form. Oue man, who had been a member of the secession convention, out
118 RECONSTRUCTION.
who had opposed the ordinance of secession to the very last — who was called by the people
there "the noblest Roman of them all," Judge Taliaterro, who had his property destroyed
and his son hunted to death by dogs for his loyalty to the government — remarked to me on
one occasion that negro suffrage might be a two-edged sword ; that the vote of a negro
without education might be controlled by the person who owned the land and employed
him ; that the lands being in the hands of the rebel element, the loyal freednien employed by
1 .licm might not always give loyal votes. He expressed no fears, however, in regard to those
who had intelligence; therefore it was important that they should be educated.
Question. So far as your own observation went, what is your opinion as to the capacity of
the freedmen, even when not educated, to judge between the rebel and Union candidates i'or
office?
Answer. In answer to that I would state that I made it a rule to ask negroes, at the plough
and at the hoe, in the field on every plantation where I went, how they would vote if they
were allowed the right of suffrage. Without an exception and without any hesitation, they
always said that they would vote for the government and not for the rebels. There are in
telligent men enough among them to direct them how to vote properly, and they seem, to be
disposed to follow the direction of those intelligent men of their number. I stated this to
Judge Taliaferro, to which he did not make.much reply. I may as well soy at once that I
never heard of or saw a negro in the south who was tainted with disloyalty. They are all
loyal. They appear to understand what loyalty to the government is, however 'ignorant
they may be in other respects. In reference to this matter of loyalty I will say that, accord
ing to my observation, a disposition to labor is, in itself, an evidence of loyalty. It is not
altogether a question of color. A man who labors in the south is generally a loyal man,
while a man who lives upon the labor of others, no matter whether it is white or black la
bor, is pretty certain to be a rebel. There is a class that is an exception to this, or was at
tlje beginning of the rebellion. Many of the large property-holders then were opposed to
secession because of tire effect they saw it would have on their property and their pecuniary
interests. Many of them stated to me that they did not favor secession in the first place,
but submitted to it, acquiesced in it, in order to save their property from pillage and destruc
tion.
Question. From some of your answers it would appear that you made a report to the
President or to the Secretary of War after your return : how is that ?
Answer. I made different reports in writing, accompanied in each case with papers and
documents. One report, exclusively connected with freedmen's affairs, the Secretary of
War directed me to take to General Howard, which I did. I also attended to matters con
nected with the Treasury Department while in th.e south, in relation to cotton, &c., concern
ing which I communicated to the Secretary of the Treasury. But the principal report which
I made was entitled "Louisiana, politically considered." It began with setting forth the
condition of things at the breaking out of the rebellion. It then gave a short history of the
administrations of General Butler and General Banks, and continued the history down to
the time when I was there. This report I considered properly belonged to the President. I
think the Secretary of War so considered it, to whom I had shown it before I took it to the
President. At any rate I took it to the President, together with all the documents and pa
pers, including the tables to which I have already referred. After I reached the President
I opened the report. There was too much of it for me to read the whole, but I read to the
President the latter paft of it, and especially my conclusions. The President seemed to be
a great deal fatigued at the time, and I did not desire to detain him long. He made some
remarks with regard to not being able to consider it at that time, and suggested that, as my
authority originated with the Secretary of War, I had better file my report, with the accom
panying papers, in the War Office, which I did. General Swift, formerly on General
Banks' fl staff, accompanied me to the President, and was present when this conversation
took place, and when I read the conclusion of my report to him. General Swift, I under
stand, is now in this city.
Question. Have you a copy of your report to the President ?
Answer. I have not a copy of that report. I have at home the rough draught from which
the report was made, but not the accompauj'ing papers, as I had no copies made of thorn.
Not being aware that I would be called before this committee to testify, I did not bring that
rough draught with me to the city.
Question. Can you state, from recollection, the substance of the conclusions in your report
to the President, which you state you made to him ?
Answer. I might be able to state the substance of the conclusions. One of them, I recol
lect distinctly, was to this effect: That, if the rebel element was allowed to vote in the smith
at that time, every member who would be returned to Congress would be hostile to the policy
of the federal government, not only as regards the payment of the national debt, but in refer
ence to the emancipation of the negroes ; that while they expressed a willingness to submit
to the principles of the emancipation proclamation, they always coupled with it a determina
tion to regulate their own affairs in that respect, stating that they would have an org;i
system of negro labor which they would control for themselves. Over and over again, in con
versation in New Orleans, I heard them saying that they would make the condition of affairs
better for themselves than it was before. They said that the government, had freed the negroes,
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 119
and should be made to take care of the cripples and those who were not able to work, while
they could regulate and control the labor of the able-bodied. I will here state that while
many in the south would say that the government must pay the rebel debt as well as the
federal debt, the better and more intelligent class of them did not speak in this way, but they
told me distinctly that I could not expect that they would help pay our debt or pension our
soldiers for whipping them ; that they would have the power in the government some day
with their increased representation, and would be able to defeat the payment of interest on
the debt, or in some other way destroy the public credit. I asked them where they expected
to get help for that purpose, and they would generally say that there were portions of the
north where they had no interest in the government securities, the west for instance. I
found that to be the feeling among the best men, who had been in the rebellion, that I met in
the south. They seemed to take it for granted that we could not expect them, when they
should again obtain power, to help pay our debt. Since I made the written report to the
President, after my return from New Orleans, I have had other conversations with him. At
one time, a few weeks after my return, hearing that there was some probability that he would
order the withdrawal of the military or the Freedmen's Bureau, or both, from the south, I
called upon him and said that I thought I understood the feelings of the people south, and
that it was my clear conviction that if such a course was carried out, the first thing that would
happen in the south would be that the rebel element would begin to kill off the negroes,
especially those who had taken up arms on our side; that there would 'be killing on both
sides, for the negroes had now learned to use arms, and were determined to maintain their
rights. I said to the President, "You will then be compelled to send troops down there to
restore order, and it will require more to do that than it will to preserve order with the troops
now there. The result will be that our troops will be called upon to shoot down the black
men who have taken up arms in our cause, for these black men will not submit to the op
pression that will be forced upon them by the rebel legislatures. The State governments
being in the hands of the rebels, they will commence their oppressive enactments in regard
to these people, and the inevitable result will be a call upon the government of the United
States for troops to shoot down the men' who have fought for our cause."
Question. Have you any further statements to make in regard more particularly to Lou
isiana than those you have already made ?
Answer. I think my statements with regard to Louisiana will cover the ground of my ob
servations, together with the evidence upon which I have made up my conclusions. There
is one matter which I urged upon the President in my report, or on my return from New Or
leans, and that was the immediate removal of Governor Wells from office and the appoint
ment of a military governor, inasmiu h as Governor Wells had betrayed the loyal party there
and had put rebels into office. I insisted that the people of Louisiana were not in a proper
condition to be intrusted entirely with the affairs of that State ; and I also expressed myself
in favor of military governors for the other States of the south for the same reason, and gen
erally in favor of holding a tirin military control over them.
. 4 WASHINGTON, April 23, 1866.
Colonel Israel Vogdes sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. State whether, since the surrender of General Lee, you have been in Florida.
If so, when, and in what capacity ?
Answer. I was in Florida at the time of the surrender of Johnston. I was then command
ing that part of Florida which was in the department of the south — that portion embraced in
the eastern part of the State, extending as far west as Tallahassee, excepting Key West and
the islands, which were in another department. I continued in command of that district
until the month of September.
Question. State briefly what steps you took after the surrender of Lee and Johnston for the
reorganization of civil government there.
Answer. A short time after the surrender of General Johnston an order was issued from
headquarters department of the south, then commanded by General Gillmore, of which the
district commanded by me was a part, prohibiting any civil functionaries, either of the
State of Florida or of any other State embraced within that department, from performing any
of the duties of their offices. I issued an order interpreting that, in which I stated, in brief
terms, that the only law recognized there was martial law, and that any persons attempting
to perform any civil acts, or to exercise any authority as being derived from the so called
Confederate States, or the State of Florida, as one of the constituent States of that confed
eracy, would render himself liable to punishment. Military commissions were organized to
try breaches of the peace. Before these tribunals the testimony of all men, black as wrll
as white, was taken. When matters in the case of property were involved, after examining
the testimony submitted I ordered possession, leaving the question of right to be determined
120 RECONSTRUCTION.
subsequently by the courts, when the cases were such as made it necessary to issue such an
order. A short time after that I issued an order to regulate the relations between the planters
and freedmen. The substance of that order was, that contracts must in all cases be made
arid reduced to writing ; that in cases of disagreement three referees were to be chosen, one
by the employer, one by the employ6, and the third by the two so chosen, to settle all mat
ters of dispute between them. The freedmen were distinctly informed that they were at
liberty to hire themselves wherever they pleased, and if they came upon the government for
support I should put them, as in the case of white people, to work. They were recommended,
however, for the time being, as far as possible to make arrangements with their former own
ers for portions of the crop which was then in the ground. There being no circulating me
dium in the country, it was impossible to make many contracts in order to secure support for
them for the coming season. Most of the planters, or a very large number, made arrange
ments under that order with their former slaves, some promising to give as high as half the
crop, and others a third ; and from the reports I received I think the vast majority of the
freedmen so engaged were satisfied with the conditions made, as were the planters.
Question. Did that state of things continue while you remained there ?
Answer. That state of things continued, with slight modifications made by General Fos
ter and General Newton. They adopted, as a basis, my order. General Newton, in his
order, included a provision by which the planters were obliged to support the aged, and
small children. I left that question to be determined afterwards, as I saw it was one which
would give rise to great difficulty.
Question. What view did people generally take, after the surrender of Leo and Johnston,
of the late rebellion, and of the questions involved by it ?
Answer. As far as my observation extended, they were all, satisfied that further resistance
was impossible, and that they were willing to acquiesce in the results ; or, as they expressed
it generally, that they were a conquered people. As to what would be the effect of that con
quest there were a great variety of opinions. Quite a number, formerly prominent men in
the State, came to see me, and conversed freely on State affairs. Mr. Yulee had been ap
pointed by the acting governor of the State to come to Washington, but he was prevented
from coming by an order given for his arrest. He told me the policy he intended to recom
mend was, first, to call a convention by the governor of the State, at which it was proposed
to annul the ordinance of secession and to organize the State, accepting the President's
proclamations, the condition of which was freeing the negroes ; that he had no doubt but
what that would be carried by the convention. Others were opposed, again, to the condi
tion of freeing the negroes. In their conversation with me they urged that, if freed, they
thought compensation should be made to their owners. Some few were willing to give the
negroes all their rights and privileges, but the number was very small.
Question. What, if anything, did they say as to their preference for the confederate or
United States governments ?
Answer. Some said they were always opposed to secession, and that a very large number
of them went into it to keep the war away from their own country, as much as anything
else. Others, again, expressed their views in this way : they thought the southern con
federacy was the best thing in the world, but that the next best thing to that was the United
States government, and that they now want to be good citizens of the United States. They
fought it out as long as they could, but they gave it up.
Question. What portion of the people did you find there who had been loyal to the gov
ernment during the war?
Answer. I do not think I could answer the question as to any numerical proportion, but
the ratio was very small, and they were generally of not much political influence in the
community.
Question. What feeling did those who had been active rebels exhibit towards those who
had been loyal people to the federal government ?
Answer. In some instances the feeling was pretty bitter. In other instances they mani
fested a disposition to make use of the influence — imaginary or otherwise — of these loyal
people to get protection. It depended very much upon what the person might think as to
the influence of these people. 1 might say, in this connexion, that some loyal men (and a
pretty large number of them) told me that if those who had been prominent and active in
the rebellion were to be allowed to vote, they did not think it would be a safe place for
them ; that they would have to leave the State.
• Question. What, in your opinion, would be the condition of things there, if the federal
troops were withdrawn and the control of matters left in the hands of the people?
Answer. From what I saw there I do not think it would be a very safe piaco for loyal
men. I think it is necessary to have a protecting force on the part of the government there.
I had troops disposed about different parts of the State ; and I think the mixing of colored
troops with white troops there is beneficial to preserving order — some proportion of them at
least. My reason is, that while the white men are very much opposed to having colored
troops to execute the laws over them, it would be better to have the present duty done by
white troops ; but by holding a portion of colored troops there, a good feeling is kept up
between the colored population and the general government, and any disturbance that any
a'ebel organization might be disposed to make would, with almost a certainty, be revealed to
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 121
the authorities of the United States ; while the total withdrawing of the colored troops from
there would create mistrust upon the part of the negroes, and they would be reluctant to
give the information. I got a great deal of information from them, from time to time, as to
where arms were stored away, and in many respects, which I do not think would have
been given me if there had been none but white troops there.
Question. What rights and privileges are the people there willing to extend by law to
the blacks ?
Answer. There are a very great variety of opinions there on that subject. Their rights
do not extend much beyond freedom from the simple condition of absolute bondage. I think
the people are generally opposed to giving them any part in tbe administration of affairs, and
in favor of granting them as few civil rights as possible. What civil rights were granted to
them, I think, was done more for the purpose of obtaining restoration to the Union than from
any desire to benefit the black man.
Question. How do the blacks stand affected towards the federal government ?
Answer. They are all loyal, and they are the only loyal element of decided strength there
is there. The other loyal men are scattered here and there, and are liable to be intimidated
by the other party. I think the blacks generally have confidence in the persons who admin
ister the affairs of the government, and will cheerfully accede to their views. I had no diffi
culty in getting them to do it. But they are very suspicious, and if they think a man is
their enemy, are very apt to fall into idleness and neglect. I sent out quite a number of
officers and persons connected with the government to address them on the plantations,
where the planters were also present. In some instances they did not like the addresses,
and they reported to me that they thought their masters had dressed some fellow up in
Yankee clothes to talk to them. That expresses their idea, and shows their feeling.
Question. Did»the blacks, as far as your observation extended, have any adequate con
ception of the questions involved in the war, or of the condition of things growing out of the
war?
Answrer. Some few, I think, did. The interviews I had were, for the most part, with the
more intelligent part of them. I thought they seemed to have a pretty clear conception of
the state of affairs, but how far the mass of blacks understood these questions, my position
did not afford me an opportunity of knowing. I would have to speak from what I have
heard other people say.
Question. Did you hear anything said, while you were there, or have you any opinion as
to what the people desire or intend, about the rebel debt, or about compensation for their
slaves ?
Answer. I think, from what observation I had there — in fact, I can answer, knowing that
a very large portion of them still hope for compensation for their slaves, and that they will
abandon that hope with great reluctance. Some of them think the rebel debt ought to be
paid. Others think it is useless to expect it.
Question. Had the policy of general amnesty or pardon become pretty well known or un
derstood there before you left ?
Answer. Pretty well, I think The leading men, however, were very fearful that their
property would be confiscated, and were very anxious to obtain pardons so as to prevent it
from being seized. The United States marshal was seizing a good deal of property there at
that time, which created a good deal of alarm with the people, and, I think, had a bad effect.
Question. What did the people generally expect, as to the course of the federal govern
ment, after the surrender of Lee and Johnston, and the failure of the confederacy ?
Answer. I think, at first, they were very much alarmed, especially when they learned the
news of Mr. Lincoln's death. They were very much afraid the new President would take
strong measures against them, and that there would be an effort to oppress them, growing
out of the altered state of feeling in the north, consequent on the assassination of the Presi
dent.
Question, Suppose one of the terms of restoration prescribed by the President had been
the extension of civil rights and a qualified suffrage to the blacks ; do you suppose the peo
ple of Florida would have been willing to accept it at that time?
Answer. I think, had that question been put immediately after the surrender, they would
have accepted qualified suffrage as a condition of restoration ; at least, I know some of the
most important personages in the State would have yielded to it. But afterwards I am
satisfied they would have opposed it. After the organization of provisional governors for the
States they would not have accepted it.
Question. What do you think the people there would do with a proposition to amend the
Constitution so as to give suffrage to the blacks at some future day — say in two years from
this time ?
Answer. I think a very large majority would vote against it. My observation and inter
course with these people led me to believe that it may be laid down as a general rule, that
the white men still act under the impression that they haVe some sort of right to the labor of
the black man, even without compensation. It is an involuntary principle with them that
they cunnot relieve themselves of.
Question. What class of people there are most hostile to the blacks, and the most inimical
to the government of the United States ?
122 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. I should say the planters, as a class, were most disposed to sustain the govern
ment, and most disposed to give privileges to the blacks. They feel satisfied that their iu-
ture prosperity depends entirely on keeping on good terms, both with the United States au
thorities and with the black population who are there ; and they also fear very much the
class of poor whites who are, as a general thing, hostile to the planters. The class between
the poor whites and planters I consider the most dangerous element to society down there.
It consists mainly of minor officers, both civil and military, of the confederate government
who have been discharged, persons who are out of employ, and who think they are defeated,
but not absolutely conquered yet.
Question. What is your opinion as to the absolute necessity or utility of the Freedmen's
Bureau, or some agency of that kind ?
Answer. I think something of that kind is indispensable until the civil government can
organize a system of education and of labor that shall be satisfactory to all parties.
Question. Suppose the people there were left free to do as they pleased ; what kind of men
would they choose to fill the State offices, and to represent them in the Congress of the
United States ?
Answer. I think the men chosen would generally be those who had participated in the re
bellion. They might, with a view of or expecting to gain some end, withhold their opposi
tion to and elect some more liberal men ; but, if the elections were left to take their natural
course, they would choose, without a doubt, men who had taken an active part in the re
bellion. They would be the most popular candidates with the people.
Question. What, in your opinion, was the effect of substituting civil for military govern
ment before the State was reorganized ?
Answer. I think the effect would have been better if it had been military entirely. I think
that until the whole question was settled the real loyal men would prefer the authority to re
main in the hands of the military, especially if the men who had been active in the rebellion
are allowed to vote or take part in the government. In such a government the military au
thorities should be strictly just in their conduct, and attend only to carrying out their orders
and enforcing the laws, not meddling with trade or with any matters not strictly necessary
for the preservation of order. My own system was to limiting myself to preserving order,
encouraging trade and industry as much as possible, and of allowing the people the greatest
amount of liberty of trade consistent with my orders, not allowing them to be interfered with
more than was absolutely required in cai'rying out the orders of the government.
Question. How long have you been an officer in the regular army of the United States ?
Answer. I went as cadet to West Point in 1833. I graduated in 1637, and since that time
I have been continuously in the military service.
WASHINGTON, April 13, 1866.
The following communication from Major General Sheridan was presented by Mr. Williams :
. HEADQUARTERS MILITARY DIVISION OF THE GULF,
New Orleans, Louisiana, March 31, 1866.
DEAR SIR: Your communication of the 25th ultimo, requesting certain information as to
affairs in Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, came duly to hand, but owing to my absence in
Florida I have been prevented from responding at an earlier day. In compliance with your
request I have the honor to submit herewith my opinions on the subjects therein particularized :
Question I. "What are now the feelings of those who took part in the rebellion and
sympathized with it towards the general government?"
Answer. I believe they accept the situation, and have an earnest desire for the restoration
of a perfect union, but exhibit, at the same time, an unmistakable desire to glorify rebellion.
Question 2. "What has been the effect of the unstinted exercise of the pardoning power
upon such persons ? Has it made them more friendly or otherwise towards the federal gov
ernment?"
Answer. I have noticed no particular change in sentiment on account of the clemency of
the Executive.
Question 3. "What would be the effect, in your opinion, upon the State organization, if
the people were left, without control, to act for themselves?"
Answer. I believe they would quarrel among themselves, and that the sensible and sub
stantial people would regret the nbsence of the military force.
Question 4. "Are the offices of the State now in the' hands of loyal or disloyal men ?"
Answer. A very large number of the offices of the State are in the hands of "returned con
federate soldiers and other active participants in the rebellion. I nm unable to say what their
actual sentiments are in reference to the general government, but think their outspoken senti-
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 123
ments depend to some extent on what is their best policy in order to hold the office. I have
seen those high in authority in a transition state for the same reason.
Question 5. "What are regarded as the chief recommendations for office, and what sort of
persons would be elected without any outside influence?"
Answer. The inclination to glorify rebellion gives those who were active participants in it
the preference for election by the people, or appointment by those in power.
Question 6. " What would be the condition of the loyal men if they were left without any
protection from the federal government ?"
Answer. My impression is that for the present they would feel unsafe, and many of them
leave the country.
Question 7. " State your opinion as to the necessity for the continuance of a military force
in your department, and your reasons for the opinion."
Answer. I consider it necessary to maintain a military force in my division for the follow
ing reasons : To give security to northern capital and Union people, and to give an actual
and moral support to the freedman until he has time to work out his social status. I also
believe its presence necessary to prevent, quarrelling among the southern people themselves.
Question 8. " What is your opinion as to the necessity and expediency of the Freedmen's
Bureau?"
Answer. The Freedmen's Bureau gives that security to the freedman which arises from
having some one to look after and advocate his interests. A change might be made by ap
pointing. an inspector general of freedrnen, with the necessary number of assistant inspectors,
under charge of the department commander, which would be much more economical, but it
would be imposing duties on the military which I do not recommend, as I think it should
have as little as possible to do with civil affairs.
Question 9. "What would be the condition and fate of the freedmen if left without pro
jection, under the exclusive control of the white people there ?"
Answer. I fear there would be a great deal of trouble. A large number of the people would
act in good faith towards them, but there would be many who would not, and a war of races,
to some extent, would probably be a consequence.
Question 10. "State fully your opinion as to the capacity of the colored people ; what do
they know, and to what extent can they exercise the sightr of freemen ? Are they willing or
unwilling to work, without physical compulsion, with kind treatment and fair wages ? And
state what, in your judgment, is the best course for Congress to pursue in reference to these
people."
Answer. The colored race, like all other races, have different degrees of intelligence and
capacity. In New Orleans, where colored people are better treated than in any other city in
the United States, there is an excellent colored society, and a very high degree of refinement
exists in it. Starting from this, you can go into the State of Louisiana and find the colored
man about as ignorant as it is possible for any human being to be. The freedmen, so far as
I am informed, have a great desire to learn. I cannot say whether they learn rapidly or not.
I believe they are willing to work, because their necessities compel them to do so. In this
they are like all other races. I never have known a white or a black man who was per
forming manual labor for the love of it. I believe the best thing that Congress or State can
do is to legislate as little as possible in reference to the colored man beyond giving him se
curity in his person and property. His social status will be worked out by the logic of the
necessity for his labor. It is the only labor that can be obtained in the southern States for
some time to come.
Question 11. "Please to make such suggestions as occur to your mind as to the most
iudicious and efficient remedies for the evils that exist in your department growing out of the
late rebellion."
Answer. The feeling and sentiment of those within the limits of my command is as good,
perhaps, as could be expected ; still, not satisfactory.
The people of Louisiana are poor, and, to the best of my knowledge, heavy mortgages
exist upon, perhaps, the majority of plantations in the State for debts contracted before the
war. In many instances those plantations will fall into the hands of northern people, who,
from present appearances, will, at no very distant period, control Louisiana, even in senti
ment. Having this prospect before them, it is not surprising that a spirit of bitterness and
discontent should exist.
I believe that the majority of the people are not opposed to the general government, and in
fact earnestly desire to be restored to a perfect union with the other States. Still, sufficient
time has not yet elapsed to efface the recollection of their having been reduced from affluence
to limited means, the chagrin of being conquered, and to submerge the idea of glorifying
rebellion and its representatives. This latter idea and its consequences prevail to so great
an extent that I consider the retention of the military in Louisiana, for some time, as neces
sary for the security of emigrants, freedmeu, and capital.
FJorida is not poor from old debts and havoc of war, nke Louisiana, and the tone and senti
ment of the people is very fair, and a great desire manifested to restore a perfect Union.
Texas has increased in wealth by the rebellion. Among the best people there is a very
good feeling towards the government. There is a class of lawless people there, however,
which this sentiment does not control, and which cannot be controlled but by the military.
124 RECONSTRUCTION.
The sentiment in this State will not change from the influence of northern emigration and
northern capital, as in Louisiana. It is essential that the military in considerable force be
maintained in the department of Texas.
I have the honor to be, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant,
P. H. SHERIDAN,
Major General, Commanding.
Hon. GEORGE H. WILLIAMS,
Chairman of the Committee for the Investigation of Affairs in
Louisiana, Texas, and Florida, Senate Chamber, Washington, D. C.
WASHINGTON, March 14, 1866.
Brevet Major General Christopher C. Andrews sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Have you, at any time since the cessation of hostilities, been in Texas ? If so,
please state how long you were there, and what opportunities you had to ascertain the views
and feelings of the people there in regard to the government and authority of the United
States.
Answer. I was in command of the district of Houston, Texas, from July 8, 1865, until
about the middle of the following August. During that time I visited several of the posts
in the district, among them Beaumont, Liberty, Brenham, and Columbus. And, in obedience
to orders, I also accompanied Governor Hamilton to Austin, and was present when he was
inaugurated in the capitol of the State. From there I went to San Antonio and returned by
the way of Columbus to Houston ; while on duty at Houston I saw, daily, planters and
others from various parts of the ^tate.
Question. State what you found, in your intercourse with the people of Texas, to be their
temper and disposition towards the government and authority of the United States.
Answer. I thought there was a fine Union element in Texas ; some of the best men ap
peared to be very well disposed to a restoration of the federal authority and the return of the
State into the Union. Some of the influential men there realize the true state of affairs — I in
clude some of those who participated actively in the rebellion — and they are disposed to be lib
eral in regard to the freedmen, and to accept heartily and readily the condition. But a large
majority ot the white people of Texas were still disloyal, and still entertained a hope of re
establishing slavery. It was common for them to tell their former slaves, now free, that the
proclamation of emancipation would be set aside. There was also a sort of disdain exhib
ited towards the northern people, and a disposition to spurn the federal authority. My means
of forming an opinion of the state of feeling were, conversation with all classes of people,
including Union refugees who had returned, freedmen, and planters. I thought the Union
sentiment at Austin was very good ; at New Braunsfels, a German settlement, I thought
the loyal sentiment was specially good.
Question. Where did you find the Union feeling the strongest — in those neighborhoods
where the troops were located and the people were protected by military force, or in those
neighborhoods whew there was no military force, and where the people had little or no mil
itary, protection ?
Answer. There was certainly more expression of loyalty in the neighborhood of military
posts than elsewhere. The presence of the military authority seemed to develop and en
courage loyal sentiments. So far as I have observed, wholesome government ami restraint
have tended to increase^ the respect for the federal flag. It was common to see the people
conversing with the common soldiers, and I think the impression produced by the behavior
of the soldiers was favorable to the cause of loyalty.
Question. In your judgment, what would be the effect upon the growth of loyal sentiment
and the interests of the loyal people of Texas to withdraw altogether the military forces of
the United States from.that country?
Answer. I think it would be extremely injurious to the cause of loyalty, assuming that
the troops are well disciplined.
Question. Would the Union people of Texas venture to express their sentiments arid or
ganize as a Union party at this time, in the absence of military protection ?
Answer. I have no reason to think they would ; the weight of public opinion was strongly
agaiusj the unconditional Union element.
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity and value of the Freedmen's Bureau,
or some agency of that kind in Texas at this time ?
Answer. I think it very essential ^ there were shown to me copies of blank forms of con
tracts which appeared to have been agreed upon by planters and others who wished to hire
fireedineii, which, if enforced strictly, would barely give the freedman his board and clothed ;
there were so many deductions for loss of time, and charges for medical attendance, and
care of children, &c. My opinion was asked in regard to the matter, and I said that I con-
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA TEXAS. 125
sidered such a form of contract very unfair to the freedman. Unless the freedmen are pro
tected by the government they will be much worse off than when they were slaves, because
they will not have the protection they formerly had from their owners and masters. There
was a disposition among the majority of the white people to get the labor of the freedmeu at
as cheap rates as possible, and to coerce them to accept such rates.
Question. In case the people of Texas were left entirely to themselves, without any con
trol by the government of the United States, into whose hands would the affairs of the State
pass — the hands of the Union portion of the people, or the hands of the disloyal portion ?
Answer. 1 suppose there is no doubt they would pass into the hands of the disloyal por
tion of the people.
Question. Would you consider it safe and judicious to withdraw, at this time, the control
of the federal government over the people of Texas ?
Answer. I would not.
Question. Without questioning you as to details, I wish you wrould state all the informa
tion you have which you may deem necessary to show fully the sentiments of the people of
Texas in regard to the restoration of federal authority there, their treatment of the freedmen,
their feelings in relation to the confederacy, and, generally, all opinions you may have upon
that subject.
Answer. Unfortunately, it has been a common sentiment in the south that northern people
were their inferiors ; and during the war this sentiment was increased — their songs, their
speeches, their literature, all tending to belittle the " Yankees." The conduct of our armies
has changed this feeling somewhat ; but it still exists to a considerable extent. Where there
has been a lack of any penitence, but instead of it a lofty spirit of disdain, magnanimity
towards such on the part of the government appears to have been wasted. Three or four
thousand oaths of allegiance were voluntarily taken in my district in the course of a month;
but learning it was common for those who took the oath to treat it in a frivolous and sneering
manner, the provost marshal was instructed to administer it to those only whom he had good
reason to believe would honestly observe it. The object of taking the oath seemed to be to
get restored to the privileges of citizenship, and not as any token of devotion to the govern
ment. My opinion then was, and is now, that the disloyal people should have been made to
understand that the privilege of franchise which they had forfeited was a high trust, to be
extended to those only who should become heartily and unconditionally loyal. To be en
dowed in a wholesale manner with the sacred right of franchise, was much greater indul
gence than they ever expected. In regard to the freedmen, the prevailing opinion among
the whites was that free labor would be a failure. Not having any hope of success, they
were reluctant to attempt giving it a trial. They insisted that the whip was the only means
of making the blacks work. In some instances planters, who had dealt honorably and
humanely towards their slaves, had no difficulty in retaining them the same as ever on their
plantations — the blacks confiding in their honor in regard to pay. There was, however, so
much said by the whites about slavery being re-established in the future that the freed people
acquired a distrust as to their freedom, and were uneasy and apprehensive about their future
condition. This made them, as a general thing, reluctant to hire out to their former masters.
Serving others under contracts of their own making seemed to assure them of their freedom.
Beyond the influence of military posts the blacks were still held as slaves. There was a
general disposition among the whites to depreciate the capacity and merits of the freedmen,
and to sneer at the idea of their going to school. I had reason to believe a number of freed
men had been murdered without the slightest provocation. There were instances where a
freedman was attempting to leave his former master, and was followed and shot. In case a
colored man was killed, a story was immediately started of his having been guilty of some
aggravated crime. And it is an important fact, that where blacks were killed, no white resi
dent interposed to bring the offender to justice. The freedmen are unfriendly towards the
whites because the latter treat them as an abject and inferior race, and are unwilling to con
cede to them the merits they possess. The whites, in my opinion, can only gain their confi
dence and friendship by a frank and sincere acknowledgment of their liberty and a just ac
quiescence in reasonable measures for the protection of their liberty. This, I think, will
secure harmony between the two races. And it is vastly essential to the cause of the Union,
in my opinion, that if any are to have the right of suffrage, they should have it who are and
have been the true friends of the Union, and without regard to color.
WASHINGTON, March 14, 18G6.
Dr. James M. Turner sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Have you been in Louisiana at any time since Lee's surrender; and if so, at
what time and how long ?
Answer. I was in Louisiana about the 1st of January, 1866. I was in "ATe>T Orleans from
six weeks to two months ; and I was also a few days in Mobile.
126 ' RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Have you lived in the southern States prior to the rebellion ; if so, how long,
and where ?
Answer. I was in Nashville in 1849 ; my eldest son was born there ; I was then editing the
Nashville Gazette. Two years afterwards I was in Murfreesboro', Tennessee, living upon
the plantation of my uncle. My second son was horn there in March, 1851. I was in New
Orleans in 1857; my daughter was born there. In the intervening time I was in the south
irom time to time. I was for a time a New York correspondent of the Washington Union,
while A. O. P. Nicholson was the proprietor of it. And I was some time a correspondent of
the Nashville Union.
Question. What did you learn while in Louisiana, since the cessation of hostilities, as to
the temper and disposition of the people there towards the government and authority of the
United States ?
Answer. I had an excellent opportunity of associating with persons there who had known
me, and who had affiliated with me in years gone by. I could very readily understand their
feeling. They divided the people from the north into two classes: The first class, those
who had not been in the army, are what they call in the streets, bar-rooms, and stores,
" damned Yankee sons ojf bitches;" the other class, those who have been in the army, are
called "damned blue-bellied Yankee sons of bitches." Those two classes are the only
classes into which they divide the people of the north. The chief of the detective police
force in the city of New Orleans served three years and a half in the rebel army. The mayor,
recently elected in New Orleans, was confined in Fort Jackson for some time. The chief of
the police of the city of New Orleans was a sutler in some regiment from some western State ;
at any rate he is a worse rebel at heart thau any bom at the south. There is an understand
ing with the chief of the detectives that all that is necessary to have a man arrested is to say,
" There's a blue-belly." As an illustration of that, I will state that about half past 11 o'clock
one night, perhaps a little earlier, I was standing on the street talking to a soldier. This
soldier had first served in the Ellsworth's zouaves ; he had then gone out in the tenth cavalry,
and had been discharged at San Antonio, Texas. While I was talking with him, a man
came up to me and said : "Can I see you a moment?" I said, "Certainly." I walked as
far as the corner of the street with him, and then said : "What do you want of me '/" He
said: "I want you to walk as far as the office of the chief of police." In the mean time
one of his associates in the detective force had arrested the soldier to whom I had been speak
ing, and whom I had known in the fire department of the city of New York. 1 was taken
to the office of the chief of the police, and told to take my hat off. It was the first time in
my life that I was under arrest. After that the man who arrested me went off, and was gone
for about a half an hour, so that all the detectives could come in and see the "two blue-
bellies," as one of the detectives said the next day. Mr. Burke came in and asked me a
number of questions. I had no commission with me; but I had understood that this Burke
was a Mason, and that if I showed him this paper, (my certificate as a Mason, ) it would be
a sufficient indorsement of me to him. I showed it to him, when he turned to Dalton, the
chief detective, said something to him, and then they went out. Presently Dalton came
back into the room again. They had there, in a frame half the size of this committee-room
door, the likenesses of all the thieves they could get. The detectives were all standing
around me, when this Dalton took a light, held it up to the frame of pictures, and then looked
•at me, taking two or three minutes at a time just to annoy me, while he compared my lace
with each of the pictures. . I said to him: "You will find no picture thereof me." He kept
me there over an hour, I should think. He then led me to the door, and said : " I am satis
fied about you ; but I thiuk you better go north ; this is no place for you." The soldier Avho
had been arrested at the same time I was, was detained. The next morning I called at Gen
eral Sheridan's headquarters, having with me my commission as having been an officer in the
Union army, and other papers to establish who I was. ^ I saw Brevet Brigadier General
Moore there, and related to him the circumstances I have just stated here. In the course of
my conversation with him, I said: "There is an effort being made to withdraw our soldiers
from the southern States. I am satisfied that if that is done, the life of no Union man,
woman, or child will be safe;" and that is my opinion. Those fellows will stand up in the
bar-rooms and say publicly: "These damned Yankees are not satisfied with murdering our
people and robbing us 'of almost all we had; now they are coming here to rob us of what
little we have left. Wait till the soldiers are taken away, and then we will show them what
we will do." Let me illustrate how they act now, in comparison with what they did before
the war was ended. Captain Montgomery, who was on General Davidson's staff, was
stationed for some time at Vicksburg. While the war was going on the people would invite
him to their houses, and come to his headquarters and ask for favors. Since the war is over
they will not notice him ; and things are generally in that condition. Colonel Parkhurst,
quite a distinguished lawyer, and a friend of General Burnside, was taken from his bed about
1 o'clock at night by this man Dalton, in New Orleans, and carried to the police headquarters.
He had employed a secesh firm to attend to some business for a client of his who lived iu
Illinois, knowing that he would not succeed if he presented the case in court himself. He
was arrested upon no other ground than that he had charged an exorbitant fee to this client
of his in Illinois, who was a copperhead, I believe. He was detained in custody until they
had telegraphed to the man in Illinois and got his reply that he was perfectly satisfied with
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 127
what Colonel Parkhurst had done. Instead of withdrawing our soldiers from New Orleans,
their number should be doubled there now. It has got to be so that if a man does not wear
pray clothes he is not regarded as being anybody. It is taken for granted that a man is a
Yankee if he does not wear gray clothes. In Texas, as far out as San Antonio, the lives of
officers are not safe at night if they go about without protection. It is all very well for dele
gations from Louisiana aiid other parts of the rebel States to wait upon the President and
assure him of the loyalty of the people of the south. It is no such thing. I know there is
very little loyalty there. I do not say this because I have been prejudiced against the south.
Every association of my life has been in the south ; I have lived there ; my father and all
my family are connected with the south ; my grandfather migrated from Raleigh, North Caro
lina, in company with Andrew Jackson, and settled at Mill Creek, six miles from Nashville,
Tennessee. All my prejudices have been in favor of the south. But I was never so dis
gusted with anything as I was with the southern people when I went out there in January
last.
Question. Then it is your opinion that there would be no safety for Union people in
Louisiana if the United States troops should be withdrawn ?
Answer. That is my opinion ; and I was talking a short time ago with a gentleman from
Florida, and that is his opinion about that State.
Question. What is the condition of the colored people in Louisiana, so far as you know ?
Answer. I can tell you what sort of a system they have in New Orleans : They have a
sort of men there called agents, who get from the planters four dollars for each freedman
they get to work for him. These agents have a set of people like what we call emigrant-
raniiers in the north. They get hold of a negro and make him believe that they will get him
a place where he will get a large sum of money. These negroes they take to the offices
of these agents, who pay them two dollars a head. These agents tell the negro he will get
so much a week, and get him to sign papers, which they have already prepared, and then he
is turned over to these planters. After the planters get hold of him, they will turn around and
tell those in the office what they will do with him when they get him out on their plantation.
So far as the negroes themselves are concerned, I think they are disposed to work, if they
can only get paid for the work they do, the same as other men. But in New Orleans they
will not hire negroes if they can avoid it.
You will find that those men in New Orleans, who a few months ago had made up their
minds to seek for pardons, do not think it worth while now to make the application.
''There is a doctor on Tchapitoulas street who goes away beyond the twenty thousand dollar
clause ; he has never made any application for pardon, and does not ask for it ; and yet he
is going on improving his property. He takes it for granted that it is all a farce to get a
pardon, and will not make any application for it. I was told by a gentleman who was his
tenant that that was what his landlord said.
Question. What effect dofyou think has been produced upon the people by the leniency of
the general government towards them?
Answer. It has had a tendency to make them ten times worse secessionists than before —
more bitter. It has had a tendency to lead them to believe that everything will go on right
for them ; and the result is that they are far more bitterly opposed to the north than they
ever were before. Take up any of the New Orleans papers and you will see as a recommen
dation by those who advertise the statement that they have ' ' served in the confederate
army." They object to going into a store \yhere there is a Yankee. Secesh flags are ped
dled publicly on the streets.
The leniency that has been shown to them has h,ad a tendency to imbitter them against
any effort made in the north to reconstruct this government. I should like very much to
see them represented in this Congress ; but I want to see them represented by Union men.
Question. Suppose the people there were left entirely free to choose to office whom they
pleased, would they elect Union men to office, or would they elect men who were rebels in
sympathies and feelings ?
Answer. I think the poorer classes of the people are Union at heart, but they do not dare
say so, because they fear the time when the United States troops will be withdrawn, and
they be left without protection. You know how little a poor man has had to say in politi
cal affairs in the south heretofore ; it is all very well for an officer of high rank, or some well-
known gentleman, some senator, to go down there and examine whether these prominent men
there are loyal; they will wait upon him and represent themselves all to be thoroughly loyal.
But if the government wants to find out the real condition of affairs, let them send some one
down there who has the nerve and the address to go directly among the people of Texas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama, and take the testimony of the people ; the actual people
of the southern country, if they dared speak, could tell far more than this committee is likely
to reach.
Question. What do you think the people there would do in the event of a war between the
United States and a foreign power? Would they stand by this country or not ?
Answer. I think the poorer people would fight for the United States ; they would ask no
better foe to fight against than France or England. There are thousands of really idle peo
ple there who would fight for the government as soon as the flag was raised, and are still as
128 RECONSTRUCTION.
bitter as gall against the north. They say they were overpowered ; not subdued, not con
quered, but overpowered by superior numbers; that is the idea of the rebel officers.
Question. Do these people seem to have any idea that at any future time the work of se
cession can be accomplished ?
Answer. They do not look for that ; they look to again gain the control of the affairs of
the national government. If they can gain the representation they desire in Congress, they
think that with the aid they can get from the north, they can pass such laws as they please.
They seem to cherish the idea that one day the west will unite with the south. I was talk
ing one day with a very intelligent man, originally from Iowa I think, and who owns a
large plantation in Louisiana; he said that a large number of people in his section of country
entertained the idea that the west would eventually separate from the east and join the south,
and then they would manage the government as they pleased.
Question. Did you hear anything said as to what sort of legislation they desired ; for in
stance, in regard to the national debt, or the rebel debt, or payment for their slaves, or any
thing of that kind ?
Answer. The most of those with whom I conversed seemed to desire the repudiation of the
rebel debt, and to think that eventually they would be paid for their slaves, if they can ar-
lange matters in Congress as they hope to do. So far as I have had an opportunity of judg
ing, there is a very general feeling in favor of the repudiation of the rebel debt ; but with
almost the same breath they would speak about being compelled to pay. the expenses of this
war without being represented in Congress ; of representation being denied to them while they
were subject to taxation.
Question. What is your opinion of the value and necessity of the Freedmen's Bureau, or
some agency of that kind, in the southern States, to regulate matters between the blacks and
whites?
Answer. I think if the Freedmen's Bureau was localized more it would be a great thing.
It is an immense establishment in the city of New Orleans ; but there are places on the Mis
sissippi where branch establishments could be had, and where I think they are necessary and
would be efficient. The Freedmen's Bureau is like a great many other things connected
with this government ; the law itself is good, but those who have the management and direc
tion of it sometimes make it inoperative, so that it does not carry out what it was designed
to accomplish.
Question. What, in your judgment, is necessary to be done by the general government in
order to strengthen and develop the Union sentiment of the south, and to build up a Union
party there ?
Answer. The first point would be for the government to cleanse itself of the rebels who are
holding public positions there — to remove them. I have it from good authority, that in the
post office arid custom-house in New Orleans rebels flock there — men who were in the, rebel
army ; that the best recommendation to those who control those offices is to show that the
applicant for a place under them has been a rebel. While I was there a dentist, Dr. Eustis,
known as a thorough Union man, was nominated for the place of surveyor of the port of
New Orleans. The very next day after it was known that he was nominated and would be
likely to be appointed, the Chamber of Commerce, composed almost entirely of men of seces
sion proclivities, called a meeting and appointed a committee of seven to proceed at once to
Washington, and object to the appointment of Dr. Eustis. The committee came on to
Washington and succeeded, for some one else was appointed.
Question. You say the first thing is to turn the rebels out of office. What is the next
thing to be done ?
Answer. To appoint Union men in flieir places, and retain your army there ; have some
military force in every place where the rebel feeling shows itself. Let me illustrate : in a
theatre in Mobile, between the first and second acts, the orchestra played Yankee Doodle;
and all but six ladies got up and left the theatre. The next day the general in command of
the place heard of the affair, and that night between the first and second acts an order was
read to the effect that inasmuch as a portion of the audience lei't the theatre the night before
because the orchestra had played Yankee Doodle, thereafter the orchestra should play the
national airs. The Union officers had rallied during the day, and had gone around the city,
and wherever they found a Union lady, invited her to go to the theatre. After the order was
read the orchestra struck up Hail Columbia, and all the audience rose up. I would have
such men controlling those places, and let the people understand that the Union was to be
respected. I have always been in favor of my country. I went out to Mexico with the first
regiment that left New York, and when this war broke out I went out as major in one of the
first regiments that left New York. I would keep the soldiers out south ; and not only that,
I would strengthen their numbers there, and keep the people under military subjection until
they can treat the citizens of the United States as they are entitled to be treated. I think that
keeping colored troops out there has a tendency to inflame the feeling of bitterness towards
the north. But I would double the number of white soldiers out there, in every place where
I thought there was a secesh element of any strength, and I would rna"ke it an offence to
wear the gray, upon which these rebels pride themselves so much.
Question. What feeling did you find there in regard to extending to the colored people
civil and political rights ?
FLORIDA LOUISIANA— TEXAS. 129
Answer. They were opposed to it to a man ; I did not bear one man say anything in favor
of it. You may rest assured that unless you protect men at the polls, Union men cannot
votesafrly. They dread the withdrawal of the United States soldiers from the south too
much to vote openly in accordance with their Union sentiments.
YV \SIIIXCJTON, March 28,
Caleb (1. Forshey sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Where do you reside ?
Answer. I reside in the State of Texas.
. Question. How long have you been a resident of Texas ?
Answer. I have resided in Texas and been a citizen of that State for nearly thirteen years.
Question. What opportunities have you had for ascertaining the temper and disposition
of tne people of Texas towards the government and authority of the United States?
Answer. For ten years I have been superintendent of the T-exas Military Institute, as its
founder and conductor. I have been in the confederate service in various parts of the con
federacy; but chiefly in the trans-Mississippi department, in Louisiana and Texas, as an officer
of engineers. I have had occasion to see and know very extensively the condition of affairs
in Texas, and also to a considerable extent in Louisiana. I think I am pretty well-informed,
as well as anybody, perhaps, of the present state of affairs in Texas.
Question. What are the feelings and views of the people of Texas as to the late rebellion,
and the future condition and circumstances of the State, and its relations to the federal gov
ernment ?
Answer. After our army had given up its arms and gone home, the surrender of all matters
in controversy was complete, and as nearly universal, perhaps, as anything could be. As
suming the matters in controversy to have been the right to secede, and the right to hold
slaves, I think they were given up teetotally, to use "a strong Americanism. When you
speak of feeling, I should discriminate a little. The feeling was that of any party who had
been cast in a suit he had staked all upon. They did not return from feeling, but from a
sense of necessity, and from a judgment that it was the only and necessary thing to be done,
to give up the contest. But when they gave it up, it was without reservation ; with a view
to look forward, and not back. That is my impression of the manner in which the thing was
done. There was a public expectation that in some veiy limited time there would be a re
storation to former relations ; and in such restoration they felt great interest, after the con
test was given up. The expectation was, and has been up to the present time, that there
would be a speedy and immediate restoration. It was the expectation of the people that, as
soon as the State was organized as proposed by the President, they would be restored to
their former relations, and things would go1 on as before, with these two main issues given
up wholly ; that, with that as the result,^there would be harmony, and that without it there
would probably not be. I think there would be considerable revulsion of feeling if that is
not so, as the expectation has been almost universal that that would be the result of reorgan
ization. It is perhaps proper that I should say, in that connexion, that a considerable ap
prehension has been felt lately. Texas being later in her icorganization than the other
States, and having had an opportunity to witness the result in the case of the other States,
considerable apprehension and some revulsion of feeling have already occurred ; that is, a
little terror lest such should not be the result of reorganization. My impression is, that the feel
ing, so far as feeling is concerned, is not as good as it was three or four months ago. I want
to distinguish between feeling and judgment ; for good feeling was returning as fast as hu
man nature would admit.
Question. What proportion of the people of Texas, so far as your judgment extends, were
loyal to the government during the rebellion?
Answer. Scarcely enough to be called a portion ; so much so that we cannot get postmas
ters anywhere in the State, except in the regions where the (lerman population prevails.
The Germans, not knowing the English language very well, and not knowing much of the
nature of the contest, were opposed to the war; some of them were really opposed to our
movement. In other portions of the State it has been extremely difficult to fill the post oih'ces,
and only women and children could be found to perform the functions, and very rarely
the women.
Question. What proportion of the members of the convention lately met in Texas to form
a new constitution were loyal men duri >g the war ?
Answer. I cannot tell. There are several who left the State during the war, who are
now members of the convention. There are Judge Hancock, Mr. Norton, brother to Senator
Norton, and several other gentlemen, who may bo regarded as loyal men ; but hardly of the
extreme loyalty that the test-oath embraces. Men who remained in the State had to do
more or less for the rebellion, although opposed to the movement. A very small poition of
the population anywhere, very small, were opposed to it after secession had occurred. That
9 F L T
130 RECONSTRUCTION.
was so much the case, that in my movements, which were pretty extensive, (but not on the
remote frontiers, where it was claimed there was considerable opposition to us, ) I met none.
I have not seen the list of all the members of the convention so as to study it. But the
president of the convention, General Throckmorton, was opposed to secession, and very
warmly. He opposed it and voted against it in the convention of .secession. But he after
wards entered the confederate service and rose to the rank of brigadier general, lie was
always considered a Union man, and is one.
Question. Is there or not, among the people of Texas who have been in the rebellion,- a
feeling of hatred towards the people of the north who were engaged in the suppression of
the rebellion ?
Answer. There is some "antagonism towards the government movements; towards the men
engaged in the war perhaps less, for we rather think those we fought with clever fellows.
There is considerable feeling yet existing which was engendered by four or live years'
struggle ; quieting itself perhaps as fast as human nature could be expected, as I have re
marked once before. But that it existed and was very bitter cannot for a moment be
doubted. On the contrary, the enmity became very strong, and was nearly universal with
all our southern people. If your question is asked with the view of ascertaining the present
feeling in regard to persons coming into Texas to reside, I would say that this feeling of
enmity has scarcely an existence towards persons who come to pursue their own business.
There are thousands of such persons all over our State, persons who have migrated there •
from the north. They did so immediately after our surrender, without waiting for anything.
Business men were all over the State bringing in goods and buying up cotton. There has
been no collision with them. It was understood as one part of the result that everybody
would attend to his own business in the future; and the future only was looked to. But
when men have come with a censorious disposition, and have undertaken to reflect upon
the past, their positions have been made very uncomfortable, by refusal to trade with them,
and sometimes some bickerings and jawings ; though our people have not used any violence
even when they felt like it, because it was understood that would be regarded as an evidence
of disloyalty to the pledge they had made. The whole people understood they had made a
pledge to lay down their arms and give the thing up ; and they have been very cautious not
to do anything which would seem to compromise them iu that respect. Within my entire
knowledge there has not been any resistance to federal authority in the State of Texas, ex
cept where individuals have got drunk and committed violence. I have sometimes seen
federal authority exercised when it was thought to be very harsh; but there has not been
any resistance.
Question. Is it within your knowledge that men, black and white, who were supposed to
be friendly to the government have been maltreated or murdered in the State of Texas oil
account of their views and opinions ?
Answer. Not a single case of that kind has come under my personal observation.
Question. Is it within your knowledge that men in the State of Texas have been abused
or mistreated in any way for raising the United States Hag or exhibiting their attachment to
it?
Answer. Nothing of the kind. I heard that at Fredericksburg, where the Germans raised
the flag immediately, and before they had fairly heard of the surrender, some persons made
some trouble; but that was in a remote place. But I have heard of no such trouble in any
other place. I must mention one circumstance : A late confederate colonel was going along
intoxicated, with a companion. They rode along under a flag at a military post, and the
drunken man, who was very drunk, tore it. There was an attempt made to arrest him, and
his friend said : "He is drunk; I will answer for it all; it was a drunken frolic." Tho
friend was arrested and tried, though the trouble never extended to the second individual.
The friend contended that his object was to screen the drunken man, and he responded for
him, though he did not mean that he would take tin: responsibility of tearing the flag. Ho
was tried for that, and was in prison when I came away; I do not know the result.
Question. What is your opinion of a military force under the authority of the federal gov
ernment to preserve order iu Texas and to protect those who have been loyal, both white and
black, from the aggressions of those who have been in the rebellion ?
Answer. My judgment is well founded on that subject; that wherever such military force
is and has been, it has excited the very feeling it was intended to prevent ; that so far from
being necessary it is very pernicious everywhere, and without exception. The local authori
ties and public sentiment are ample for protection. I think no occasion would occur, unless
some individual case that our laws would not reach. We liad an opportunity to test this attor
the surrender and before any authority was there. The military authorities, or the military
oflicers, declared that we were without laws, and it was a long time beiuie the governor ap
pointed arrived there, and then it was some time before we could effect anything in the way
of organization. We were u people without law, order, or anything; and it was a time lor
violence if it would occur. 1 think it is a great credit to our civilisation that, iu that state
of affairs, there was nowhere any instance of violence. I am proud of it, for 1 expected the
contrary ; I expected that our soldiers on coming home, many of them, would be dissolute,
and that many of them would oppress the class of men you speak of; but it did not occur.
FLORIDA - LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 131
Hut afterwards, wherever soldiers have been sent, there have been little troubles, none ••>:
them large; but personal collisions between soldiers and citi/ens.
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity and advantages of the Freedmeii's
Bureau, or an agency of that kind, in Texas !
Answer My opinion is that it is not needed ; my opinion is stronger than that — that the
effect of it is to irritate, if nothing else. While in New York city recently I Imd a conversa
tion witli SOUK; friends from Texas, from five distant points in the State. We met together
and compared opinions; and the opinion of each was the same, that the negroes had gener
ally gone to work since January; that except where the Freedmeu's Bureau had interfered,
or rather encouraged troubles, such as little complaints, especially between negro and negro,
the negro's disposition was very good, and they had generally gone to work, a vast majority
of them with their former masters. I was very gratified to learn that from districts where
I feared the contrary. Still this difference was made, particularly by Mr. Carpenter, from
Jefferson, the editor of the JefYerson Herald. He said that in two or three counties where
they had not been able to organize the Froedmen's Bureau, there had been no trouble at all ;
nearly all the negroes had gone to work. The impression in Texas at present is that the
negroes under the influence of the Freedmen's Bureau do worse than without it.
I want to state that I believe all our former owners of negroes are the friends of the
and that the antagonism paraded in the papers of the north does not exist at all. I know the
fact is the very converse of that; and good feeling always prevails between the masters and
the slaves. But the negroes went off and left them in the lurch ; my own family was an in
stance of it. But they came back after a time, saying they had been free enough and wanted
a home.
Question. Do you think those who employ the negroes there are willing to make contracts
with them, so that they shall have fair wages for their labor?
Answer. I think so ; I think they are paid liberally, more than the white men in this
country get ; the average compensation to negroes there is greater than the average compen
sation of free laboring white men in this country. It seems to have regulated itself in a
great measure by what each neighborhood was doing ; the negroes saying, "I can get thus
and so at such a place." Men have hired from eight to fifteen dollars per month during the
year, and women at about two dollars less a month ; house-servants at a great deal more.
Question. Do the men who employ the negroes claim to exercise the right to enforce their
contract by physical force?
Answer Not at all ; that is totally abandoned ; not a single instance of it has occurred.
I think they still chastise children, though. The negro parents often neglect that, and the
children are still switched as we switch our own' children. I know it is done in my own
house; we have little house-servants that we switch just as I do our own little fellows.
Question. What is your opinion as to the respective advantages to the white and black
races, of the present tree system of labor and the institution of slavery ?
Answer. I think freedom is very unfortunate for the negro ; I think it is sad; his present
helpless condition touches my heart more than anything else I ever contemplated, and I
think that is the common sentiment of our slaveholders. I have seen it on the largest plan
tations, where the negro men had all left, and where only women and children remained,
and the owners had to keep them and feed them. The beginning certainly presents a touch
ing and sad spectacle. The poor negro is dying at a rate fearful to relate.
I have sumo ethnological theories that may perhaps warp my judgment; but my
judgment is that the highest condition the black race has ever reached or can reach,
is one where he is provided for by a master race. That is the result of a great deal
of scientific investigation and observation of the negro character by me ever since I
a man. The labor question had become a most momentous one, and I was study
ing it. I undertook to investigate the condition of the negro from statistics under various
circumstances, to treat it purely as a matter of statistics from the census tables of this
country of ours. I found that the free blacks of the north decreased 8 per cent.; the free
blacks of the south increased 7 or 8 per cent., while the slaves by their sides increased 34
per cent 1 inferred from the doctrines of political economy that the race is in the best con-
Uirion when it procreates the fastest; that, other things being equal, slavery is of vast advan
tage to the negro. 1 will mention one or two things in connexion with this as explanatory
of that result. The negro will not take care of his offspring unless required to do it, as com
pared with the whites. The little children will die; they do die, and hence the necessity of
very rigorous regulations on our plantations which we have adopted in our nursery system.
Another cause is that there is no continence among the negroes. All the continence I have
• •en among the negroes has been enforced upon plantations, where it is generally as
sumed there is none. For the sake of procreation, if nothing else, Are compel men to live
with their wives. The discipline of the plantation was more rigorous, perhaps, in regard to
men staying with their wives, than in regard to anything else ; and I think the procreative
results, as shown by the census tables, is due in a great measure to that discipline.
I think they are very much better off in having homes than the free blacks are. The free
blacks in Louisiana, where we had 34,000, with a great deal of blood of the whites in them,
and therefore a great deal of white sense, were nothing like so happy and so well off as our
slaves are. My observation for many years leads me to this conclusion..
132 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What is the prevailing inclination among the people of Texas in regard to giving
the negroes civil or political rights ami privileges ?
\nswer. I think they arc all opposed to it. There are sonic mm— I am not among thern-
who think that the basis of intelligence might be a good bww for the elccttve franchise.
a much larger class, perhaps nine-tenths of our people, believe that the distinctions beta en
the races should not be broken down by any such community of interests in the management
of the affairs of the State. I think there is a very common sentiment that the negro, c-i
with education, has not a mind capable of appreciating the political institutions of the country
to such an extent as would make him a good associate for the white man m the administra
tion of the Government. I think if the vote was taken on the question of admitting him to
the right of suffrage there would be a very small vote in favor of it— scarcely respectabl
tbQ«g1So^IlKdTil rights are the people of Texas disposed to give to the negro such as
the right to testify as a witness, to hold and sell real estate and property of any *b*\
Answer. Theyhave no objection to giving them all thpse rights. Ihe elective franchise ib
the point of difference, and there is im other. I think they would be disposed to allow him
to bear testimony in any case ; not that they believe he is a good witness, for he is not a re
liable witness ; but they would be willing to let his testimony go for what it was worth. It
has been so in Louisiana, where we have seen its influence, and it has not been veiy per m-
cious. All rights in respect to contracts, to giving full force and efficiency to them, wou.d
be granted to negroes as to white persons. To that 1 have seen no objection.
Question. The right to sue in court ?
Question .^DkUhe negroes generally sympathize with the Union cause during the rebellion ?
Answer. None of them. There has been this : a disposition on their part to try something
new—to be free ; and when they came within reach of the federal army a great many of them
ran away to it. But there was no resistance to discipline and authority at home. 1 hai
so much the case that a single woman on a plantation with a hundred slaves
place as before and without trouble.
WASHINGTON, March 2.S, l~t'»t>.
James D. B. De Bow sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. State if you have been, at any time since the cessation of hostilities, in the State
of Louisiana and if w, how long, and what opportunities you have had to ascertain tho
temper and disposition of the people towards the general government.
Answer I spent five or six weeks of the present year in Louisiana, and was m intimat
assoctS whPh I citizens there of all clasle, .1 am a resident of that State and o ,
largely acquainted, and having been absent during the war, a ter the suiicnder
I met a grit many of the people on my return. I have also just returned from a ger
t0Q\iest!on.Swtt a^e the views and feelings of the people there as to the late war and it.,
results, and as to the future condition of that State in its relations to the <ederal gove ni ne.
Answer. There seems to be a general-you may say universal-acquiesc enc e in e -
suits. There is a great deal of dissatisfaction as to the course in* reference to th
pursued by the federal government. I think the people having fairly tried the expedient
Sf secession are perfectly satisfied with the result, and that there is no Disposition in any
quarter, in any shape or form, to embarrass the Un.ted States government, or to
from the most complete performance of all the duties of citizenship I saw nothing ot that
sort. All parties, those who were opposed to the war and those who were in lavoi of the
war are now agreed that it is for the best interest of the State to perform all the dutio
citizenship, and to accept whatever the government has effected in reference to the negio, a*
"^™^^^^* of dissatisfaction among the people as to the ac-
""S^.^lK^B^ is very largely complained of and the delay in ad-
mi.ting their representatives. They confidently expected a very early restor.itum o t t
civil condition and political nghts from the promises which were made. I think
of hostility has grown up .since the surrender. I think at the period of the ^^Jjj
feeling wfis very much more kindly, and the attitude and condition of the com y ^ o
favonSble than it is now. Thi, constant irritation has pro-luced the leenng. »ot Mr i.k
it is very serious, but still it exists; it would be dissipated immediate y on £» P" ?*\£
liberal measures/such as, for instance, an order restoring the .States to their status
Constitution, restoring their political rights, tho removal of the Ireedmcn s
such regulation which would be fair to both parties.
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 133
f
Question. What do they say llit'iv us to the necessity or advantage of retaining1 a military
force in the State?
Answer. There is no one who thinks any such force necessary. I believe the condition
of the State is such that the people would preserve all the order necessary. There is a
general indisposition to have any military force there.
Question. Is there or not a bitter feeling between those who supported the rebellion and
those who supported the general government during the war in Louisiana !
Answer. 1 think those parties who have remained in the State and who were assuming
they were good Union men during the war, perhaps making more claims in that regard than
they are entitled to, are received with hostility. I think those who went away honestly tor
those reasons, and have returned, are respected, and receive very much consideration. I
know of many cases of this kind, of men who went away, did not take any part in the war,
and have since returned. But there is a feeling in my State against those who remained
there during the war and profess now that they were Union men all the time, but that their
rights were taken away. There is a feeling against them, though not of any such hostile
•Character as to endanger their personal safety or condition in any way.
Question. Are there any considerable number of the citizens of Louisiana who went into
the Union army and fought against the rebellion ?
Answer. I do not think there are. There were some few from New Orleans who have
returned since. I do not think there were many outside New Orleans from the State. There
were some few companies of whites raised in New Orleans by the federal authorities. I do
not think they got many from the city, and those wore generally not citizens of the State,
but persons who were temporarily residing there. I do not think many Creoles went in.
The population of French descent were generally almost entirely on the confederate side.
Question. Do you think those who have been, or profess to have been, Union men in
Louisiana would be perfectly safe there with the military protection of the government with
drawn ?
Answer. Perfectly safe. I have no idea anybody would be disturbed at all. There might
be some little uukindness of look or expression towards them. They would not be received,
of course, on the same terms with those who have been in sympathy with the great body of
the people there. They would respect those who were with them much more than they
would that class of persons ; but there would be no physical hostility, or any attempt to in
terfere with their rights — none whatever.
Question. Do not those who were in the rebel army, or supported the rebel cause, make
distinctions in social intercourse and business transactions between those who co-operated
with them and those who favored the cause of the Union, as well as men who came there
from the north?
Answer. The '"secession men, the men who were in the war, are generally ruined, their
families are destitute, and there is a great disposition to sustain them, if they undertake any
business at all. I think a great deal grows out of that, and a great deal grows, of course,
out of actual sympathy with these men. Although, on the other hand, I can point in New
Orleans to men who were not in sympathy with the south during the war, but the very oppo
site, who are doing a large and successful business. I could give you a house, of my own
name, though in no way related to me, unless very remotely — a Mr. Samuel De Bow, who
came there during the war from Illinois, or somewhere in the northwest — who has, perhaps,
the largest wholesale grocery in the city. I do not think the discrimination made is any
thing more than a social discrimination. I think that is well marked at present. There is a
disposition on the part of those who have been with the south during the war not to mix a
great deal with those who have remained in the south (as they say) as Union men ; and the
i'eeling extends, more or less, to northern men, though very little towards the great majority
of northern people. Some who come there a little disposed to talk, &c., receive the cold
shoulder ; that is about all. I have known of balls and parties, where there was a mixture
of all classes, and where certain ladies would say they would not associate with federal
officers ; but the party would go on all the same, all in the same room. That feeling is now
stronger than it was. It is the result of political causes. I think it will wear away.
Question. Suppose a foreign war should occur, do you think those men who fought against
the federal government would right for the flag in such a war, if required to do so?
Answer. I think there are a great many young men who might be tempted to tight against
the iiag, but take the country over, a vast majority of the people are sick of war, and 1 think
they would sustain the United States beyond a doubt. I have not heard any young men
say they would take a different course, though I have often heard the question asked ; but it
would not be strange if a very few might be found to tight against the flag; most would be
restrained, if from no other cause, by the conviction of the almost omnipotence of the United
States government. They would think that if under all the favorable circumstances attend
ing the south in the late war, they faded, it would be utterly hopeless for them to go into a
war, even with foreign assistance, v»ith the slightest possible chance of success. Besides,
the course pursued by foreign powers in reference to our affairs has produced as intense hos
tility towards them as existed towards the federal government. They are hatc-d and distrusted.
No one could be deceived by them. The southern people are Americans, republicans; they
abhor monarchy.
134 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Do the people there feel as though they ought to have any pay for their I
who have been emancipated during the war?
Answer. I have spoken of that at various places whom I Lave been, as a measure the
United States might eventually take up, but I found among the people of the south them
selves a very great difference of opinion on the subject. They said that would be making
an unfair discrimination. "Why pay for slaves, and not pay for the property of the man
who had no slaves destroyed by the war? Why will you pay the planter and nobody else,
lor his losses?" I think feeling would neutralize any such idea of paying for slaves, even
if there were such expectation, which I do not think there is. The tvvo influences would
oppose each other — one looking for pay for the slaves emancipated, and the other for property
destroyed by the war. Both combined, I think, would defeat such purpose, especially taking
into consideration that those who were slaveholders constitute but a small minority of the
people of the south.
Question. Would the people there, in political matters, in elections that might take place,
probably choose men who had been distinguished for their services in the rebellion, or would
they be more likely to prefer men who had been attached to the Union cause during the war ?
Answer. The choice is so meagre, there are so few men from whom the choice could be
made on the Union side, the proportion of men of talent and worth who have been on the
other side is so overwhelmingly large, that they would of necessity take men from that side.
And I have no doubt that, other things being equal, they would prefer men, perhaps, who
have been very decided on that side. There are exceptions to the rule, however. I have
known men who were very decided in their opposition to the war selected, &.<•.
Question. WThat is your judgment as to the advantages of keeping up a military force in
Louisiana, on the part of the United States ?
Answer. I think it tends to produce irritation, and to perpetuate the disorder of the times.
I think it leads to a return of the past, and that the sooner the military arm is removed the
better. It irritates, annoys, and frets, without doing any good. And I may add, I think
the same remark is applicable pretty generally where I travelled all over the south.
Question. Do you think the people there, if left to themselves, would pretty generally set
tle down, fraternize, and become restored to good order ?
Answer. The country is so devastated, there is so much distress, so much want and suf
fering among the people of the south, that they have no time for politics. I think they av
disposed to go to work to restore, their broken fortunes. If these exciting, irritating, and
annoying causes were removed, it would not be six months, in my judgment, before this
feeling between northern and southern men there would in large part vanish, and an entire
restoration of harmony would begin to take place. The very necessities of their condition
require it. They would find northern men bringing their capital and industry among them,
and they would invite them. The labor they must have. The negro is defective as a laborer.
Under the old system, with all the negroes employed, there has always been a deficiency of
labor in the south.
Question. What is your opinion of the necessity or utility of the Freedmen's Bureau, or of
any agency of that kind ?
Answer. I think if the whole regulation of the negroes, or freedmen, were left to th<-
pie of the communities in which they live, it will be administered for the best interest of the
negroes as well as of the white men. I think there is a kindly feeling on the part of the
planters towards the freedmen. They are not held at all responsible for anything that has
happened. They are looked upon as the innocent cause. In talking Avith a number of
planters, I remember some of them telling me they were succeeding very wc-il with their
freedmen, having got a preacher to preach to them and a teacher to teach them, believing
it was for the interest of the planter to make the negro feel reconciled ; for, to lose his sen ices
as a laborer for even a few mouths would be very disastrous. The sentiment prevailing is,
that it is for the interest of the employer to teach the negro, to educate his children, to pro
vide a preacher for him, and to attend to his physical wants. And I may say I have not
seen any exception to that feeling in the south. " Leave the people to themselves, and they
will manage very well. The Freedmen's Bureau, or any agency to interfere between the
freedman and his former master, is only productive of mischief. There are constant appeals
from one to the other and continual annoyances. It has a tendency to create dissatisfaction
and disaffection on the part of the laborer, and is in every respect in its result most unfavor
able to the system of industry that is now being organised under the new order of things in
the south. I do not think there is any difference of opinion upon this subject.
Question. Do you think the white men of the south would do justice by the n< gn •«•* in
making contracts and in paying them for their labor .'
Answer. Before these negroes were i'reed, there were some h\ o or three hundred thousand
free negroes in the south, and some four or five hundred thousand of them in the country.
There were a great many in Louisiana. There were in New Orleans some free m groe>
among the wealthiest men we had. I made a comparison when I was superintendent of the
United States census in J850, and found that the condition of the free negroes in the south,
their education, &.c., Avas better; that as a class they were immeasurably better oil' than the
free people of the north. ] never heard any cause of complaint of our treatment of these
people in the south before the war, even from northem sources, and I <!o nor jneMime there
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS 135
would bo more cause of complaint now. If we performed our duty to this same class of
population when the great mass of negroes were held by us as slaves, I think it should go
very far to indicate that we should not be lacking in our duties to them now. There are
free negroes in Louisiana who owned fifty or a hundred slaves, and plantations on the coast,
and there were hundreds of them who owned more or less property.
Question. What is your opinion as to the relative advantages "to the blacks of the present
system of free labor, as compared with that of slavery as it heretofore existed in this country?
Answer. If the negro would work, the present system is much cheaper. If we can get
the same amount of labor from the same persons, there is no doubt of the result in respect to
economy. Whether the same amount of labor can be obtained, it is too soon yet to decide.
We must allow one summer to puss first. They are working now very well on the planta
tions. That is the general testimony. The negro women are not disposed to field work as
they formerly were, and I think there will be less work from them in the future than there
has been in the past. The men are rather inclined to get their wives into other employment,
and I think that will be the constant tendency, just as it is with the whites. Therefore, the
real number of agricultural laborers will be reduced. I have no idea the efficiency of those
who work will be increased. If we can only keep up their efficiency to the standard before
the war, it will be better for the south, without doubt, upon the mere money question, be
cause it is cheaper to hire the negro than to own him. Now a plantation can be worked
without any outlay of capital by hiring the negro and hiring the plantation.
Question. "What, in your opinion, is to be the effect upon the blacks .'
Answer. I think it will be disastrous to them. I judge that because of the experience of
other countries, and not from any experience we have had ourselves. I judge by their
shiftless character, and their disposition to crowd into the cities. It is what I see all rver
the south. You will find large numbers of them in every city, crowded together in miserable
shanties, eking out a very uncertain subsistence ; and, so far, the mortality has been very
great among them. They were not disposed to enter upon any regular work before the 1st
of January. They were confident in the expectation that the lands were to be divided
among them up to that time. But after the 1st of January they became satisfied they were
not to get the lands, and they very generally went to work.
Question. What arrangements are generally made among the landholders and the black
laborers in the south?
Answer. I think they generally get wages. A great many persons, however, think it
better to give them an interest in the crops. That is getting to be very common.
Question. What do you find the disposition of the people as to the extension of civil rights
to the blacks — the right to sue and enforce their contracts and to hold property, real and
personal, like white people?
Answer. I think there is a willingness to give them every right except the right of suf
frage. It is believed they are unfit to exercise that. The idea is entertained by many that
they will eventually be endowed with that right. It is only a question of time ; but the
universal conviction is that if it ever be conceded, it will be necessary to prepare for it by
slow and regular means, as the white race was prepared. I believe everybody unites in the
belief that it would be disastrous to give the right of suffrage now. Time and circumstances
may alter the case. There is no difference of opinion upon this subject now.
Question. Suppose the negroes were to vote now, Arhat would be the influences operating
upon them as to the exercise of that vote?
Answer. The negro would be apt to vote with his employer if he was treated well. .That
is his character. They generally go with their employer ; but it is probable they would be
tampered with a great deal. There would be emissaries sent among them to turn their
minds ; so that, although I understand some prominent men think the negro would generally
vote with his master, I doubt it. I think the tendency would be in that direction; but that
they would be drawn off by emissaries sent there for malicious purposes, though a great
many would, no doubt, go with their former masters. You cannot make any rule. I find
that northern men who have come to the south, purchased land, and gone to cultivating
cotton or anything else, talk now very much as we do on these questions. Their views
upon all these questions, with the little experience they have had, are very much the same
as those of southern men. They say our experience, in regard to these questions, is worth
more than their theories.
Question. What facilities are the people disposed to give the freedmen in becoming
educated ?
Answer. I think they generally laugh at the idea of the negro learning. They have been
accustomed to the idea that the negroea are pretty stupid. I do not think there would be
any opposition to their becoming educated. We have .schools ail about for them, but the
people sometimes laugh at the idea of the negroes learning much. Under the institution of
slavery we used to teach them everything nearly except to read. On almost every planta
tion they were taught the Bible, the catechism, prayers, hymns, &c. But in regard to their
being educated, so far as they are capable, I think the people regard it as for their best
interest to afford them every facility — that is, the better informed people.
Question. Do the employers of negroes in the south claim or exercise the right of physical
compulsion to enforce their contracts ?
136 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. No, sir, I know of no such claim — nothing of the kind.
Question. What have been your views on the subject of secession ?
Answer. I was raised to believe in the doctrine of the State-rights party, and therefore
believed in the right of secession. I was anxious to perpetuate the United States govern
ment, with full respect to fhe rights of all sections, believing in the doctrines of Calhoun on
that subject. Having failed in securing that, I believed that secession was right, proper,
and just, and did all I could in aiding the exercise of it. I am now satisfied with the results
of the war, and regard it as utterly hopeless and useless to assert any such right again ;
that the event of the war was a distinct pronunciation against the exercise of the right and a
final settlement of the whole question. I think that is the general sentiment of tl7e people.
The people are much better satisfied witli the result than if they had not made the experiment.
They think they have nothing to regret upon that question, and that although everything
else be lost, honor is saved. This is the sentiment from the Potomac to the Rio Grande.
Question. Are you satisfied that the people of the south have given up all ideas of seces
sion under any circumstances ?
Answer. / am perfectly satisfied of that. The leaders, and the people of all claws of
opinion, agree upon that subject.
WASHINGTON, April r>, !
Benjamin C. Truman sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. State if you have been in cither Texas, Louisiana, or Florida since Lee's sur
render; if so, when, how long were you there, and in what capacity?
Answer. I arrived in Florida on the 7th of December, and staid there just two weeks. I
went through Georgia and Tennessee, on the railroad mostly, as I was bound for Tex.: . ;
arrived in Louisiana the'second week in January, and remained in the State until the 28th.
I did not go through the State much except on the line of the railroads. I went up to Baton
Rouge and was in New Orleans two weeks. I arrived in Texas on the 31st of January,
and staid there until the 14th of March.
Question. In what capacity were you there ?
Answer. As correspondent or the New York Times.
Question. Did you travel in Texas much while you were there ; and if so, where did
you go?
Answer. I arrived at Galvestou on the 31st of January, and staid there three days. From
there I took steamer to Indiauola, and remained two days. I then got a horse and went
about fifty miles across the prairie to Victoria— only one town on the road. I then Avent by
stage, 130 miles, to San Antonio, stopping at Quincy a short time and at Gonzales over
night; the other towns on the way I passed through rapidly. I staid at San Antonio three
days and went to Austin, and from Austin back to Galveston, making a short halt at Hemp
stead and of two days at Houston.
Question. What did you find the prevailing sentiment of the people to be as to the late
rebellion and the present condition of things in Texas ?
Answer. I penetrated all the portions of the State I have mentioned, and took particular
pains to learn the condition of the people, and especially of the frecdmen, as I have always
been-much interested in the colored troops — helped to get up a regiment once in Nashville,
&c. I found the people of Texas, on the whole, I think in a better condition than the peo
ple of any other State through which I passed, except Florida. I would class Florida and
Texas together. There are in Texas 54,000 Germans who have been loyal all the time, and
extreme in their loyalty. Some of these Germans— I think at least a third of them— are in
favor of negro suffrage. Then, in the northern part of the State are 50,000 or 60,000 loyal
Americans, who have, during the war, been persecuted beyond all bounds. They are most
eminently loyal, as loyal as our most extreme northern men. Some of them — a Very few —
are in favor of negro suffrage. I was at the convention, and there were seven out of eighty-
nine delegates in favor of negro suffrage. There are also 8,000 Norwegians in the State,
who are all loyal. Then, all the secession people of the State — those who have ho<>n seces
sionists — seem to me to be willing to accept the situation as the war has left them. I saw no
case of unmitigated disloyalty in Texas. I did not see any exhibitions of disloyalty at all,
nor any exhibitions of patriotism either. I talked with 'all the rebel generals' nca'rly, ami
Avith many of the leading men, and they all seemed to desire peace, to obey the laws, and to
do the right thing. Ex-Governor Runnels of the State has always been a vicious rebel, and
seerns to be so now. There were only e!,-von real malicious rebels in the State convention
out of the eighty-nine members; thirty-five were extreme loyal men, and have been so all
the time, seven in favor of negro sunVage, and the balance, some forty-odd, were conserva
tive men on botl^sides. Judge Hancock I class as a lova! man, although he cannot take
the oath. He offered his services once to our government, and afterwards went to Mexico
and staid until the close of the war. He was not classed among the loyal men in the State
for some reason, I scarcely know what. He is a great politician. Mr. Taylor, one of the
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 137
extreme Union men from northern Texas, told me the Union flag had been torn down once
or twice since the close of the war, in his section of the country, by men of Shelley's com
mand, I believe — marauders, who persecuted the Union men during the war. But, as a
general thing:, there is a real good honest feeling in Texas.
Question. To what convention do you refer ?
Answer. To the Austin constitutional convention. I have just come from there.
Question. Do you know how many of the members of that convention held office, civil or
military, under the confederate government ?
Answer. Counting judges, officers, and private soldiers, I think half certainly, and I pre
sume two-thirds. There were not many private soldiers — nearly all officers. Including State
troops, there were eleven who had been colonels, and seven who had been generals in tin-
rebel army.
Question. Were you there when the convention was organized ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Is it true, as has been reported, that the secretary of that convention took his
<=eat clothed in the confederate uniform ?
Answer. The secretary pro tern. did.
Question. What representations did these loyal men make to you as to the necessity of
military protection in that State for the loyal men ?
Answer. In the loyal American portion of the State, some two or three counties deep,
bordering on Red river, depredations are committed by bands of Shelley's, Duff's, and Quaii-
trell's men. They dare not go into Arkansas, and are staying in those counties annoying
Union men. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Hart, I think, both had the Union flag pulled down from
their houses. Mr. Hart is a Union man, whose brother was hung on account of his loy
alty during the first year of the war. Mr. Taylor and Mr. Hart, both South Carolinians,
made speeches in the convention in favor of negro suffrage, as did Mr. Shields, with the
educational qualification. They say the people, especially those who have been in the rebel
army, are all doing first-rate. Some of the politicians are not doing exactly right, and, as I
said, some men of Shelley's, Duff's, and Quantrell's bands are annoying Union men a great
deal. I talked with men of all classes, in order to be, and I was, very particular in forming
conclusions.
Question. Do you think it will be safe, at this time, for loyal men, black or white, in
Texas, to withdraw the protection of the federal government ?
Answer. I think it is necessary to retain the military in the Red river counties and on the
frontier, but it is the Indians there who are committing the depredations. In the Red river
counties there are at least a thousand bad men ; they are mostly Missourians, but some ot
them are from Arkansas. There are very few Texans among them ; two-thirds of them be
long in Missouri.
Question. Have you seen a proposition introduced into the Senate by Mr. Stewart, of
Nevada ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Suppose that proposition, which is substantially universal suffrage and uni
versal amnesty, should be submitted to the people of Texas with the condition that they
should have no representation in Congress until it was adopted by them, what do you think
the people of "Texas would do in reference to it ; reject it or adopt it ?
Answer. Texas would go further towards adopting it than any other southern State — a
great deal further. There are a good many there, who have been secessionists, who are act
ing very well, and who would be willing to adopt it. I talked with some in Texas who
were willing to do almost anything. The people there think they have got the greatest
State— the greatest piece of country in the world ; of the greatest value, acre by acre ; and
there is a real good feeling among all classes of people there. They are in favor of doing
what is exactly right by the colored man. They passed laws giving him all the civil rights.
I think at least half, if not two-thirds, the people of Texas would be in favor of accepting
Senator Stewart's bill. There were four men in the convention who urged negro suffrage
and voted for it ; and others told me they were in favor of it, but they did not like to spring
too much upon the people of the State at this time ; that the people were not so progressive
as they were themselves. But the loyal Germans — 54,000 of them, I do not know ex
actly how many voters — are all for it. In four counties they did not cast a vote for the se
cession convention, and one man, by the name of Simon, offered his services to General
Houston to clean out that convention. Almost all of them were maltreated by the rebels
during the Avar. The Norwegians are Avilling to do anything. Mr. Norton represents the
Norwegian settlement in the convention. He was a thorough Union man all through tin-
war. His brother is United States senator from Minnesota, I think. He wrote me three or
four pages on the subject. He says the Norwegians were loyal to a man during the war.
They were persecuted very little, being situated very much as the Shakers are at the north.
He said the Norwegians, as a body, would accept negro suffrage.
Question. You say you think Texas would be more inclined to adopt that proposition than
any of the other States you have named /
Answer. Yes, I think so, though I doubt if a majority of the people of Texas would vott
138 RECONSTRUCTION.
for it. They do not care anything about amnesty there. The loyal people are more inclined
to have those who have been guilty of exec-si vc barbarity punished. The Union men in
most of the other States are willing to fraternize witli those who have been rebels, and to
forget and forgive, but the Union men of Texas are very bitter.
Question. What would be the probability of the adoption of this proposition in the other
rebel States you have visited ?
Answer. Next to Texas, there would be more votes in favor of it in Florida. In Louisiana
I do not think the people would touch it at all ; they would not entertain it, either tin- dis
loyal people or the loyal. The people of Louisiana are different from either those in Texas
or Florida.
Question. Suppose the people of Texas were left to themselves, what sort of men would
they elect to office — men who have been rebels or men who have been loyal to the government?
Answer. There are intensely loyal districts there, but, as a whole, I think the people of
the State would elect a rebel as governor. They will probably elect a Mr. Throckmorton,
who voted against secession in the convention, but afterwards went into the rebel army ;
but he told me he had been a Union man in feeling all the time. He was straightforward
in this convention, in favor of giving the negroes all their rights, and of declaring the seces
sion ordinance null arid void ab initio. But he has been a general in the rebel army. A
man who has been a loyal man all the time, like Governor Hamilton, who is the best man in
the State, could not be elected, though Governor Hamilton told me he believed if the Ger
mans, Norwegians, and loyal Americans would rally, they could elect their men to all the
offices. He thinks if they would all rally, there are more loyal than disloyal men in Texas.
Question. What did these loyal people say to you about the immediate recognition of the
State by Congress, and their immediate representation in the Senate and House of Repre
sentatives here ?
Answer. The entire portion of the loyal people of that State are in favor of the recon
struction policy of the President. They were in favor of immediate representation in Con
gress, but they were not in favor of the admission of any men as senators or representatives
who could not take the test oath. The loyal people there have been in favor, to a greater
extent than in any other of the southern States I have been in, of the Freedinen's Bureau as
it exists there.
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity or utility of the Freedmen's Bureau,
or some such agency, in these rebel States ?
Answer. I have thought all along there was a necessity for the Freedmen's Bureau, but
there is not so much necessity for it now as there was, especially in Texas. Texas is, by all
odds, doing better than any of the other States. I talked with all the delegates particularly
about the freedmen, and I did riot meet a delegate or gentleman who made any complaints
of the negroes whatever. They said they were doing first-rate. A great many who had
been real malicious secessionists were not so generous in talking about other matters as they
were about the negroes. I went all over the Brazos and Trinity lands, and a great many
planters were giving the negroes two-thirds the crop. I did not see a negro abused or ill-
treated throughout the whole State. Those who owned negroes treat them very well. There
are some Avho did not own them who are not inclined to treat them so well, but everybody
is treating them well, because they need their labor. It is their policy to treat them well,
even if they were inclined to do otherwise. Free labor is a success in Texas.- Most of th"
former slaves are with their former masters everywhere in the interior.
Question. What would they do there as to giving the negroes their civil rights '
Answer. The convention passed an ordinance giving the negroes all the civil rights, and it
passed by a very large majority.
Question. I have seen it represented that at the time this convention assembled, a majority
of its members refused to take an oath to support the Constitution of the United {States : 'what
are the facts in regard to that?
Answer. That is so. Mr. Paschal, one of the best Union men in the State, ofi'm-d a reso
lution that all should take the constitutional oath. They debated upon it, and the first day
they refused to do it by a majority of one ; the next day they reconsidered it, and those who
had opposed it the previous day made speeches in favor of it. There seemed to be some
misunderstanding, but my private opinion was that a. great many of them were opposed to
(Jovernor Hamilton, and the resolution the first day was that Governor Hamilton should
officiate. The next morning the resolution was changed so that Judge Stewart should admin
ister the oath, and the vote adopting it was almost unanimous. Those who have him
secessionists, although they seem to be doing right every other way, hate Governor Hamilton;
and that was their chief reason for rehising to vote for a resolution the tirst day to take the
oath ; though I talked with Governor Hamilton and he did not think so; he thought it was
just an exhibition of bitter feeling.
Question. What is the degree of intelligence there among the blacks? Do they appreciate
the condition of things now, and their own condition .'
Answer. As far as I can see they appreciate it fully. The only reason why they have been
moving around so much is to assure themselves that they really do possess their freedom.
The whiles felt a little bitter towards them nine or ten months ago. Some ot'them maltreated
them, and great fault was found Avith them everywhere; but after Christmas all that died
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 139
away; they are all at work. The agents of the Freedmen's Bureau, unlike those in most of the,
other States, make no contracts for them, but leave them to do the best they can. The negroes
are not getting less than 8-0 a month in specie and found, anywhere in the State of Texas, and
in some portions of the State they arc getting two-thirds the cotton crop and half the corn
crop. If the s< ason is good, and the negroes continue to work as well as they arc working
now, there will be a larger crop of cotton made in Texas than in any other State, and the
negroes will make more money than the whites.
Question. Suppose the negroes in Texas were allowed to vote, would they vote with and for
those who are Union men, or would they vote for those who have heretofore been known as
rebels ?
Answer. They would vote for Union men. They know a great deal about the war, and
more than the poor white people do. They are more intelligent. In many portions of the
State you will find more negroes who can write their names and know how to read than among
the poor white men. There is something instinctive about their knowledge about this war
all over the south. In case such a thing should happen, there is no question but what the
negroes would vote on the right side.
Question. Do you think it is practicable at this time to adopt any such plan of reconstruc
tion as that proposed by Senator Stewart?
Answer. I think it would be strictly impracticable. I think it would not be accepted and
would injure the negroes.
Question. Do you suppose that the white people there would ever confer the right of suf
frage upon the negroes if they were left to determine the question for themselves?
Answer. I think they would in Texas ; though now I think they would rather give up their
three-fifths representation than have the negroes vote.
Question. What have you to say in reference to these matters as applicable to Florida ?
Answer. In Florida the negroes are doing first rate. I called on all the generals and all
the officers of the Freedmen's Bureau there and had long talks with them. General Gregory
says there are about four hundred thousand negroes in Texas, and he only supported about eight
hundred of them in the month of January last. All the old and decrepid ones are being sup
ported by their former masters. But wrhere they have able-bodied children with the same
persons I suppose they Avill charge them something for it. But they have to take care of
these old and decrepid people at any rate. General Gregory ordered them to do it, and they
are doing it all over the State. There are sixteen thousand negro children going to school in
Texas, and it does not cost the federal government a cent. They are supported by their
fathers and mothers. I arrived in Florida the 7th of December, and remained in the State
about two weeks. I visited St. Augustine, St. Mark's, Jacksonville, and all the principal
places in the State. The negroes are doing first rate there. They had generally made con
tracts there for a year at $12 a month. I thought that was doing very well there, and per
haps it was from the fact that a great many colored people were just then acting badly — not
maliciously, but would not work. They were expecting presents of farms, &c., about Christ
mas. I talked with hundreds of them, and that Avas the general expectation. They were
conscientious about it. They had been promised by federal soldiers, in some instances, that
the government would give them their master's lauds, and they understood the distribution
was to take place about Christmas. The moment Christmas passed they all made contracts
and went to work. There were about eighty thousand negroes in Florida, as it was under
stood. There were only sixty thousand before the war, but a great many of them were re
moved there from other States as the war progressed. Colonel Osborn told me he had eight
schools in progress. He spoke very highly of the colored people there and of the white peo
ple too. While I was in Florida there were several unfortunate affairs which took place be
tween colored soldiers and white people, and between colored troops and white soldiers par
ticularly.
Question. Did you find- any considerable number of men in Florida who had been loyal
during the war ?
Answer. No, sir: not many in Florida who had been loyal.
Question. What disposition did the secessionists in Florida evince towards loyal men or
Union people, as far as you could judge?
Answer. They were particularly in i'avor of northern immigration. Nearly all the leading
men I talked with, confederate officers and others, asked me to encourage it. One thing to
be considered is that they are poor down then1. They want northern capital. I came across
hundreds of cases in Florida, as well as in Louisiana and Texas, where our officers had gone
into business with confederate officers. In the First National Bank at Galveston, Texas,
there are two rebel generals and two Union generals. General Clark and General Heron are
the Union generals. General Nichols is one of the rebel generals. I forget the name of the
other.
Question. Did most of the people who had been rebels with whom you conversed know
you were the correspondent of a New York paper ?
Answer. Yes ; I told everybody where I went I was the correspondent of a republican paper.
A great many of them knew my name, which, during the war, 1 signed in full to all my letters.
Question. State any further facts within your knowledge tending to show the true condi
tion of things in any of the three States named.
140 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. There is a great mistake about the feeling of the, white people towards the 1'reed-
men in the south. There is generally a kindly feeling existing towards them. It is true
that the people there would generally prefer to elect to office men who have been in the rebel
army; but I don't know that I regard that as an evidence of disloyalty. They honor those
men for what they tried to do. There is no mistake about that. They till seemed to think
they were right during the war. But they are now willing to submit, and I think they do
so sincerely and honestly.
Question. In case the country should be engaged in a foreign war, do you think th«-v
would take sides with our government ?
Answer. I do; and it is the very thing they would like to have take place. The people
there are very proud. They have accepted the situation. Those editors who are praising
their soldiers, talking about the southern cause, &c., understand the people, know they are
proud, and, as they call it, are letting them down easily. They will not, therefore, come
right out and indorse the government. I talked with nearly all the confederate generals in
those States, eight or ten of them, and they told me that, in case of a foreign war, they
would offer their services to the government in any capacity ; that while, from their past
career, they thought they would be entitled to positions as officers, some of them told me
they would enlist as privates in order to show the people that they accepted the situation.
In case of invasion, an enemy could get some recruits.
Question. Did you hear anything said while you were there as to the debt contracted by
the federal government in prosecuting the war, or the confederate debt, or as to their expec
tation to be compensated for their former slaves ?
Answer. Oh, yes ; the loyal men are the most bitter about that ; and in this respect they clog
the movements of the conventions more than the secessionists. The secessionists all voted to
abolish slavery. I was present at four conventions, and I found that to be the fact. The loyal
men were very reluctant to vote to abolish slavery, and some who finally did vote for it told
me that they had made a full estimate of their losses with a view of claiming compensation.
Mr. Taylor, of Texas, told me he had sent on such a statement to Mr. Seward, with proof
of his former loyalty during the war, with a view of future compensation. He said he did
not expect it. He only demanded it as a right. He thought too much of the government
to urge it, but lie sent on the statement for the benefit of his children.
Question. What did they say about paying the debt contracted by the State or the con
federate government during the war ?
Answer. A majority of the politicians and others seemed to be in favor of paying the
debt. I could see that plainly in the convention. The people I talked with along the lines
of railroads, steamboats, &c., were opposed to it as a general thing. Some of them did not
connect it with the war, but thought, it would be a dishonorable thing to repudiate.
Question. Did you hear anything said about paying the debt contracted by the United
•States during the war ?
Answer. No, sir ; I did not hear anything about that at all during my whole trip, and I
never thought of questioning them about it. I have heard people, and a great many people
say they did not think they ought to be taxed unless they were represented in Congress
That is the only thing I heard.
WASHINGTON, April 17, 1866.
Major General Lorenzo Thomas sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Have you recently been in Louisiana ? If so, how long have you been there
and in what capacity?
Answer. I have been a great deal in that part of the country, before the war, during the
war, and since the war. 1 was stationed at Natchez, Mississippi, years ago, at which time
I became well acquainted with the people there. Duiing the war i was sent down there to
organize troops in the southern States, and spent a great deal of timo there, being thrown
with the same class ot people I knew before. After the war, one of my sons having leased
;i plantation in the parish of Coucordia, in the State of Louisiana, on Lake Concoalia, and
believing that^ I could obtain labor for the plantation better than he could, 1 asked the Sec
retary of War to allow me to go down there in order to aid my sou in getting the work on
his plantation started. 1 was accordingly assigned to duty as inspector of troops there, and
I left here about the i:Uh of November last. 1 have spent the time since then in Natchez, in
New Orleans, and sometimes up at Vicksburg, besides being on the plantation, until I left,
frequent conversations with them.
Question. Judging from what you observed while there, what is your opinion of the tem
per and disposition of the people towards the government of the United States ?
FLORIDA— rLOUISIAN A TEXAS. 141
Answer. I tlimk they are decidedly in favor of coming hack into the Union. They have
expressed themselves to me as being perfectly satisfied with the present condition of affairs,
and that they desired to he peaceful and quiet citizens, and to obey the laws. I think that
is the feeling I have discovered there. I have conversed with a great many persons, more
particularly of the better class, such as the planters, with whom I was more immediately
brought in contact. Most of those owning plantations in the part of Louisiana to which I
have referred, live back of Natchez, on the hills about there, their plantations being on low
ground. Some of them have told me that they were glad slavery was gone, though they
said, very freely, that they did not like losing their property. So far as I have seen, they
are disposed to submit to the abolition of slavery, and to treat the blacks well. I can speak
more particularly of the several plantations I have been on, in reference to the way things
were managed. I will refer to one man who had been a general in the rebel army — General
York — who begged me to go to the President and obtain his pardon. He said: "I have
lost everything but my plantation, and I want now to go to work. I will be as loval and
peaceful a citizen as any one." I 'mentioned his case to the President a few days ago, and
I suppose that may be one reason why I am summoned here. Now, to show that that per
son has kind feelings towards me, and also towards others, there was a person there whom I
have never seen, and whom I do not know, threatened my life, said he would shoot me,
making his threats against me in two or three places in Natchez. General Yurk took me
one side quietly one day and asked me if I carried arms. I said I did not. He advised me
to do so, and told me of those threats, giving me the name of the man, and I did carry a
pistol afterwards as long as I was there, but I never saw the man that 1 know of. I men
tion this to show that this man had really a kind feeling towards me. The reason given by
the man for wanting to shoot me Avas, that I had sat on the commission for the trial of Wir/ ;
I was one of the members of that commission.
Question. Did you observe any exhibitions of a feeling of hostility, on the part of those
who had been in the rebellion, towards those living there who had been loyal to the govern
ment, or towards men coming there from the northern States ?
Answer. I have discovered no such feeling among the people there. I think that those
who have taken an active part in the, rebellion are much more disposed to accept things as
they are, than are those who did not enter into the rebellion actively. I know several who
had been in the rebellion, some of whom had been friends of mine before the rebellion broke
out, and they say that they are glad the war is over, and that they want the country to be
reunited again. I have seen no exhibitions of feelings of hostility towards northern men.
On the contrary, I have been spoken to very frequently by those who asked me to aid them
in renting their plantations. They say that they want northern men with capital to come
there, and I have been asked many times to aid them in getting them out there. There are,
I think, some sixteen plantations around Lake Concordia, and on an island in the lake, of which,
I think, there are only six plantations that are now cultivated by their owners ; the others are
leased to northern men. The people there are glad to lease their plantations to northern men.
I know one case where some of the land has been sold to negroes ; and on Lake St. John's
there is a plantation which is worked by negroes, the former master furnishing the mules
and implements, the negroes feeding themselves, and receiving half the crop. But that sys
tem is found not to work well, for the negroes want some one over them to direct them.
They complain of each other, saying that this one will not do as much \vork as the other ;
they do not like to work under overseers, for they have been very harsh to them heretofore ;
they will work under their former masters where they have been kind to them. The negroes
have strong local attachments, and those who have been in the army are returning to their
old homes as they are discharged from the service. The negroes are well able to take care
of themselves, and make their own contracts, especially those who have been in tho army ;
and they make the best hands, for they have been under proper discipline. There i» a great
scarcity of labor there, for a large number of negroes have gone away ; the demand for labor is
very great, and thus the negroes are enabled to get high wages. I know a negro who is
both a carpenter and blacksmith, and who makes his own contracts, and ho gets $45 a
month ; the wages of hands range from $10 to $15 a month. I have yet to hear the tirst com
plaint made by any of the drivers, as those negroes are called who are placed in charge of
gangs, against any of* the negroes on the plantation. On the contrary, one of tho negroes, a
very intelligent man, said that double the amount of work had been done in the same time
with less force than under the old system. And I did not hear of any complaints from any
of the other plantar inns, except that they are all deficient in labor, and cannot get it. The,
consequence is, that the amount of land that will bo cultivated in that parish this year
will be very small in comparison with the amount that was formerly under cultivation. In
Concordia parish I am told that the amount of land which will be under cultivation will not
be much more than one acre in ten that was formerly cultivated, and so it is in other par
ishes. The only complaints I have heard from the negroes were in two cases, both of which
were against northern men ; one was the case of a man who was promised pay for some \rwrk
he had done, and the planter, a northern man, went oil without pajing him. The other wa.s
the case of a man who was to have a horse for selling sonv) corn, but he never got it. Those
cases I referred to the provost marshal, and I suppose they were properly attended to.
142 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. What is your opinion in regard to the necessity of lic"p:rig a military force in
Louisiana at this time ?
Answer. I would keep small bodies of troops in the principal places ; you must have a
force in New Orleans, because the negroes flock there in large numbers, and if there is any
disposition to oppress them it will be shown there. I would have a force at some place or
places on Red river, and I would also have a force at such places as Natchez and Vieks-
burg. The force need not be very large, but it should be of good troops. There is a very
tine regiment at Natchez, and a good one also at Vicksburg, and there is one also in the in
terior of the State at Jackson. Those regiments I raised myself. The best regiment at New
Orleans is a colored regiment, as was stated to me by the general commanding there. He
has black troops at Fort Jackson, and Fort Phillips, and other forts on the lake.
I do not think that there need be troops in the country districts at all ; for if any troubles
arise there, the troops can be very easily sent there. There is undoubtedly a feeling of preju-.
dice on the part of the inhabitants there against the black troops. Still, I have heard many
of them say that they had behaved themselves with perfect propriety, and where they are
properly officered I do not think there is any difficulty with them,
I will mention one case where there was a collision with the black troops, but that was
attributable to the influence of liquor. There was a large fire recently in Natchez; a large
hotel burned down during the night. A number of colored troops came down from the fort
and worked very faithfully in aiding to put out the fire. The police force was also there,
but they are, I think, an inferior class of men ; because not being paid very well, the best men
cannot be obtained. After the fire was extinguished, or rather after it had burned to such an
extent that nothing further could be saved, the heads of some barrels of liquor were knocked
in, and the police and others used it pretty freely. A great deal of liquor had been carried
out into the street from a store connected with the hotel. Some of the soldiers also got in
toxicated ; and there were also a great many blacks there who had been recently discharged.
The deputy sheriff was there, and he evidently sought to bring on a collision with the blacks.
He called out, "Now is the time to give it to those damned niggers." An officer standing by
knocked him down. Then four policemen started off after a negro, and insisted upon taking
him to the guard-house. I do not know what he had done. He broke away from them and ran ;
they were beating him Avith their clubs. He ran to the corner of the street above, and they
followed him, firiug several shots after him. At this time another negro— they could not tell
whether he was a discharged soldier or not — came up and fired, and a policeman was killed.
The mayor requested the officers to take the soldiers away out of town, which they said
they would do, provided lie would attend to the police force, which he said he would do.
The soldiers were sent to the fort, but the mayor afterwards sent up there and requested
them to send two companies of soldiers down to patrol the town and preserve order. That
i.s the only case I know of a collision between the troops of the colored regiments and the
people out there.
Question. Did you, while out there, form any idea as to what proportion of the people were
loyal to the government during the war ?
Answer. The plantations in that portion of Louisiana belong principally to persons living
on the heights on the Mississippi side of the river. The county of Adams, in which Natchez
is situated, and the county of Wilkinson, adjoining below, were formerly always strong whig
counties. There was a strong Union sentiment there, and a large majority of them opposed
secession ; they spoke against it and were undoubtedly opposed to it. After the State had
seceded some of the people, principally young men, went into the confederate army; the
others had to keep quiet, and some of them had to give a portion of their crops to the confede
rate authorities ; and in many instances their cotton was burned. A friend of mine, a Mr. Mar
shall, was called on for a hundred bales ; but he did not give any, and his cotton was burned.
Such men as he, and Dr. Duncan, Judge Winchester, Mr. Rivers, and all that class of men,
were decidedly opposed to secession, and they are undoubtedly loyal. I think there is a
strong Union sentiment in that part of the State. I know some in Vicksburg also who were
loyal, but that was not so generally the case as below there.
Question. What rights an; the people there disposed to give to the negroes?
Answer. They are undoubtedly opposed to bestowing upon the negroes the right of
suffrage, but they are willing to allow them all other rights, such as to sue and be sued, and
to give evidence in the courts. I have heard no other sentiment expressed there than that,
although they are opposed to piving them the right of suffrage.
Question. Do you understand that opposition to allowing the negro to vote is on the
ground that they should not be allowed the right of suffrage at any time, or is it that they
think the negro ought not to ho allowed to vote at the present time on account of not bein^
qualified to exercise that right properly ?
Answer. I refer to the present time only.
Question. Did you hear anything said by any of them as to the probability of allowing the
negro to vote at some future time, when he shall have become more intelligent ?
Answer. I have heard it said in several instances that after the negro iiad become edu
cated and elevated to a certain extent, he should bo permitted to exercise the right of suffrage.
And there is another consideration which I think will have a tendency to bring tliat about,
and that is the question of representation. If the basis of representation should be based on
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 143
suffrage, then they will want as many voters as they can get in order to have additional
representation in Congress. If the present rale shall bo changed, of allowing them so many
representatives for their black population, they would at once lose so many members of
Congress, and they desire as much strength as possible in Congress. I think that would
operate to bring them to confer the right of suffrage on the negroes.
Question. Did you, while th-3re, hear discussed by the people the subject of immediate
representation in Congress?
Answer. Yes, sir; they were very anxious that their members should be received. The
idea was that till their representatives were admitted to seats in Congress they could not bo
properly heard here ; they would not be represented. They are very anxious about that
matter.
Question. Did you find that to be the case with all the people, loyal and disloyal ?
Answer. Yes, sir; I do not think I heard any dissenting voice; they all expressed their
sorrow that they were not permitted to be represented here.
Question. Did you hear anything said about the payment of the confederate debt, or of
the debt of the United States, or compensation for the slaves that have been emancipated ?
Answer. In regard to payment for slaves emancipated, I have heard them say that they
did not expect to receive anything for them, though they thought they ought to. In regard
to the payment of the confederate debt, they are opposed to that ; they cannot do it ; they
have not the means to do it. Those who hold confederate bonds are willing to give them
away freely; they look upon them as mere waste-paper that will never be worth anything.
You ask one of them who has it and he will give you as much as you want of it ; showing
that they do not think it will ever be paid. In regard to the payment of the national debt,
they are perfectly willing to pay taxes for that purpose ; they expect that as a matter of
course.
Question. How many negroes does your son employ on the plantation he has leased ?
Answer. It is a plantation of about one thousand four hundred acres of cleared land, calculated
to raise about a thousand bales of cotton ordinarily. Under the old system about one hundred
and fifty negroes were employed upon it. When I went there I took a census of the negroes
on the place and found sixty-one persons there, old men and old women, and some young
women and children. The ages ranged from the infant, a few days old, to a man of over a
hundred years old, who had been born in Africa. Out of these we could get only about six
teen able hands, principally young women. Some of the old men could work some, because
they could drive a team and do such things. We commenced breaking up the ground for
planting about the Christmas holidays. I think we commenced with running about seven
ploughs. By about the middle of January we got, perhaps, ten or twelve ploughs running,
1 think. The negroes continued coming in until, when I left there the other day, rations
were being issued to about seventy-five hands. My son still desires to obtain some twenty
or tAventy-tive more, so as to make his number of hands about one hundred. These he will
undoubtedly get from among the discharged soldiers, several of whom have families there,
and will return to them. One of the colored regiments sent a delegation around to the
several plantations to see how the hands were treated. One of the soldiers who came to his
plantation told him he could get as may hands as he wanted when the colored regiments
were mustered out. The number of acres cultivated by one man is about ten for cotton and
two for corn ; so that one hundred hands would make from eight hundred to one thousand
bales of cotton ordinarily. The way they work is this : they get up about daylight and go
out to the fields at sunrise, carrying with them their breakfasts, or leaving it to be carried
out to them by the children. At the proper time they are allowed a half an hour in which to
cut breakfast. They then go to work again and work until 12 o'clock, when they stop until
2 o'clock. They either have their dinners brought to them in the fields or they go to their
quartos for them. At 2 o'clock they begin work again and work till sundown. On Satur
day they stop work at noon, and do not go to work again until Monday morning. Each
negro has near his quarter land enough for a garden ; ani if they want to plant any corn,
they are allowed some land further off. They will not average more than an aero each
planted in that way. Some of them cultivate more than others. They are allowed to raise
corn, but not cotton, for fear that they may be tempted to steal cotton from the plantation.
I ought to say, furthermore, that the planter or his wife ought to have some knowledge of
medicine. It any hand is reported sick to the driver or leader of a gang, he is immediately
sent to the house, where he is prescribed tor and furnished medicines tree of charge ; and the
furni>hii:g of medicines is ordinarily a pretty considerable item. The planter should be able
to manage ordinarily cases of fever, colds, and pneumonia. The hands are not obliged to
work when they are sick, but they are supplied with provisions as usual. Nor are they
obliged to work in. the rain; if it comes oil to rain while they are in the fields, they are
brought by the driveis to their quarteis.
Question. Are they supplied by the planter with clothing and rations ?
Answer. They furnish their own clothing, but the planter supplies them with rations.
Their rations per week, are Jour pounds of pork, which they like as fat as they can get it, and
of course the bt-st poik is the best to give them ; the sides are given them because it satisfies
them better than the other parts, being mure fat; and a peck of corn-meal, a pint of mo-
lasseg, and as much salt as they require. The meal is ground on the plantation once a week,
1 44 RECONSTRUCTION.
so that it is furnished to them fresh, and the rations are always issued on Saturday afternoons.
Every plantation must have a store, in order to supply the wants of the hands ; sho.
clothing and articles of food. Sometimes some of the hands will ask to have flour issued to
to them instead of meal, which is done. But generally they supply themselves with what
flour they want 'from the store, and with sugar, tea, coffee and rice, and especially with
tobacco. All the negroes, old and young, use tobacco. And a store is kept on the planta
tion, so that the hands may not be obliged to go off for what they want. So far as I havn
observed there is no disposition to take advantage of the negroes in regard to prices. I in
quired in Natchez in regard to prices, and I found that the negroes would have to pay
more in the retail stores there than they are charged by the planters. In regard to wag.-.<,
the drivers, of which there must be one to each gang, one over the ploughs, and the stock
driver, receive more than ordinary hands. Ordinary hands receive from ten to fifteen dollars
a month, and rations; fifteen dollars being the highest. The women do not receive so much
as the men; they receive from ten to twelve dollars a month, while the men receive faun
twelve to fifteen. We first commenced with twelve dollars for first-class hands ; but they
thought it was not enough and wanted more. Such was the demand for labor that all the
planters raised the wages up to fifteen dollars a month. That with their food, I think, is fair
wages. In ordinary times, when cotton was at former prices, say ten cents a pound, or
even as low as six cents a pound, as I have seen it sell, planters could not live at such v.
But they can afford to pay these high wages with cotton at its present price. And then tin
risk of planting is very considerable. The levees are not now in good order, and the plan
tations are liable to be overflowed at any time.
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity of the Freedmen's Bureau or soin-
agency in Louisiana at this time ?
Answer. For the present I would have agents of the biireau stationed in Louisiana. But
I am not much in favor of the Freedmen's Bureau; I think that the negroes can take care
of themselves now, for I do not think there is much disposition to oppress them. I think the
bureau might very well be dispensed with before long, though I would retain it there for the
present year.
Question. Do you understand that by the laws of Louisiana the negroes now have their
civil rights, to sue and be sued, to testily in the courts and to hold property?
Answer. Yes, sir. I will mention a case to you. The landing for the plantations I have
been speaking of, on Lake Concordia, was in Louisiana, about ten miles above Natclu-x.
The river, by cutting in the plantation where the landing was, destroyed the levee entirely,
leaving a part of the plantation outside of the new levee and a part inside. That was recently
sold by General York to some fifteen or twenty negroes, who are working it for thein.se !vrs.
and who have erected at the new lauding a storehouse, where they receive the goods ior the
plantations; protect them from the weather and keep them until the planters call for them,
paying compensation, for the storage.
Question. What do you find to be the disposition of the negroes in regard to obtaining
education, and what provision has been made in the part of Louisiana where you we.
educating the children of negroes I
Answer. The negroes are exceedingly anxious to obtain instruction, especially for their
children. Some on my sou's plantation came to me and begged me to have their children
1 aught, and I told them I would establish a school there. And I am now obtaining from
friends in New York books to take out with me for that purpose. In the towns the Fived-
men's Bureau have established schools for the freedmen : and that is one reason why I should
like to have the Freedmen's Bureau continued for a while longer, for they can carry on the
schools better than any one else. Schools have not been established on the plantations in the
countr
Question. To what extent do the negroes understand the condition of affairs in the country
and their relations to the government of the United States ?
Answer. The negroes themselves are the most loyal people you can find any where ; th
entirely loyal. They love the government of the United States, and they are devoted to north
ern men, although they have been badly treated by some of them who went down there origi
nally merely for the purpose of making money, and went off without paying them. But thaf
is not the case now ; there is a better class of men there. The loyalty of the negroes is not
to be doubted ; they recognize fully their indebtedness to the government for their fnedom.
Question. Suppose the people of Louisiana were left perfectly free to select the men »>!
their own choice to fill State and national offices, from what class do you think those officers
would be taken /
Answer. They would be taken from their upper classes. As a general rule they have al
ways selected their most intelligent men, and that would undoubtedly be the case now, I
think they would select their best men, regardless of whether they took an active part in the.
rebellion or not. But I must say that almost all their best men have been engaged i
rebellion; that has been pretty generally the case.
Question. Do you think of 'anything else that is important in connexion with the subject
under investigation ?
Answer. No, sir ; I think you have asked me about all the questions that relate to the
subject.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA TEXAS. 145
WASHINGTON, April 9, 1866,
Stephen Powers sworn and examined.
By Mr. WILLIAMS :
Question. Have you at any time since the close of hostilities been in Florida, Louisiana,
or Texas ? If so, when were you there, where, and how long ?
Answer. I arrived in Florida, as correspondent for the Cincinnati Commercial, about the
middle of November last. From that time until the first of March I was in Florida, Louisi
ana, and Texas the most of the time.
Question. Did you visit different parts of those States ?
Answer. I landed at Jacksonville, Florida, and proceeded by rail as far as Tallahassee,
where I remained about a week. Then, making that place a sort of starting point, I visited
some portions of the State of Florida, conversing with some of the planters living in the
vicinity, with the governor, politicians, and people of general intelligence in the city of Tal
lahassee. Then I went to St. Mark's, and from thence I went to Louisiana.
Question. What did you rind to be the general sentiment and opinion of the people of
Florida as to the late rebellion, and the present condition of things in the country ?
Answer. When I was in Florida the sentiment of the people was very bitter towards the.
government of the United States, much more so, I think, than it is at present. The people
of Florida had had this advantage over all the other Confederate States : they could boast,
with a great degree of truthfulness, that the Union armies had never met with any very sub
stantial success on their soil. That fact they were inclined to a great extent to exult over.
JPhey had also never been chastised by the Union armies to the extent that the citizens of
other States had been ; and consequently there was a degree of boastfulness, and an unsubmis
sive spirit, to a greater extent in Florida, I think, than I saw in any other of the three States
that I have mentioned.
Question. Were you there in Florida while any elections took place there, or while any
convention was held there ?
Answer. The reconstruction convention had adjourned when I got there ; I was there
when an election took place for members of Congress, governor and other State officers.
Question. What do the people say or indicate as to their future conduct in regard to the
government and authority of the United States ?
Answer. Some of the people were very discontented and seemed to feel very bitter and
exasperated, and were disposed to sell their property if they could do so at any reasonable
rate, and leave the country for Mexico or Brazil. But the better and more substantial por
tion of the people were disposed, and so stated, to remain in Florida and "take their chances,"
as they called it, and endeavor to become and remain good citizens of the United States.
They, of course, felt hardly in regard to many of the measures that have been adopted by
the government, and so expressed themselves ; but I believe the intention of the influential,
thinking, and substantial portion of the people of Florida is to abide by the laws and the
Constitution of the country, and endeavor to reconstruct Florida in good faith. Those who
are so bitter and so unreasonable are people of whom Florida could well be rid ; they are
not an honor or a benefit to the State or to the United States, and they are greatly in the mi
nority as regards numbers.
Question. What position did these people, who are so bitter towards the government of
the United States, occupy during the rebellion ?
Answer. They were mostly people who had not been in the army, people who had done no
fighting ; men who were held in small estimation in the community, who had done nothing
substantial to promote the success of the rebellion. The fighting men of Florida are the best
citizens of the State ; they yield to the necessities of the time, and accept the situation with
the best grace and in the most good faith.
Question. What disposition do the people there manifest as to the settlement of northern
men in that State ?
Answer. The people of Florida, speaking through their newspapers, especially are dis
posed to welcome northern men to their State; that is the general expression. There are
many instances, however, in which northern men are treated with coldness and even with
contempt. Their theories, however, are frequently falsified by their practices ; northern
men come among them, and at first are treated with coldness, and not received into society,
and are even insulted. But in time, if they abstain from political discussions and employ
the ordinary courtesies of life, they are received into southern society and treated with the
respect which is accorded to their own citizens. I have known very few instances in Flor
ida or any other Stale where northern men, by exercising any thing like only a decent regard
for private opinions, could not remain with self-respect, with safety, and with business pros
perity.
Question. Did you find any there who had been loyal to the federal government during
the rebellion ? If so, how many ?
Answer. I found two regiments of soldiers, the first and second Florida, and one company
of the third Florida, who were being disbanded, and who were good and loyal men. Besides
those, I found very few who were loyal; Governor Marvin him.self, a citizen of Florida, is
decidedly the most patriotic and noble man I have met in the south. Besides those few per-
10 F L T
irrny, citizens of Florida, are pretty well able to take care of themselves. They are stal-
vart men, and, in many cases, took their muskets home with them, and, I think, they will
>e able to look out for their own safety. The negro population, as I have said, is not dense,
T • _ T i*i? ^.,1,3 w^AA/1 ±l-» .rv -.-v*./-»f/-»/^4-i/-k-%~» 0-rtVkvrlo/l "Kir flirt •MTQcnn r*o f\£ ITnitP;] St.nf.PS
146 RECONSTRUCTION.
sons, I recollect to have seen no others who remained in Florida during the rebellion that
could lay any claim to having been loyal.
Question. Did you, while travelling through that State, see any exhibitions of the- national
flag or any evidence of attachment to it anywhere ?
Answer. I saw our flag at various posts along the railroad where our troops were .sta
tioned ; I have seen it in no other places that I now recollect. It was not to be expected
that it would be raised ; there was no particular occasion for it that I know of. I have^seen
the flag elevated in no places that I now recollect, except where it was done by national
troops.
Question. Do you refer now to the three Slates which you visited ?
Answer. I referred in that answer more particularly to Florida.
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity of preserving a military force in
Florida at this time for the protection of loyal men and the maintenance of peace and good
order in that State ?
Answer. The necessity for the maintenance of a military force in 1 londa has nearly passed
away ; more so there, I think, than in the other two States to which I have referred. The
negro population of Florida is not very large ; and the disbanded soldiers of the federal
army
wart
be ab.~
and in" sonieYocalities would need 'the "protection afforded by the presence of United States
troops ; but, I think, not more than a regiment of troops will be needed for the whole State,
distributed in three or four places, patrolling the country in small parties, under the charge
of a trusty sergeant ; that, I think, would afford all the protection necessary. Their mere
presence would be sufficient in most cases.
Question. Did you, while in Florida, hear of any cases of lawlessness or violence com
mitted by returned rebel soldiers or others, who took part in the rebellion, on Union men or
on the blacks 1
Answer. There was one case of the kind occurred at Quincy, but I did not learn very a<
curately what were the particulars, and therefore I cannot state them fully and reliably,
was a difficulty occurring between negro troops and the citizens of the place. A negro sol
dier had received, as he considered it, an insult, by being thrust off the pavement. In re
turn he fired the barn of the offender, which caused a very serious disturbance, and it was
deemed necessary to send over there a small detachment of white troops. When they ar
rived there, however, the disturbance was over, and nothing serious resulted from it. One
or two arrests were made, and with that the matter subsided. That is the only difficulty ot
any kind that occurred while I was in the State that I heard of.
Question. What sort of people would now be elected in the State of Florida without any
interference in any way on the part of the federal authorities 1
Answer. The people of Florida, on a free vote, would undoubtedly, in many cases, elect
to office ex-officers of their confederate army ; but those officers would not generally be the
original and rabid secessionists of the south, but rather men who strenuously opposed seces
sion up to the time when the ordinance was passed, and only yielded to it, as almost every
southern man of prominence did yield, through the influence of their mistaken belief tlmt
thev owed paramount allegiance to their State. I know of no instance in Florida, and I re
mained there until the result of the election was fully known, where a man was elected, or
could be said to have been elected, on his merits as. a secessionist alone. They elected men
as having done good service in their army, as having been capable fighting men, but not,
I think, in anvcase, simply because they had advocated and promoted secession; and J
think such would be the case if every federal soldier should be withdrawn from t.ie State.
Question. Did you hear anything said there by the people about the payment ot the rebel
or the federal debt, or about compensation for slaves who have been emancipated .'
Answer. The popular belief in Florida, so far as I have been able to ascertain it. is, that
icy will never receive any compensation for their slaves ; though I may say that a majority
f the people think that they should be compensated for them ; they are not disposed to in-
ist on it, however, and sav very little about it. In regard to the debt, I heard very little
aid in Florida compared with what I heard in Georgia, The mass of the common people,
of t
sist on
said in Florida compared ,,+**+ r,
however, aiv indim-ivnt to both debts. Indeed, I heard this theory frequently advanced
beiuo- compelled to pay the national debt, but they will offer no serious resistance, at least
nones in most cases, which will require the presence of the national troops to quiet it.
Question What did you find the condition of the freedinen in Florida to be !
Answer. When I was in Florida the freedmen had not passed through the ordeal o
Christmas holidays, and their condition tlieu was not favorable. It has, of course, improved
since, though I cannot state from personal observation what it now is. WiM« I was there
they were generally drifting about the country,- doing nothing, gay, improvident and thought-
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 147
less in regard to the future. And tlie people were discouraged in regard to them, and
thought that they never would and never could do any work as freed men. And in many
cases they were disposed to drive them off their plantations in disgust. But since then there
has been very great improvement, more especially since the holidays, and more particularly
iu the State of Texas.
Question. What rights did you find the white people of Florida disposed to give to the
blacks there ?
Answer. The people of Florida, speaking through their convention and their newspapers,
were disposed to give the negro the right to testify in all cases where one of his own color
is concerned. And a majority of them were in favor of allowing them to buy, hold, and dispose
of property, and sue and be sued, and such other rights in that respect as are commonly en
joyed by white men. There was much opposition among the people to allowing him to tes
tify, but a majority of them were in favor of giving him that right.
'Question. What did you learn in reference to the condition and opinions of the people of
Louisiana ?
Answer. I was in New Orleans on this trip only two weeks, when I left the State, having
had very little opportunity for observation except in the city of New Orleans itself. I looked
over the country newspapers somewhat, but it is not safe to make very extensive inferences
from them.
Question. Did you see much evidence of the existence in New Orleans of the old rebel
spirit?
Answer. There is a great deal of it in New Orleans — the old spirit of aristocracy. New
Orleans is a very wealthy city, and the old residents there, especially those of French blood,
are hostile to the government, bitterly so, and exclusive in their society. That is more
especially true of the French than of the American residents. The American residents are
entering into business again, and, as they find their great cotton presses and warehouses
filling up, and their streets bustling with activity, they are gradually forgetting their old
hatreds, and are in a much more hopeful condition in respect to political matters than are the
French portion of the population. The French are exclusive, reading only their own papers,
and are behind the times, and almost impervious to any ideas of patriotism.
Question. What should you judge the condition of the black people to be in the city
of New Orleans ?
Answer. In the city of New Orleans the blacks are doing well enough — much better than
in the country. In a great city, so long as such a thing is necessary, the blacks will always
secure better protection than in the country, because in the city everything is done openly,
or brought very directly to the public notice by means of the daily papers. There are
always abundant witnesses of everything done, and there are always present many spectators
from the north and elsewhere who will see that whatever is necessary is made known. The
negroes in New Orleans, therefore, are in no particular danger of being encroached upon and
oppressed. On the great sugar plantations, however, up and down the river and in the inte
rior of the State, there have been many instances of cruelty. The negroes in New Orleans
are so entirely at liberty to do what they please that they held an election for a delegate in
Congress for "the Territory of Louisiana," as they termed it. They polled in the city
19,000 votes, and did it without molestation. They also held elections in, I think, twelve
parishes of the State, and I heard of only two or three instances where insult or outrage was
offered them at the polls in those parishes, which are mostly located up and down the river.
I believe that in those parishes, at least, the negro is enjoying a very considerable degree of
substantial freedom, and they have a very vigilant monitor in the city of New Orleans in the
New Orleans Tribune, which reports thoroughly all injustice done to them.
Question. What did you ascertain of the temper and disposition of the people of Texas
in reference to the general government ?
Answer. I went to Texas with the prepossession that most all northerners have, that it was
the worst and most disloyal State in the confederacy. Soon after I arrived there I took pains
to make an extensive collection of their local newspapers, from which to make extracts for
newspaper use ; I was much pleased to observe the spirit of loyalty which was displayed in
their columns. That was before the convention met, and most of the papers were engaged
in mapping out what they considered to be the proper work of the convention. I collected,
I think, not less than twenty of their papers, taking them at random. They laid down a pro
gramme for the convention substantially as follows : to repudiate the rebel debt; to give the
negro the right to testify in all cases where he himself was concerned ; to declare the
act of secession null and void, and of course to declare slavery forever abolished. Three
very prominent papers in the State advocated the ratification by the convention of the con
stitutional amendment, and also to some extent the granting of suffrage to the negro. There
is, of course, a large amount of lawlessness and pillaging rampant in that State, as was to be
expected. It is estimated that there are 10,000 men, particularly in the Red River counties
in northern Texas, stragglers and remnants from the armies of the rebellion which wore bro
ken up in Arkansas and Missouri, who live entirely by brigandage. They are distributed
in those counties and largely throughout the State, and they commit many of the outrages
which are charged upon the whole people of the State, much to their injustice. There is a
substantial substratum of population in Texas, as in every State ; and I must jrive it as my
148 RECONSTRUCTION.
opinion, as my profound conviction, that Texas is a better Union State than any one of the late
insurgent States. There are 40,000 Germans in and about San Antonio, and 60,000 Ameri
cans resident in the Red River counties who arc undoubtedly and uncompromisingly loyal.
And there were in the constitutional convention thirty-one good and true Union men. I had
supposed early in the session that it would do nothing useful ; but I learned subsequently
that it was not because the convention was more disloyal than others, but for the contrary
reason. Other conventions east of the Mississippi river had presented a harmonious front, as
they call it. The genuine arid honest Union sentimentof those conventions was so weak,
that if it appeared at all it was crushed down at the outset. But in the Texas convention
the Union men were sufficiently numerous to carry on a tremendous conflict for noarly two
weeks, endeavoring to secure the passage of measures which would come pretty nearly up
to the northern platform. But they were unable to carry their best measures, to secure the
insertion of many clauses in their constitution which would have been wholesome. There
were thirty-one men in the convention who favored the admission of the negro to testify in
all cases whatsoever; and seven of them were in favor of negro suffrage, and were not afraid
to advocate it.
Question. Did you, while in Texas, hear of many outrages committed by those who had
been rebels upon Union men and negroes ?
Answer. I read in their local papers of a great many instances of outrage committed — not
so much by rebel soldiers who had remained in their armies until after the surrender, but by
deserters and skulkers. And I must say that among them were deserters from our own
regular army. The instances of outrage of this kind were more numerous in the northern
counties, and were perpetrated, in the majority of instances, upon Union men, although the
ex-confederates came in for a very respectable share. I am bound to believe, however, that
these outrages are, in most instances, accomplished for other than political reasons. It is
done simply for gain, I believe, because I have noticed, aside from the fact that ex-rebels
were also murdered, that they were generally men possessing property who were waylaid and
murdered. In cases where negroes were the sufferers, the difficulty arose generally in per
sonal quarrels, in which the negro stoutly resisted. That, I think, is a hopeful indication.
The negro is rapidly acquiring that independence and fearlessness which will enable him to
take care of himself. The fact that in no case was there ever deliberate whipping without
interruption or resistance, but in all these cases the fighting was vigorous and carried on on
both sides with dangerous weapons, is a strong fact.
Question. What was the general condition of the colored population in Texas, so far as
you could learn it ?
Answer. The general condition of the colored population in Texas was very favorable. I
arrived there soon after the Christmas holidays, and I found the process of contracting
rapidly going on under the auspices of the Freedmen's Bureau ; and when I came away
from Texas it was estimated by the bureau that there were 250,000 colored people in the
State who were at work, for fair wages in most cases. It is also estimated by the same
authorities, that there are now 100,000 more negroes in Texas than there were in 1860, in
consequence of the accumulation of them in the State, during the war, from other States.
And the fact that these 100,000 negroes remain in Texas, and appear to be little anxious to
go back to their homes, is to me a good indication. I have talked with many who came
from other States during the war, and I asked them why they did not return to their old
homes. They said that they were getting good wages in Texas, and they got it in specie, of
which the negro is very fond. There is abundance of specie in Texas, and that I consider
the chief reason for the industrial activity in that State above that of other States. The
Freedmen's Bureau has put under contract at least 100,000 able-bodied male laborers, I
think, since the Christmas holidays. In one-third as many cases they are renting land,
which I consider also a very favorable indication. In one district on the Brazos, comprising
two or three counties, they put under contract 7,000 laborers, including their families. The
fact is, that throughout Texas the negroes are at work, are hopeful, and are getting their
pay-
Question. What is your opinion as to the necessity or utility of the Freedmen's Bureau,
or some such agency in the States you have mentioned ?
Answer. The Freedmon's Bureau is still, as it has been, a necessity in those States. It
Avas a necessity particularly in the months immediately following the close of the war, to
secure the distribution of rations among both the refugees and freedmeu, of which they
stood greatly in need, and without which many thousands would have perisho-i. Last fall,
about the Christmas holidays, early this winter, the bureau was particularly necessary, and
did a great deal of good, and did admirable work in procuring situations for hundreds and
thousands of negroes, which were advantageous both to them and to the planters. The
bureau may make itself useful this summer and next fall in securing a proper distribution of
the crops ; for that reason I think it would be highly important. 1 think it would also be
necessary to continue the bureau until the freedmcn generally have entered into contracts
for the year 1867. After that I think the necessity for the bureau will- be removed. Indeed,
I think the necessity for it has already passed away in the State of Tennessee, and in many
portions of other States. As I have said, the bureau has been a necessity and has done good
work, though in many cases it has fallen into the hands of incompetent and speculating
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA TEXAS. 149
officers who made it a by-word, and unnecessarily obnoxious to the people of the State
where it was located. Therefore it detracted from the real good it might have accomplished.
The bureau is particularly odious to the people of Texas. Things were in a chaotic state
there generally, and the bureau as at first organized, and has continued for a great while, was
rather loose in its organization, and rather irresponsible. And many things were done in
Texas and in Florida, also, which were unnecessarily odious to the people, and discriminating
in favor of the blacks. Such things were not generally in the shape of any serious oppres
sions ; but they were simply petty disregards of that sentiment which the southern people
entertain, and for which, I think, the officers with wisdom have shown a little more charity,
and thus have added to their usefulness.
Question. Did you find that the negroes in those States had any comprehension of the
issues involved in the late war, and of the present condition of things in the country, so as
to understaad what was right and what was wrong in political matters ?
Answer. Nine-tenths of the plantation negroes are living in a state of brutish ignorance,
and have very little comprehension of the issues of this war, beyond the mere fact that they
were set at liberty and were set free. The house servants, the hotel waiters, and the residents
of the cities are much more intelligent, and in many cases have exhibited a very commendable-
degree of information in regard to the issues of the war. I think I might say, however, that
four-fifths of the negroes in the south have no just comprehension of the franchises and
privileges of a free citizen. But there has been much improvement in that respect since
the Christmas holidays. I think I have never known of any more complete industrial and
social revolution than was accomplished during those holidays. Up to that time the negroes
had been thriftless, gay, improvident, and relying on what they confidently expected, the
division of their old master's property at that time. They were, however, sorely disappointed,
and for a time were discouraged and desponding. But they very soon recovered, however,
in consequence of their natural buoyancy, and have applied themselves to work for them
selves and their families with a great degree of industry. They have by this time a pretty
thorough understanding that it is necessary for them to provide for themselves, and they are
setting about it in a rude, ignorant way, which is all that could have been expected of them.
As for the right of suffrage, and in many cases the right to testify in courts, they have the
most vague and shadowry ideas. I conversed with many of them, particularly the planta
tion negroes, about the right of suffrage, and I found them afraid to speak of it, as though
it was something which was not to be meddled with by them. The common remark among
them was, that they did not know anything about it, that "massa had never said anything
to them about it." If they were led to the polls, I think the act of voting with them would
be a merely physical act, and that it would be accomplished with very little appreciation.
Question. Have you seen the proposition laid before the Senate by Mr. Stewart ?
Answer. Do you mean the proposition to grant universal amnesty for universal suffrage ?
Question. Yes.
Answer. I have seen that proposition.
Question. In your opinion, what would be the action of the people of the three States of
which you have been speaking if that proposition was submitted to them for adoption or re
jection ?
Answer. I think the people of the south generally would treat it with slight consideration.
They understand pretty thoroughly that they already have, or will secure in the end, as much
amnesty as is necessary : and they would consider it a bargain which it was not necessary
for them to enter into. I think such a proposition would accomplish very little.
Question. What is your opinion of their views generally in regard to negro suffrage ?
Answer. I need not tell you that the southern people are almost unanimously opposed to
negro suffrage. That opposition is founded upon the old prejudice which they have against
the negro, and upon their belief in his unfitness for the rights and privileges of citizenship ;
it is founded on nothing more reasonable than that. I think, however, indeed I am quite
certain, that if it could be made positively certain to the southern politicians that at or before
the next apportionment they would lose upwards of twenty representatives in Congress un
less they accorded to negroes the right of suffrage, they would become pretty thoroughly con
vinced that it was a necessary and proper measure. The greatest opposition in the south to
negro suffrage would be found among the lower classes. I have generally found that when
two classes are opposed in feeling, and unequal in power and influence, the dominating class
is hostile to the inferior class just in reverse proportion as it is elevated above it. The poor
whites of the south, knowing that the right of suffrage is the principal of the few slight bar
riers which separate them from the negro race, will cling to that right with corresponding
tenacity. And it will be they who will oppose, and insult, and oppress the negro more than
all others when he presents himself at the polls.
The wealthy land-owners of the south, however, have the most unbounded influence over
the negroes now, almost as much as they had when the negroes were their slaves, and it
seems to me that the proper approach to this castle of prejudice on the part of the poor, ig
norant whites will be through the argument and persuasion of the politicians of the south.
The southern politicians have no insuperable prejudice against negro suffrage. And I am quite
certain that if it is made plain to them that they will lose representation in Congress by con
sequence of not granting suffrage to the negro, they will soon accede to the demand, and
150 RECONSTRUCTION.
convince their followers, the poor people, that it is necessary and proper. I think tlia
Texas will be the first of the late Confederate States that will grant suffrage to the negroes.
There are already three prominent newspapers in. that State that openly favor negro suff'ra^-.
or perhaps I should not say openly favor it, Imt whose editors are in favor of it, and who
squint towards it at every opportunity when it is sale and expedient. One of those papers
is the Galveston Bulletin, the organ of a large and intelligent class of people in and about
Galvestou. Another is the Southern Intelligence, in Austin, the organ of Governor Hamil
ton, and having a circulation of nearly 2,UOU copies in the interior of the State. The third
is the San Antonio Express, the organ of the German population that are to be found in and
about San Antonio. There is also a strong sentiment tending in that direction in northern
Texas, and it would only need the leadership of a few brave men, such as Governor Hamil
ton, Mr. Taylor, of the convention, and a few others like them, to carry that part of the
State and the German population in favor of negro suffrage.
WASHINGTON, May 17, 1866.
Mr. T. J. Mackey sworn and examined.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. Where do you reside?
AnswTer. In Shreveport, Louisiana.
Question. What is your age ?
Answer. I am 35 years of age.
Question. Where were you born and raised ?
Answer. In Charleston, South Carolina.
Question. What was your occupation during the late civil war ?
' Answer. I was captain of engineers in the Confederate States service, and chief engineer
for a considerable period of time of the trans-Mississippi department.
Question. What was the extent of the trans-Mississippi department?
Answer. It included all the States west of the Mississippi river. At the time of the sur
render I was on the staff of General Sterling Price.
Question. When did that surrender take place?
Answer. About the 27th of May, 18C5.
Question. Where was the surrender made?
Answer. The terms were agreed upon at New Orleans ; the surrender was made at Shreve
port, Louisiana, to Major General Canby, of the United States army.
Question. Since that surrender what has been your occupation, and where have you been ?
Answer. I have resided the greater part of the time, since the surrender, at Shreveport,
Louisiana. At the time of the surrender my family was residing in Lamar county, Texas.
At the request of Brigadier General Veatch, commanding at Shreveport, I accepted the ap
pointment of special provost marshal for Lamar and adjoining counties, Texas, in order to-
check the bands of marauders who were endangering life and property in that region.
The following is a copy of the order making the appointment :
[Special Orders No. 142.— Extract.]
"HEADQUARTERS NORTHERN DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA.
" Shrcccport , Louisiana, July 24, J8G5.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"6. Captain T. J. Mackey, a citizen of Lamar county, Texas, is hereby appointed a
special provost marshal for Lamar and adjoining counties, with power to arrest all criminals,
and to call upon the citizens within his jurisdiction to assist him in executing the laws and
orders which are intrusted to him.
#*###*•#*##*
" By order of Brigadier General J. C. Veatch.
••BENJ. F. MONROE,
" Captain, and A. A. A. General."
Question. How long did you act in that capacity ?
Answer. About seven weeks. I collected many thousand stands of arms, several hundred
wagons, and many hundred mules, &c., the property of the late Confederate States, which
were delivered to the proper officers at Shreveport.
Question. In virtue of the surrender ?
Answer. Yes, sir; this service was rendered by me because I believed I was under an ob
ligation of honor to render it, for which I declined compensation. This was after my service
as special provost marshal.
Question. How long were you engaged in that service ?
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA' TEXAS. 151
Answer. Nearly tluve months in that special service.
Question. To whom did you report ?
Answer. At first to the officer commanding at Shreveport, and subsequently to Major
General A. J. Smith, commanding the western district of Louisiana ; while engaged in that
service I was desperately wounded.
Question. Will you state the circumstances under which you were wounded .'
Answer. On entering upon the duties assigned me as special provost marshal, I found the
general sentiment of the people to be not only opposed to tl*e government of the United
States, but bitterly antagonistic to all who declared themselves as willing to act in good faith
towards the government. Good faith to the government, in the judgment of the people at
large in Texas, meant bad faith to the community. I made a number of arrests ; among
others I arrested ten persons Avlio, on the 15th of February, 1862, had organized and pro
ceeded to execute some eighteen or twenty citizens on the pretext that they were Union men.
As I had not the force at that time to forward them to Shreveport, and as the friends of the
murdered men declared that they coiild guard these persons, I turned them over to the county
authorities of Hopkins county for trial, and they were incarcerated in a strong jail. A short
time after they were incarcerated, some citizens of Hopkins and the surrounding counties
collected together, forced the jail, and released these men. The charge against the men was
the arresting and hanging or shooting a number of citizens, whose names were given, on or
about the 15th day of February, 1864 — citizens who had committed no avert act against the
confederate authorities.
Question. What was the pretext for killing those citizens ?
Answer. They were northern farmers, from Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan, who had
come into Texas in 1854, It was alleged that they had declared that should the armies of
the United States enter northern Texas they would sell their crops to those armies. That
was the allegation against them. In view of former acts of that character, the execution of
those eighteen or twenty men was deemed a very mild transaction. From the 9th to the
29th of June, 1862, in the county of Cook, fifty-two persons were executed upon the gallows.
I have ascertained that the person who presided over the execution now holds some office of
honor or profit in the State.
Question. What .is his name ?
Answer. Colonel Borland. At that time I was in the Indian territory, a few miles distant,
serving upon the staff of General Albert Pike. General Pike used very earnest efforts to
prevent those executions at the time, and his own life was endangered by those efforts.
Knowing, therefore, the moral status of the people of that section, I entered upon the dis
charge of the duty assigned me, in June last, with a determination on the one hand to dis
charge fearlessly my duty to the government, and on the other to act with such justice
towards the citizens that no pretext should be given for any armed organization against the
authority that I possessed. I was solicitous not to discredit the authority which had given
me the appointment. I was too mindful of my own antecedents to become the oppressor of
those who had shared the sentiments that I had represented.
I found the people exceedingly turbulent, and disposed to treat my authority with con
tempt. Where overt acts were committed in violation of law I arrested the parties. On the
8th of August, 1865, a party entered my office during my absence, forced my clerk out of the
office, and shattered my desk and scattered my papers. On ascertaining these facts I pro
ceeded to make the arrests of the parties engaged in the transaction. I had with me at my
office a detachment of ten men of the 6th Missouri cavalry, under Captain Russell, formerly
of Kalamazoo, Michigan. That was a detachment that had arrived to escort a train of gov
ernment property which I designed sending to Shreveport.
Captain Russell, with four men, accompanied me to make the arrest. When I informed
the person that he was arrested, he at first threw his hand to his pistol, but finally concluded
to repair to my office at the instance of his friends. I proceeded to examine the case, called
witnesses, and asked the prisoner if he had any witnesses to be summoned in his behalf. He
replied in an insulting manner. I told him he must deliver up to me his arms. This he at
first declined to do, but finally submitted, and his pistol was placed behind my desk. While
engaged in hearing the case, the father of the prisoner, a man noted in that section for his
great physical strength and brute violence of his character, sprang over the railing in front
of the bar and struck me a blow upon the head with his fist. At the same time the prisoner
sprang behind me and seized his pistol. By this time there was a mob of 200 or 300 persons
gathered there. The officer assigned to the duty of aiding me in the execution of the orders
intrusted to my charge had but five men with him, and he was either forced out of the build
ing, or he became alarmed and fled. The firing then commenced. I was wounded five
times, and replying to the fire, I killed one man and wounded several others, one of whom
afterwards died.
The circumstances are detailed very fully in a communication from the commanding officer
at Shreveport to Major General Cauby.
Question. If you have that communication with you please read it, and furnish a copy of
it to the committee to be incorporated in your testimony.
Answer. The communication, with the indorsement of Major General Canby upon it, is as
follows v
152 RECONSTRUCTION.
HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES FORCES, SHREVEPORT, LOUISIANA,
Nor ember 13, 1865.
CAPTAIN: Mr. T. J. Mackey, who will hand you this, was appointed special provost mar
shal for Lamar and adjoining counties, Texas, by General Veatch. In the discharge of his
duties under this appointment he was assaulted and desperately wounded. In defending his
life against an attack by a number of men, while in the act of trying a case, and in his own
office, he killed one man and wounded others. For this he is threatened with a criminal
prosecution in Texas. It is understood that efforts are being made to induce Governor
Wells ^to deliver him to the authorities of Texas. It is my opinion, and was also the opinion
of Major General Hawkins, that Mr. Mac-key discharged his duties faithfully to the United
States government, and was fully justified in killing and wounding the men who attacked
him. General Hawkins directed me to hold Mr. Mackey even against Governor Wells's de
mand, until I could hear from department headquarters, being satisfied that he was entitled
to protection at the hands of the government. It is feared by Mackey that the parties inter
ested against him may secure an order from General Canby on an ex parte statement. It is
my opinion that, if the civil authority of Laniar county should succeed in taking him, he
would be murdered by a mob, or by the verdict of a prejudiced jury. I base this opinion on
my own knowledge of the sentiments and acts of the people of that community. A company
of cavalry was sent by me to bring away the government property collected by Mr. Mackey,
and to escort his family, who were threatened. Two of the company were murdered in cold
blood, and in open day, under circumstances that marked the deed as one of extraordinary
atrocity. I respectfully ask that written instructions be sent me as to the course I shall
pursue in the event that Mackey is demanded to be turned over to the civil authority of
Texas. I respectfully state my opinion that Mr. Mackey discharged his duties as provost
marshal faithfully, honestly, and earnestly, and with an eye single to the interests of the
United States government : that he was attacked and nearly murdered on account of his so
discharging his duties ; and that he ought to be defended against a community in which the
life of no man is safe who is really honest in his devotion to the Union.
I am, captain, your most obedient servant,
F. M. CRANDAL,
Colonel, Coimntindiijtr.
Captain S. B. FERGUSON,
A. A. G. Jrcstern District Louisiana.
HEADQUARTERS DEPARTMENT OF LOUISIANA,
New Orleans, November 29, 1866.
Respectfully returned.
The parties engaged in the outrages should be arrested and tried by a military commission.
Mr. Mackey should be fully protected, and if the troops are at any time removed from Shivvo-
port, he and his family should be brought away with them. He will be compensated for his
services, and, until he is entirely recovered, subsistence will be issued to him and his family.
His conduct is approved.
ED. R. S. CANBY,
Major General, Commanding.
I will state that I have declined to receive any compensation.
Question. Were you wounded while in the confederate service?
Answer. Yes, sir, and five times in the attack upon me in August last ; from which latter
wounds I am permanently disabled. The surgeons inform me that I can never recover the
full use of my leg, in consequence of the injury to the sciatic nerve.
Question. Were you ever wounded at any other times than those you have mentioned ?
Answer. I was wounded in Mexico, during the Mexican war, at the battle of Churubusco,
for which I received a pension from the United States.
I would state here, that the leader of the assault upon me, while I was acting as an officer
of the United States in August last, was, in consequence of that assault, elected to the late
convention in Texas, over his opponent, a gentleman of high character, who had been a
member of the convention of 1861, but who had refused to sign the ordinance of secession.
Question. What is the feeling generally of the people ot northern Texas towards the gov
ernment of the United States, and what has been their feeling during the war?
Answer. Prior to the commencement of hostilities in the late war, the people of northern
Texas were regarded as representing the sterling Union sentiment of the State. There were
but seven dissenting voices in the convention of Texas that passed the ordinance of seces
sion, and all seven were from northern Texas. Since the war, however, the feeling has
become most bitter against the government, on account of the emancipation of the slaves.
The only men in northern Texas, with very few exceptions, who can be trusted at the present
time, are those who served in the confederate army. I attribute that to tho fact that men
who have served in the army and experienced the disasters of war and all the ills incident to
a soldier's career are satisfied with the experiment they have made, and are very willing to
accept the liberal policy pursued towards them by the government. But the masses of the
people, never having felt the power of the government, scorn its clemency. This is cspe •
FLORIDA LOUISIANA — TEXAS 153
cially tho case in the trails-Mississippi department, as all the armies of the United States that
moved against the confederate forces in that department met with disasters. This feeling
exhibits itself especially towards the freedmen in that section of country. There are thirty -
three counties in northern Texas where slavery, to-day, is as absolute as it was ten years
ago, and aggravated in every feature. Formerly, the property tenure in the slave softened
the treatment of the master towards him. Now that the negro has ceased to be property, the
restraint of self-interest does not act upon the unprincipled, and the negro is denied the
rights of common humanity. I have experienced this in the case of negroes that I formerly
owned, aud those I have employed since. I should have engaged in planting in Texas, or
in Louisiana, if the government gave any adequate protection to the freedmen. Where
freedmen have been oppressed, the commanding officers in that region have taken prompt
measures to arrest the wrong-doers ; but the paucity of the force in the trans-Mississippi
department prevents the thorough police of the country.
Question. Is not the Freedmen's Bureau in the exercise of its proper functions in that
region ?
Answer. It is at Shreveport, Louisiana, and at Marshall, Texas, the adjoining post, forty-
three miles distant ; but there is a tier of thirty-three counties in which there is no branch of
the bureau.
Question. Are those the northern counties of Texas ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; the counties lying betyveen the thirty-second and thirty-fourth parallels
of latitude, and the ninety-fourth and one hundredth meridians of longitude. The counties
embraced in those lines are generally designated "northern Texas." In that region no
American flag has been seen since the surrender. The people of northern Texas are turbu
lent in peace and recreant in war ; there are some honorable exceptions. The same charac
teristics prevail to some extent in upper Louisiana, though there is a higher order of intelli
gence there.
Question. How do the former slaveholders treat the freedmen ?
Answer. They are the best masters now, as they are more familiar with the habits and
character of the blacks. I have observed that those who were not slave-owners are now
the most rigorous masters. To hire freedmen now requires a large fraction of their capital,
and they are more rigorous in exacting their labor. The freednieu are more willing to work
in cities, because they can there secure better protection to their persons from the better
police of the cities. Negroes can be liked to work in the cities at a very considerable frac
tion below what they will demand to work in the country districts; not that the labor is less
severe in the cities, but because they have more protection there. The official records of
Shreveport, Marshall, and Jefferson, during the last eight months, will abundantly sustain
the statements I have here made.
Question. In the rural districts of Texas are the lives and property of the freedmen
secure as against the prejudices and feelings of the people ?
Answer. They are not; they are very far from being secure.
Question. Have you heard of any homicides being committed upon the freedmeu ?
Answer. Yes, sir; of many.
Question. And do the State authorities interfere in those cases ?
Answer. Wherever the case is brought to the attention of the civil authorities, action is
taken so far as to issue writs of arrest ; but it is almost, if not quite, impossible to secure
the necessary testimony to convict parties.
Question. Is the testimony of negroes allowed to be taken in the civil courts?
Answer. Under the amended constitution of Louisiana the testimony of negroes is ad
mitted in courts.
Question. Then why are the freedmen peculiarly exposed to injustice, if the testimony of
blacks is admitted in trials before the State courts ? Is it because of the prejudice of the
people there against the race ?
Answer. In cases where negro testimony can be obtained a conviction is practicable; but
it is not always practicable to secure that testimony. The men who commit these outrages
are not always open in their demonstrations. The assault is made when no others are present :
the body of the negro is found ; the evidence of his murder is complete ; but the doer of the
deed is gone; or, at least, it is impossible frequently to fix the crime. There are no doubt
thousands in Louisiana who would revolt at these deeds of atrocity. But what I mean to
state is, that the prevailing sentiment is so adverse to the negro that acts of monstrous crime
against him are winked at; and this sentiment will increase just in proportion as the privi
leges of the negroes are extended.
Question. How are they in the habit of treating Union men in Texas and Louisiana ? By
Union men, I mean those who, all along, have been understood to be opposed to secession
and friendly to the maintenance of the government of the United States.
Answer. They are under ban among the people. This antagonism to them is shown by
declining to accord to them patronage in their business, and sometimes by armed opposition
to them. A postmaster was appointed by the department about six weeks ago for the town
of Natchitoches, in the parish of Natchitoches. Although he was a person ol good moral re
pute, a mob assembled on the day of his arrival there and drove him from his office on the
ground that he had been a Union man.
154 RECONSTRUCTION.
Question. Have you any ground to suppose that any portion of the people of Louisiana
and Texas still entertain .schemes of secession and rebellion?
Answer. I think that, as a scheme, that idea is not cherished. What I mean is. that per
sons do not confer together upon propositions of (hat character ; but I believe a very large
fraction of the people do look to secession or revolution in the future as a remedy for what
they deem existing evils.
Question. Suppose the people of those States should again have the power to manage af
fairs in their own way — in short, suppose they should again obtain the power to reduce the
negroes to slavery — would they do it ?
Answer. I have no question that they would. But I think the idea of secession will never
become a dominant one until it shall receive the concurrent support of the States of the north
west. That is the impression there— that there will ultimately be secession, but that it will
spring up in the northwest.
Question. What peculiar reasons have they for supposing that the northwestern States will
ever place themselves in that attitude ?
Answer. They believe that the reasons will be commercial or financial reasons : to be re
lieved from their proportion of the general burden of taxation consequent upon the national
debt, and to relieve themselves from the exceedingly high tariff which presses peculiarly upon
their products ; the assumed antagonism between the agricultural communities of the west
and the manufacturing communities of the east.
Question. Did not that idea prevail very extensively among the southern people during
the late war ?
Answer. It was the dominant idea.
Question. How then did they account for the fact that so many northwestern boys came
down to pay their respects to them ?
Answer. That they were laboring under the delusion of maintaining the Unjon.
Question. Then they looked upon the people of the northwest as a deluded people ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; that they were under the delusion of believing that they were maintaining
the Union. And they also thought that the unfortunate closing of the Mississippi river tended
to bring the people of the northwest into antagonism to them. Among intelligent confederate
officers and soldiers the idea of secession is defunct ; but there are those who shrank from the
hazards of war while the contest was in progress, who now display a remarkable post mortem
chivalry. But those who discharged their duties faithfully in the confederate army, accord
ing to their accepted code of honor, whether right or wrong, since surrendering their swords,
are not carrying daggers under their garments. A good confederate soldier, if I may be al
lowed to apply the term "good" to him, can be trusted; but that class forms but a small
fraction of the population of Texas.
Question. Suppose that the United States should be engaged in an obstinate struggle with
a foreign nation, for instance France, England, or some other powerful nation, and in the
course of the war it should become apparent to the people with whom you have been best
acquainted that there was a chance for them to secure what they term their national inde
pendence by taking up arms in favor of the enemy ; have you any reason to suppose that
there would be any very general inclination to side with the enemy ?
Answer. I am satisfied that, in regard to Texas, the actual occupation of any portion of
her soil, in force, by the enemy, would lead to a general declaration against the United
States, not with the view of forming a southern confederacy, but of securing the separate
independence of Texas, so as to enable her to resume her former status as an independent
republic.
Question. Once known as "The Lone Star ?"
Answer. Yes, sir ; that was the dominant idea in Texas during the late war — to separate
from the Confederate States. From my correspondence with my kinsmen and other.--, in
South Carolina and other southern States, I believe the spirit of adhesion to the government
of the United States is stronger in the cis-Mississippi States than it is in the trans-Missis
sippi States, because the former States have felt the calamities of war, which scarcely
touched the States in the trans-Mississippi department. I have no doubt that it Would bo
especially the case with confederate officers and soldiers anxious to redeem their record, that
they would rally to the cause of the government of the United States.
Question. How extended was your acquaintance with the popular feeling in Texas during
the war ?
Answer. I was familiar with the public sentiment there : I made frequent official visits
there ; I had a very large acquaintance there ; my family resided in northern Texas, and I
was thrown much in contact with troops fromTexa<.
Question. Was that extensive acquaintance which you had of the popular feeling in
Texas the foundation of the opinion yon have expressed of the inclination of the people of
Texas for national independence ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and that opinion has been confirmed since the surrender.
Question. You served in the army of the United States in the war with Mexico ?
Answer. Yes, sir, at the age of fifteen ; and I received medals for my services.
Question. How came you to enter the confederate service in the late "war '
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 155
Answer. Because of the accepted theory of iny people, that the allegiance to the State was
supreme, and her laws should be obeyed by her citizens.
Question. Where did you receive your education ?
Answer. At the military academy 'of South Carolina.
Question. You were not a West Point scholar ?
Answer. No, sir ; I was a civil engineer by profession.
Question. What position did you hold in the confederate service ?
Answer. I was appointed a captain of engineers, February 15, 1H62.
Question. What was the extent of your authority under that appointment ?
Answer. For a considerable period of time I was chief engineer of the trans-Mississippi
department. Subsequently I was chief engineer upon the staff of Lieutenant General
Holmes and General Price. Under the orders of the authorities at Richmond I made a de
tailed reconnoissance of the territories of the Creek, Choctaw, and Chickasaw tribes ; a re-
connoissance of the greater portion of Arkansas, a portion of western Louisiana and north
ern Texas. Subsequently I was, for a year and a half, chief engineer on the staff of Major
General Price, until relieved from duty a short time before the surrender, when I was as
signed to duty as engineer officer at Charleston, to aid in its defence. At the time of the
surrender the maps and records of the engineer bureau, and many of the records of the ad
jutant general's bureau, of the trans-Mississippi department were concealed, it is charged,
by order of General Kirby Smith. After the surrender I proceeded to make search for those
records, and discovered some of them in June, a month after the surrender, and the re
mainder in March last, which I delivered to General Canby. They embraced maps and
surveys of the Rio Grande frontier, of the coast of Texas, and of the districts of Louisiana,
Arkansas, and the Indian territory, and the plans and profiles of all the fortifications in the
trans-Mississippi department. I presume they have been transmitted to the engineer bureau
in this city.
Question. Do you suppose that General Kirby Smith intended to conceal or destroy those
maps ?
Answer. The current statement was, that it was designed that some of those maps should
be used by the imperial authorities of Mexico, or the forces of the French, in the event of a
war between the United States and France, and Texas became the theatre of operations, as,
in a military point of view, would have been most probable.
Question. Smith had concealed them with a view of their ultimate transfer to the French ?
Answer. I have no evidence upon that point ; but that is the current opinion, and it is
mine. I deemed it an obligation of good faith and honor that that property should be de
livered to the commanding general of the United States forces in that department.
Question. Where were they found concealed ?
Answer. Portions were found in a cellar in Shreveport, and portions in an out-building,
on the residence of persons who could not be suspected of being the custodians of that kind
of property.
Question. Did you ever talk with Kirby Smith about the matter ?
Answer. No, sir ; I have never seen him ; I understand he is now at Lynchburg, Virginia,
studying for the ministry.
Question. You acted as special provost marshal under General Veatch's orders ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Did you ever receive any compensation from the United States for your services
under that appointment ?
Answer. None ; I declined compensation. My expenditures would have amounted to two
or three years' pay of a captain of the army acting as provost marshal. I organized a force
of fifty men, and subsisted and foraged them at my own expense for five or six weeks.
Question. Have you been reimbursed those expenses ?
Answer. I have not asked to be reimbursed. That force has not yet been paid. In my
judgment they should receive some pay, for they acted in good fcuth, and have rendered
themselves odious to their fellow-citizens. The fifty men were drawn from five or six coun
ties. It required a very careful selection to get such as would be good and true men. A lew
of them proved false to their duty, but very few. As I have already stated, I collected many
hundred mules for the government. For that I asked no compensation ; but I received from
the quartermaster some ten or twelve mules, not as a compensation for my services, but be
cause I fancied them. They were worth, probably, forty dollars each.
Question. Have you any further statements to make in regard to the treatment of freed-
men in Louisiana and Texas ?
Answer. Since the surrender freedmen have been tried under the old slave code of Texas,
convicted under that code, and sentenced to the penitentiary. One case, the most prominent,
was that of Orange Bray, a freedman in Lamar county, Texas. He was charged with rais
ing an axe against his former master, who shot him. He was subsequently tried, in Novem
ber, 1865, by the judge of the eighth judicial district of Texas, convicted, and sentenced to
several years' imprisonment in the penitentiary. I design securing his release through the
intervention of the authorities here.
Question. Was the assault upon the former master a wanton and unprovoked one ?
Answer. There was no assault upon the master. The fact was that the wife of the freed
156 RECONSTRUCTION.
man bad been very cruelly wbipped for insolence. tShe was an insolent woman, no doubt. Her
husband came in from the timber, and witnessing the cruel whipping given his wife, he pro
tested against it, declaring that he was free. Upon that his former master, William Bray,
ordered him to strip. The negro fled, and was followed up by Bray and two others. As
they were about to overtake him, he turned upon them with his axe and warned them not to
approach him. He was shot by his former master and left for dead. During the night he
recovered, and it was proposed to hang him ; but the citizens protested against that, arid lie
was put in jail, tried, and convicted, as I have stated. I made careful inquisition of the facts
of the case, with a view to friendly intervention of the authorities here. The facts were
brought before General Canby a few months after, and I presume he has taken action thereon.
Question. Was this freedman tried before a jury?
Answer. Yes, sir ; and the jury brought in a verdict of guilty. His assailants have not
been tried, or even arrested.
(Examination suspended till to-morrow.)
WASHINGTON, May 18, I860.
Mr. T. J. Mackay recalled, and examination resumed.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What, in your judgment, is the necessity of retaining garrisons in Texas and
Louisiana ?
time,
men
able in that section as murder.
Question. Do homicides frequently occur in Louisiana and Texas ?
Answer. Frequently, both among the whites and the freedrnen.
Question. What appears to be the great cause of the frequency of murders there ?
Answer. Homicides were frequent in that region before the war. They have increased
since the war in consequence of the recklessness and demoralization produced in society by
war, and the facility with which they can be committed now, because of the carrying of
arms by all classes of persons.
Question. What do you know, or what have you reason to believe, in respect to maraud
ing parties in Louisiana or Texas, or elsewhere within the department in which you have
served ?
Answer. Immediately upon the announcement of the surrender of the confederate forces
bauds of men organized in western -Louisiana and northern Texas — men who appeared to
cherish a, deadly hatred to every class, especially to the freedmen. In the counties of Lainar
and Fannin alone, within three months after the surrender, the feet of some eighteen or
twenty men were burned with a hot iron, and their toe-nails extracted by means of bullet-
moukls, in order to force them to reveal where their treasures were buried. This torture, was
applied to some persons who were really indigent. In some cases men were hung and women
were shot. General Canby was powerless to check these bands because of the paucity of
the force at his disposal. Wherever the parties could be reached he pursued the most vigor
ous measures in regard to them. Even within the past forty-five days a detachment of thirty
men, sent out from Shreveport with the view to take possession of certain cotton claimed by
the United States, was driven back by an organized force of citizens within twenty miles of
Shreveport.
Question. Do these criminal motives take on the appearance of hostility to the government
of the United States, an4, in your opinion, is that hostility the prompting motive, or is it a
mere disposition to plunder, rob, and commit rapine ?
Answer. The parties engaged in robbing have no defined principles either for or against
the government of the United States ; but they are able to maintain themselves in the coun
try because of the feeling hostile to the United States on the part of the citizens, which pre
vents combined action against these marauders. While the marauders are known to be
ready to wield their power against those who represent the United States, they have no
special feeling against the government of the United States. The mainspring of their action
is plunder, not hostility to the United States.
Question. In short, they are very little better than the ancient "mosstroopers," so called?
Answer. No doubt of it. There is a class of citizens in western Louisiana and Texas who,
while they have been desirous to discharge their duties faithfully to the government, art-
fast becoming hostile to it in consequence of the illegal acts of oppression visited upon tln-m
by the agents of the Treasury Department and of the revenue service — oppressions of the
most monstrous character. Where cases of oppression have been reported to General Canby
he intervenes promptly, but it is not always expedient to forward reports to him.
Question. State some instances of misconduct on the part of federal officials who are act
ing under authority from the Secretary of the Treasury, and give as broadly and plainly as
FLORIDA LOUISIANA TEXAS. 157
you please your own ideas of the conduct of those officials, and what is the real ground of
complaint against them.
Answer. After the arrival of the officials of the Treasury Department in western Louisiana
I heard frequent complaints made of their exactions. At first I did not credit those com
plaints, as the office is essentially an odious one. Upon further and diligent inquiry I as
certained that it was the common practice of the agents of the Treasury Department to seize
cotton on the pretext that it belonged to the late Confederate States ; to refuse to give the
party who owned the cotton a paper designating the weights of the bales, and subsequently
return to the claimant the same number of bales takeu from him, after abstracting from them
the third or half of the cotton. In other cases Treasury agents would refuse to respect the
permits given by their predecessors to ship cotton, but exact bribes before they would per
mit it to be shipped. In other cases they would refuse to give any permits whatever to
ship cotton, but employ certain parties to buy it at a reduced price. For instance, on the
3d of April last Mrs. Boyce, of Red River county, Texas, sold her four hundred bales of cotton
for seventy-five dollars a bale — cotton she had raised since the surrender. She sold it at
that price because it had been seized by a Treasury agent, and she could not sell it other
wise.
Question. Was that the usual price of cotton in that region ?
Answer. No, sir ; two hundred dollars a bale was the market price. In another case,
within the past four weeks, in Natchitoches parish, Louisiana, a Treasury agent has been
running a large steamer up and down the Red river, and refusing to give parties permits to
ship cotton upon any other steamer than that one. although the law requires the agent to
remain in his office and give permits to all parties where there is no evidence or ground of
suspicion against the cotton. By this course he forces parties to ship their cotton on that
steamer at a charge of five and six dollars a bale, while other steamers charge but three or
four dollars. These acts are performed for the private advantage of the agent, and to the
injury of the government, because the citizen refers the oppressive act to the government,
and not to the unfaithful agent. And it becomes the pretext for turbulence and disorder,
and must ultimately weaken the hands of those wht) now would sustain the government.
Question. The people of c.ourse hold the government morally responsible for the miscon
duct of its agents ?
Answer. Yes, sir; ami the commanding general, too, is held responsible, because the peo
ple attribute these acts to the government at large. I am satisfied that but for the high con
fidence the people entertain for General Canby, as the commanding officer of the department,
these Treasury agents and revenue officers in western Louisiana would long since have
been executed by the mob. But the belief of the people that justice would be eventually
rendered has restrained them. Federal officers who have settled in western Louisiana since
the surrender have often deliberately proposed to the citizens to arrest and execute these
agents, who oppress all classes.
Question. Have you reason to believe that full information has been given to the Secre
tary of the Treasury of the misconduct of his agents ?
Answer. I believe that partial information has been given, but not full information of all
the facts. There are no mail facilities in that region, and only those parties directly inter
ested are apt to communicate, as communications must be sent at some cost ; and but few
parties are familiar with the necessary routine of communication ; and they prefer surren
dering a portion of their property to the inconvenience of awaiting a decision of their case,
and possibly running the hazard of a decision against them.
Question. You have no doubt that the misconduct of the cotton agents there is a great
grievance to the mass of the community ?
Answer. Yes, sir; and the pretext for sedition and turbulence.
Question. Would you recommend the discontinuance of all these agencies, and Avhat
would you substitute in their places ?
Answer. I would most earnestly recommend that the duties upon the cotton upon those
great streams be paid at the place of export, at such places as New Orleans and Galveston,
and that these agents should not be distributed over the country in every parish and village.
I have myself been a witness of these grievances. A few weeks since several planters
residing some forty miles above Alexandria, Louisiana, engaged the steamer National, a
first-class steamer, to take their cotton to New Orleans at $3 per bale, or less. The steamer
pulled up above the falls at Alexandria at great expense, for the river was low ; but on
arriving at the point where the cotton was collected ready for shipment the parties were met
by an agent of the treasury, who declared that this cotton should not be shipped on the
National, but must be shipped on another steamer, the Saratoga, that he named. Although
the cotton had paid all charges, he refused to give a permit for its shipment except upon the
vessel he designated.
Question. Was the captain of the National ready to take the cotton ?
Answer. Yes, sir; he had come up there at great expense for that very purpose. That is
one of many cases ; they can be counted by scores. The witnesses will embrace all the
steamboat captains upon the Red river. Another case that I witnessed in April last was
this : the steamer Doubloon stopped at Alexandria to take on board some cotton at the
request of the owners, who had paid all charges, and were only waiting the permit to ship.
158 RECONSTRUCTION.
The revenue agent at Alexandria placed a sentinel on the steamer, and refused to let her
t.ikc on the cotton, and declared that it should be shipped on board other steamers. I
reported the matter to General Can by, -who stated that the officer in command at Alexandria
should have promptly arrested the agent of the Treasury Department. General Canby has
doubtless taken action in the case. General Canby informed the people that he had no right
to revise the decisions of the treasury agents as to the title to property; but that in all cases
where there was malfeasance in office proven by sufficient testimony he would take the
responsibility of arresting the parties.
Question. Have you any reason to believe that there is remaining at present in Louisiana
or Texas any considerable quantity of Confederate States cotton ?
Answer. I think there may be confederate cotton in northern Texas, but the amount is
exceedingly small. And at this time it would not be practicable to prove the title, as it has
doubtless all been entirely repacked. I think that the confederate cotlon has been pretty
thoroughly drained out of that country, and also that large quantities of cotton to which the
confederate authorities have never asserted any claim have been appropriated by the treasury
agents for their own use and benefit.
Question. Have your means for information in this respect been ample?
Answer. Yes, sir ; for the reason that I have many friends whose cotton has been seized, and
I have frequently called upon the treasury agents to ascertain the reason for the seizure. In
addition to that, I have received information from late officers of the United States army at
Shreveport on the spot ; and I have sent a large number of affidavits, made at my sugges
tion, for the purpose of being transmitted to Major General Canby. These facts, to which I
have referred, are notorious in the country. If necessary, I can give the names of a long
list of unimpeachable witnesses to substantiate my statements. The practice of giving to
the parties discovering it one-fourth of the cotton seized as confederate cotton has tended
greatly to stimulate this system of fraud and oppression.
Question. That is the compensation given to the informer?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. Who authorizes that ?
Answer. The treasury agents.
Question. By authority of the Treasury Department ?
Answer. I do not know ; that is the universal practice.
Question. Has that mode of compensating existed long there ?
Answer. Ever since the surrender, and it exists now. There are a large number of
planters whose cotton plantations are now lying fallow, the planters declining to plant cotton
for fear of its being seized by these treasury agents.
Question. What do you think of the utility of the Freedmen's Bureau in Louisiana and
Texas ?
Answer. I regard the Freedmen's Bureau to be essential at this time in Louisiana and
Texas, for the welfare both of the freedmen and his employer. The bureau enjoins upon the
freedman a proper regard for his obligations as a laborer; and, on the other hand, enforces
the duties of the employer as set forth in his contract with the freedman. It furnishes a
speedy remedy for grievances on the part both of the employer and the employed. It facili
tates decisions upon cases that arise between the freedman and his former master ; and those
decisions are generally just, and have regard for the facts, as the officer of the bureau is
generally a subordinate, and would not dare grossly to violate justice in a case, as he knows
that his conduct will be subjected to a speedy revision. I have employed many freedmen
since the surrender, and have experienced great benefit, as have others, from the operation of
the Freedmen's Bureau in that section. The bureau, also, has the effect of repressing idle
ness among the freedmen, as the officer of the bureau, if he complies with his instructions,
will incite the freedmau to honest labor. In Louisiana and Texas, where no branches of the
Freedmen's Bureau have been established, it has been found difficult to retain the former
slaves on the plantations.
Question. What is the reason of that ?
Answer. The freedman does not fully realize that he is free, unless he can give some
practical efiW't to his freedom by going to the Freedmen's Bureau, and he will walk there if
it is a hundred miles off. He desires a new record as a freedman, which he secures there.
And I would regard it a good reason for giving a higher rent for a plantation in that section
of country that there was a branch of the Freedmen's Bureau in the vicinity. It is always
n cheap method of authenticating a contract between the employer and the employed, as the
fee is exceedingly small — only fifty cents. They also facilitate contracts with freedmen by
furnishing the blanks and authenticating the contract.
Question. Do you discover among the freedrneu any great indisposition to labor if left to
themselves ? .
Answer. Now there is not. Freedmen seek employment, and secure it where they can
find protection ; they are disposed to gather in villages, towns, and cities ; the reason for
that is, that in tlfe city they have the protection of the garrison and the domestic police,
which protection they do not have in the rural districts, though their labor in the city is
equally severe and their fare much worse than on the plantations. At first great idleness
prevailed among the freedmen, and they were averse to seeking employment or receiving it.
FLORIDA —LOUISIANA TEXAS. 159
The reason tor that was, that then- pivvailed among them an impression, in part correct, that
they would be ted at the various depots where the troops were stationed ; and, moreover, it
waa necessary for the freedman to realize that he was free by the fact of moving- away from
his former domicile; that fact they have now ascertained throughout a large portion of the
country.
Question. Do they now work readily for fair wages ?
Answer. Yes, sir; but in my judgment they do network so well as they formerly did ;
will not perform so much labor per day; but still they will do a tolerably fair day's work.
Question. Howr are they in their domestic habits, so far as the domestic virtues are con
cerned ?
Answer. In western Louisiana, and in Texas, the free dine n and freed women very generally
ask to have the rites of marriage performed, and are exceedingly desirous that the marriage
ceremony shall be performed, even in cases where the parties have already lived many years
together. Their domestic attachments are exceedingly strong, and they have conceived a
desire to secure a higher moral status.
Question. Is not the domestic attachment a natural trait of the negro?
Answer. It is a very marked feature in his character. He is more gregarious than the
white man ; and, for that reason, the negro in western Louisiana, and in Texas, and indeed
throughout the south, will more readily receive employment from a southern man, other
things being equal, than from a northern man. Northern men, in a large number of cases,
in investing capital in the south seek to employ only able-bodied men, while the southern
man pursues the old system from habit, and employs entire families.
Question. What branches of education do the negroes most readily acquire ?
Answer. They acquire a knowledge of reading and writing with great facility, as their
imitative faculties are-very strong indeed; and the negro is exceedingly pious in disposition,
and prone to superstition, and becomes a devotee very readily indeed.
Question. What is the character of the mind of the negro in regard to acquiring a knowl
edge of mathematics and other exact sciences, and in regard to acquiring a knowledge of the
mechanical arts ?
Answer. His mechanical genius is excellent; that is the experience of all old planters.
There are negro mechanics in the south, in every branch of the mechanic arts, who will
compare favorably with the best Avhite mechanics. They have a very strong mechanical
genius, as is shown by the facility with which the negro boy learns to make a basket, or a
miniature plough, or any instrument or implement used about a plantation. Their facility
for learning has surprised me very much indeed.
Question. Have they an equal capacity for mathematical studies with white men, in your
judgment? .
Answer. So far as I have observed, they have not ; though the experiment has never been
fairly tried within my observation. Excellence in mathematics depends very much upon
the power of abstraction which the mind has. The negro has the imaginative quality of the
mind much more strongly developed than the abstract quality. A development of this power
of abstraction may spring up from further cultivation; it has not evinced itself in any marked
manner so far.
Question. Are the negroes, as a race, friends of order and obedient to the laws ?
Answer. They are exceedingly so. That is especially the case with the negroes who have
served in the federal army. Their direct contact with the whites, their discharge of a higher
class of duties than those assigned to mere laborers, has tended to sharpen their intelligence;
and that, together with the habit of obedience learned in the army, has made them exceed
ingly valuable as laborers ; and they will now command higher wages than those negroes
who remained on the plantations during the war. The negroes are orderly and obedient.
Question. Has there been, to your knowledge, or as you have been credibly informed, any
general disposition during the late war among the negroes in the Confederate States to rise
in insurrection against their masters, and to organize warfare upon them? If such schemes
have been entertained, how extensive have been those schemes ?
Answer. I believe those schemes have been entertained. In fact, it became my duty on
one occasion to suppress a scheme of that character in northern Texas, which I did without
bloodshed. But I think those schemes were not very general. There was a general belief
and hope among the negroes that the armies of the United States would make their appear
ance and supersede the necessity of any immediate action on the part of the negroes for their
own freedom. I am satisfied that there was no general scheme of insurrection, though the
h<»p,; and desire for freedom were very general. While in isolated cases there were slaves
who did not desire their freedom, and who were as ardently sectional as any southern white
man, the general sentiment was for freedom. The negroes now have quarrels among them
selves upon the question of rebellion and Unionism; but they are very rare, and it is gen
erally a feigned sentiment now. On the 15th of December last my agent, at the request and
under the influence of the threats of the authorities of Lamar county, Texas, delivered to
them 000 Enfield rifles which I had collected as agent for the United States. The plea was
that they were needed to suppress an intended insurrection of the freedmen of that section.
And on this pretext the freedmen were disarmed, plundered, and many of them killed. On
my reporting the facts to General Canby, he very promptly sent an order to the commanding
160 RECONSTRUCTION.
officer at Shreveport to send a force, if necessary, and take possession of the arms, provided
they were not delivered up on his demand, at the expense of the county author'.:
Question. Did he recover them ?
Answer. 1 have been informed that they have been delivered up to him.
Question. Suppose the Freedmeri's Bureau should be removed, and the federal troops
withdrawn from the late insurrectionary States, and the affairs and interests of the freedmen
should be submitted entirely to the legislation of those States, what would probably be the
result, so far as the condition of the freedmen is concerned ?
Answer. In my judgment, if the troops were withdrawn and the Freedmen's Bureau re
moved from the States south, within a brief period the gravest disorders would result. There
would be local insurrections among the freedmen to assert their rights, as the majority of
them are armed, and entitled to bear arms under the existing laws of the southern States.
It would result in bitter feuds and the destruction of the freedmen.
Question. You think such a course would be attended with bloodshed ?
Answer. Yes, sir, and very swiftly ; and the movement against the freedmen would be
instigated chiefly by those who did not formerly own slaves.
Question. Why would they be the principal instigators ?
Answer. Because by the withdrawal of so many freedmen from occupations exclusively
agricultural they have been brought into competition with white laborers, mechanics, and
others. This in my judgment, however, is but the temporary effect of emancipation, for the
impetus given to internal improvements of every class of course will soon furnish ample labor
for whites and blacks.
Question. The case I supposed was this : that if the protection of the national government
was withdrawn from the freedmen, and they were turned over, if you please to call it so, to
the care of the State governments, would it or not eventuate in a general bloody warfare be
tween the two races ?
Answer. In my judgment it would result in a war of races, however well disposed the
State authorities might be to grant protection to the freedmen.
Question. Is not the popular prejudice against the freedmen in those States so strong that
in a very short time it would influence the State legislatures to pass laws looking to the re-
enslavement of the blacks ?
Answer. I believe no scheme of that character is contemplated, because it is mai;!:V-:ly an
impracticable one.
Question. In law it would be, I know.
Answer. It would be inexpedient. The want of the necessary power to maint;:;M rach
laws in antagonism to the United States would prevent their passage ; although :
tion does exist in many quarters to pursue a course of legislation of such a character.
Question. At all events the general result would be extremely injurious both to tlie v
and to the blacks 1
Answer. There can be no doubt of it. It would result in the very gravest disorders and
the most serious obstructions to trade and production. I regard the garrisons in the south
as a very wholesome restraint at present.
Question. Are there any causes for the turbulent spirit displayed in Texas and Lor,
besides those springing from the emancipation of slaves by the United States ?
Answer. In addition to that are the causes I have already stated — the oppress!
the agents of the Treasury Department.
Question. Do the people of the south regard the result of the war as decisiv : lit of
secession?
Answer. So far as my observation extends they do not. They regard the war as deciding
the question of the expediency of secession, but as not touching the question of the right of
secession. In my judgment the term " secession" will be very cheerfully abandoned by the
people of the south, and for it they will substitute the term "revolution." And so far as I
know the temper of the people of the south — and I have studied it carefully both before and
since the surrender — this right of revolution will never be asserted except in the event tit' very
grave oppression — oppression that would come home to the business and bosom of every
man, and that would not need the arguments of politicians to make it rnani:*
action which they lacked in their former movement. I believe a very strong attachment to
the nationality of the United States exists among a large portion of the southern people : an
attachment to it because it invests the citizen with a moral dignity in foreign lauds, and
throws around him a protection in his own land ; a nationality that by its stability relieves
him from the hazards of a revolution which, having been once felt, will never be eucoui
again except with very great reluctance.
Question. What has been the extent of the disastrous reMiIts and destructive consequ-. i
of this war to the people of the department in which you have' been '
Answer. Eastern Louisiana, in the trans-Mississippi department, suffered greatly
the, war in the destruction of plantation improvements, private dwellings, and the seizure of
private property of every description. Those spoliations, however, were in a great me;
coniincd to eastern Louisiana. Western Louisiana suffered comparatively little, save upon
the one occasion of the advance, of (uiieral Banks. Texas lias suffered scarcely am
Arkansas has suffered very little comparatively, save along her great watt
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 161
people of the trans-Mississippi department know the evils of war in a great measure only by
repute, and I deem that fact as accounting in some measure for the present belligerent tem
per of the people of that section, although certainly not distinguished for the very material
aid they gave the confederate cause, their best and most reliable troops being in the cis-
Mississippi department.
Question* The amount of property destroyed by the operations of the war, I suppose,
must by very large?
Answer. Immense. But I regard the moral influences of the war, its* supension of the
wholesome restraints of public opinion and of domestic influences, as far more injurious to the
people than the mere material losses. That section is recovering rapidly from the suspension
of its business and the material injury done its fields during the war. A great impulse has
been given to every department of business since the cessation of hostilities. The loss of
slaves has been very rapidly compensated by the increased value of lands, so that the regret
of slaveholders for the loss of their slaves is very materially softened. Northern men are
introducing improved agricultural implements almost unknown in that section before the
surrender, and projects are presented for the construction of roads from points eminently
practicable, but never before dreamed of. The whole country is becoming busy with these
valuable novelties that are now being introduced. As an evidence of the want of thrift in
that region, I would state that four weeks ago there was not a brickyard in the vicinity of
Shreveport, Louisiana, the largest city of the Red River valley. With immense pineries
within five miles of the place, lumber was $60 a thousand feet, and rents were enormously
high, because of the want of the necessary materials of which to construct buildings. But
that difficulty has been obviated within a short period by the arrival of parties who are
establishing brickyards and saw-mills, investing in lands in the vicinity, and giving an
impulse to every kind of business.
Question. Are you acquainted with Governor Hamilton, of Texas ?
Answer. I met him some years ago casually, but I only know him by repute. I know
him as a prominent actor in the revolution in Texas.
Question. What is the condition of public education in Texas, and what provision has
been made for it by the laws of Texas ?
Answer. There are but few facilities for the poor to receive education in Texas. I do not
know of a single free school in northern Texas, and very few, if any, exist in the State. The
late convention of Texas, I understand, has made very fair and ample provision for the edu
cation of the whites. In western Louisiana there is the same paucity of facilities for the
education of the masses. There is but one free school in the parish of Caddo, in which
Shreveport, the great mercantile city of the Red River valley, is situated, and that school is
crowded by the children of the wealthy.
Question. The poor have no facilities for education ?
Answer. No, sir.
Question. Is there a general disposition among the white people of Texas to establish free
schools, and to promote the spread of popular education ?
Answer. I think there is now, though in Texas they have given but little attention to that
subject. But there is such a disposition indicated now, judging from the remarks of the press
in various parts of the State.
Question. How do they look upon the education of the blacks ? Do they favor it, or do
they, upon the whole, rather show a disposition to oppose it ?
Answer. Opinions differ very widely upon that subject. Many regard the education of the
negro as tending to inculcate in him principles or ideas of personal advancement beyond his
proper status as a laborer — as a mere hewer of wood and drawer of water. Others think —
but those who hold that opinion are very largely in the minority — that his education will
make him a more intelligent and therefore a more valuable laborer ; teach him the advan
tage of honorable conduct and obedience to his employer ; that his moral advancement will
proceed side by side with his intellectual advancement ; and they therefore deem it not only
right but politic that he should be educated. This opinion I know is entertained by persons
who before the war owned hundreds of slaves.
Question. What is the character of the negro in regard to the acquisition, preservation,
and enjoyment of property ? Does he love money as well as the white man ?
Answer. He does ; he is especially desirous of becoming an owner of land— the proprietor
of a little estate. So marked a feature is this in his character, that planters before the war,
but more especially since, invariably set apart a small piece of ground in which the negro
had a vested title ; though not in fee-simple, he had the usufruct of the tract, and regarded
it as his small domain with a great deal of pride. I know of many freedmen who have pur
chased land since the surrender — one, two, five, ten, and even twenty acres. Two ot niy
former slaves have purchased land in Louisiana.
Question. There is a general idea prevailing at the north, as well as at the south, that the
real character of the negro is so trifling, so light and so frivolous, that he can never make a
man, so to speak; that he has no providence, no forethought; that he has no faculty for
acquiring and keeping property, owing to the frivolousness of his nature. How much sound
ness is there in that opinion ?
Answer. I think the negro displays the same want of thrift and providence that white
11 F L T
162 RECONSTRUCTION.
persons, with no more education and social advantages than he has had, would display. I
do not regard his thriftlessuess as an essential feature of his idiosyncracy. He changes his
character under the influence of association and education as the white man does. While iu
my judgment he does not, possibly cannot, present the same combination of mental faculties
and power to achieve results in the higher walks of science as the white man, he receives his
limited education with as much facility as the most intelligent white, and can become as
useful a member of the community, for all practical purposes.
Question. As education generally advances among the blacks, and their social condition
becomes improved, do you not anticipate a relaxation of the intense prejudice now existing
against the race ?
Answer. I think it will'be materially softened with the moral and mental advancement of
the negro. In my judgment, a limited suffrage will be granted to him. What I mean by
that is, that after what will be deemed a just probation, the more youthful among the negroes,
on arriving at age, will be granted the right of voting, connected with a property qualifica
tion, which would not only make the class of voters a more select one, but would be regarded
as a reward of merit and thrift and providence, if the qualification were not placed too high.
[Examination suspended till to morrow.]
WASHINGTON, May 19, 1866.
Mr. T. J. Mackey recalled, and examination continued.
By Mr. HOWARD :
Question. What has been your means of information in regard to the condition of affairs
in the Indian country, south and west of Arkansas ?
Answer. In the spring and summer of 1862 I was engaged in making a reconnoissance or
military survey of a part of the territory occupied by the Cherokee, Creek, Choctaw, Chick-
asaw, and Seminole Indians.
Question. What is the condition of the Indians and negroes there, more particularly the
negroes ?
Answer. At that time I think there were some 10,000 or 12,000 negroes in the five nations,
embracing the tribes I mentioned in my last answer. Those negroes were held as slaves,
and were the subjects of barter and sale as were the same class in the States of the south.
The negroes of the Indian territory present a much lower type of intelligence, and a much
lower moral status than the negroes of the southern States, for the reason that the negroes of
the south have been constantly brought in contact with a higher class of intelligence than
the negroes of the Indian territory. The latter class of negroes have acquired the thriftless
habits of the Indians. But their condition was a happy one, in so far that they were very
rarely overworked ; but they lived in a state of extreme ignorance, almost barbarism.
Miscegenation was very rigidly prohibited by the laws of the several Indian tribes or
nations. The punishment of an Indian in the Creek country for cohabiting with a negro
woman, for the first offence was a certain number of stripes, and for the second offence the
cutting off of the nose and ears ; and the negro was punished with stripes.
There are schools in the Indian territories, supported by funds granted by the government
of the United States, at which the children of Indians were and are educated ; but no negroes
or the children of negroes are permitted to enter those schools.
In the Cherokee country very nearly two-thirds of the population are of mixed blood —
white and Indian — being one-half, one-quarter, or one-eighth white blood. About one-third
of the population are full-blooded Indians. The full-blood Indian gives no evidence of thrift
or advancement. In my judgment no full-blood Indian has ever been thoroughly civilized,
or can be.
There is a radical antagonism between the full-blood Indian and the half, quarter, or eighth
blood. The antagonism is greater between them than that which exists between the full-blood
Indian and the white man. The full-blood Indian does not trust the good faith of the mixed
blood, and believes that he has degraded himself and his caste by the union with the white.
In the Choctaw nation, however, in spite of the severe laws against miscegenation, some
of the chiefs arc crossed with African blood. And in the Seminole nation several of the most
prominent chiefs, the most distinguished in war and in council, were full-blood negroes.
These Indians were in alliance with the late Confederate States during the late war.
Question. Of all the tribes you have mentioned ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they entered into an alliance with the confederate authorities, which
alliance was to be perpetual.
Question. Who was the diplomatic agent of the confederacy?
Answer. General Albert Pike, commissioner to all the tribes upon the borders, and subse
quently brigadier general commanding the department of the Indian territories. Treaties
were also concluded with the Caddo and Anodako Indians, with a portion of the Delawares,
and with several bands of the Comanches. These treaties were to last "while water runs
and grass grows."
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 163
Question. That is, perpetually ?
Answer. Yes, sir. The Comauches were bound to neutrality simply — to bear arms neither
against the south nor against the north. The Comanches occupied the western border of
Texas, frequently extending their excursions into Texas, and sometimes across the Rio
Grande into Mexico, and bands of the Comanches come down to the western borders of the
Chk-kasaw country, in the Wichita mountain region.
The country of the Five Nations is exceedingly fertile, producing cotton, corn, wheat, and
all the cereals in great perfection. It abounds with iron, lead, and copper, in their purest
forms. There are also abundant oil springs everywhere in the Cherokee, Choctaw, and
Chickasaw nations, which have never been worked.
But the chief occupation of these Indians is the rearing of horses and cattle. Compara
tively but little attention has been paid to agriculture, except among the Cherokees, who
are farthest advanced in civilization.
Question. What is the Indian population ?
Answer. Nor far from 70,000 to 90,000.
Question. Including all the tribes?
Answer. Yes, sir, the Five Nations.
Question. Are they warlike ?
Answer. They are ; their habith are martial, because they are engaged largely in hunting.
But they did not prove very formidable in the field against modern discipline, and the very
large preponderance that artillery bears in the composition of armies at this day ; but they
rendered some service to the confederate authorities.
Question. About how many warriors did they furnish to the confederacy during the late war ?
Answer. In July, 1864, under the command of Brigadier General Pike, they had in the
field the largest organization that they had ever furnished — some 7,000 or 8,000 men.
Question. They furnished then about one-tenth of their entire number ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; all classes turned out.
Question. How were they armed ?
Answer. With the ordinary hunting rifle, and with single and double-barrel shot-guns.
Many of them, however, were subsequently armed with Enfield rifles.
Question. Did they use the bow and arrow and the tomahawk at all ?
Answer. No, sir ; the Indians of the Five Nations have abandoned the use of the bow
and arrow. In some few cases full-bloods use the bow and arrow ; but those cares are very
rare. A large number of the Comanches still use the bow and arrow, but they were not in
the field in the confederate service.
Question. Were those Indian warriors employed in active operations against the United
States ?
Answer. A small portion of Cherokees were employed at the battle of Elk Horn, where
they captured a battery, and subsequently, early in the fall of 1864, Indians were employed
in the capture of a federal train, with its escort, on Cabin creek, in the Indian territory ;
and they were employed on the 18th of April, 1864, in the capture, at Poison Springs,
Arkansas, of the train of General Steele, commanding that district.
Question. How did the Indians treat the Union prisoners who fell into their hands ?
Answer. At Poison Springs it was found extremely difficult to control the Indians wrhen
the battle was over, though, upon the opening of the attack, they fell back in great confu
sion upon receiving a volley. The force that made the attack consisted of white and Indian
troops ; about 2,000 Indians on the extreme left. The Indians advanced on the left before
the signal was given, and were met with a volley from the escort of the train, which caused
them to fall back in disorder. They bore but a slight part in the battle, but, after it was
over, they moved forward and began to kill the wounded, who were chiefly blacks, for the
escort of the train were black troops. The Indians were checked in this as soon as practi
cable, for they would have killed the confederate wounded with the same facility, in order
to secure the spoils. Under the administration of General Pike, Indians were not permitted
to maltreat prisoners ; and in order to deprive them of any motive to maltreat and plunder
prisoners, General Pike offered a considerable reward for every prisoner, man or woman,
delivered to him by the Indians, which, in my judgment, saved many prisoners from
slaughter at the hands of the Indians, as they brought them in and received the reward ;
and the prisoners were invariably treated kindly and sent beyond the confederate lines as
soon as practicable. The Indians practiced cruelties upon the prisoners at Elk Horn, which
was the subject of a correspondence between Major General Curtis, of the Union army, and
General Pike. General Pike disclaimed authorizing such conduct, and took measures to
discover the perpetrators of the crimes ; measures, however, which were ineffectual. At the
opening of hostilities the Cherokees were divided in sentiment ; ultimately, however, about
one-half went north, and the other half remained with the south.
Question. What is the state of feeling between those two classes of Indians ?
Answer. Very hostile and bitter ; very violent. In my judgment the difference is irre
concilable, as the Indian is a very hearty hater and never forgives. I have had opportuni
ties of ascertaining this sentiment since the surrender, by conferring with exponents of both
sides among these Indians.
Question. You think their hostility is irreconcilable ?
1G4 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. Yes, sir. In my judgment it would be impracticable for them to reside in the
same country together without a very large garrison to preserve the peace.
Question. Were these Indian warriors in the habit of torturing their prisoners after cap-
ure?
Answer. I have heard of a good many cases, and know of three cases of torture prac
ticed upon whites ; the others were practiced upon Indians. The Indians of the Cherokee
nation that adhered to the government of the United States were termed Pin Indians ; those
that adhered to the south were termed the Standuaitie party. When they _ take each other
prisoners in battle they invariably subject them to torture, to the dislocation of limbs, the
cutting off the joints, commencing with the fingers and toes, until the body is dismembered.
That was practiced by the full-bloods, not by the mixed-bloods.
Question. Did they inflict these tortures upon white prisoners ?
Answer. They did in the cases of three confederate soldiers that I know of.
Question. What do you think of the present feeling of those Indians, who served the con
federate cause, towards the government of the United States ?
Answer. I think that their feeling towards the government of the United States is very
friendly, but it is exceedingly bitter against the late Confederate States, believing, as they
do, that they were the victims of a fraud when they formed their alliance with the confeder
acy. In the cases of the Five Nations, there were no garrisons of the United States then occu
pying any portion of their territory. Under former treaties made by those nations with the
government of the United States, it was provided that the United States should maintain
garrisons in their respective tenitories to guard their Indian allies from marauding bands of
whites and wild Indians. Claiming that those treaties had been violated by the withdrawal
of those garrisons, the Indian nations felt themselves free to treat with what, to them, was
ostensibly an established government upon their border, the Confederate States. They are
now pacific and amicable in their disposition. The government of the United States never
stood so high among the Indians of the border as it does to-day, because of the evidence of
power it has given during the war. Prior to the war the borders of Texas were overrun by
bands of Comanches. To-day, on the remotest borders of the west, the Comanche Indians
tremble at the prospect of a war with the United States, and, for the first time, respect its
flag. At present men are herding their stock upon the borders of Texas, in regions that six
years ago were deserted because of the incursions of hostile Indians.
Question. You think there is little danger to be apprehended in the future from disturb
ances on the part of the Indians ?
Answer. None. On the contrary, I think that a very efficient force to check the wild
tribes on the borders, should they at any time prove turbulent, could be drawn from the Five
Nations and substituted for white troops.
Question. Do you think the employment of these Indian forces by the confederates was of
any real advantage to the confederate cause ?
Answer. It was a negative advantage, by preventing them from effecting an alliance with
the government of the United States, and thus obviating the necessity of the confederate au
thorities keeping a large force upon the border of Texas to protect it — an advantage only so
far as the alliance secured the peace of the Texas border as against these tribes. They were
of but little positive value as soldiers in the field in confronting the forces of the United States,
for they invariably met with disaster upon fair fields, and were only effective in following up
victories or in effecting an ambush. Their successes were very small during the war.
Question. They were wanting in steadiness ?
Answer. Yes, sir ; they are an unreliable, thriftless people. As soldiers, they come you know
not when ; they go you know not where. They are always in the wrong places precisely at
the wrong times. But there are no secessionists among them now.
Question. Did they submit to military discipline with any alacrity ?
Answer. No, sir ; and they practiced the habit of leaving when they pleased, although in
some cases they would get some of their friends or relations to take their places, without con
sulting their commanding officers. They would periodically disband and return to their
homes with the view of putting in their com crops, and then return to the army. Many
millions of dollars were expended by the confederate authorities in arming and equipping
these Indians, and in foraging and subsisting them. It was found impossible to induce them
to serve as infantry. They were all cavalry, and very inferior cavalry, too.
Question. How are they as marksmen ?
Answer. Very inferior. I never saw an Indian that was a good shot.
Question. Would they scalp their prisoners when they took any ?
Answer. It was a point of honor among Indians never to scalp others of the same tribe,
though they would practice upon them the most monstrous cruelties. Nor would they scalp
a white man in the presence of a white man, because it is deemed a very grave insult. The
Indian believes that the dead go to the happy hunting-ground as he leaves this world, and
the body of a warrior is not complete without his scalp, his badge of honor. If his scalp is
taken he will not be happy hereafter, because that symbol of his honor as a warrior is gone ;
and in their own tribe they do not extend their malice beyond the grave. The Indian re
sembles the white man chiefly in one very marked peculiarity of his character— his want of
gratitude.
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 165
Question. Is there any gratitude in the Indian ?
Answer. Very little.
Question. The general impression is that the Indian has rather a grateful heart for favors.
Answer. Those who have been upon the frontier will not indorse that opinion. To the
white man the Indian shows but little gratitude. The wild Indian deems every favor ex
tended to him by a white man as but an evidence of fear or weakness.
Question. Have these Indians any well-defined ideas concerning property ?
Answer. The mixed bloods have; but the idea of the full-blood Indian is a very ill-de
fined one. The ground over which he hunts is deemed to be his own. He has no idea of
titles vesting by virtue of improving lands. The Indians of the Five Nations do not hold
their lands in fee-simple ; they are not allowed to dispose of their lands.
Question. How is the transfer of lands made ?
Answer. A party is permitted to hold all the lands he improves and fences, without limita
tion as to the number of acres ; and he can pass his title to the improvements, but not to the
land itself.
Question. The title to the land itself remains in the nation ?
Answer. Yes, sir. It is to be hoped that that system will not be continued, so that there
may be an influx of white population in that region, in order to develop the mineral and ag
ricultural resources of that country, which now lie dormant.
Question. What is the custom among them in regard to the right of holding and improv
ing lands ? Is a license, or any similar document, given by the chief or the council to each
individual Indian ?
Answer. A record is kept by the proper officer of the amount of land claimed as improved,
and a small tax is paid — a fee for registration.
Question. They have an office of registration?
Answer. Yes, sir, and other offices. Their legislatures meet annually, and their laws are
published in book form.
Question. Will you describe their government and their mode of legislation?
Answer. Their government is republican in form. Members of the legislature, an upper
and a lower house, are elected every two years, I think, who pass local laws and impose
local taxes. For instance, by the laws of the several Indian legislatures, no intoxicating liquor
is allowed to be sold within their territories, and a military organization is kept up, termed
the "light-horse," as a police, for the purpose of preventing whites from bringing liquor into
the territory and disposing of it. Those local legislatures impose taxes and fines. In cases
occurring between whites and Indians — a case of homicide, for instance — the case is not
triable under any local laws of the Indian territory, but in the nearest United States district
court.
Question. How are the members of their legislative bodies elected, and what are the quali
fications of an elector ?
Answer. That they shall be citizens of the Indian territory, whether white men or red men.
Question. Can a white man residing there vote ?
Answer. He can if he is a citizen of the territory; and he can become a citizen immedi
ately by marrying an Indian woman and making application, which is invariably granted, or
by a residence of one or two years in the territory cud making improvements — by becoming
an actual settler.
Question. How is the vote taken ?
Answer. By ballot.
Question. And in the organization of their legislative houses, have they a speaker and
other officers ?
Answer. Yes, sir; their legislatures are modelled after the legislatures of the several
States ; and they have a territorial secretary and treasurer, the treasurer being the custodian
of the several funds of the territory — the school fund, &c.
Question. After a bill has been passed by the two houses how is it approved — how does it
become a law ?
Answer. Each nation has a head chief; the head chief of the Creek nation is called king,
or mico ; of the other nations they are termed head chiefs. Among them are men of very
considerable ability.
Question. Does the head chief, or king, of a nation approve the bills in a manner similar
to the governors of States ?
Answer. In addition to their legislatures they hold councils, at which the head chief pre
sides. These councils consider questions of general policy — the applications of persons to
become citizens ; and the treaties are made by the councils, and not by the legislatures.
Question. And a bill would be approved by the head chief and the council ?
Answer. I suppose so.
Question. Suppose the chief and council dissented from the provisions of any bill?
Answer. I know of no provision made for the exercise of the veto power.
Question. Has the chief or council power to alter or amend a bill ?
Answer. No, sir ; they can suggest or recommend alterations. It is a very crude system.
Question. Do you think of anything further to state in regard to the enslavement of the
black race among these Indians ?
166 RECONSTRUCTION.
Answer. There are some very large slaveholders in the Indian territories. A mulatto is
very seldom seen in the country. I do not recollect, with all my experience in those territo
ries, to have seen two mulattoes there. The African race has been preserved in its purity
there.
Question. And those are now held there as slaves ?
Answer. Yes, sir, unless their status has been recently changed by some treaty of which I
am not advised.
Question. How do the Indians regard the amendment of the Constitution abolishing slavery
throughout the United States?
Answer. They do not deem it applicable to them, as their separate and independent sover
eignty and nationality have been recognized by the United States, ever since the establish
ment of the government of the United States, by the making of treaties with them which are
ratified by the Senate of the United States, in the same manner as treaties with any foreign
power. But there is among the Indians a very general willingness to abolish slavery at
once, provided they can receive a moderate compensation for their slaves.
Question. The fact is, that at present they do hold and use these negroes as slaves?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And treat them as articles of transfer and sale ?
Answer. Yes, sir, as slaves are treated in all countries where there are slaves.
Question. The Indians do this to this day ?
Answer. Yes, sir.
Question. And, so far as you know, they do not regard as applicable to them the amend
ment of the Constitution abolishing slavery ?
Answer. Not at all. They regard themselves as foreign nations, as independent sovereign
ties. They perceive the fact that the exchangeable value of the slave has been greatly im
paired by their vicinage to the States of the United States, as those States would furnish a
secure asylum to their slaves whenever they may choose to leave their masters. But the
slaves there are very well contented. They are treated by their masters with great liberality,
and upon terms approaching a perfect equality, with this exception, that the owner of the
slave generally does more work than the slave himself. I am satisfied this statement would
be sustained by any number of negroes taken at random from any portion of the Indian ter
ritory. Their attachments to their Indian masters are very strong.
Question. What has become of Albert Pike?
Answer. He is at present residing in Arkansas, of which State he was'one of the supreme
judges at the time of the surrender.
Question. How is he regarded by the people of the late Confederate States?
Answer. General Pike is held in high esteem at the south because of his ability as a scholar
and a poet, and his high moral character as a gentleman. He wields a very great influence
in the State of Arkansas, and is regarded by the Indians as their friend and exponent. It is
within my own knowledge that he accepted with very great reluctance the position of briga
dier general in the confederate service. In treating with the Indians on the border his aim
has always been simply to secure their neutrality, that they might not be used on either side in
the late contest ; and he has always worked with the Indians in the interest of humanity, en
deavoring, as I have already said, to secure prisoners from maltreatment by the Indians, by
offering rewards for the safe delivery of prisoners to him, and, since the surrender, he has
been assiduously laboring for the interests of the government of the United States.
Question. Were the Indians of the Five Nations at all unanimous in their adhesion to the
late Confederate States ? Please state the facts in reference to that alliance.
Answer. They were unanimous, with the exception of a fraction of the Creek and Semi-
nole nations that went north at the beginning of the contest. In May of 1861 the Cherokee
nation issued a declaration of neutrality in view of the then impending war. That declara
tion was concurred in by the confederate authorities, and respected by General McCulloch,
who was then upon the Cherokee border with an army of about 8,000 men, composed of
Texas, Arkansas, and Louisiana troops. They maintained this neutrality until the defeat
of the United States forces at the battle of Wilson's creek, Missouri, in the month of August,
1861 ; they then, through their principal chief, John Ross, addressed a communication to
General Albert Pike, commissioner from the Confederate States to the Indian nations, and
proposed to renounce their neutrality and enter into an alliance, offensive and defensive,
with the Confederate States. General Pike effected a treaty with them on this basis. By
the terms of that treaty the Confederate States agreed to pay them the sum of two hundred
and tifty thousand ('250,000) dollars cash, and to continue to them the annuities that they
had received from the United States, and to reimburse them for the loss of their neutral lands
in Kansas, &c. In return, the Cherokees were to furnish all their able-bodied men for ser
vice against the United States, provided that the Cherokee troops were not to be ordered out
of the Cherokee nation without thftir own consent. Pursuant to this treaty a Cherokee force
was organized under the especial direction of John Ross, who issued a declaration of war
against the United States on behalf of the Cherokee nation. About one thousand of these
Cherokees were present at, the battle of Pea Ridge, or Elkhorn, in March of 1862. They
consisted altogether of men of the Pin or Ross party. At night, after the battle was done,
they moved over the field and killed and scalped the wounded of the federal army. In July
of 1862 Colonel Wier, of the United States army, then commanding a force on the northern
FLORIDA — LOUISIANA — TEXAS. 167
order of the Cherokee country, proposed to John Ross to abrogate the treaty entered into
by the Cherokees with the Confederate States, and invited his attention to the fact that the
Confederate States had violated that treaty by withdrawing their forces from the Cherokee
country, and he urged the Cherokees to enter into an alliance with the United States, and
tendered to John Ross and the chiefs of the nation a safe conduct to Washington and return
through his lines. This proposition was at once rejected by Ross, who declared that the
Cherokees were bound to the people of the south in a community of interest and sentiment,
and would stand or fall with the Confederate States. He also stated that the Cherokees
would never break the faith of treaties to ally themselves with a people who had authorized
and practiced the most monstrous barbarities, in violation of the laws of war. This reply
was forwarded with a letter explanatory, by John Ross, to General Pike, who was then about
175 miles distant, with the confederate and Indian troops, in the Chickasaw nation near the
Texas border. I read the reply and letter ; they were delivered to General Pike by a son or
John Ross. About three months after this reply John Ross went over to the north with
about one-half of the Cherokee nation, embracing the larger portion of the full-blood Indians.
Many of them entered the service of the United States, and, in my opinion, it would have
been cheaper for the government to have fought them than to-have fed them.
T. J. MAC KEY.
NOTE. — Many of the statements and opinions which appear to have been volunteered by
me in the above testimony were elicited by remarks and questions on the part of the com
mittee, which have not been noted by the reporter.
T. J. MACKEY.
INDEX
Page.
Alabama, testimony relative to —
Major General E d ward Hatch Part III 6,7
Brigadier General George E. Spencer 8, 9. 10
Judge William H. Smith 11,12,13
J. J. Gries 13,14,15
Major General G. H. Thomas 26,27,28
Major General C. B. Fisk 29—31
M. J. Safford 59—63
D. C. Humphreys 63 — 67
Colonel M. M. Bane 75—76
Lieutenant Colonel Hunter Brook 113 — 116
Major General B. H. Grierson 121—124
General W. Swayne 138—141
Captain J. H.Matthews 141—147
General C. C.Andrews 147—149
General A. J. Chetlain 149—151
A ndersonville prison, records of—
D. Atwater Part II 279
Miss Clara Barton Part III 104
Arkansas, testimony relative to —
Mordecai Mobley Part III 16—22
G. H. Kyle 48—56
William Byers 56—59
Brigadier GeneralJ. S. Brisbin 69 — 71
E. D. Ayres 71—72
C. A. Harper 72—75
George K. Weeks 76—77
Major General J. R. West 77—79
William D. Snow 79—98
CONSTITUTION OF ARKANSAS 84
Major J. W. Smith 98—100
S. R. Harrington 119—120
Colonel C. A. Harry 124—129
General C. C.Andrews 147—149
GeneralJ. G. Blunt 151—153
J. M. Tibbetts 153—155
General John Tarbell ,155—157
Colonel J. H. Whipple 168—171
Extract from message of provisional governor 179
Statement of troops recruited for the United States army 180
Proclamation of me governor ...... 181
Churches, testimony as to divisions in, upon political matters —
E. O. Dunning Part II 45
D. B. White 63
Rev. Dr. R. McMurdy 88,89,90
J. W. Hunnicutt 150
Compensation for slaves emancipated and property destroyed during the war, expectation
°f—
Affirmative.. Judge Underwood Part II
J. W. Hunnicutt 150
General G. E. Spencer Part III
General George H. Thomas 29
GeneralB. H. Grierson 123
Captain J. H. Matthews 1>44
General A. J. Chetlain 15°
J. P. Hambleton 166
J.W. Recks Part IV 2
General D. S. Stanley
Doctor J. M. Turner 128
J. D. B. DeBow 134
Neo-ative Colonel O. Brown Part II 124
J. D. B.DeBow Part IV 134
General L. Thomas 143
12*
170 INDEX.
Page.
Broirnlow, Governor, message of. Part I J 3
CONSTITUTION OF ARKANSAS Part III 84
OF GEORGIA, extracts from 185, 186
OF FLORIDA Part IV 11—35
Freedmen's Bureau and United States troops, necessity for in the South —
Affirmative.. Major General Edward Hatch Part I 105, 106
Major General G. H. Thomas 109,110
Major General C. B. Fisk 113
Colonel William Spence 118
Lieutenant Colonel R. W. Barnard 121
General J. W. Turner Part II 5
G. F. Watson 19
J. Millard 30
J. Roberts 34, 35
W. James 40
E. O. Dunning 48
Calvin Pepper 49
A. Dunlop 57
Thomas Bain- 59
D. B. White 61
J. F. Lewis 72
W. L. Chase 95—97
J. M. Botts 123
Colonel O. Brown 127
General A. H. Terry 143
J. W. Hunnicutt 149
F. W. Bruce 1 154
Lieutenant G. O. Sanderson J75, 176
Colonel E. Whittlesey 182—184
D. H. Clapp 208—211
J. A. Campbell 214
Bedford Brown 265
W. H. H. Beadle 270—272
General Edward Hatch Part III
General Spencer - 15
J. J. Goes 15
E . Heins tad t 20
General G. H. Thomas 27
General C. B. Fisk 30,31
General C. H. Howard, (report) 36
William Byers 58
M. J. Safford 63
David C. Humphreys 64, 66, 67
GeneralJ. S. Brisbiu 70,71
C. A. Harper 74
G. R. Weeks 77
General J. R. West 78
Major J. W. Smith 99
General R. Saxton 102
H. S. Welles 110,111
Colonel H. Brook 114
General B. H. Grierson 123
Governor Johnson 129
General Swayne 139
Captain Matthews 145
General C. C. Andrews 148, 149
General A. L. Chetlain 151
GeneralJ. Tarbell 156
Captain L. H. Whipple 161
J. W. Recks ... PartlV.... 2,4,5
L. M. Hobbs 8,11
General W. E. Strong 38,39
General D. S. Stanley 40,41,42
Lieutenant W. Wilson 45
Lieutenant Colonel H. S. Hall 46,47,48
J. E.Roy 68
Brigadier General C. C. Doolittle 70,71
General G. A. Custer 74
T. Conway 82—85
INDEX. 171
Page.
Freedmen's Bureau and United States troops, necessity for in the South— Continued.
Affirmative.. J. T. Allen Part IV 86—80
J. Covode 116
Colonel Israel Vogdes 120—122
Major General Sheridan 122, 123
General C. C. Andrews 124
Doctor J. M. Turner 126, 127, 128
B. C. Truman 137, 138
General L. Thomas 144
Stephen Powers 148
Negative J. M. Botts Part II 123
J. Sinclair 169
Lieutenant George 0. Sanderson 180
G.H.Kyle Part III.... 52
H. S. Wells, as to General Sherman1 s order Ill, 112
Governor Sharkey 134
General J. Tarbell 156
C. G. Forshey. Part IV. ...130, 131
J. D. B. DeBow 132,133,134
General L. Thomas 144
Frecdmcn, evidence of general hostility and occasional cruelty towards —
Affirmative.. Major General Edward Hatch Part I 107
Major General C. B. Fisk 112
O. P. Temple 124
GeneralJ. W. Turner Partll.... 5
Judge Underwood 7 — 9
Lewis M'Kenzie 13
G. S. Smith 16, 17
J. Hawkshurst 21
George T ucker 23, 24
J. Roberts 34
W. James 40
E. O. Dunning 47, 48
Calvin Pepper 50
Daniel Norton 51
Wm. Thornton 52
M . Ne wb y 54 , 55
A. Dunlop . 57
E. Parsons 60
D. B. White 61
C. D. Gray 67
J. F. Lewis 71
M. D. Corse 74
Arthur Watson 83
W. L. Chase 95,96
W. J. Dews 112
J. M. Botts 122
Colonel O. Brown 126,127
General A. H. Terry 142,143
C. H. Lewis 146
M. Blackburn 148
F. W. Bruce 154
B. R. Grattan ]62
J.Sinclair 170—174
Lieutenant G. O. Sanderson 175, 176, 177
Colonel E. Whittlesey 182,183
D. H. Clapp 209
J. A. Campbell 213,214
General R. Saxton 218
Captain A. P. Ketchurn 233—240
J.W. Alvord 243,244
A. W. Kelsey Partlll.... 3
General Edward Hatch 5, 6, 7, 8
General Spencer 8,9
Judge Smith ,. 11
J. J. Gries 14,15
M. Mobley 15—22
E. Heiustadt 25
General C. B. Fisk 30,31,32
172 INDEX.
Page.
Frcedmen, evidence of general Jiostility and occasional cruelty towards— Continued.
Affirmative.. General C. H. Howard Part III 35,37,42
M. J. Safford 61,62
D. C. Humphreys 64
General J. S. Brisbin 70
M aj o r J . W . S m i th ..-....., 98
General R. Saxton 101
Clara Barton 104
W. Dillingham '. '.'. 1 1 8, 1 ] 9
General B. H. Grierson 122,123
Governor Johnson 129
Governor Sharkey 133
General Swayne 140,141
Captain Matthews 142, 143, 144
Captain Matthews 144, 145, 146, 1 84
General A. J. Chetlain 150151
W. F. Downs 158
A. H. Stephens 160
Sidney Andrews 173
Governor Humphreys 182, 183
J. W. Recks Part IV.... 2.4
L. M. Hobbs 9,10
General W. E. Strong 36, 37
General D. S. Stanley 39,41,42
Lieutenant W. Miller 44, 45
Lieutenant Colonel H. S. Hall 46,47,48,50
D. E. Haynes 62
J.E.Roy 64,65,66,67
Brigadier General C. C. Doolittle 71
Major General G. A. Custer 75,76
Thomas Conway 79,80,82,83
J.T.Allen 89
J. H. Bell's circular 93
Colonel J. Vogdes 121
General C. C. Andrews 125
C. G. Forshey 131,132
J. D. B. DeBow 135
B. C. Truman 136 — 138
General L. Thomas 142
Stephen Powers 147
Negative General J. W. Turner Part II 5
R. R. Hill 56
C. D. Gray 67
J. B. Johnson 79
D. Carter 99
J. M. Botts 122
Colonel O. Brown 124
R. E. Lee 131
C. S. Mills 137
General A. H. Terry 142
C. H. Lewis 146
M. Blackburn 148
B. R. Grattan 163
E. F. Keen 165
Colonel E. Whittlesey 182,183
Captain A. P. Ketchum 233
J. W. Alvord 243
T. M. Cook 277
H. C. Lawrence 292
W. H. H. Beadle 266,268,269,271,272
H. C. Lawrence 292
G. H. Kyle Partlll.... 53
William Byers 59
R. A. Hill 68
Colonel C. A. Henry 126
Governor Johnson 129
Governor Sharkey 133,135,136
General J. G. Blunt 152
INDEX. 173
Page.
Frccdmen, evidence of general hostility and occasional cruelty towards — Continued.
Negative Governor Humphreys Part III 183
General B. S. Stemley Part IV.... 43
Brigadier General C. C. Doolittle 71
Colonel Israel Vogdes 121
C. G. Forshey 130,131
J. D.B. DeBow 135
B. C. Truman 140
Stephen Powers 147
Frcedmen, their fitness and disposition for free labor —
Affirmative.. Major General Edward Hatch Part I 107
Major General G. H. Thomas 109
Major General C. B. Fisk 112
Colonel William Spence 117
Lewis McKenzie Part II 13
J. Stiles 33
M. Newby 54
R. R. Hill 56
A. Dunlop 58
J. B. Johnson 80
Rev. Dr. R. McMurdy 91,92
D. Carter 99
M. Blackburn 148
F. W. Bruce 154
Colonel E. Whittlesey 182
General R. Saxton 220
Captain A. C. Ketchum 237
Bedford Brown 265
\V. H. H. Beadle 268
General Ed. Hatch Part III.... 6
E. Heinstadt 25
General G. H. Thomas 28
General C. B. Fisk 30,31
General C. H. Howard, report 34,35,36
W. D. Snow 65,66
GeneralJ. S. Brisbin 70,71
E. D. Ayres 72
C. A. Harper 74
G. R. Weeks 76
GeneralJ. R. West 78
Major J. W. Smith 99
General R. Saxton 101
H. S. Welles 112
W. Dillingham 118
General Grierson 122
Colonel C. A. Henry 126
Governor Sharkey 134
General W. Swayne 139, 140
Captain Matthews 142
General C. C. Andrews 149
General John Tarbell 156
A. H. Stephens 160, 16 1
CaptainL. H. Whipple 169
Sidney Andrews 173, 174
C. G. Baylor 177
J. W. Recks PartlV.... 2—6
L. M. Hobbs 9,10
General W. E. Strong 37
General D. S. Stanley 40
J. W. Shaffer 59
J. E.Roy 64—68
J. T.Allen 88,89
Hon. J.Covode 117,118
Colonel Israel Vogdes 121
Major General Sheridan 123
J. D. B. De Bow 135
B. C. Truman 139
General L. Thomas 141—143
Stephen Powers 147,148,149
174 * INDEX.
Page.
Freedmen, their fitness and disposition for free labor — Continued.
Negative M.M.Lewis Part II 77
General J. Tarbell !".".".".".". "7." ".".Part III". 157
J. F. Hambleton 167
C. G.Forshey ]]]]]]]]] '.'.Part IV ".".!." 131
Free labor, evidence of hostility to —
Affirmative.. Colonel E. Whittlesey Part II 182
A. W. Kelsey "]]]part III]] 3,4
General Ed. Hatch 567
E. Heinstadt .".]]."."]]]]]]]]]] ' 25
General G. H. Thomas 27
General C. B. Fisk ].."]]."...]]]] 30,31
General C. H. Howard '37
General W. E. Strong " ] ]p~art iv] . ! 36, 37
General D. S. Stanley 39
Lieutenant W. Miller 43
J. T. Allen ]]]]]]]]]]""]."]]] 86
Negative A. W. Kelsey .".".._ .Part III'.'.'. '. 3
General G. H. Thomas 27
General C. H. Howard ]. _]]]._ 41
Lieutenant W. Miller Part IV.-.. 43
Florida, testimony relative to —
Brigadier General C. H. Howard, and report Part III 38—40
Major General R. Saxton 100 102
J. W. Recks ]]"... ."Partiv*"... 1—6
Hon. W . Marvin 6 7
NEW CONSTITUTION, ORDINANCES, AND RESOLUTIONS passed by the convention .20 — 35
L. M. Hobbs 1 1 35
Colonel Israel Vogdes . .119 122
Major General Sheridan ."."]].*."].."].". . 123
B. C. Truman j 35
Stephen Powers 145 149
Georgia, testimony relative to —
A. W. Kelsey Part III.... 1,2,3
Major General G. H. Thomas 28 29
Major General C. B. Fisk .]].]...]. 31^32
Brigadier General C. H. Howard, and report 38 — 40
Major General R. Saxton . 100 102
H. S. Welles ]"."..]"..]]]]]]]]]]]]". 108— 113
Major General B. H. Grierson 121 ] 24
Governor Johnson 12(J 132
W. F. Downs 157, 158
Alexander H. Stephens 158 166
Act as to rights of negroes 161
J. P. Hambleton 166—168
Sidney Andrews 170 176
Extracts from the new Constitution 185, 186
Johnson, Andrew, proclamation of, as military governor of Tennessee Part I 10 — 13
Louisiana, testimony relative to —
Ezra Heinstadt Part III 22—28
J.W.Shaffer Part I V . . . . 50— 59
D. E. Haynes 59 — 62
J. E.Roy 63—69
Brigadier General C. C. Doolittle 69—71
Major General G. A. Custer 72 — 78
Thomas Conw ay . 78 — 86
J. T. Allen _"]]] 91
Hon. J. Covode ] 14 — 1 1 9
Major General Sheridan , 122 — 1 24
Dr. James M. Turner 129
J. D. B. De Bow 132—136
Lincoln, President, reported conversations of in 1861, relative to efforts to avert tear —
J. B. Baldwin Part II.... 102— 109
J.M.Botts 114—123
Mississippi, testimony relative to —
Major General Edward Hatch Part III 4, 5, 6, 7
Major General G. H. Thomas 28,29
Major General C. B. Fisk 31,32,33
R. A. Hill ...67—69
INDEX. 175
Page.
Mississippi, testimony relative to — Continued.
A. P. Dillingham Part III.. ..116— 119
General B. H. Grierson 121—124
Governor Sharkey 133 — 137
Captain J. H. Matthews 141—147—184
W. F. Downs 157,158
Message of Governor Humphreys 182
National debt and taxes, reluctance to pay, (and herein of the expectation of the pay
ment of the confederate debt. )
Affirmative . . Judge Underwood Part II 8
Lewis McKenzie 12, 13, 14
George S. Smith 15
G. F. Watson 19
J. Hawkslmrst 21
Josiah Millard 28
J. Roberts 33
D. B. White 62
M. D. Corse 65
Arthur Watson 81, 82
J. JM. Wood 85
C. H. Lewis 146
J. Sinclair 172,173
H. A. Cooke 204
J. A. Campbell 213
Bedford Brown 233
General Spencer Part III 9
General G. H. Thomas 29
General C. H. Howard 39
H. S. Welles 109
General Grierson 123
J. P. Hambleton 166
Sidney Andrews 172, 173
Lieutenant Colonel H. S. Hall Part IV.... 49
J. W. Shaffer 57
General G. A. Custer 75
Hon. JohnCovode 118,119
Stephen Powers 146
Negative General L. Thomas Part IV 186
Newspapers and politicians, effect of disloyal —
L. M. McKenzie Part II 11,13
G. S. Smith 14
J. F. Lewis 72
John Minor Botts 120
C. S. Mills 145,146,147
J. W. Hunnicutt 151
North Carolina, testimony relative to —
James Sinclair Part II 166—175
Lieutenant G. O. Sanderson 173—181
Colonel E. Whittlesey 181—200
Report of Colonel Whittlesey to Freednien's Bureau 186 — 200
H. A. Cooke 200—204
H. Bain 204—207
D. H. Clapp 207— 21 1
. J. A. Campbell 211—216
J. W. Alvord 242—261
Report of Mr. Alvord to Fredmen's Bureau 249 — 261
Badford Brown 261—265
Lieutenant Colonel W H. H. Beadle 265—272
Thomas M. Cook, (correspondent New York Herald) 27'.} — 279
Major H. C. Lawrence 289—294
Pardons and Executive leniency —
Bad effect of... C. D. Gray Part II.... 66
B. R. Grattan 162
General J. W. Turner
Judge Underwood 9
Lewis McKenzie 14
G. S. Smith 15,16
G. F.Watson 18
George Tucker -21
176 INDEX.
Page.
Pardons ond Executive leniency — Continued.
Bad effect of... L.I [ill Part II.... 26,27
J. Stiles 31
J. Roberts 33
C.R.Joyce 35
J. J. Henshaw 37
D. B. White 61
C. D. Gray 66
J. F. Lewis 71
R. McMurdy 89
W. J. Daws HI
John Minor Botts 120—123
C. S. Mills 139
J. H. Anderson
C. H. Lewis 146
J. W. Huunicutt 151
J. Sinclair 171
Colonel E. Whittlesey 181
H. Bain 207
J. A. Campbell 215
Captain A. C. Ketchum 237
W. H. H. Beadle 271
General Spencer Part III
Judge Smith 12
J. J. Gries 15
E. Heinstadt 24
General C. H. Howard 40
H. S. Wells 113
L. M. Hobbs Part IV....
Lieutenant W. Miller 43
J. W. Shaffer 55
T. Conway 79,80
J. T.Allen 87
Hon. J. Covode 115,116
Dr. J. M. Turner 127
Good effect of-.D. C. Humphreys Part III.... 66
H. S. Welles 113
Secession Principles and States Rights Doctrines, prevalence of; (and herein of the
willingness to fight under a foreign flag against the United States, and of the feel
ing of compulsion in submitting to federal authority.)
Affirmative . . General J. W. Turner Part II 3, 4
Judge Underwood
George S. Smith JO
J. Millard 28,29
J. J. Henshaw 37
Calvin Pepper 49,50
Arthur Watson 83
J. M. Wood 85
Rev. Dr. R. McMurdy 92
W. L. Chase 95,96
W. J. Dews 110,111
J. M. Botts 121
R. E. Lee 133
E. S. Mills 136—139
General A. H. Terry 141,142
C. H. Lewis 147
F. H. Bruce 155
H. Bain 207
J. W. Alvord 243,244
Bedford Brown 264
W. H. H. Beadle 267
T. M. Cook 276
Judge Smith Part III. ...10, 11, 12
General Hatch
General Spencer
J. J. Gries 14,15
M. Mobley 15—22
E. Heinstadt 24-26
General G. H.Thomas 27
IKDEX. 177
Secession Print ijth^ and States Rights Doctrines, prevalence of— Contimu-'l.
Ailinnativc . .General C. B. Fisk Part III 29
( iciuM-al C. H. Howard 39
G. H Kyle, of Arkansas 51
II. S. Welles 109
General Griersou 123
Governor Johnson 131
General W. Swayne 140
Captain Matthews 144
A. H. Stephens... 159—103,164
J. P. Hanibleton 166
L. M. Hobbs Part IV.... 8
Lieutenant Colonel H. S. Hall 47, 50
J. E. Roy 67
Major General G. A. duster 72, 75, 78
I. t. Allen 87
Address of W. C. Dabrymple 96
Hon. J. Covode 115—1 18, 1 19
Colonel Israel Vodges 120
Major General Sheridan 122
Dr. J. M. Turner 127
J. D. B. DeBow 136
Major General G. H. Thomas Part I 1 10—111
C. D. Gray Part II 66
J. B. Johnson 80
Dale Carter 98, 99
W. J. Dews 113
J. M. Botts.- 121
R. E. Lee 129
C. S. Mills 136
C. H. Lewis 147
B. R. Grattan 161
T. M. Cook , 276,277
G. H. Kyle Part III.... 53
William Byers 57
J. D. B. DeBow Part IV 135
Secession, how accomplished in Virginia —
J. B. Bald win Part II .... 102—1 09
J. M. Botts 114—123
Surrender of Lee, increase of hostility after —
Affirmative ..Major General C. B. Fisk Part I 114
General J. W. Turner Ptrt II 3—6
G. S. Smith 15
G. F. Watson 18
Calvin Pepper 49
Arthur Watson - 89
M. Blackburn 1 49
CriM-ral Ed. Hatch Part 111 5,7
General Speueer 9
Judge Smith 12
J. J, (Jries 15
E. Heinstadt 25
i;.m-ral C. B. Fisk 32
M. J. Safford (53
(icncral J. S. Brisbin 70
(iriicral R. Saxton UK)
General Grierson 122
W. Dillingham 119
General D. S. Stanley Part IV 40
( u-iiural G. A. duster 75
Colonel I. Vodgt-s 121
Negative General G. II. Thomas Part III....
William Byi-rs 50
South Carolina, testimony relative to —
General R. Saxton Part II .... 216—231
Report of General Saxton to Freedmen's Bureau 222, 231
Captain A. P. Ketchum 231—2-12
Report of Captain Ketchum to Freedmen's Bureau 240 — 242
J. W. Alvord 242—261
12 F L T
178 INDEX.
Pajje
South Carolina, testimony rdntirr, /o— Continued
Report of Mr. Alvord to Freedmen's Bureau Part II 249 — 261
Brigadier General C. H.Howard Part III and Report 33— :>
Major General R. Saxton 100 — K'2
Tennessee, testimony relative to —
Major General Edward Hatch Part I ]05 — 108
Major General G. H. Thomas , 106—1 J 1
Major General C. B. Fisk 111—115
David T. Patterson ] 1 5, 1 16
Colonel William Spence 117,118
Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Cochrane 118 — 120
Lieutenant Colonel R. W. Barnard 120 — 1 *l'l
O. P. Temple 122—125
John Williams 125—127
Abner G. Jackson 127 — 128
CONSTITUTION OF TENNESSEE, amendments to 6
ratification of 10—13
Public acts of Tennessee 23 — 41
C. O. Dunning Part II 48
Texas, testimony relative to —
Brigadier General W. E. Strong- Part IV 35—39
Major General D. S. Stanley 39 — 43
as to Union element in 39,40
Lieutenant W. Miller • 43 — 46
Lieutenant Colonel H S. Hall 40—50
Mtjjor General G. A. Custer 72 — 78
secret organizations in 74
John T. Allen, (including official documents, electioneering circulars, &c., &c).86 — 113
Major General Sheridan 123
Major General C. C. Andrews 124, 125
C. G. Forshey 129—132
B. C. Truman 1 :',()— 140
Treason, probability of a conviction for, by a Virginia jury —
Affirmative . . W. T. Joynes Part II 160
Negative General J. W. Turner Part II 4
J. J. Underwood 10
J. J. Hawkshurst 22
J. Roberts 33
J. J. Henshaw 39
Calvin Pepper .">()
?. E. Lee 133
W. Hunnicutt 151
B. R. Grattan 164
Union, indications of hostility toinirils; (and herein of the disposition to join with for
eign powers against the United States, and of the feeling of compulsion in submit
ting to federal authority.)
Affirmative . . Maj'or General Edward Hatch Part I 1 05
Major General G. H. Thomas 110
D. T. Patterson 11(5
Colonel William Spence 1 17, 1 18
Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Cochrane Ill*
Lieutenant Colonel R. W. Barnard 120
O. P. Temple 12:5, 125
General J. W. Turner Part II
Judge Underwood
George S Smith II, 15
G. F. Watson 18
J. Hawkshurst 21
George Tucker 22
L. Hill 25
J. Millard 29
J. Stiles 31 , 32
C. R. Joyce :'••">
J. J. Henshaw 3(5.37
W. James 40, 41
E. O. Dinning 45 — 1>
Calvin Pepper 49
D. B. White 61—63
C. D. Gray 64
INDEX. 179
Page.
Union, indications of hostility towards, S?c. — Continued.
Affirmative.. J. S. Lewis Part II 69
M. P. Corse 74
M. M. Lewis 78
J. M. Wood 84
W. L. Chase 95
W. J. Dews 110
Colonel O. Brown.. 124 1 '25
General A. H. Terry 141
C. H. Lewis 145—147
M. Blackburn 148
J. W. Hunnicutt 149
F. H. Bruce 152, 153—155
J. Sinclair 168
H. A Cooke 200, 201
H. Bai n 205—207
D. H. Clapp 208
J. A.Campbell 211,212,213
General R. Saxton 217
Captain A. P. Ketclmm 233—235, 236
J. W. Alvord 243—246
Bedford Brown 262
W. H. H. Beadle 266—268
H. C. Lawrence 289
A. W. Kelsey Part III.... 1,2
General Ed. Hatch 5, 6
General Spencer 8, 9
Judge Smith ! 11,12
J. J. Gries 14,15
M. Mobley 15—22
E. Heinstadt 24
General G. H. Thomas .' 26,27
General C. B. Fisk 29, 30, 31
General C. H. Howard 33, 38
M. J. Safford 60
D. C. Humphreys 64, 65
General J. S. Brisbin 70—72
E. D. Ayres 71
GeneralJ. R. West 78
General R. Saxton 100
H. S. Welles 109—113
Colonel H. Brook 114
W. Dillingharn 116
General Grierson 118 — 120
Governor Johnson 131
Captain J. H. Matthews 141, 143, 144
General A. J'. Chetlain 150,151
W. F. Downs 158
Sidney Andrews 170, 171
Governor Humphreys 183
J. W. Recks Part IV.... 1,2
General W. E. Strong 37
GeneralD. S. Stanley 39,40
Lieutenant W. Miller 43, 44
Lieutenant Colonel H. S. Hall 46
J. W. Shaffer 51
J. E. Roy 64—67
Brigadier General C. C. Doolittlo 70
Major General G. A. Custer 72 — 78
T. Conway 80
J. T. Allen 86—87
Hon. J. Covode 114
Colonel Israel Vodges, 121
Major General Sheridan 123
General C. C. Andrews 124,125
C. (J.Forsliey 129,130
J. D. B. DeBow 132,133
B. C. Truman 137
General L. Thomas 142
Stephen Powers 145, 146
180 INDEX.
Page.
Union, indications of hostility towards, Sfc. — Continued.
Negative J. Stiles Part II 31
J. J. Heushaw :',<;
C. D. Gray 65
M. I). Corse 63
M. M. Lewis 76—79
W. J. Dews 113
Colonel O. Brown -. 126
B. R. Gruttau 161
H. A. Cooke 200
He d ford Brown 262
General Ed. Hatch Part III .... 6
General Spencer 8
General C. H. Howard 40
William Byers 58, 59
M. J. Safford 61
D. C. Humphreys 64
R. A. Hill 67—69
E. D. Ayers ' 71
Governor Johnson 129, 130
Governor Sharkey 135
General C. C. Andrews ..147, 148
GeneralJ. G. Blunt 152,153
General John Tarbell 155
A. H. Stephens . 158, 159
Statement of adjutant general of Ark. as to troops raised for Union army. 180
Lieutenant W. Miller Part IV 43
J. E. Roy '. 64
Brigadier General C. C. Doolittle 70
J. T. Allen 89,90,91
Major General .Sheridan 122, 123
Dr. J. M. Turner 127
C. G. Forshey, (rebel officers) 129,130
J. B. D. DeBow 132,133
B. C. Truman 137
/ General L. Thomas 141,142
Stephen Powers 145,146
Union hope of southern politicians to regain balance of power in —
Affirmative.. Judge Underwood Part II 8
Lewis McKenzie 12
G. S. Smi th 15
L. Hill 27
J. Stiles 32
C. D. Gray 66
M. M. Lewis 72
J. M. Botts 129
C. S. Mills 139
A. W. Kelsey Part III.. . . 4
General Ed. Hatch 6
Judge Smith 11,12
J. J. Gries 14, 15
M. J. Safford 60
H. S.Welles 113
General Grierson 122, 123
Captain Matthews 144
General A. J. Chetlaiu 150
Sidney Andrews 172, 173
Dr. J. M. Turner PaAIV.... 128
Union men, northern and southern, manifestations of hostility to —
Affirmative . . Major General Edward Hatch Part I 1 06
Major General G. H. Thomas 1 08, 109
Major General C. B. Fish 114
Lieutenant Colonel J. H. Cochrane 119
General J. W. Turner Part II 2, 3, 4
.Jn<l"v rntlcrwuod 7
G. S. Smith 16,17
G. F. Watson 18
.!. llawkshurst 21
ro-e Tucker 23—25
INDEX. 181
Page.
Union men , northern and southern, manifestations of hostility to — Continued.
Affirmative.. L. Hill Part II.... 27
J. Stiles 32
J. Roberts 33
C. K. Joyce 36
W. James 42, 43
E. O. Diumiug- 45, 40
C . D . Gray 65
J. F. Lewis 69
J. M. Wood «. . 84—86
W. L. Chase 95—97
Dale Carter 101
W. J. Dews 1 10, 1 1 1
Colonel O. Brown 125
R. E. Lee 132
C. S. Mills 1 37, 1 38
J. H. Anderson 140
General A. H. Terry 141
M. Blackburn 149
J. W. Hunnicntt 149
F. H. Bruce 152, 153
J. Sinclair 169—171
. Lieutenant G. O. Sanderson 1 75
Colonel E. Whittlesey 181
H. A. Cooke 201
H. Bain , 206, 207
D. H. Clapp 208—210
General R. Saxtoii 218
Captain A. P. Ketchum 236
J. W. Alvord 244—246
Bedford Brown 264
W. H. H. Beadle 269,270
General Edward Hatch Part III 5,6
General Spencer
Judge Smith 11, 12, 13
J. J. Gries 14,15
General G. II. Thomas 27
General C. B. Fisk 29,30,31
General C. H. Howard 40
M. J. Safford 61
General R. Saxton 101
General B. H. Grierson 1 23
General W. Swayne 141
Captain Matthews 143
General A. L. Chetlain 150
Captain L. H. Whipple 168
J. W. Recks Part IV.... 2
L. M. Hobbs... 8
General W. E. Strong 37
General D. S. Stanley 41
Lieutenant W. Miller .• 44
J. W. Shaffer 58
D. E. Haynes 60,61
J. E. Roy 66
Major General C us tor 72 — 74
T. Conway 81
J. T. Allen 90
Hon. J. Covode 115
Colonel Israel Vogdes 120
Dr. James M. Turner ., 126, 127
J. D. B. DeBow 1 33, 1 34
Stephen Powers 147, 148
Negative I. M. Botts :. Part II.... 122
B. R. Grattan 163
E. F. Keen *. 166
H. C. Lawrence 289—294
General C. H. Howard Part III 38
G. H. Kyle 52
William Bycrs 58
182 INDEX.
Page.
Union men, northern and southern, manifestations of hostility to— Continued.
Negative General W. Swayue Part III . . 141
General A. L. Chetlaiu 149
General John Tarbell ] ;,<;
A. H. Stephens ]62
J. D. B. DeBow "!. !."."part IV* ."."."133, 134
B. C. Truman ] 39
General L. Thomas , 141
Stephen Powers . . 147 148
United States army officers, liability of, to prosecution in State courts for official acts—
Affirmative . . General Edward Hatch Part II 5
General Spencer ' __". 10
Judge Smith 13
J. Stiles : ; 1
United States troops, necessity for, in the south. (See Freedmen's Bureau, frc. )
recruited in Arkansas Part II 180
Virginia, proceedings in secession convention in 1861, and reported conversations with
President Lincoln at that time —
J. B. Baldwin Part II J02— 1 <i9
J. M. Botts 114 123
Virginia, testimony relative to —
General J. W. Turner Part II 1—4)
Judge John C. Underwood «;_! 1 1
Lewis McKenzie 10 — 14
George S. Smith 14 17
Doctor G. F. Watson , 18—20
John Hawkshurst 20 22
George Tucker 22 25
Lysander Hill . . . 25 27
Joseph Millard 28 — 30
Joseph Stiles 30 33
Jonathan Roberts 33 ;{.-,
Charles R. Joyce 35 36
J. Henshaw 36 — 39
Watkins James 39 44
E. O. Dunning 44 49
Calvin Pepper 49 51
Daniel Norton ... 51 52
William Thornton 52, 53
Madison Newby 54 55
R. R. Hm !."""::::;;::::::;;;: 55^6
A. Dunlop 57, 58
Thomas Bain 58, 59
E. Parsons 59—60
D. B. White 60—63
J. F. Lewis 69—73
M. D. Corse 73 — 75
M. M. Lewis 75—79
J. B. Johnson 71) — s»
Arthur Watson 80 — 84
J. M. Wood .• 84—88
R. McMurdy 88—95
W. L. Chase 95— It-
Dale Carter 98 — 101
J. P. Baldwin 102 — 109
W. J. Dews 110—1.13
John M. Botts 114 123
Colonel O. Brown 123—128
R. E. Lee 129— 13(5
C. S. Mills + 1 36— 1 39
J. H. Anderson 139—140
General A. H. Te-try 141—141
C. H. Lewis 144 — J 4,-
M. Blackburn 148, I 49
J. W. Humiicutt 149—151
F. H. Bruce 152—155
W. T. Joynes 155—161
B. R. Grattau 161—164
E. F. Keen 164— 16C
C. G. Baylor Part HI.... 176— 179
14 DAY USE
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DEC 4 '67 -I
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LD 21A-60TO-7/66
(G4427slO)476B
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